tl;dr: a solid Boomer-Shooter with W40k license, hampered by not so great level design. In the old days, Boltgun would be called a Doom clone. Don't expect anything else from gameplay but shooting enemies, finding keys to open doors and reach the exit of the level. Its uses Unreal Engine 4, but could also be based on gzdoom, as the graphics are heavily pixelated and enemies, ammo boxes and other stuff in the levels are 2d sprites, clearly visible as they always rotate towards the player. In its gameplay, it’s a solid FPS, its biggest asset is the Warhammer 40k license, with weapons available a Space Marine typically uses to blast those heretics to pieces. Contrary to what I first thought, there is no resistance system, but the small icons at the top when aiming at enemies show the general power of the weapon: the boltgun is viable against almost everything, energy weapons like rocketlauncher-like plasmagun are good against bigger enemies like Chaos Space Marines and bosses take less damage from pretty much everything and are massive bullet sponges. The shotgun is useless against pretty much everything, which is disappointing for a boomer-shooter. The major weakness of the game is the level design. Contrary to the classic FPS, they are not complex labyrinths, most of them are linear, two parallel ways that contain the same enemies do not count. They are interrupted by arenas, but those also aren't great designed, they have many ramps and narrow paths, plus some of them are so big, I lost track where I am. Other parts of the level are re-used multiple times, sometimes including placement of enemies, ammo boxes and such. At least the aesthetic is great, it really captures the gothic gigantism of the Imperium. Overall, Boltgun is a solid boomer-shooter. If you're into W40k and what to squish chaos worshippers and demons through the eyes of an Ultramarine, this is for you. General fans of FPS should first look at other classic-like FPS like Dusk or Amid Evil.
There is not much to be said about Quake 2, it is an all-time classic among FPS. A clear development from the first game with a more fleshed out story and levels that are not abstract labyrinths, but more realistic. But they can still be tricky to navigate, the newly added compass that shows the way to the next goal is really helpful, as is the wheel for items, similar to a weapon wheel on console fps. The two official Addons The Reckoning and Ground Zero as well as a port of the Levels of Quake64 into the engine are included, which offer more, solid gameplay. The Addons add some new enemies, but most of them are just variants of already known foes. The new weapons also don't do anything groundbreaking. All are also relatively short with about 2-4 hours of gameplay (beaten on normal difficulty) The graphics seem similar, although many of the assets (like textures and models) have gotten some work, but I can only see the differences in side-by-side comparisons. They aren't many and if, they can be subtle to spot. Music and Sound stay the same. Another addition is the Archives, which include goodies like concept art or models from the game to view. Also, some early versions of the game, that were demoed at tradeshows are available to play, showcasing the rapid progress during the game’s development. Nothing that is an absolute must-have, but pretty neat. The clear highlight of this release is the new "Call of the Machine" episode. It consists of six mini episodes and a final boss fight; the structure reminds me more of the first game of the series. The environments range from the known futuristic styles of the base game to some very different. All the levels are well designed, I rarely needed the compass for orientation. There are no new weapons or enemies, but the developers take advantage of everything developed for the older addons. Overall, while I think the other addons can be skipped, this is must-play for fans.
I love RollerCoaster Tycoon, especially the first game. Played so many hours. RCT2 I don't remember as fondly, at the time I preferred other genres and it had no windowed mode, my preferred way to play such a game. This version includes all scenarios from RCT1 and 2 with all the expansion packs, plus a couple of new ones, but I didn't get to those. I think the sorting is better than in RCT2, which sorted scenarios not by difficulty, but alphabetically. Remember the casual Amity Airfield? This version is a port of the mobile version, and it shows. The UI is made with a touch screen in mind, which make it unnecessarily clunky to play on PC. The buttons aren't that big, but the placement and structure of the menus is horribly unintuitive. I had to guess that the main menu is hidden behind the prominently placed time scale button. Settings are also hidden behind this button, often used functions like hiding supports is very hard to reach. I could live with the UI, but the gameplay has also changed. I can't build a classic looping coaster design, the Shuttle Loop. Because the station breaks only work in one direction, so I can't build a very space efficient design. Selecting special parts is clunky and doesn’t work sometimes. Selecting small things like visitors is quiet hard to do. Some of the scenario requirements have changed. I've only beaten Forest Frontiers for old times sake. I don't know what else has changed in other scenarios. I really can't recommend this version. If played on PC, and after all, GOG is a PC platform, its inferior to the original. And especially to the community driven open source port OpenRCT2, which is meant and build for PC and has a lot of advanced features. It requires the original, still available here. The only case I can see for this game on PC is if you have a convertible or detachable with a touchscreen. Then the touch-based UI makes sense. If you play with mouse and keyboard, its inferior to the Original and especially OpenRCT2.
I went into STRAFE expecting a classic FPS with some rogue lite elements, but it turned out the other way: the rogue lite elements are a lot more prominent. The graphcis are deliberatly undetailed, similar to the first Quake, but without its style. Especially the first segment has the most boring textures I've ever seen. The second one seems better, but I haven't spend much time in it. Because the game is insanly hard, for all the wrong reasons: there is very little to replenish your health, one food dispenser per level with a random amount in it. There is armor, which is only extended health which can be bought at workbenches with scrap which can be collected from enemies. Where they are is random as most in the game, so keep looking for them. But that will not protect you for long as the enemies can do massive damage quickly. The levels are randomized from handmade parts, overall it works good as the connecting points are not as obvious as in other games and the pieces have a good variety. But that can lead to unexpected dead ends meaning usually in an end of your run. The one thing the developers forgot to add that makes a rogue lite is any sort of progression. Everytime you die its basically wasted time, no unlocks or similar. During the time upgrades can be found, but are random and the game doesn't tell what they do. A big negative for me are the weapons: the store page states a ton, but thats not as expected: in the beginning you can choose between three (shotgun, machinegun, railgun), others can be found in the levels. But they are essentially power ups, once their ammo runs out they are done. That means you are stuck with basically one weapon the entire game. There are upgrades for them, but they are random and sort of hit and miss. I really want to like the game, especially for its high speed action similar to the old Doom. The soundtrack is also really good. But the insane difficulty for a simple lack of health and the weapons system ruin it for me.
I noticed Cultures because it was made by the same guys who made The Settlers 2. Since that is one of my favorite games of all time, I got an eye on Cultures. But it is so much more than that. Image The Settlers with settlements on a smaler scale, but the people acutally matter. They don't come endlessly from some storage house, but have houses, jobs and even relationships. They need food, which is the most imporant thing to produce and secure a stable production. If you want to get the best out of your people, make them happy: provied them with food, houeses company and faith, if the need to. Military is somewhat lacking and not one of the cores of the game, but still necessary. The game focuses a lot on build the settlement and managing your people. Cultures 2 expans the system further, with upgradeable houses and more complex techtrees. Additionally, it has a much expanded single player campaign with better story and missions. I would recommend both games highly to anybody who has a thing for building games. They are not just different from most other games in the genre, but also at the top of it.
