It’s always a good idea to scout more than you think you should. On the defensive, get reconnaissance squads into woods and high up, if possible, and make sure they have backup that can inflict damage on any target they see. On the offensive, try to sneak some on the flanks and get them into a spot where opponents don’t see them. Most units are highly lethal if used well, in a late 80s World War III scenario. So, seeing the Russians first is crucial. My Dutch troops might be inferior in terms of armor and helicopters, but they are dug in, well-armed, and will get plenty of artillery support. As long as I can pinpoint where the Soviets are launching their main strike from, the line will hold. Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War - Lowland Lions is developed by On Target Simulations and published by Matrix Games. This is the first downloadable content pack for the strategy game, focused on Dutch forces that are on the receiving end of the Soviet offensive that starts World...

One More Level might not be a studio as famous as FromSoftware, but its games – Ghostrunner and Ghostrunner 2, are well known among action games fans. The team’s latest work, Valor Mortis, is in a completely different genre, although it’s aimed at the same type of players as the studio’s other two games mentioned: players with good reflexes. Valor Mortis is a game that focuses on parrying the enemy more than any other soulslike. I don’t consider Sekiro a soulslike, but if it were, Valor Mortis is quite different in that regard. Much of the game’s combat system revolves around being successful at parrying and there are a lot of items that make that easy to achieve. What I really liked about Valor Mortis is that even though my reflexes aren’t what they used to be a decade ago, I can still win the hardest fights by simply taking advantage of the many alternatives that the game offers players. Each weapon in the game changes the way you play, and so is the Ambers, the...

My burly hero has pushed blocks of crystal out of the way and got to meet another character. I then inhabited her consciousness as she pulled similar blocks around through slightly different levels. Pulling, when it comes to Sokoban variations, is more difficult than pushing, but I managed to activate the three mechanisms. There’s no story explanation for the frequent shifts, even as the characters hint at a job they were part of and a magistrate that might be insane. I have also been a wizard, ready to swap places with a crystal as soon as I look at it. This makes moving the blocks around and onto plates more difficult. And now I get two characters, ready to switch between them to deal with a small but complex puzzle. Order of the Sinking Star is developed by Thekla, Inc. and published by Arc Games and Gamirror Games. I played it on the PC using Steam, with the title also on the Nintendo Switch 2 and the PlayStation 5 from Sony. The video game delivers a lot of pu...

As someone who played the Kingdom Rush series religiously over the past decade, I was very excited about Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis and its possibilities. Thankfully, the game is finally here, and it brings some interesting ideas, unique upgrades, but also some things that might irk some of the longtime fans. Although it’s a tower defense game and the genre is not known for its narrative, the title does bring a pretty interesting story. For Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis TD, the narrative is more of a prequel story set before the original Kingdom Rush game, where you are trying to stop a young Vez’Nan’s corruption. It’s not going to blow you away, but the narrative is interesting, and there are some comic-book-like scenes that share more details about the story. I like the fact that you can meet familiar faces and some iconic battlefields from the series. That being said, the game’s visuals have received a bit of an overhaul, and the level design is maybe the best the series...

Drawing the perfect square or circle isn’t a requirement for battlefield success. But it does help create a clear mental map of what divisions are doing and where. And a good plan, even if it does not survive contact with the enemy, is crucial for anyone fighting against the Nazis in 1944. So I use two smallish circles to tell two infantry divisions, one Canadian and another Scottish, to slowly move forward, cause casualties, and then stand their ground. Meanwhile, the 7th Guards is waiting for an hour and then breaking through the German frontline, seeking to exploit ground and capture supply depots once it hits open country. Let’s hope that the enemy doesn’t have the manpower for a defense-in-depth setup. It takes close to a day, but the Allies execute their plans well. The armor division does take around 10% losses, which can become a problem in the long term, but we’re now in a good position to isolate and secure Caen. I have scout plans over the city, seeking ...

I’ve played both previous iterations of Transport Fever, and I found them to be incredibly fun, albeit time-consuming. Transport Fever 3 is no different, it focuses a lot on micromanagement, it brings deeper economic management, even more complex transport networks and outstanding long-term replay value. The main strength of this game is its sandbox mode where you can go crazy the way you want, but even the campaign is immersive, albeit a tad restrictive since it tries to put you on a very specific path. Right off the bat, the game starts you from 1900 and it goes beyond 2030, so we pretty much have all the modern day to experience by ourselves, from a transportation standpoint. The campaign has 8 missions, and it does a great job of guiding you with some interesting, sometimes challenging objectives. Aside from that, you have the free game mode, which is my favorite, over 35 industries, more than 40 cargo types, 275+ vehicles and 4 climate types. So yes, there’s a ...

