Stuart Thomas


96 games reviewed
77.4 average score
80 median score
56.3% of games recommended
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Apr 14, 2019

What it comes down to is that Paradox is just amazing at listening to their community and developing their games long after release. Now that ships are done, I expect that the air force will follow not too far behind. Then, who knows? Of course, they could release a DLC of nothing but National Focii for everyone from Bulgaria to Tannu Tuva and many fans would be ecstatic. If more companies were like Paradox, the world would be a better place.

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9 / 10.0 - Hitman 3
Feb 9, 2021

It's the best action shooter series out at the moment for sure.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Tropico 5
May 30, 2014

For those who have never played a Tropico game, I heartily encourage a look at this fine series. For old timers who've always enjoyed the leisurely pace and low difficulty, there's always the opportunity to cheat yourself a little extra money at any time. The graphics are mediocre as usual, but it's more than made up for by the gameplay. I said I'd be pleased with more of the same, and much of the core game remains unchanged, but with just enough that's new and interesting to keep you engaged.

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Nov 4, 2014

I didn't expect to get on all that well with Grimrock 2, and I was pleasantly surprised. This does have to be your kind of thing – that's not to say that newcomers can't find anything to enjoy, but lots of what I took away from LoG2 came from nostalgia and references to yesteryear – not exactly in-jokes so much as a firm appreciation of the videogame RPG's tabletop roots.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Age of Wonders III
Mar 27, 2014

While perhaps a little derivative, it's all simple to learn, beautifully presented, and with enough detail and variety to keep fantasy buffs engaged for a long time. Age of Wonders feels like it's back to stay, in all its beardy, D20-throwing glory.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Stellaris
May 11, 2016

So how to go with recommending it? Were this a creation of any other developer or publisher, I'd have my concerns. But the truth is, once they get it all sorted, it's going to be a heck of a game. From the modular ship constructor system and the impressive (if automatic) fleet battles, to the ethical tensions between interstellar neighbours reminiscent of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, to the endless moddability that'll allow, no doubt, classic sci-fi reskins (the likes of Dune spring to mind), I can't wait for Stellaris to be the game it is so obviously going to be. For now, though, it's still struggling with escape velocity on its mission to the stars.

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Getting back into the world of Pillars of Eternity was soothing, like a comfortable pair of slippers that you'd almost forgotten about. Sure, it didn't give me the same unexpected euphoria that the core game slapped me with but as a few evening's entertainment, it was a very welcome addition to the lore and gave me a chance to lark around in a world which, despite its reliance on walls of text and creepy obsession with souls, I'd fallen in love with.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Rebel Galaxy
Nov 1, 2015

Rebel Galaxy is extremely 'aggressively priced', as I believe the marketing guys say. For the money, it's really the best you can do for space trading. It's fun, simple and engrossing, and if you're put off by Elite Dangerous' more-than-double price and you're not bothered by single-player only, Rebel Galaxy is really filling a niche that needed to be filled.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Satellite Reign
Sep 27, 2015

It's these moment-to-moment planning decisions that really make Satellite Reign a game to recommend and to remember. Eventually, when you've researched the top-flight weapons and your soldier can stand toe-to-toe with entire squads while your hacker turns turrets against the security forces and the infiltrator moves unseen through swarms of alerted guards, you'll get the feeling that nothing can stand against you, and that you've earned every single ounce of your power. But in the early days, while you're scrambling to stay hidden from Dracogenics' henchmen, making the call to pull out with nothing more than a little more intelligence on the layout of an enemy compound to lick your wounds and rethink strategy for the next assault, something really special is happening. Strategy, being formulated in real-time. A surprisingly rare event for a real-time strategy game.

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Apr 27, 2016

But it's a small thing. By and large, Battle: Fleet Gothic Armada is a great game, and another one of the nice surprises that can occasionally emerge from Games Workshop's plan for world domination.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Sniper Elite 4
Feb 18, 2017

So how to conclude? Well, it's another Sniper Elite game. Much like number three, which admittedly took some major steps forward over V2, but the same level of progress is missing. A new climate and a lick of paint have made another game in practically the precise mould of the brilliant Sniper Elite III, so I can't really complain. It's like going back to your favourite restaurant and ordering what you always order. Sure, it's a bloody delight, and there's not much bad to say about it, but perhaps something slightly different (aware as I am that this is vague and ill-defined) might have been nice?

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Mar 26, 2017

Adding depth to characters throughout the world is always welcome, and while the concrete plotlines themselves might be a little thin, the new dimensions and allegiances that can affect the unscripted procedural stories are always welcome. Great job as usual, Paradox.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Battle Brothers
Jun 10, 2017

Battle Brothers is a game that recognises these classical roots and the way they allow room for the player to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks left by a mostly simplistic interface, but has also learned the lessons of the modern age

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Nov 18, 2017

This Wolfenstein has been broadly politicized and has been the no-doubt eager focus for political stunts and controversy. Which is odd, really, seeing as how at its heart it's one of the most clear-cut examples of an FPS that we've seen in a while. No tricky resource management stuff, no new sub-systems to learn, just straightforward running and gunning, with a side-order of throat-slashing. And leg-removing. And eyeball-popping. And forehead-hatchet-burying. And exploding with diesel-filled grenades. And evaporating with laser guns. Typical, uncomplicated Wolfenstein stuff!

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Aug 20, 2017

Games have come a long way since I was a youth. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a clear example of a game as an art form with a strong message and a complex, layered narrative. It's true that you're sort of along for the ride and most of your interactions are through your emotional response to what is depicted rather than through the mechanics of the game, but is that such a bad thing?

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8.5 / 10.0 - The Sinking City
Jul 14, 2019

The Sinking City is deeply evocative in its oppressive dourness, and stays true to the investigative backbone of Cthulhu. We are presented an open world of horror and suspense that HP Lovecraft surely would have enjoyed investigating.

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8 / 10.0 - Magicka 2
Jul 25, 2015

There's not a lot to separate Magicka 2 from its hallowed predecessor. But give it time. Paradox aren't ones to sit idly by, particularly when it's as popular a series as Magicka. And besides, as throwaway party-style fun with a deceptively complex core, it's a tried and tested formula. Like death-death-shield.

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Nov 6, 2013

But there is plenty of it, and it is delivered to a high standard and it is fun to play. And this should really be the yardstick, right? If you think it should be changing and improving in new ways then you know what to do, but for now you will get more of that CoD formula that the world craves so much. Activision have a billion dollars on day one that says they know what they are doing.

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8 / 10.0 - Ancient Space
Oct 21, 2014

I sort of liked it, though, despite its idiosyncrasies. Maps were pretty, pickups are used as a source of in-game lore in a way that sort of helps draw you in, and the between-mission powerup system is, while perhaps a little one-dimensional, still capable of providing a few interesting options. I don't think we're going to be talking, or even thinking about Ancient Space for very long, but combat is occasionally tense and engrossing, and I enjoyed my time with it well enough.

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Oct 31, 2015

So OK. I know I'm supposed to be frothing at the mouth. I know that something I was really looking forward to was passed off to me in an unfinished, slapdash state, and if there'd been less in the way of public outcry Warner would have happily taken the money and run. But after all the grief, and all the misery, there's a really special game hidden here. A tightly-scripted, well-paced superhero simulator that captures the attention to detail that Gotham City deserves with care and respect. If you're still willing to give it another chance, I doubt you'll really be disappointed.

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