Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus is a turn-based tactical that sees you in command of the Adeptus Mechanicus (basically a cyborg cult who are also privately militarized Research & Development for the Imperium of Man's government). Mechanicus sees you exploring a tomb world, augmenting your Tech-Priests and fighting undead space killbots called Necrons. It's part CYOA, part XCOM and really fun... But it's not perfect, the game has shortcomings (attacks not working as intended, graphically it's there. As a huge fan of 40k I can look at a unit in-game and immediately recognize it's tabletop counterpart, but it's by no means a "stunning" game especially when you look at the competition like XCOM 2, Phoenix Point and other similar games, this isn't helped by the game's nonadjustable Depth of Field... However, good 40k games are seemingly hard to come by these days, so let me talk about what makes this game special. The sound design is phenomenal everything from the cyborg Simlish the AdMech speak during story moments, to the way the guns sell a brutal and Grimdark setting, and the music is perhaps some of the best used for a 40k game, it's space church music and it works perfectly with this game. The story itself is astounding, with each of the dehumanized Tech-Priests/Magi bickering among each other about the task at hand as you explore the Necron Tomb World. The plot is that you're an exploration force who is tasked with finding out as much about Necrons or just blowing them up. It's your call, you just have to make the decisions, you do this in the CYOA segments before fighting in battle (it's a dungeon crawler first, then a turn-based tactics game). Everything you're doing feels like it holds some kind of weight to the grand scheme of things. The combat is refreshingly simple, if you're in range you can hit the enemy, none of those frustrating 98% chances "to hit", and good enemy variety. What you've got here is a game by fans for fans: I really hope they make a sequel.
Shadow Warrior 2 is an excellent example of video game sequels done wrong, while the initial taste is quite nice, it doesn't take long 'til it becomes apparent that Shadow Warrior's core design philosophies were thrown out the window, to create a rather bland First Person Looter. Story: It's a silly story full of crude humour. Basically humans and demons co-exist, you play as Lo Wang again and you fight against Zilla's brand of Demonic Influence. It's delightfully cheesy and very 90s TV show-esque. In other words it's exactly what I expected from Shadow Warrior. Gameplay: This time the game has procedural levels, that means the levels are instantly forgettable and there's no real reason to explore them, no hand-crafted secrets, no environmental story-telling, just lazy uninspired levels with a slightly different theme. But that's okay, because this game has loot this time around. Not really, when the loot takes away from the impact your super weapons have, it strips any reason to use an alternative weapon other than the fact you ran out of ammo, and yes there is plenty of those instances in SW2. Where a supposed 'power' weapon is about as good as your standard issue weapons and enemies are beefed up bullet-sponges and it's really not fun. Along with loot, the biggest problem I have is how often I have to stop and look at menus. Shadow Warrior was never about looking at menus, it was a fast paced game with secrets and maze-like level design, often rewarding exploration and speed running. Very rarely you looked at the menu, yet this game is pretty much is staring at menus and comparing stats, looking for an optimal way to deal death. What could have been an excellent companion to DOOM (2016) had it stuck to it's core philosophies, has became a poor-man's Destiny. It tarnishes two different styles of FPS, while burning bridges with it's core audience and for that I just can't recommend Shadow Warrior 2.
Spelunky is an excellent platformer in which you must get from point A - B through 12 levels (divided into four areas and not including the secret levels). The premise is simple but this game is downright evil in the best ways possible! Here is why: Spelunky is a platformer with Roguelike elements, which means every level is procedurally generated, and you are given a finite amount of resources to tackle them. You are given three resources to manage; Life, Ropes and Bombs and when you start you don't have much of these resources. It's very easy to use up these resources quickly (they don't regenerate at the end of a level) and therefore quickly die in Spelunky's crazy world! However Spelunky is all about learning when and how to use these resources. On to the levels, they are designed to murder you. There is many different characters in the world of Spelunky, and they can all lead to your demise. Shopkeepers sell valuable items to your survival, however they are quick to anger and hate shoplifters (yes you can steal) to the point that they will pull out a shotgun and hunt you down 'til you or they die! Other enemies like Skeletons may lay in wait 'til you are a split second away from them before resurrecting and attacking you! Arrow traps will shoot anything in their way! The point here is the world of Spelunky is a very dangerous place, and you start with a whip, a few bombs, ropes and life and have to tackle it. Gold and Adventure await!
