This is one of a very few games where I don't mind paying full price for the DLC because I really like the game and it has a native Linux support, something I really appreciate, especially in this genre. For the DLC itself, so far so good. This is probably the hardest early game faction so far. Units are really weak by themselves. This faction is designed to make you use the various special abilities and you actually have to for success. Even in the late game units die very easily but most can hit so hard if you manage your army well you'll prevail by taking out more of the enemy before you die. This review is based on the earliest build with this faction.
This game is probably closer to 3.5 but I bumped it up for being from a smaller developer and because the premise is really interesting. I'd love to see a sequel for this game that improves on the shortcomings because it has the potential to be a 5 star game. Premise: you are part of a submarine crew which crashed in the ocean and you take part in turn based missions to explore, find crew members, find equipment, figure out what happened. The tactical missions has your small squad walking along the bottom of the ocean in Mark V style dive suits. In this environment you have to manage health, air, and sanity as you search for clues and eventual encounter hostile enemies to fight. In between missions you can fix up your wrecked submarine with parts you salvaged in the tactical missions and the more rooms you can fix the better off you will be. Each room repaired can reveal more salvaged parts or blueprints for items you can make if you have enough of the right combination of materials. There is also a mechanism to give your crew helpful mutations and a "clue" resource which can be used for various benefits. These are all neat ideas and if you like underwater stuff and/or Cthulhu type stuff - even better. That said, these are my cons: color palette - choices were not good because it is very hard to see the highlighted squares that let you know how many action points you have left save system - seems like it was designed to encourage not save-scumming while still allowing it but the result is awkward and rather annoying Some things that for me aren't cons but could be improved: More variety - especially in enemies and items that could be crafted to add some tactical depth. I pretty much used the same knife and speargun for the whole game A full manual would of been helpful especially since this has some unique mechanics that even as a veteran of this kind of game were not obvious
This game really grew on me. Like many reviewers I was not fond of the silver/gold medal time limit mechanic but the more I played it the more I actually appreciated that aspect. In some missions you do have to choose, which is more important - the loot or the gold medal? Or even do you risk losing a unit by spreading yourself thin to get both. It is also not as hard as some reviewers say but you have to consider two keys - terrain and support. Proper use of terrain and supporting missile fire is very important in this game. That said, it is a challenging game but never seems unfair once you get used to the mechanics. The story is also decent with a fair amount of in-game cut scenes. Overall, this game reminds me a lot of a the old game Fantasy General, which was itself based on Panzer General. If you enjoyed those games, and the fantasy genre then I highly recommend this game.
