...and managed to surprised me with its deep customization, strategy and brutal lore. Missionforce brings to the table an experience only fruitable to those who have patience and are able to see through its hard exterior. A tactical isometric hex turn-based strategy purely based on robots, set in one of the most cruel universes, typical of the 90' fiction, where every single detail is vital to survive the horrors of mundane warfare. Everything from the base management, which mean robot parts, pilots ( basically genetic engineered slaves) and mission selection, to the battlefield it's left up to your decisions. Only downside ? there is a little (or a lot, depending on your managerial skills and tactis) bit of grinding before taking on important mission, most of the time you won't know how your well prepared group blow up miserably against the enemies and the amount of customization in this game is utterly insane, to the point that could turn you away. But, if you have enjoy a difficult and yet rewarding experience, welp it's time to earn your paycheck by blowing up a lot of metal junk.
Of non-Linear story-telling! Return of the Obra Dinn is one of the finest of narrative capabilities that Indie titles, and even all the other kinds of game, are able to offer, where it's up to you to piece together the entirety of the tragic events that will lead to the unexpected outcome of a lost story of a ship and its crew. I won't tell anything else for fear of ruining the plot (the game itself doesn't last long if you understand the majority of the roles and personal relationship of the crew) but with that said : the settings, along with graphics that allows to live the adventure like if it was run in a old engine, the soundtracks and the designs, are top notch. So, in to keep it short, a investigating game with a lot of exploration and deep brain thinking that manages to entertain and be captivating to the final little tiny bit? Sign me up!
I don't even mean ''the game is bad'' : I set my record to 18 sec after a few minutes of play and then I felt my head spinning ( still gonna keep it for collection). But since it's not that complicated of a game all I can write is : if you like arcade games that manages to be fun and innovative with their simplicity , disregard the 3 star grade, for you is probably a 5 star. For all the other players, It's a nice game that actually brings to the table some thinking behind its deceivingly simple gameplay and could be for you.. if you don't have a headache first!
As a fan of retrò gaming, I must admit I didn't enjoy Outwars in its prime time, so you'll find no nostalgia here ( besides for any game from the 90', but that's another matter entirely). Outwars is a fun take on the star trooper trope with third person action and a jet pack system that basically is essential to complete the game. How well it does it? even to this day , I must say : not perfect but enjoyable and fun enough. Although there are some section of the game ( I've played only the single campaign mode) where you get blown up with some enemies attacks that makes no sense ( unless you are well versed in the jet pack system) since you are supposed to be in sorta of tank suit , all in all the game's level are big and their design have some though behind it ( however, most of them resembles an arena shooter, which is not my preference I must say),. On top of that, you can choose your load out and team composition and the objectives are enough to give something fresh to keep the player playing. I'll not speak about the graphics per se: it's the 90', so everything in 3D was kind of wobbling, but they do have some charm to it, and the overall design is appropriate enough to give the sense of immersion. So, worth it? yes ( even more if there are some friends to play with), it is simple gameplay with a little bit of strategy behind it... with it's strange, if we are talking about a game where all you do is killing space bugs.
Since the game is short and too much simple to actually something different from the other reviews you'll read in this site, I'll keep it short : Wonderfull presentation with its graphics, style and soundtrack but aged rather badly, aaaand to conclude this port has no sensible addition, or even remotely useful, to justify the price. Basically, a good game ( to play with a friend.. alone is rather dull), although a little stiff and bare bones in today standard, to buy, at best, discounted, since the port does not add anything interesting or usefull.
I probably don't get what the fuss is all about or why everyone is praising like the second coming of christ.. still, an ok game, or more like a parody of old 2d platform games from late 80'/90', but probably only if you like the particular genre of '' die a million times'' ( or more like a 100) . However, the developers have spicy up the whole formula with a lot of humor and pop culture reference (which is not, like, unique of this game, other indie games are full of it). So, if you are in for no gameplay and just roaming around dying a 100 times just to see the different endings , it's a dream coming true.. if not, still fun for about 2 hours, then most of the jokes become stale.
