I had a pretty fun time with “Surgeon Simulator 2013”, and while there were only six levels, they were fairly tough. Below is a quick walkthrough of the first three levels for those of you who need a bit of help. The last three levels are the same as first three, except you’ll have to contend with things moving all over the place. You’ll need a bit of luck on those levels, especially since your replacement organs tend to fall off the screen on a regular basis. The secret level can be accessed by inserting the “?????” disk into the computer, which you’ll receive once you beat the other six missions. As of 6/22/13, you can play as the medic in “Team Fortress 2” and perform a heart transplant on the heavy by inserting the video cassette tape into the VCR. Enjoy!
Video Games
I was one of the fortunate souls to discover the demo to this game a number of odd months ago. I quickly realized however that my lifelong experience as a gamer didn’t prepare me for “Surgeon Simulator 2013”. Bounding over pitfalls while jumping on Bullet Bills? No problem. Taking high-speed turns while launching missiles at the cars ahead of me? Easy. Building a space shuttle from the ground up and launching it into space? After some trial and error…cakewalk. Guiding a single hand to perform rudimentary open heart surgery in “Surgeon Simulator 2013”? Well, some things are better left unsaid. In this particular game, players will take on the role of a quote unquote doctor (Nigel Burke) that will be performing a series of medical procedures. Before we get started with the review, I’d like to thank the folks at Bossa Studios for providing me with a free copy.
Building your own spaceship from the ground up and sending her off on missions is an idea I can definitely get behind. In “Starship Corporation”, you’ll be able to do exactly that. The game is still in an Alpha state, so I wasn’t able to play with all of the game’s features. However, I was able to try out the ship building portion of the game to see how the design function worked. Before I reel off my first impressions of the Alpha, I’d like to quickly thank David Murent from Coronado Games for hooking me up with a free preview copy.
It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to go into space, though if NASA were smart, they wouldn’t let me anywhere near a lunar module. In “Lunar Flight”, I’ve gone through more lunar modules than Paris Hilton has shoes. In this particular spaceflight sim, you’ll be navigating a lunar module around the moon performing various missions in an effort to earn a little money and experience. Before we get into the specifics, I’d like to thank Sean Edwards from Shovsoft for providing me with a free review copy.
Whereas “Age of Empires II” was set during the times between the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, “Age of Empires III” focuses on the times during the European colonization of America. Oh, don’t worry, there are still archers and siege weaponry ready to do your bidding, but you’ll also encounter units like musketeers and rockets that are completely new to the series. As such, the third game in the series does keep with the standard RTS formula, but it introduces some new concepts that give the game a lot more depth.
It’s been a while since I’ve browsed Desura for free games to try out and as expected, I wasn’t disappointed. “Minimal Theory” puts the player in the role of a test subject that must get through a series of experiments. It’s similar to “Insert Title Here”, but it is much shorter and often goes off on tangents that are unique in style. You can check out my experiences with the game or try it out yourself via the links below.
When I first loaded up “C&C” back in the mid 1990’s, I was blown away. After all, there was a MAN talking to me on my screen and not some pixelated gibberish. “Rebel Assault 2” topped the cake in regards to full motion video at the time, but I was still impressed that my mission briefings in “C&C” were recorded by an actual actor. No, really kids, that’s how it WAS back in my day. At any rate, “Command & Conquer: Generals” became my favorite entry in the series, especially once I got my hands on the “Zero Hour” expansion. Why? So glad you asked.
“Caesar IV”, through and through, is a city-builder / resource management game (and a difficult one at that). As the governor of a province, you’ll be tasked with building your cities and ensuring that they prosper. To do that, you’ll need to carefully manage the resources scattered around the map, as well as ensure that you have the appropriate workers and buildings to acquire them.
Van Helsing, also known as Doctor Abraham Van Helsing, is best known for his role as a vampire/monster hunter in the 1897 publication of “Dracula”. In “The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing”, players will take on the role of the legendary doctor himself and embark on a journey through the gothic world of Borgovia. This particular game draws some similarities to the “Torchlight” and “Diablo” series in that it is an action-RPG, but it does some pretty unique things that make me want to keep playing. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Orsolya Toth from NeocoreGames for providing me with a free review copy.
