Arctico is a very laid back game, with a good amount of locations to explore and items to craft. I hesitate to call it a survival game despite there being a hunger/thirst mechanic. You and your K-9 steeds can't die, but not providing nourishment for yourself and them will slow your progress down. As you explore your ice-island, you'll uncover the hidden history of explorers and adventurers that happened upon this desolate polar land by reading the messages they've left behind. Paired with the interesting locations you discover, there's plenty to hold your imagination. There's a simple economy to be exploited also, as you are able to farm using planters and mine for materials as well as collect data from various research locations spread across the map. Refining materials and trading allow you to purchase upgrades and build more sophisticated equipment to help in your adventure. Cooperative multiplayer is possible and enjoyable (my daughter and I have played together quite a bit on Steam). There are no dangers to the players, so Arctico is a very good game to just chill-out with. Traveling on your dog sled is especially cool.
I've been seeing the box-art for Majesty in stores for some twenty years now but always dismissed it as just another mediocre RTS game. Oh how wrong I was! The innovative mechnaism of not being able to directly control the units of your real is refreshing. Perhaps I wouldn't have appreciated this type of gameplay in my youth. But I certainly appreciate it now as a veteran gamer. And because I am an aficianado of retro-style video games, I now get to enjoy all of Majesty's twenty year old graphics and sound design despite having missed out on it these past two decades.
The visuals are beautiful. The controls a little counter-intuitive at first, but once I understood how they worked, I didn't have a problem continuing the game. It was free for me here at GoG, so no complaints. Good experience and is now in my collection. Thank you devs!
Not that I've played many helicopter games, but I went into Comanche not having played any of the previous Comanche games, so I had no expectations or comparisons. Now, I do understand why someone looking for an attack helicopter simulator could be disappointed with this one, as it indeed is suited for an arcade experience. And by 'arcade', I mean the type of controls and gameplay options included here. The visuals are good, sound is good, the story thus far is intriguing - freelance mercenary good guys up against secretive, well financed terror organization type stuff. The kinds of vehicles you fly are varied, with cloaking 'copters, heavier attack style 'copters and even remote piloted drones of various sorts at your disposal. So don't hate me hardcore Comanche fans, but I'm enjoying playing this one.
I haven't played a game of A&A in over twenty years. The Last time I played was using AOL (America Online) to facilitate online gaming through a gamemaster who would do the combat rolls after the player submitted all of their moves for the turn over the AOL messenger. This eliminates all of that for online play as you can just use GoG Galaxy to link up with others, but also eliminates the board game overhead with its digital interface; quite nice to not have to setup and tear down a physical copy of the game. The presentation is nice and is adequate for my needs - I'm not picky about any of what the developers have included here, or the streamlining they've done with some of the rules. The AI is doing a fair job against me, though I'm a casual enough A&A player that I can't be bothered with a really difficult opponent. And besides, playing versus other humans would be the real way to go anyway.