It’s spring, and I have three blocks in my hand, with only one arrow added for offensive action. This is the season for killing, when striking down a foe means you get a new rune to play. Basically, with a little luck, my crusading hero can win a battle as long as some of his foes have already been weakened and he has the runes to get close to pesky archers or casters. But that lovely chain of killing is impossible, so I settle on slashing two enemies before piling on as much defense as possible, wedged between two rocks so only four enemies can attack me. They do so, managing to eliminate all my blocks and deal two damage. Summer comes around, a great season for attacking, with boosted values for all damage-dealing runes. I exhaust one card to get fury, which further enhances attack, and get to work. With all opponents dead, I get to pick two new runes, including an arrow that will make it easier to deal with ranged opponents. I have two fights, one against vetera...

There have been a large number of beat’em’ups on the market recently, all with their own twist. Box Knight stands out because it has a very familiar premise. Many of us work at an office and don’t have the best work environment. At some point, maybe we dream of beating up people and even the CEO. Well, this is a game where you can totally do that, even if it’s in a more simplistic setting. Box Knight’s premise is that the company you are working for has fallen into darkness and the toxic culture has turned employees into creatures. Your mission is to clean the place floor by floor, until you reach the CEO and battle him. Being an office worker by day and a Box Knight once the clock hits 5 PM on a Friday, that’s pretty cool, and it lends itself to a very interesting experience here. It’s a great starting point and honestly, I had a great overall experience increasing my level, getting new upgrades and improving my character. It feels like an RPG at times, where you ...

Tower Tactics II is a very interesting game where you have a hero going through space, trying to eliminate enemies. But it’s all done in a tower defense setting, with some cool deckbuilding involved as well. You have the roguelike element where you can choose the battles/path you want to go on, and then you can opt for one of the heroes available, each with their own abilities. New cards and towers are unlocked as you play, which I found to be great, because it encourages you to play more and you can access all kinds of stuff such as new trinkets, and things that might help you improve your gameplay. And that’s excellent, because it gives you the means to experiment and try out new stuff at your own pace. Once you select the desired path to go on, you’re just focused on entering the level and placing towers. You have a limited number of resources to use every wave, so that definitely encourages you to think twice before placing any tower. I like the tower variety, ...

I’ve always appreciated the art and intense gameplay that goes into creating a solid metroidvania, and when I played Fallen Tear: The Ascension earlier this year, the game held a lot of promise. Not only is it a story-driven platformer, but everything from the combat to the platforming felt very well. Now, moving on to the main release, how do those things manage to hold up? Let’s find out. You play the role of Hira, who is a kid marked by a dark element and who is fated to take on ancient gods. You have the classic JRPG party building here, combined with excellent metroidvania and some soulslike action for good reason. What’s great is that there are over 20 regions in the game, all of them quite large, and everything is interconnected. Another thing that impressed me a lot was the scale of this game. The map is huge, and every region has a lot of twists and turns for you to explore. There is backtracking, obviously, but it’s rewarded and not just thrown in there t...

The history of MXGP games isn’t great, with the previous titles not having an exceptional track record. It was quite the opposite, actually. Now that the series moved to Artefacts Studio, a new developer, MXGP 26 has a lot to prove. And while it certainly has its own issues and it’s far from perfect, the game is pushing the series forward, while also offering some interesting gameplay mechanics and ideas. Right off the bat, the thing that impressed me the most in this game was its visuals. As expected, the game features all 19 racetracks from the real MXGP series, and a plethora of amazing bikes. There’s a huge attention to detail when showcasing these tracks, and they spare no expense to try and make them as realistic as possible. On PC, I found that the random graphics settings recommended by the game won’t give you the best performance or visuals, so a bit of tinkering is necessary. That being said, you can see the move to Unreal Engine 5 was a great one, becaus...

After creating a great noir cyberpunk story with Cloudpunk, the team at Ion Lands is back at it again. While we explore a cyberpunk town once again, this time around Nivalis Nights brings us to the city of Nivalis with a different approach. Our focus is to start a business and expand it and become a great entrepreneur. And we get to do that in a district pushed to the brink by the CorpSec crackdowns and where a mysterious serial killer is loose. Nivalis Nights manages to seamlessly blend some story elements with life simulations. Of course, we have to connect and interact with the people in this town, that’s expected. Yet at the same time, we also want to focus on expanding the growth of our business. Which honestly, is not that difficult to begin with. I like the focus that this game has on giving you control over the experience. You can run around the city and connect with people, you can manage your restaurant, even place furniture the way you want. And honestly...

All these vampires would make their un-lives so much better by simply banding together to solve some core problems. Like finding a sustainable way to drink blood without having to resort to hunts and creating a system that quickly and efficiently punishes anyone who actually drinks from a human without consent. But it’s much more fun to see them bicker and plot, while finding out secrets and deciding what’s best for the city and your new vampire character. Using detective skills to reveal details and exploration opportunities feels great, especially when the marks don’t know what’s coming to them. Some nice sewer exploration can help. And when everything fails, it’s time to put on a suit, get the shotgun, and choose the right relic to make a direct confrontation easier. Nighthawks is developed by The Curiosity Engine and published by Wadjet Eye Games. I played it on Steam on the PC, the only platform on which it is offered. The video game takes the core structure o...

