The highly anticipated “Star Trek: The Video Game” is right around the corner, reaching Trekkers everywhere early next week. Paramount Pictures released the third video in their installment, this time focusing on “the making of”. I particularly enjoyed the new game footage, though watching the cast record their dialogue was neat to see.
Video Games
“Company of Heroes” was a beast to play. I found it incredibly difficult, and I consider myself an experienced RTS vet. The AI is ruthless even on the easier difficulty settings and the amount of micromanagement required will test your reflexes beyond their limits. Still, I can’t help but be psyched for the upcoming sequel, scheduled to be released on June 25, 2013.
Galactic domination has always been high on my to-do list, and for the most part, I manage to accomplish it seven or eight times a month. “Starlink” lets me do it all over again, taking bits and pieces from other real-time strategy games and rolling them up into one interesting package. If you’ve ever played “Eufloria”, “Auralux”, “Oil Rush”, “Planets Under Attack”, or “Mayhem Intergalactic”, you’ll be instantly familiar with the mechanics of “Starlink.” There are a few things about “Starlink” however that drew me to it. Before I get into specifics, I’d like to thank Michael Lyashenko from Tasharen Entertainment for providing me with a free copy of the game.
When I first laid eyes on “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II”, I was skeptical. Not because it looked like a bad game (which it isn’t), but because I’m generally not a fan of squad management games. I was a bit more close-minded and picky in the games I played back then, but I’m glad I broke through that barrier so that I could experience this “little” gem.
I recently reviewed “Cubemen 2” and enjoyed it, but was turned off by the prices of some of the downloadable content. Skins and maps were 99 cents a piece, which in my opinion, is a high price to pay even if they are optional and cosmetic in nature. In response to the community, 3 Sprockets announced that they were giving back to their paying customers.
There’s nothing like a good game of “Chess” to stimulate the mind, but sometimes you just want more. More as in, pick up a sword (simulated, of course) and run your enemies through until they beg for mercy. “Rooks Keep” is an upcoming action-strategy game that let you do both of those things. It’s a cross between “Unreal Tournament”, “Chivalry: Medieval Warfare”, “Archon”, and “Chess” rolled up into one neat package. Before we take a quick look at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank Arn Richert from Runestorm for providing me with a free preview copy. It’s important to stress that the game is not done yet, meaning that the below content is subject to change.
I admit that strategy games and simulators are more my thing, but on occasion I will dabble in first-person shooters. “ShootMania Storm”, while being primarily an arena-esque multiplayer first-person shooter, is a little more than the sum of its parts. Some of you may recognize the name from the developer’s “TrackMania” games, which feature intense racing and community created content. Before we take a look at this particular first-person shooter, I’d like to thank Edouard Beauchemin from Nadeo for providing me with a free review copy.
I’ve lost count of how many tower defense games I have in my collection. Interestingly enough, I came across a game that does something totally new to me: allow the user to move the towers they build. Both “Cubemen” games revolve around the same general idea in that you’ll be building cubemen and moving them around in an RTS-like fashion. Cubemen come in various types and are upgradable, much like the towers you’d see in a typical tower defense game. The end result is a RTS meets tower defense game, but just how well do they play together? Before we answer that and take a look at the latest game in the series, I’d like to thank Seon Rozenblum from 3 Sprockets for providing me with a free review copy.
As I explained in my preview, “Sang-Froid – Tales of Werewolves” is a clash of tower defense, action, and RPG elements that tasks the player with defending lumberjacks and their families from the forces of evil. The setting? Canada, circa 1858. This means that you won’t have hi-tech laser pistols and the like to fend off the beasts that you’ll be taking on…rather, you’ll be armed with a rifle, an axe, and a wide variety of traps. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Vincent Blanchard from Artifice Studio for providing me with a free review copy.
Most, if not all of us, hate traffic. Needless to say, when “Cities in Motion” came out in 2011, I was all for showing…well, someone…how to handle traffic patterns and mass transit once and for all. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take screenshots of my “successes” and email them to my local city representative. Perhaps it had something to so with the fact that I failed in my attempts miserably. I enjoyed my time with “Cities in Motion”, but the difficulty curve was too darned high for my liking. A capacity mod to double the size of the busses and etc. made the game a hundred percent better in my opinion, but it was clear to me that some improvements could have been made to make the game a bit more user-friendly for the casual folks. For those of you new to the series, “Cities in Motion” tasks the player with creating a transportation network successfully around a pre-built city. It’s important to stress that “Cities in Motion” is not a full-blown city-builder like “SimCity”. Today, we’re going to take a look at “Cities in Motion 2” and determine whether or not it does things better than it predecessor. Before the citizens of this game revolt and vote me out of office (again), I’d like to thank Veronica Gunlycke from Paradox Interactive for providing me with a free review copy.
The “Fatal Frame” series set the bar for me back in the day when it came to horror games. Sure, there are plenty of games out there now that will scare the pants off of you, but “Fatal Frame” was one of the first to do so. “DreadOut” is similar to the “Fatal Frame” series in that you’ll have to deal with supernatural events and utilize a camera. The game is still a ways off from being finished, but you can try the demo out yourself via the links below. I also added a gameplay video, for those of you who just want to see the game in action without having to do the work themselves.
MMORPGs are fun to play, but they’ll suck the life right out of you if you let them. I played World of Warcraft more for the PvE aspect as I hated having to memorize complex boss fights and being yelled at by nerd-raging guild leaders who don’t have a life outside of their own bedroom. I’m now WoW-free, but was excited to see “It’s A Wipe” hit Steam’s Greenlight page. A game that allows you to manage your own guild, bark orders during raids, and level up your characters? Yes, please! Before we get started, I’d like to thank Harry Durnan for providing me with an early copy. It’s important to note that the game is still being worked on, so everything you see below is subject to change.
Arrrrr Matey! It’s not often that I get to play the role of a pirate, but when I do, I’m usually having a grand time. “Pirates!” for the NES comes to mind, later to be modernized via “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” “Pirate Hell”, while keeping the player in the shoes of a pirate, does things a bit differently than the aforementioned games. It’s less of a simulation and more arcade-like, focusing more on shooting up ships as opposed to dancing with the governor’s daughter. Before we get started with the review, I’d like to thank the developer for providing me with a free review copy.
Hunting is a practice that’s been around for quite some time. Some might do it because they seek the thrill of the hunt itself while others simply might enjoy the crisp, morning air and the quiet serenity that the forest has to offer. “Hunter’s Trophy 2” promises both of these things, allowing the player to hunt various game with a variety of weapons and tools at their disposal while navigating breathtaking environments. “Hunter’s Trophy”, an exclusive PS3 game, was received with mixed results and so I was interested to see how the sequel fared in the grand scheme of things. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Katleen from Bigben Interactive and Francis Ingrand from Plug In Digital for providing me with a free review copy.
I’m terrible at concentration. I’m the type of person that is lucky to remember what he had for breakfast that morning. I write everything down in a handy pocket tablet so that I don’t forget important things…like getting dressed. It’s for this reason that I groaned in protest when I saw this game appear on Desura…not because I thought it might be a bad game, but because my ego was bound to take hit. “Stack Overflow” is electronic concentration with buffs and power-ups, much like “Mario Kart” is to regular racing games.
A new trailer surfaced, featuring William Shatner and the original Gorn he fought in “Arena”. In this grand re-uniting, they settle who actually won that battle so many “years ago.”