“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.
Video Games
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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.
I dabbled in Makivision’s “Sacraboar”, an RTS with a capture-the-flag theme, for a bit. Imagine my surprise when I heard that they had gone in a completely different direction and developed “Way to Go!”, a game featuring challenging puzzles. In “Way to Go!”, players will be guiding Rob, Egg, and Liz through a series of levels in an attempt to find gems stolen from the Temple of Peace. Not to worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds…or is it? Before I go any further, I’d like to quickly thank Oliver Silski from Makivision Games for reaching out to me and providing me with a free review copy.
Rougelikes seem to be the trend as of late, this particular one being a top-down sandbox survival horror game. This recent project from Acid Wizard Studio draws some similarities to “Teleglitch” in that it features an eerie atmosphere, a crafting system, and the ability to send your adrenaline levels to all new heights.
Oh you poor, poor Kerbals. You happily build me rockets and spacecraft completely oblivious to the fact that I’m an accountant by trade who dabbles in games journalism from time to time. Perhaps they should screen their mission control supervisors a bit better? Nah. As you may have guessed from the name, “Kerbal Space Program” is a spacecraft/rocket simulator that allows players to manage their very own space program. Before the Kerbals catch on to the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing, I’d like to thank Adrián Goya and Alejandro Mora from Squad for setting me up with an early access copy. Like all games still in development, it’s important to remember that the content featured below may be subject to change.
“Imagine Earth” is sort of like a cross between “SimCity” and “SimEarth”, but has more of a puzzle theme to it. Essentially, you’ll be plopping buildings down in an attempt to make money and provide for your citizens. It was a challenge to figure out how to place all of the buildings I gained access to in the most efficient way possible. Of course, you’ll have mother nature to contend with, among other things. It’s a great idea and I’m hoping to see more of it in the upcoming months.
I’ll say this…the trailers for this game (here and here) are probably the most unusual creations ever to have surfaced in the world of naval warfare games. “Leviathan: Warships” is a naval warfare simulator that tasks the player with blowing up ships while safeguarding their own. After playing it for a while, I dubbed it as a cross between “Gratuitous Space Battles” and “Frozen Synapse”. If you haven’t played or heard of either of those games, that’s OK. To sum up the overall theme, you’ll be customizing your ships, assigning those ships to a fleet, and commanding them on the open waters to take out enemy ships in a tactical turn-based environment. Before I get into the specifics, I’d like to thank Veronica Gunlycke and David Martinez from Paradox Interactive for providing me with a free review copy.
Let me start this off by relaying a piece of news I found to be hilarious. The developer of this game released their own cracked / pirated version of the game the same day as its release. Wait…what!? These guys certainly have a sense of humor, having built code into the pirated version that dwindles funds away from the player as the result of in-game piracy. Needless to say, those who pirated “Game Dev Tycoon” did not react well to the in-game piracy issues they had to deal with…how’s that for irony? At any rate, “Game Dev Tycoon” will put you in the role of a developer trying to start their own game development company (and if you didn’t pirate the game itself, you might actually succeed). Before we get started getting into the nitty-gritty details, I’d like to thank Patrick Klug from Greenheart Games for providing me with a free review copy.
I’ve always enjoyed “survival” games, as they give me a chance to explore a side of me I rarely get to see. Sure, games like “Don’t Starve” can’t take the place of white water rafting, but they allow us to experiment without breaking bones and braving the elements. “Don’t Starve” tasks the player with doing exactly that. You’ll pick a character and dive head first into a world with nothing but the clothes on your back.
I dabbled in this game’s Beta for a little while and enjoyed my experience, even if I wasn’t fully sure as to what I was doing. Essentially, you’re a leader who’s in charge of building up a small settlement from scratch. You’ll be collecting resources, completing quests, and participating in siege battles to “level up” so to speak. It’s an RTS in the sense that you’ll be constructing various buildings to improve your settlement, but it’s drawn out to the point where it takes longer to do so. You’ll have the option to play online with others, hence where the MMO part comes into play. This game draws some similarities to “Age of Empires Online”, but is more adult in nature and does some things pretty unique to the genre. Before I get into all of that, I’d like to thank the folks at Reverie World Studios, Inc. for providing me with a free review copy.
Most of you, at one point in your life, have allowed yourself to stay up well past your normal sleeping hours in pursuit of some sort of hobby. My first experience doing so was in high school, after playing “Birth of the Federation” for the very first time…the first 4x game I ever played. From that point on I was hooked, spending more time on the “Civilization” and “Galactic Civilizations” series than I probably should. “Endless Space” left a very good taste in my mouth, so much that I yearned for something to “one up” it. Will “StarDrive” fit the bill and will it stand up to the other 4X space sims I’ve had the pleasure of playing throughout time? Before I answer that, I’d like to thank Daniel DiCicco from zer0sumGames for providing me with a free review copy. It’s important to note that the copy I was given was of the late Beta stage, but was close enough to the final copy in that I could do a full review. Still, some of the pictures & features may be slightly out of date.
Being the Grand Prize Winner for Excellence and Design in the Independent Games Festival (in this case, 2010) is kind of a big deal. I’ve been following “Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine” ever since and was really intrigued by the idea behind the game. Essentially, you’re a thief who has to find an object of interest inside a building and escape. Of course, it’s not as simple as that. Completing a heist requires a lot of patience and skill, with emphasis on the former. Before we get started with the review, I’d like to thank Andy Schatz from Pocketwatch Games for providing me with a free review copy.