Nice roguelike in the vein of FTL. Choose a ship, venture across a series of procgen systems. This game is significantly less complex than FTL, with no crew management, boarding, etc. It's really focused more on the weapon upgrading and card-based ship combat. If you like space games, roguelikes, and turn-based combat, give this a try!
This is such a good game that gets talked about so little. If you enjoy stealth-action, hack-and-slash combat, this game really shines. You are sneaking around Mordor, recruiting orcs and oruk-hai and olog-hai and whatnot into your army, taking over Sauron's various little fortresses, upgrading weapons and armor, hunting down enemy officers (who become powerful nemesis if they kill you instead), and optimizing your army for the fortress sieges that are tons of fun. Highly recommend.
I happened to check GoG just now before leaving for work, and was thrilled to see this gem on the storefront. I have owned 2-3 copies of this game on disc, because IMO it is one of the greatest WW2 shooters ever. Actual review... Gameplay: 9/10 Right off the bat, this is where H&D2 excels. You have over-the-shoulder 3rd-person, iron-sights, first-person, and top-down "tactical strategy" views, all in a game from 2003. Make no mistake, this is a tactical game; your characters are not bullet sponges, and a dumb mistake will end up with a lost teammate. It allows you to swap between control of your team, to direct each individually, which is key to being efficient (AI is not great, so expect to exert very granular control). The missions are large, varied (I absolutely LOVE the Pacific Theatre missions), and well-paced. The campaign is relatively long, but the variety of missions means it doesn't wear out its welcome. Some examples of the missions: - Capture a german sub that's stranded near a weather station on an iceberg - Place mines on the Tirpitz (battleship) and an adjacent minesweeper (oh yeah, there's diving, and it's really cool). Steal the Enigma device from the minesweeper, then escape underwater - Sieze a hilltop bunker in Burma that's been foiling assault for weeks - Infiltrate a seafort and destroy the cannons shelling allied ships Graphics: 7/10 They're dated, admittedly, but you probably wouldn't be on GoG if you weren't okay with that. Sound: 6/10 Nothing to write home about. I was actually hoping for more from a game where stealth is so heavy. Story: 5/10 This is IMO the weakest part of the game. The missions are cool, the objectives are neat, but THERE IS NO VILLAIN. You are truly playing a game about a group of guys sent to accomplish strategic war goals. There is no evil nemesis. There is no escalation (some of the best missions are towards the beginning). Ultimately, there is no climax. Conclusion: I highly recommend this game.
I was so excited when I saw the first Imperium Galactica pop up for sale here, wondering if and when they would get #2, which is by far and away the superior game. Graphics: 8/10 Audio: 6/10 (but who listens to in-game audio?) Gameplay: 9/10 This is one of the most in-depth strategy games ever made. It has 3 "main" playable races/ 3 campaigns, but a number more races you can play in the sandbox or challenge scenarios. The gameplay is your standard 4X fare, but with a real ability (or in some cases ONLY the ability) to succeed through trade, espionage, or betrayal. The graphics have significant staying power for a game that's now 19 years old (*sobs*), easily keeping up with current 4X games by nature of being top-down. The planet-assault gameplay in ImGal2 is the ONLY I've ever enjoyed in a 4X game; normally it's either just flat sprites against a fixed backdrop, or a number counter, or something of the like. In ImGal2, you actually deploy your tanks, then control them in the *actual* city. If you blow up buildings, you'll have to repair them once you take the city, etc. The spying is awesome. I remember a couple times I managed to sabotage an enemy battleship just before a fleet battle, and that likely made the difference in me winning. You can assassinate leaders, sabotage ships, buildings, or tanks, hunt enemy spies, incite revolts, run counterintelligence, or just send your spies to spy summer camp for some training. Did I mention that you can hire spies of various races, and use them to better/worse effect depending on who you send them against? Yeah. It's awesome. The random events are awesome too. In most games, stuff happens like, "a meteor hit". In ImGal2, it's like, "this alien race needs you to send in tanks to destroy this building being held by terrorists on their planet because they have a virus that's lethal to them but doesn't affect your species." Then you actually assemble a tank squad and go drop them in and blow up this building. THEN, afterwards, you can either return the planet to them, or declare it your's. This was released on iOS and Android maybe 2 years ago now, and ever since then I've been pining for a proper PC digital release. So glad it's finally here!
I got this game as a kid, in the large original box. I still have the CD in my box of CDs, but I'd long since ripped an image of the disc, and was playing it just last week. UNFORTUNATELY, the GoG release doesn't have the amazing intro movie built-in, but you can still go watch it. I used to watch it every time the game started; that's how good it is. Gameplay-wise, I give Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain a 4. It's not Imgal 2, but Imgal 2 is also not Pax Imperia. When I want a game with deep espionage and diplomacy, I go to Imgal. When I want a game that's truly about the 4 'x'es, I play Pax Imperia. Once you figure out the systems the AI uses, it's easy and repetitive, but this is true of Imgal 2, Starcraft, Ur-Quan Masters, Earth 2150, and everything else out there. If you've never played Pax Imperia before, do yourself a favor and pick it up; for 6 dollars, it's an absolute steal. This is not nostalgia. This is last week's 6-hour, 100-system, 5-enemy Pax Imperia session talking.
I'll start off by saying, I love this game. It's a great balance of TBS and rpg-lite hero progression. I understand that some people seem to want to play the campaign, but I never touch campaigns in a game like this. I generate the largest random map I can and go wild. This game shines in enormous random maps, imo. Secondly, a word on DRM. Logging in to an online service in order to access said online service isn't DRM. You don't have to sign up or log into anything to play the game; only to play online, and this is not a multiplayer game at heart. If that is a deal breaker, I feel sorry for you because you're missing out on one of the best TBS games I've played. tl;dr - ignore the blowhards decrying the game for drm; I've been playing this for months and I've never signed into or signed up for anything.
Let me begin by saying, I don't find the other UFO games very interesting. Afterlight and Aftershock both missed the target in my opinion. Aftermath, however, hits a sweet spot. The gameplay is fun, methodical, and captures the feel of what the world is supposed to have become. Now, about every other reviewer comparing this game to X-COM... Don't compare this to X-Com. X-Com is supposed to be a different feel, with a different setting. This is darker, grittier, and imho (if you enjoy post-apocalyptic games) better. Grab the ComboMOD, which adds new missions, weapons, squad members, and enemies.