How many of you remember the game, “Populous”? If you’ve ever played it at one point in your life, you certainly would have remembered it. The game featured two warring human factions, each with a god to watch over them. You got to control one of the gods, but not the faction they reigned over. Instead, you’d have to manipulate the environment and cast godly powers to see your way to victory. “Skyward Collapse” is somewhat similar, putting you in the role of a deity that must oversee the prosperity of two different factions. It turns out that preventing them from beating the tar out of each other is tougher than it looks. Before I start overusing the word “smite”, I’d like thank Erik Johnson from Arcen Games for providing me with a free review copy. Arcen Games, for those of you who may not recognize the name, are the same folks who did “AI War” and the “A Valley Without Wind” series.
“Sanctum” was one-of-a-kind back in its day. It not only helped to define a genre, but opened my eyes in regards to what tower defense games were capable of doing. I probably would have passed up “Dungeon Defenders” (one of my favorite games) had I not taken the plunge and participated in “Sanctum’s” Beta. Needless to say, I was excited to see “Sanctum 2”, the long-awaited sequel, hit the virtual shelves. The main menu allows the player to participate in single or multiplayer games, view leaderboards & achievements, check out the in-game gallery, and adjust game options. The options touch on all of your common settings like screen resolution, audio volumes, fullscreen toggle, keybinds, and etc. The game is broken up into a campaign of about fifteen levels that feature multiplayer capability.
With everything being an electronic download nowadays, rarely do I ever need to keep CDs at my desk. “Roller Coaster Tycoon 3” is the exception to the rule, as even after being out for a little under ten years, I still find myself spending hours at a time with it. “Roller Coaster Tycoon” was the first simulator I had ever played, and I’ll even go as far as to say that it introduced me to the entire genre. As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of it. As an adult, I still can’t. As you may have already guessed, “Roller Coaster Tycoon 3” tasks you with creating a theme park. You’ll have to manage rides, staff, customers, the works. It’s worth noting that I have the core game and the two expansions, so I’ll be touching on all three here.
I was one of the unfortunate souls that never had a chance to try “Black & White”, a god-game developed for the PC and Mac platforms soon after the turn of the century. The idea of being a god or controlling a set of gods to reign prosperity and/or terror among my subjects has always been sadistically appealing. I spent a ton of time with “Populous” back in the day doing exactly that, though I’m glad to see that more games are popping up as of late that focus on this particular genre. “Reus” will task the player with creating a set of giants, each with unique abilities, with the goal of seeing to the well-being of the humans that rise up and settle on your planet. Before we get started taking a look at this game in further detail, I’d like to thank Manuel Kerssemakers from Abbey Games for providing me with a free review copy.
Erica Reed is back and she’s better than ever, figuratively speaking. If you’ve been following along, you’d know that things aren’t exactly going well for her. Both of the prior episodes left a lot of questions unanswered, prompting me to download this game as soon I received the email in my inbox. I couldn’t wait to find out who the Cain Killer was and how some of the other characters tied into the story. Before we take a look at this particular episode in further detail, I’d like to thank Katie Hallahan from Phoenix Online Studios and Emily Morganti, a PR consultant on behalf of Phoenix Online Studios, for providing me with a free review copy. For the purposes of this review, I’m going to assume that you’ve played episodes one and two so there WILL be spoilers in that regard. However, I’ll keep things vague in regards to this episode so as not to spoil the plot.
Having played and enjoyed “Baby Blues”, I was excited to see how this particular Kickstarter success was taking shape. It succeeded in raising over $200,000 to help meet its Kickstarter goal, which is a fairly impressive feat. In “Among the Sleep”, you’ll be seeing things through the eyes of a two year-old child…things that you probably shouldn’t see. This game is a horror-adventure game that left me feeling helpless and afraid to venture forth, much like “Amnesia” and other similar games did. Not having a weapon in which to defend yourself more than likely had something to do with it, though being a helpless two year-old certainly doesn’t help matters.
Before you ask, “UFHO” stands for “Unidentified Flying Hexagonal Object”. No, it’s okay…no need to thank me, it’s all part of the service. Though, I won’t stop you from hitting that “donate” button off to the right a couple hundred times. At any rate, I was intrigued by the idea behind this particular game, seeing as how it incorporates a board game theme into a video game. In “UFHO2”, players will be choosing a character and moving it around a hexagonal playing field in an attempt to capture a set number of gems before their opponents do. It’s worth noting that the game is still in the Alpha state, meaning that all of the content you see here is subject to change. Also, a quick thank you to Ciro Continisio from Tiny Colossus for providing me with a free copy.