Over the past few years, we’ve had quite a lot of metroidvania titles that allow you to explore the world at your own pace, with Hollow Knight being a prime example. Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster strives to bring that unique feel, while also offering us that 80s and 90s platforming goodness. The visual style is certainly reminiscent of that era, and the gameplay is swift, thus making for a rather entertaining experience. In Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster, you are the last beastmaster, so your focus is to try and progress in your adventure, defeat the bad guys trying to destroy Arborea, and all of that can be very challenging. The main gripe that I have with this game is the overall story and its dialog. They are forgettable and you won’t really feel very immersed in reading the text. Thankfully, this is the type of game where reading text isn’t exactly necessary. You will have a pretty good idea of where you need to go and who you need to kill to move onward, or...

Divinum is a game that caught my eye early on with its stylish gameplay videos and the ability to create amazing builds. And naturally, when it launched, it was going to be on my radar. Now that the game just came out, I was able to play it, and I am happy to report that the wait was worth it. Even if it does have its quirks, the game is still incredibly immersive, and it offers an exceptional metroidvania gameplay that I started to enjoy more and more as I played. Right off the bat, you have an interesting story that I found to be familiar with, but also really enjoyable. You play the role of Fjor, which is a young warrior and she has some great combat ability. However, you still need to train and get better. Especially in the beginning, before you access any runes or special abilities, it will be easy for enemies to defeat you, which is quite interesting. That means you have to dodge, go back, and be creative with your attacks. Thankfully, the island you explore ...

Tempest Rising was fun, but what it lacked was a campaign for the bad guys, and with the new DLC called The Veti’s Wrath, I finally get it. I enjoyed the original campaign quite a bit, however I felt that it needed a campaign for the Veti, and now we have an 11-mission campaign that’s very well-made, with a cohesive story and what I felt was a rather satisfying ending. It’s nice to see the Veti in a different light, as they are seeking reclamation, while fighting internal corruption. Plus, we also have some new mechanics thrown into the mix, like subjugating enemies, converting fallen infantry into enlightened units and other stuff like that. I found it to be not only very engaging and creative, but it certainly adds a unique sense of gravitas, too. Plus, you can sacrifice infantry to the power structures so you can fuel the war machine. Additionally, the DLC adds some cool new arsenal, like the advanced alien units like the Phantom Artillery or the War Ender. They...

Garfield games tend to be hit and miss, but I am always excited about developers trying new genres featuring the popular lasagna-loving cat. And with Garfield - Escape from Monday, they delve into the 3D platformer genre, which is extremely appealing and interesting for most people. Now, to get it out of the way, this is not the most innovative, nor the most creative 3D platformer. However, it does something right, as it’s very engaging, fun and a pleasure to play. Like many of the Garfield games, this one is made specifically for kids, and you can see that. It doesn’t feature excessive difficulty, nor does it come with a darker color tone. Instead, it features vibrant colors, simple platforming, and a variety of items/collectibles for you to acquire. While it’s not going to blow away gameplaywise with tons of new ideas, the ones added here are functional, immersive, and you will be amazed with the stuff this game has to offer. The main premise behind the game is a...

If you can’t become the Pope, making your Rite powerful is a great alternative goal. And if powerful isn’t really attainable, choosing the three weirdest Tenets might make for an even better campaign goal for an ambitious archbishop. Avoiding becoming a heretic might take some effort, while securing the support of a powerful duke or even king is good backup. For a secular power, personal faith can be an issue. An ambitious king might have to organize an ecumenical council and invest resources just to keep his conscience clear as he seeks more land and power. Getting someone on the Papal Throne might be a better solution, although it requires a bigger investment. Crusader Kings III: By God Alone is developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. This downloadable content pack for the role-playing grand strategy title gives players the option to play as Christian religious leaders, including the Pope, while boosting the role that institu...

I still vividly remember playing Serious Sam 2 around 20 years ago and having a blast. This is a series that’s always been close to my heart, and seeing another entry is very exciting. However, Serious Sam: Shatterverse is not a regular Serious Sam game. Sure, it’s an FPS and all, but the roguelike DNA is strong here, and that’s both a good and a bad thing. At its core, Serious Sam: Shatterverse is a cooperative game, so you can play with a few friends and try to eliminate all the enemies that come in front of you. At certain points, you will find yourself accessing upgrades and improvements, both to regular abilities and your ultimate ability. It’s cool because you have the opportunity to improve how you play, and the gameplay itself is pretty good. One of the problems with Serious Sam: Shatterverse being a roguelite is that we don’t have the up to 10k enemies coming in waves on our screens. It’s all washed down to a lot less enemies attacking at once. But that’s ...