Although my first might & magic title I had was the fifth ( developed by another company) and it's still my favorite Might and Magic title, the third entry of the series is easily my second choice. I'll forgo the usual description of the game itself : I'll simply say that every feature that made the saga great has been expanded and developed, plus with this complete edition you'll get the 2 expansions ( a prequel and a sequel), which adds a monumental amount of hours of solid gameplay ( I'm still at the very first expansion, with more than 80 hours of gameplay and still didn't finish it). On top of that, the story is the classic example of ''simple and yet complicated'' with some really nice twists ( all I can say it's ''Ka-Boom'', for few). Downsides? the words ''balance'' or ''balancing unit and towns '' are not very much contemplated in the series, but most of the time it's because the game requires a different thinking and approach, unlike other games of the same genre... and other times there are simple imbalance between units and, most of all, the spell that you can throw at your enemy( which should be a given by looking at the title of the game). Other then that, this is the golden game of the series, the one that really made the saga a cult classic, widely considered its pinnacle, and therefore a very hearted recommendation.
King of dragon pass can be perfectly summarize with this simple phrase : every choice taken may have different impact on the deep fantasy world create by the developers. But let's speaking about its features in order : story wise, it takes a lot from viking and gauls culture and mythology but develop a unique pantheon and history of its won, pushing the players to dwell deeper in the game's settings in order to understand what to do. About the gameplay, its high point is freedom : you can choose the entirety of your clan history and how to deal with the various challenges thrown in your way, and they have consequences in more way than I imagined. At the same time, the game has a high learning curve (at least, that was what I felt like, for my personal skills in this genre), giving too much freedom sometimes have the side effect to leave the players wandering what to do. Speaking of the rest, the game has fitting soundtracks and the graphics are... well, spreadsheet, so there isn't much to talk about here, but the imagines are fine. So, overall a profound managerial experience that manages (pun intended) to keep the players immerse in its lore and actually made it that knowing the history of the game its vital to succeed, with limitless ( too much, sometimes) possibility to create your own unique clan. It's not perfection itself, buuut it's also a solid yes, buy it right there.
Although not nearly on par with dark forces saga, Jedi Knight brings to the table a more profound lightsaber combat system and ... well, that's really it. This is why I give this game no more three star : if you remove the nostalgia glasses.. this game doesn't offer much. Well, that's not even fair : It does offer more than a dozen missions, all set in different planets and with different objectives and gameplay... but most of time there are structural repetitions and the ones that are actually unique don't offer such great experience. Speaking of gameplay, if it is true that the lightsaber combat got more developed, it is also true that most of the actual fighting ( speaking against the bot in the main story) is clanky at best, with some moves completely OP and weird hitboxes that made feel your victories more like the results of luck, more then skill. Maybe the move set was more intended for the Online matches.. buuut I don't think that they are now an option. However, A mention of honor goes to the force powers that are always fun to use. Plus, if in the previous games the weapons still have a significant part and a completely viable option in most of the non-Jedi fights in the gameplay, now they are just... for show, with few ones you'll be actually using and only with certain kind of enemies. Story wise, it's enjoyable enough, but it's not a ''fresh'' or ''innovative'' take on the star wars universe, i's more like a fan service, where there's more interest in just showing old, establish characters then try something new, like the dark forces series ( sorry, I mention a lot the previous installments because technically Jedi Knight is deeply connected to them, if not a direct sequel). However, this doesn't mean the game isn't worth playing : on the contrary, it's perfectly enjoyable, if not somewhat redundant, experience, at least of most of the part of the game, and if you are a Die-hard fan, you can immerse yourself by creating and playing your own Jedi!
.. and I deeply regret it. Simcity 2000 special edition is not only a truly enjoyable city builder but also an elegant flow of pixels, beautiful to watch and a gameplay somewhat simple when you figured it out how the system works. As a managerial simulation, it works well and it's not overly complicated ( although at the start you'll be probably overwhelmed by its interface, at least if you didn't play like this before) but it has enough depth to have a good replay value. However, if you read the reviews before mine, you'll know that this is the Dos-box version (Which may influence my judgement, since I'm a big fan of the old system) and it may share some problem common to the games of the Dos ( some clunky controls and some features are missing). Still, I truly recommend this game, even if it's my first Simcity I've ever played : Catchy tunes ( although a little repetitive), astonishing visuals when you expand your city and a solid gameplay that brings you to a lowly suburb to an exodus to the stars.
