Tag: Software

I’ve always enjoyed the idea of exploring the Solar System, its planets and conquering places that no one ever visited before. And with Solar Expanse, you can easily do that. The game allows you to enter a space race where you’re competing with other corporations in order to mine asteroids, colonize other planets and terraform. It’s all a sandbox, so the focus is on trying to colonize the system and prevent losing. And there are plenty of loss conditions. You can run out of money, for starters. Or you don’t tackle the asteroid heading towards Earth. But the true appeal of the game is certainly the experience, the ability to immerse yourself in a sandbox and customize stuff as you go along. For newcomers, Solar Expanse’s menus can feel rather overwhelming, but in a good way. A lot of the gameplay relies on planning and then executing spaceship missions. It’s interesting to browse ships and see their pros and cons, then choose the best ones. Some of them are great fo...

I should have claimed ground at a faster pace. I focused on growth and economic research, while placing outposts that made New Pariden the fastest growing city in the world. I also pumped out enough units to fill out two armies led by capable heroes, Garrett and Ilyra Fen, while four scouts discovered the mysteries of the world. I found three spots that would be great for new cities. But by the time I cleared out the monsters and founded Raven’s Heart, Capitar and Ruvenna got the other two locations locked down. And then I lost one big army and injured my leader in a quest battle. Producing fresh troops will not take long, but I need to decide whether I want to go to war for those prime city spots or if I should focus on the core of my kingdom. Elemental: Reforged is developed and published by Stardock Entertainment.  I played on the PC, the only hardware platform on which the title is available, using Steam. The video game combines and updates previous releases in...

It’s always a good idea to give people double rations, if possible. It keeps the population growing and, once the number of villagers that can work resources in a province is maxed-out, a decent stream of new combat-ready troops. Keep pumping out houses for anyone who needs them and try to get an inn quickly. Then gather the best fighters, use experience to get decent cards, and prepare to win a battle. Rising Lords - The Pilgrim War is developed by Argonwood and published by Deck13. This is the first downloadable content pack for the strategy title, offering fans a new campaign to work through and a new faction to control or fight against. The newcomer is the Kingdom of Atra, which is famed for its ability to put together big and terrifying armies. Their polity is wealthy, their cities are well fortified, and they follow a different religion than the factions from the North that players are already familiar with. The conditions for a major conflict are set. Playe...

The zombies are shuffling in a line. Technically, this violates every rule that pop culture has taught us about the living dead, be they slow or fast. They should be clustering, jostling for position, trying to get to my hot blood and tasty brains as quickly as possible. Their predictable movement means I can combine my shotgun and my knife to cut them down. It would have been nice to have a Molotov, but I used it a few rooms earlier, when I mishandled my movement and ended up in a corner. So, I try to use the knife as much as possible, even if that means I’ll have to use a med kit. All the bullets I save in this room will be crucial when I’ll have to deal with one of the more monstrous creatures later in the level. Vultures - Scavengers of Death is developed by Team Vultures and published by Firesquid. I played on the PC via Steam, with the game not offered on any other hardware. The title mixes turn-based combat with a classic biohazard scenario. It’s quickly cl...

If you’re a manga fan, then you most likely heard about The Player Who Can't Level Up. It’s a great release from a few years ago, and it actually became so popular that we now have a game made out of it. And honestly, the roguelike genre fits the manga extremely well. The premise for The Player Who Can't Level Up is simple, we have Kim Ki-Gyu, a young man that doesn’t level up like everyone else. He has two swords that go stronger, and he enters a tower where he is fighting a variety of threats. The premise is quite barebones in the preview version I played, but I am sure we will get some more context and ideas regarding the overall story. Thankfully, there’s plenty of art from the comics, and plenty of cutscenes to educate us about the character and his interactions. The gameplay is easy to understand, since you enter the tower, kill enemies and move on to the next area. As you play and explore, you unlock abilities that will help you improve your overall skillset...

Aphelion is the latest game from Don’t Nod, a studio known for its storytelling. In this game, we are taken on a planet called Persephone, which was just discovered at the edge of our Solar System. We follow Thomas and Ariane, 2 astronauts that are looking for a new place where humanity can regrow and live, now that Earth has been destroyed by rampant climate change. Aphelion has 11 chapters, and each one of them offers a nice change of pace, as you progress through the story. You will switch between the two characters, but Ariane is the major focus, as you will see things from her perspective for most of the game. When it comes to the gameplay, Aphelion is basically a third person climbing and platforming game which also requires you to explore the world and align/adapt things to move onward. It has tropes like yellow paint, which aren’t that much of an issue because the game is more about storytelling. Also, Aphelion is rather linear, and there aren’t off-the-bea...

This time around, it was the Serbs that broke the back of the Byzantine Empire. Judicious alliances and a few shrewd tactical decisions got us a favorable peace with the Ottomans. The computer then chose to focus more on Anatolia and the Middle East. This meant I had time to try and consolidate the empire, control the much-too-powerful nobility, and rebuild the economy. After years of frustration and a few small rebellions, things started to look up. My cabinet did good, although a few deaths slowed down empire consolidation, as the treasury recovered. When the Bulgarians declared war, I was confident that we could win. And then the Serbs joined in, and it became clear the Phoenix had no chance. On my next run, diplomatic appeasement will be higher on the priority list. Europa Universalis V: Fate of the Phoenix is developed by Paradox Tinto and published by Paradox Interactive. This is the first immersion pack for the grand strategy title, centered on the Byzantine...

We’ve seen rhythm games time and time again, but we rarely find one that’s very appealing and with lasting value. Rhythm Doctor is one of those titles, because it brings the excitement of rhythm games, while blending it with a medical theme that’s very difficult to find these days in videogames. At its core, the main idea behind Rhythm Doctor is rather simple. You are taking part in a remote defibrillation internship program, and you are trying to treat patients suffering from heart issues. However, you need to figure out when to use your defib unit, and there are audio cues to help you achieve that. The game starts by allowing you to calibrate visuals to the sounds you’re hearing. Then, you determine the input delay accordingly. I like the fact that you can start with calibrating, because it makes the experience feel more responsive, once everything is set up correctly. I recommend that you play with headphones, because you need to have time for every button press...

When it launched, MEMORIAPOLIS left a great impression on us, because it brought a unique perspective when it comes to city building. And its latest update called Banners & Wonders, which arrived free of charge for anyone who owns the game, takes things even further. For starters, we should note that if you have older saves from the original release, those won’t work with the new update. You will have to start a new city, which is great anyway because it offers some creative, new ideas. As the name suggests, the highlight of this update are definitely the game’s new wonders. There are 3 wonders in total, the Eiffel Tower being the one you can access right away. Then, there’s the Neuschwanstein Castle and the Statue of Liberty that you can unlock after you complete some playthroughs. Basically, you have to complete certain objectives in order to progress from one age to the next. The older wonders are called monuments now and they will help you reduce the constructi...

Getting a hot new track is the highlight of the day. After I enter the store, I talk to the employees who have shifts, listen to their concerns, then open up the jukebox, play the new song, play it again, and then make a twenty-minute playlist. This is roughly how long it takes to get through a game day filled with chatty customers and the constant search for the perfect record. My character, the new kid at the record store, is also constantly learning more about his colleagues and about the former rock star owner. And it’s always a pleasure to pick up a record, read the track list, see what the critics think, and then listen to the lead single. Wax Heads is developed by Patattie Games and published by Curve Games. I played it on the PC using Steam, with the title also on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5 from Sony, and the Xbox Series X and S from Microsoft. The video game is an exuberant exploration of music, its fans, and its power to connect people and mak...