I’m not having a ton of luck with the relics on offer. My version of Sator is carrying a bow and has already upgraded his mushroom creature summoning power to level 3. But I’m having trouble upgrading something that works well with a ranged attack, and re-rolling until I’m forced to fight is a bad idea in the long term. So I stick with my simple armor-giving power, which basically allows my hero to get hit once every turn. Eliminating archers, with help from my poison-spewing creature, is easy as long as there’s enough space to avoid a brute or an assassin. It’s even better if I position Sator in a way that makes enemies walk into trap triggers and then attack my summon rather than my hero. Deified is developed by Unexpected and published by Goblinz Publishing. I played it on the PC using Steam, the only hardware on which it is available. The video game combines tactical battles with relic selection and a run-driven structure. The narrative setup involves powerful ...

Voidface is a bullet hell game that focuses on embracing the weirdness and honestly, it does a very good job at that. It creates a very disturbing, yet immersive world where you try to do everything you can to stay alive. And it’s a bullet hell world, where all enemies are trying to kill you. Dodging projectiles is extremely difficult, but it’s crucial if you want to stay alive. You’ll notice that Voidface’s marketing pushes the idea that every enemy is a boss. And that does not sound bad, until you realize it’s the actual truth. You have a variety of bosses here and pretty much every second you play is a boss fight. It truly is a boss rush, and you have to try and figure out the best approach to tackle enemies here. Which is not going to be an easy thing. But removing the clutter enemies and focusing on intense boss battles is an interesting choice for Voidface, albeit it does come with its challenges. The game features 27 unique bosses split into 9 stages, each w...

Battlemarked’s third adventure is finally here, and it’s one for ages. I’ve been a huge fan of the original Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked missions, and Twilight's End doubles down on that, as we go on a final battle for the fate of Faerun. It’s interesting that we are going back to some familiar lands, but also explore new locations, complete side quests, and try to upgrade our characters to the best of our capabilities. One of the things I like about this DLC is the addition of multi-floor dungeons, which makes the gameplay feel more diverse and interesting. Additionally, bosses in Twilight’s End are very well designed, and they force players to strategize in order to win. Sometimes, they will throw unique twists at you, to see how you would react. For example, party members might have to switch roles because attacks become nullified based on the conditions. It’s a creative approach that makes enemies even more challenging and a boss battle deadly than e...

While RuneScape was never my cup of tea, I appreciated its lore and unique style, not to mention the great community that it created. But with RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Jagex is trying to bring RuneScape to the mainstream world, and for the most part it succeeds. That’s because it takes place in the same world as Gielinor, and it takes one of the core quests from the original game, the Dragon Slayer, and puts that at the middle of a survival game, which Dragonwilds is. It might not seem like much, but as soon as you enter this game, you’ll find yourself enjoying the world, exploration and story. Having the wise man set you off on a quest to slay a dragon is always exciting, and the game doesn’t shy away from bringing you all kinds of challenges to face as you play. The beginning of the game is very chill and simple, since RuneScape: Dragonwilds holds your hand and it teaches you all the various mechanics, from resource gathering to crafting, magic and so on. One of t...

Having played last year’s Silent Hill F, I was not expecting to play yet another Silent Hill game for a while. But thankfully, Townfall is here, and it shifts from the third person perspective to first person, making things feel even more personal, challenging and scary. Simply put, the game brings us to a fictional town called St Amelia, where we follow Simon Ordell, a man who doesn’t really know who he is, aside from having a medical bracelet with his name, blood type and date of birth. Right off the bat, this city of St Amelia is incredibly made, and it brings that innate tension you want from this genre. What’s amazing about the game is that you have lots of info boards and elements to inform you about the town’s history, its residents, and as you explore you really get to know these people, even if you won’t meet most of them anyway.  Some of the town is engulfed in fog, and some scary things are roaming through there. However, the game is not very combat-heav...

The Fibonacci sequence has served me well, and I intend to craft my entire future dice-powered journey around it. My tattoos give an extra re-roll, which I try not to rely on because luck is a fickle mistress. Getting the five dice needed to complete a card objective in two or, at the most, three rolls is the objective. Opponent house rules and spells work against me. But my dice selection is pretty strong, even if the shop didn’t deliver great options. Reaching the final round won’t be hard, but I need to get another strong tattoo and some improved dice to make sure I can hit the score limit without losing any of my lives. BONEREADER is developed by Bonereaders and published by DANGEN Entertainment. I played it on the PC using Steam, and the video game is not launched on other hardware. The title combines dice rolling and deck building as it challenges players to reach target scores. The narrative wrapper is a dark fantasy one. The gamer’s soul is somewhere in Pur...

