I just completed the first game once again, 23 years after I finished the original. I was just going to play a single dungeon for old times sake, but the game is just as good as it was then so I played it all the way to the end once more. I'll likely play the other two games as well when they come out (this contains all three games but only the first is playable right now, other ones are being finished). This is a perfect remaster. Nothing has been changed, only life is dramatically easier now with the addition of an automapper and various improvements like asking temples or the magic shop to simply heal or recharge everything, magic spells sorted by type and fulltext search. Every week they seem to add another yet improvement. It is what it is, a dungeon crawler, but a really good one, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed getting lost in the dark in a dungeon with a battered party while running out of spell points, desperately searching for an exit. For three games in one, this is a fair price.
Do not be deceived by the simple graphics, this is a deceptively detailed and brutal game. I've spent a truly ridiculous amount of time playing this game. Playing as the Germans, it is relatively easy to crush the Allied advance, but the true challenge is to play the Allied side. The initial attack you have strength on your side but things will quickly turn to the German's advantage if you get bogged down somewhere. ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ! Never stop ! Your only chance is to maintain momentum if you want to reach the final, and extremely hard, battle for Arnhem. Your troops will fight realistically and will suffer from low morale and panic when they get into difficulties. Use the terrain to maximum advantage and be really wary of the two greatest dangers, the German heavy machineguns and their vastly superior armor. Where the Allies have dinky toy tanks that sometimes get wiped out in the first seconds by the Panzers (and the infantry panzerfausts !) the allies are stuck with wimpy bazookas. Try to attack Panzers from the sides or back as your bazooka shell will simply bounce of the front. Infantry wise the field is more level, both sides are pretty equal and the BAR is not to be underestimated. Mortars are especially useful breaking the enemy resistance. This is one of those brilliant games that are hard, but not impossible, and if you simply want to win, just play the Germans :)
I loved this game. It is basically SimCity in the afterlife. You have to try to cater for every soul both in Heaven and in Hell. Different souls deserve different rewards or punishments. The various kind of joy-or-torture buildings are very funny. As the world population grows it becomes increasingly hard to give everyone the afterlife experience (for good or for ill) that they deserve. In the endgame you will probably run out of space to house them all. You will find that Hell tends to get overcrowded fast (not that easy to get into Heaven :P) but you can compensate for that by sending prophets to the real world to make the overall population more holy (or more evil). Hell was the most 'profitable' so you can use your damned souls to help 'pay' for the Heaven side of the business in the beginning of the game. So don't strive for balance right in the beginning. TL;DR A very funny and original take on the SimCity simulators marred with some balance problems.
This deceptively cute and funny game has several hidden layers and story twists. I managed to complete it in five hours. Then I cried for an hour. It is not perfect, but the emotional impact was so strong I am giving it five stars anyway. Best Indie game I've played since Sword & Sworcery. You'd be nuts if you miss out on this gem.
ALTAR went broke finishing the sequel to Aftermath and it shows. There are too many bugs to list. However, the ALTAR games are blessed with an amazing modding community who have fixed and improved this game. You will have to do a little homework but it will really pay off. Unpatched and unmodded this game scores only 2/4 mind you. The game which is most like the ALTAR UFO games is NOT the original turn based XCOM game, but the realtime-pause combat of X-COM: Apocalypse. So if you hated that you can stop reading now :) Patched and modded, Aftershock is a delightful game. The realtime-pause combat combined with ragdoll physics is incredibly addictive. Combat will change a lot as the game progresses and new technologies and skills become available. The game is very different from the original Aftermath so take that into account before buying. I like both games for various reasons. Aftermath (modded) for its extreme difficulty and Aftershock for the hilarious ragdoll physics. The next game in the series, Afterlight, is one of my all time favourites, where they did not make any of the mistakes they made when making Aftershock, and vastly improved on it.
After 30 years of playing games this is still my number 2 (Number one being Alpha Centauri). It basically uses a Civilization based worldmap with city building and development combined with tactical battles with units combined with magic spells cast by your or your heroes. Doesn't sound that special until you play it. The replay value of this game is almost infinite due to different races and strategies. The various magic school powers interact in very interesting ways and after the 1.3.1 patch the AI is murderous. There are also 2 planes on the world which make things even more interesting. Gameplay stars out with simple battles but as the game progresses and you gain more magic power it becomes more and more important until you start casting things like Eternal Darkness combined with Zombie Mastery over the entire world and unleash your undead legions for example. Or will you specialize in creating creating artifact weapons and armor and summon the legendary Thorin, warrior of light, to crush your enemies ? The heroes you might enlist also start fairly basic but become engines of destruction toward the endgame. The possibilities are endless. One of the rare strategy games where even in the endgame things stay exciting and I or the AI managed to turn the game around on occasion. I cannot recommend this game enough.
This is not XCOM, but it is a good game. It is not turnbased, but realtime with pause. You really have to play it modded but there are amazing mods available for the ALTAR games. It is incredibly hard but also incredibly rewarding to play. If you completed TOTD you can handle this. DO IT.
I still play this after all these years as no one has ever made a better civ game. Haven't checked, but if you don't have Crossfire on GoG you should totally add that too.
