The game might not be super complex but it has a lot of things going for it. It is different than most tactics games in a good way. While in a lot of games taking cover is essential here it is just a bonus. The most important thing is to keep your units on the move. This grants the units evasion(damage resistance) and also some of the levels require constant movement chasing after target, protecting someone or just because the ground behind you is disappearing. having powerful weapons is good but having well planned synchronized actions is even better cause the units can attack multiple times, have free actions, free movement, gain adrenaline and so on. The over-world map reminds me of Into the Breach - you can select you sector then in the sector you can select different missions and see what are the main and the optional rewards. Very fun game. I am surprised that it took Metal Slug to get a turn based tactics spin-off so the genre can have something fresh and different. If you are feeling fatigued by the standard turn based tactics games and just want something simple and fun that won't take you a month to complete (one run is about 6 hours give or take but you unlock stuff so it is intended to be replayed) then this might be what you are looking for.
A lot of adventure/point and click games use "moon logic" - the solutions to the puzzles are not following logic but rather use the craziest and counter intuitive solution possible. Between Horizons on the other hand relies on logic puzzles. In a way the game is a series of logic puzzles held together by the story. You have a case, you collect evidence, you choose the solution to the case based on the evidence and move on to the next one. I liked the majority of the puzzles although there were a couple where the "rules" were not communicated very clearly so I was not sure whether I understand correctly the task or not. The story is fine although it is not something outstanding. I wish the conclusion was more fleshed out, but given that there are multiple variations of the ending it is understandable why the Fallout style of summarizing the consequences of your choices was used. Most likely this is also the reason why the game is a bit short. There weren't many memorable characters, but this is not an over the top type of setting like Monkey Island and the characters are down to earth instead of overexaggerated. It might seem that I am moslty poiting flaws but I really enjoyed the game. Maybe I am not looking hard enough but for me it was refreshing to play an adventure game with believable setting and logic based puzzles. I enjoyed the tame atmosphere as a great change from the epic/fantasy/slapstick comedy settings a lot of adventure game have.
This is an expansion pack like in the old days. A beefy story line. New area of Night City to explore a bunch of new side quests and items. Along with the other improvements done on the main game this expansion feels great to play.
Firefrost looks, sounds and in some ways feels like an Atari 2600 game. You need to get rid of all the enemies on the stage before progressing to the next one which involves making paths through the snow with a flamethrower in order to maneuver and then blasting the enemies with it. The enemies can also attack and each have their own strike pattern which however is telegraphed so you can have a hance to get out of the way. Some have special abilities like dumping more snow on the already cleared tiles. During the run you can choose from a few available upgrades (like increased range for the flamethrower) so you can deal with the increased number and somewhat increased difficulty of the enemies. At the end of the run some mutators will be unlocked which can make the new run a bit different (have only one charge in the flamethrower or end the run on death). This doesn’t sound too bad on paper but the game feels simplistic which is the big downside for me. The enemies should increase in difficulty on the later stages of the run but apart from taking into account the different strike patterns I’ve handled them in the same way as the earlier enemies. To complete a run takes about 30 mins and it encourages multiple runs with different mutators and upgrades for the flamethrower in order to get different experience. the closest game I can compare Firefrost to is ultra simplified Into the Breach - turn based, enemies telegraph moves, player has almost perfect information because apart from enemy spawn points (maybe) I did not notice any RNG. There is also a tiny bit of a story and its only drive is the main character craving to get home and have some hot soup and the enemies that for some reason don’t want to allow this. In conclusion the game is very light and short which is not necessarily a bad thing depending on what a player is looking for.
To set the correct expectations it is worth noting that the game is based on a board game called Death Roads: All Stars that has been adapted to be a single player digital game. The player participates in a post-apocalyptic (the moon crashed into the Earth) TV game where they start at the west side of the USA and need to make it to the east side while battling mobs and other competitors (mini bosses) and at the end there is a boss battle. The game is a roguelike and if the player’s vehicle is destroyed they need to start a new run but the failed run might help with unlocking new vehicles and drivers. The game loop is similar to FTL: choose a path from one city to another and while on the road face combat encounters and random events. The city might have a garage to repair vehicle damage or a chop shop to buy and sell parts. And then repeat. In essence the game is a deck builder where the driver and each vehicle part have their own set of cards and combined they form the combat deck similar to Trials of Fire. There are also items that are not part of the deck that provide a small bonus if a particular requirement is met. The starter parts are pretty underwhelming, especially the tires since they only have turn left and turn right options but during the course of the game better parts will be acquired which will provide cards with much more functionality. There are a couple of obvious builds: making a nimble vehicle that can easily maneuver or a tank build with not much mobility but that can absorb damage and hits hard. The deck building and the card synergies are not very complex and that's a plus for me. The negatives: the battles can get a bit samey and the random events are uninspired. I’m quite happy with the game. In the right circumstances if you play your cards well you can set up a combo to bump into multiple enemies then appear behind them and spray them with the machine gun or push an enemy into an incoming obstacle. It can feel pretty satisfying