Racing afficionados got plenty of good racing games this year, but those that are into simulation were definitely looking forward to the new NASCAR game, and now it’s finally here. NASCAR 26 strives to be the most realistic depiction of NASCAR, and it features 27 official cup racetracks and locations. Since I watch NASCAR online sometimes, I am quite familiar with most of these tracks, and I found their NASCAR 26 depiction to be realistic. I like the small details on the track too, as you can see some minor track damage, tire tracks and other things that bring the track to life in ways other NASCAR titles/versions didn’t beforehand. For a regular car game enjoyer, NASCAR 26 can be overwhelming, but thankfully they do a great job when it comes to showcasing the beauty of the tracks, the intensity of NASCAR races and the intricate controls. Speaking of that, the game offers support solely for gamepad and wheels, so you can’t play using your keyboard. That being said,...

I should have banked a ton more money before the massive enemy dreadnought got on the field. I have decent firepower, delivering more than 1,000 damage when I run at the enemy vessel and deliver my best broadside. My frigate also has plenty of armor that makes ramming enemies relatively safe. But the sheer number of enemies is becoming a problem, and it’s sometimes impossible to get out of a tight spot without pushing through a big group of opponents. There are ten seconds until I can use my automated heal, so I try to get some speed going and find some open space. If I had more money, I could hit an upgrade package, re-roll it, then refuse the upgrade and heal a little. But with funds low, the only option is to survive, get most opponents behind my battleship, and maybe find one of those beacons to defend. Sublight is developed and published by CODEBREW SOFTWARE LTD. The game is on Steam and in Early Access. The title takes the Vampire Survivor-like to space, wher...

Pioneers of Pagonia has become one of my favorite Settlers alternatives, and they are churning out a lot of content, including some impressive DLCs. With Echoes of Aldramar, we get a meaty expansion featuring 4 new maps, along with a much-expected desert landscape and some great biome mechanics. Those things truly add a lot of excitement to Pioneers of Pagonia, because we now have barren soil, scarce water, quicksand and sand dunes, not to mention the challenge of trying to restore sand into fertile land. The new content looks impressive, and it stays in line with the existing stuff. I never felt that Pioneers of Pagonia – Echoes of Aldramar is out of place, instead it’s fun and it brings some creative, unique mechanics as well. One of the things I liked the most was the addition of expedition camp building and the expedition builders that can easily restore ancient monuments and magical obelisks outside of the regular settlement borders. I appreciate the addition ...

Saiadha is unforgiving. Scouts, even the upgraded nimble ones, are easily killed by marauding minor faction armies that are protecting their territory. Hero-led armies can also take losses as they seek to pacify villages and establish new camps. And when the monsoon rages, it’s a good idea to retreat to friendly provinces rather than pursue quests. And Doomwraiths can cripple even well-equipped heroes with upgraded armies. But the planet, as it reveals more of itself after each Tidefall, is the keystone of any successful civilization. Special tiles significantly boost cities, especially once altars enter the picture, and the challenging Fortresses give heroes plenty of loot once cleared. Each faction interacts with the world in different ways, but all have to respect it as they seek victory. ENDLESS Legend 2 is developed by AMPLITUDE Studios and published by Hooded Horse. I played it on PC via Steam, with the title also offered on the PlayStation 5 from Sony and th...

Infantry in buildings remain humanity’s most potent weapon. Two anti-tank guided missile squads with increased rate of fire and extra ammunition can stop machine tanks and hunter platforms. Meanwhile, Rangers, a heavily augmented militia squad, and two sharpshooters are dealing with walking proto-Terminators. Their only limit is ammunition. After two or three attack waves, they either have to walk to a supply trailer, or I have to get a tractor to move it to their cluster of buildings. Movement attracts Legion artillery fire, which field repairs can make tolerable for a short time. So while the infantry is holding the line, two Bradleys, one featuring a plasma turret, are preparing to hunt for the enemy’s indirect fire emplacement. Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance: Evolution is developed and published by Slitherine Ltd. This is a downloadable content pack for the real-time strategy title, adding a new story-driven campaign that asks players to deal with a new machin...

We’ve seen quite a lot of extraction shooters recently, and they all try to bring their own twist into the mix. Active Matter is one of the latest titles in the genre, and its focus is on taking the familiar structure of entering a dangerous zone, grabbing resources, killing AI enemies and real players, and then extracting with all your loot, if you can. That sounds similar to most extraction games, so what makes Active Matter different? Simply out, it has the titular active matter, which is used to collapse timeline sand bend space and time. You’ll have parts of the environment pulled from parallel timelines, same with objects, you can climb onto walls affected by this matter and so on. The game’s story is quite simple, since you are an operative trapped in a time loop. If you die, you return and head back into the same cycle. There’s also a monolith into the game, which becomes a major part of the progression system here. You’ll enter a raid at first, but that’s m...

