“Star Trek” as a whole has always been a positive influence in my life. The idea that man will one day be able to rise above poverty, disease, war, and bigotry provides a sense of hope in regards to my son’s future. When I look at television shows today and attempt to count how many actually convey a positive message the way “Star Trek” did, I shake my head and put on my sad panda face. Not only did “Star Trek” succeed in conveying hope to millions of people, it created unique characters that are still iconic in today’s society. I still enjoy watching Spock and McCoy go at it, even if I’ve seen it done a hundred times already.
Video Games
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When I first loaded up “O’Cells”, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The description on its Greenlight page (link below) mentioned that it was a real-time strategy game that allowed you to manage your own anthill. Having fond memories of “SimAnt” for the SNES, I was anxious to give this game a field test. Before we get started with the preview, I’d like to thank Alexis Jouanneaux for including me in the Beta. As such, the game isn’t finished yet making the below content subject to change.
Match 3 games seem to be swarming Steam’s Greenlight page as of late, though I have yet to find a Match 3 series more in-depth than “Puzzle Quest”. “Bret Airborne” draws a lot of similarities to “Puzzle Quest”, but instead of casting spells and fighting goblins, you’ll be taking the battle to the skies in a hot air balloon. In this particular Match 3 puzzle game, you’ll be taking on the role of Bret Airborne who must help Doctor Atlus to thwart his evil brother and his band of merry minions. Before we get started with the specifics, I’d like to thank Dave Toulouse from Machine 22 for seeking me out and providing me with a review copy.
I can’t resist a good horror game and when I came across “Eyes”, I knew I’d have to try it. The objective of this horror game is to collect a set number of money bags and make your way to the exit without getting caught by this floating head that’s patrolling the house. The graphics and controls are fairly simplistic, making the game easy to get into. You run into doors to open them, which was nerve-wracking at times…who knew what was on the other side waiting to pounce on you? The game gives you a heads up at least when you need to run and provides “eyes” that you can pick up, allowing you to see through the eyes of the floating head in order to pinpoint its whereabouts.
Paramount surprised me with a new video this morning, this time focusing on the storyline and some of the new characters that will appear in the game. Have a look:
“Altitude” has been out since 2009, but was unfortunately one of those games that slipped through the cracks in regards to games I’ve been meaning to try. The game’s primary focus is multiplayer, tasking players with flying an aircraft with or against others on a two-dimensional plane. It has an action-arcade feel to it with multiple game modes…think Unreal Tournament but with planes. Before we get into specifics, I’d like to thank the folks at Nimbly Games for providing me with a free review copy.
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.
“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.