It was the need to optimize that got me killed. My rogue left behind one shiny nice heart, guaranteed to heal when walked over, because only one section of his health bar was missing. The idea was to clear two or three more rooms and get back at the right moment, using this precious resource efficiently. And then I killed a blob monster and only then remembered the room also featured a chicken. The chicken landed a hit, which it does about once in a hundred attempts, and my rogue died. I gathered all that gold for nothing. Not even one small upgrade to add something for my next run. Teleporting with the rogue feels awkward and rarely helps in fights, so I decide to go with the warrior next, hoping that his tough nature will make it easier to get at least to dungeon level 10. Let’s hope we kill all chickens in one strike. After moving through the wilderness and two dungeon levels with few issues, my momentum starts to slow. I unwisely allow a blob and a bat monster ...

It’s not easy to build a game that offers the same level of quality and entertainment as Witcher III, even if the iconic title follows a well-established formula. But when more people who worked on the Witcher franchise get together to create an action RPG, you expect better results than any other copycat. The Blood of Dawnwalker certainly gives Witcher III vibes, but the game is nowhere near as great as CD Projekt RED’s masterpiece. However, for being the first game developed by a studio, the folks at Rebel Wolves did a fine job, especially considering the ambitious vision. But what makes The Blood of Dawnwalker a divisive is that unlike typical open-world games where there are no time constraints, the studio behind the title decided to put more pressure on RPG fans by adding a time limit to the main quest. In Blood of Dawnwalker, players step into the shoes of Coen, an enhanced vampire who is in a race against time to save his family from The Court, a vampiric go...

When I saw Hearth and Hamlet would get released soon, I was excited about it, because I am a major fan of medieval times and city builders. Seemed like a match made in heaven for me, and I was not mistaken. Even if it does have some rough edges in various areas, Hearth and Hamlet is still incredibly fun, exciting and immersive, while still offering you in-depth upgrade trees, great resource management and challenges as you try to build and establish your hamlet and an eventual kingdom down the line. Hearth and Hamlet is an incremental game, which means that you will automate quite a bit of things. And that’s great, because despite having a pixelated art style, it’s quite complex at times. However, the main idea in this game is to acquire resources, assign workers, as well as construct buildings and expand your city. As the name suggests, you are starting off with a hamlet, but you can grow it as you build new stuff. There are lots of upgrades you can find within th...

The HOT WHEELS game series from Milestone has always been interesting, because it brought these beautiful toy cars to impressive, real-world locations. Yet with HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush, the developers are taking this to a fully open world experience, which naturally comes with its own pros and cons. At its core, this new title is very similar to Forza Horizon, where you have a large open world with races and challenges or dealerships spread all over, along with the obvious collectibles. HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush comes with 4 different islands, each with its own theme and towering characters like a monkey or a squid which you can see in the middle. Accessing races is easy, since you just go to designated spots, and some of those might even have more than one race available. Competing in races is important, because it gives you the opportunity to access the game’s currency and grind it to acquire new vehicles. Of course, that’s just one way to get new vehicles, via t...

I’ve taken down two bosses, including a pair that deployed both brute force strikes and magical explosions against my hero, and I was feeling confident in my card-playing abilities. But this group of normal monsters might signal the end of this run. And it’s all because I picked a boss artifact that took a chunk out of my health but allowed me to pick up more each time my character killed an opponent. My Grail Knight is using each crystallize, block, and move card to dodge attacks and to tank damage. But there are enough monsters on screen that they can attack in waves, never creating any time or space for recovery. I hit the redraw button as soon as it is available; I use all offered defensive cards, and only then deploy the most powerful attack I have. But when the knight is still, he gets hit. Thankfully, a dash and attack card allows me to drop two monsters at once. It takes another three redraw cycles to win, with barely 30 health left. Let’s hope the coming i...

Carefully upgraded roast cards allow me to turn less capable enemies into food to restore my hit points, giving me plenty of options during battle, even when high health enemies with retaliation abilities show up. But I have a troubling tendency to take damage during camp, because the extra actions are the only way to boost my cards and keep up with enemy capabilities. Equipped with a new coffee machine from the trader, I hope to be more efficient when camping. But with more and more opponents using thorns to throw damage back at my character, I need to significantly improve my damage dealing. Ideally, I want to one-hit a 10 health enemy and turn it into a toasty, while my higher damage cards focus on taking out the mushroom leaders. Shroom and Gloom is developed by Team Lazerbeam and published by Devolver Digital. The title is now in Early Access on Steam. The video game combines classic card-driven runs with an interesting, expanded take on camping. Players beco...

I’m still learning when and what to take to become a more capable Chief Executive Officer. Coffee is a universal drug, widely used to boost productivity or to make people at least feel awake and ready for anything. But I doubt anyone in the real world takes something called Apollon, a pill that’s supposed to increase both awareness and detachment. My company has installed most of the infrastructure needed to further boost the abilities of an already capable Artificial Intelligence but also took steps to make life easier for the workers. I’ve got more types of legal and presumably highly experimental medicine in my inventory and using combinations to find what might make the CEO both a better negotiator and an empathetic human. Some big decisions are coming up. Should I push to acquire as many companies as possible, or is focusing on a steady profit a better idea? Which of my executives should I trust? And, given how powerful Geist will be, why am I still the person...

As a huge fan of Dante Alighieri and his unique depiction of hell in his books, I was very curious to see what a game focused on him would be like. The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline brings the idea that The Divine Comedy is more than just a literary classic. Instead, it masks a truth about Hell, and Dante’s descendants have been tasked with using the poem’s pages imbued with magic to complete a ritual every 33 years. That ritual helps re-seal the door between the plane of torment and our reality. In The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline, you play as Gabrielle Alighieri, who isn’t really keen on dealing with this burden that the ancestors placed on him. In fact, he’s been dreading this for a very long time, and he really wants to find a way out of this curse. First, we have Gabrielle in his ancestral home, and then he goes into The Dive, where he learns that hell is not the way he thought. Instead, The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline depicts hell like a ...

Despite my deployment of Ka-60 Kasatka and 9K512 Uragan-1M, it’s my grunts who are winning this battle. The three BARS squads, well-hidden inside buildings, have so far managed to stop superior NATO numbers, and, as they are falling back, a mixed formation of Spetsnaz and reservists is preparing another nasty surprise if the Americans push using a mechanized force. My allies are pushing on the flanks, which should divert some enemy groups. With all my T-72s on the field, I can only give them armored support with some older T-62s with no upgrades. If our MIGs manage to keep the sky clear, I have two Yak-130s that can execute some solid ground attack missions. Broken Arrow: Russian Guard is developed by Steel Balalaika and published by Slitherine Ltd. This is the first paid downloadable content pack for the military-themed strategy title, which adds a new specialization for the Russian faction. The Guards moniker has been historically used by the Soviets to highligh...

It’s been two decades since the last Onimusha game, so many gamers probably don’t remember the series, especially the new generation of video games addicts. The long-awaited new Onimusha game is finally here and after spending dozens of hours with it I can definitely say that it’s the best entry into the series for those who haven’t played any of the previous games. Onimusha: Way of the Sword follows the story of a samurai named Miyamoto Musashi, as he is trying to become the best swordsman in the world. Set in the Edo period, the game explores a dark fantasy version of Kyoto where Musashi challenges rival swordsmen to establish his dominion as the best swordsman alive. After beating master swordsman Seijuro, Musashi meets one of his main rivals, Sasaki Ganryu. As they’re preparing for another duel, they are ambushed by supernatural creatures, the same that killed Seijuro, and killed. In the depths of hell, when he’s just about to be thrown in Hell, Musashi is appr...

We’ve seen a lot of horror games recently which started focusing more and more on the psychological aspect rather than body horror or jump scares. And Ashes of the Damned: The Forgotten Ward is one of those games. Basically, you enter an abandoned psychiatric ward and your focus is to find the patient files, solve the puzzles, uncover your connection to the ward and survive the various enemies found on the halls. An interesting and brave choice is the fact that this game has no combat. And while it sounds great at first, it also means that if some enemy tries to follow and attack you, all you can do is run. Since Ashes of the Damned: The Forgotten Ward is a first-person game, they want to bring you that sense of immersion, and I think that adding combat was not exactly the right approach for them. It still works very nicely this way, and knowing you can’t fight back still gives some innate sense of strategy, which is great. The game is not very long, it takes a few...

I like hunting rats more than I like inputting codes. The six-symbol passwords aren’t hard to turn into money, but I am somehow blind to the blinking green light that shows a new one has arrived. Rats, small and dark, stand out when running across the floor, and there’s a sense of achievement when I squish one. Better to make less money while keeping my home clean than to make money by propping up the regime. I take a look at the slowly dropping comfort and decide to take a quick nap. Then I switch to sports, to make some money while getting my fun meter up. I’ve got a solid cash reserve, and I plan on being in the best possible shape when I finally get to become a leading citizen and secure access to some more amenities. Dystopicon is developed and published by Palitroque. I played using Steam on the PC, with the game only offered on this hardware platform. The title combines a dark vision of the future with light survival mechanics. In an unspecified future, an a...

I need more neon. As much of it as possible should be red and blue, with some green thrown in to offer a bit of balance. But most of these lights are simply functional, yellowish, and unsuited to a cyberpunk universe. I switch to another item category and rummage through it, searching for something with the potential to make this small scene feel more alive. I’ve got two buildings that seem to almost be fighting, both with generous space on their roofs for people to watch the street below. The constantly falling rain is not bothering the trio that occupies one, who are very busy trying to decide which red neon sign to place over their door. I haven’t yet decided who will inhabit the other building. I’d like to find something to connect the roofs, allowing people to move without going down to street level. More texture variety for the wall would help the world feel more lived-in. But only more neon variety can make this small space feel like it’s part of a bigger cy...

For a genius-level neuroscientist, my character isn’t very good at high-level thinking. Of course, his relative stupidity might be a function of the fact that I, as the player, know more than he does. Basically, I can explore the timeline of his actions and interactions at will. Atlas Everly might have invented neural implants, but he isn’t omniscient. The big question is whether this rational individual can open his mind to the possibilities of a mysterious island and to the need to connect to others. He is trapped in a cave, and a murderer might be lurking in the shadows. Deciding who can be trusted and who is worthy of extra scrutiny is difficult. And the only way to understand what and why is happening is to accept that failure is inevitable and that getting out alive might involve disappointing or abandoning other characters. Advent: Dawn is developed and published by Spire Games. I played the title on the PC using Steam, and it is not launched on other platfo...

I should have focused on making it as easy as possible to get a straight. But the initially revealed cards convinced me that working the multiplier directly was the better strategy. So, I basically wasted three shop rounds, failed to get into the winner groups, and got my pirate attacked with eggs and knives by his rivals. Now I’m pivoting to the straight approach, but it will take time to fish the right upgrades. And even if I do, I might already be too far behind. Maybe pure luck when it comes to card draws will help to constantly push some of the current leaders into the losers’ group over the next few rounds. Piroker is developed and published by HABBY.FUN. I played using Steam on the PC, with the game not launched on other hardware platforms. The title is multiplayer-oriented and mixes high score chasing, poker hands, and upgrade hunting. The name combines pirate and poker, and that’s the general theme of the experience. Because the focus is on player-versus-p...

I’ve always been very excited about the idea of driving a bus in real life, but naturally that requires a lot of training, not to mention it’s dangerous. But with Bus Simulator 27, I have the next best thing, a very realistic bus driver simulator which is not only really cool, but also full of licensed buses you can experience at your own pace. Bus Simulator 27 is focused on being the most ambitious entry in the series, and it delivers 45 licensed buses coming from 13 manufacturers. That means you have a ton of choices when it comes to the type of bus you want to drive. You have simple buses, more complex ones, and varied features from makers as well. And while you have a career mode, you also have a more freedom-focused mode where you get to enjoy missions and set your own pace. This new Bus Simulator game takes place in Felicia Bay, which is inspired by Portugal and Spain. They made 2 cities, Mequina and Alcaztelar which have 20 different districts to explore. I ...

Zombie horde shooters are always fun, because they are the type of game where you can turn your brain off and have fun. John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is no different, while it has a story, it’s nothing that will stick with you. Its gameplay, however, is very satisfying and intense, and it truly sets the tone for one immersive, engaging and rewarding experience that you want to repeat over and over. Thankfully, you can do that, because the game encourages you to grind. Like many zombie horde shooters, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando focuses on the idea of taking the action on very large maps. Because of that, you have immediate access to vehicles in most cases, which makes going around a whole lot easier. Moreover, these vehicles have their own abilities, like self-destruction, trucks with flamethrowers and so on. It’s nice, because you have unique ways of eliminating your enemies. John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando brings a high level of intensity to every map, and ...

It’s always a good idea to have an action point left when doing something even slightly dangerous. And always reload a weapon when there’s not even a hint that an enemy might be around. Explosives are a great force equalizer. These are simple tactical lessons, but it’s easy to forget them and then pay in mercenary clone blood to learn them once more. I’m running this mission for the second time, so I have some idea of what to expect. My merc is loaded with ammo and medical supplies and has picked up some pricey items. But I’m close to hitting the limits of her inventory and thinking about what to carry out makes me sloppy. I clear a room using two grenades and my high-powered assault rifle, but I notice someone coming up behind my merc too late, and she gets proper shot. Another encounter like that will lead to another failed mission. Quasimorph is developed by Magnum Scriptum and published by HypeTrain Digital. I played it using Steam on the PC, the only hardware ...

Marsupilami is a Belgian comic book character and ever since 1952, it has appeared in a lot of media, including its own movie. With Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia, we see the titular character and his friend delve into a sequel to the original Marsupilami game from 2021. This one brings improvements when it comes to the gameplay, some amazing new locations, and 3 marsupial characters, each with their own different style and character. There are 3 main worlds in the game, each with its own visual style and enemies. I like all 3 because they feel distinct, you go to the mountains, in a cool city, etc, and all of them bring some impressive platforming. In fact, that’s the main strength of Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia, the fact that it has excellent platforming, and it continually pushes the boundaries to deliver something new, immersive and creative. We can play as Punch, Hope and Twister, each one has their own special move. Hope has the double dump, Twister can sail...