Jagged Alliance 3 is a versatile strategy RPG, packed with personality and entertainment. You really have an opportunity to overcome tactical problems with your own personalized approach without being forced into playing a certain way. Any hardened SRPG mercenaries looking to take on a challenging but rewarding contract will definitely enjoy spending countless hours delving into the jungles of Gran Chien.
Sprawl is a focused and fun boomer shooter, even though it whets your appetite for more than it ends up giving you. There’s some brilliant ambience and scenery that suggests a much richer, more complex world than you get to see in its straightforward levels, empty of people and things to do other than an army of familiar foes to kill. Nonetheless, the gunplay is top-notch, especially when mixed with some wall-running parkour action. If you’re looking for an entertaining FPS with a satisfyingly cyberpunky flavour then Sprawl is just the right implant to augment your Steam library.
PAYDAY 3 isn’t the seismic improvement over PAYDAY 2 many might have been hoping for, but it is a refinement of the formula with a few fun new additions. Though the number of heists is currently at a modest number, they have a decent amount of replayability whether you use meticulous stealth or go in guns blazing. Despite a very troubled opening week, there are firm foundations for lots more heisting content to come here. Chains, Dallas, Wolf and Hoxton have come out of their latest heist with some scars to show for it, but with a few bags full of cash nonetheless.
WWE2K24 is a worthy addition to this long-running sports entertainment franchise. The developers have done a good job of listening to player’s woes and tweaking the formula to make something not revolutionary, but meticulously refined. There’s a vast amount of single-player grappling goodness here to enjoy, and that’s even before you get to the online modes and the inevitably bountiful community creations to come. WWE2K24 doesn’t quite finish the story but still adds a few enjoyable new chapters.
Fundamentally, Tales From Off-Peak City is a walking simulator with some pretty straightforward puzzles thrown in. It lets you explore its surreal world at a glacial pace, but never gets boring. Unlike many walking simulators set in more realistic worlds where a lot of time is taken up traversing more mundane scenery, this is a world where practically every building and locale is a work of evocative art. If you’re a bohemian beatnik type looking to take a walk down the road less traveled then Off-Peak City is a vibe you can jam to.
Summer in Mara is a nice chillout game you can take totally at your own pace, even if the lack of challenge and excitement will surely frustrate many players. It’s very much an ideal game for children or those who want to take a break from the stresses, fears, and pressures of modern life, which right now is very much understandable! Though I certainly didn’t feel thrilled or captivated playing it, I do anticipate returning periodically returning to the sweet, summery world of Mara from time to time when the cold cruel world is grinding me down under its relentless wheel!
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars does have some pleasingly involved battles, but as a grand strategy game, it is a tad simplistic and limited in scope compared to the titles it draws inspiration from. Still, the campaign provides for an entertaining romp, and it’s well worth delving into these dark realms if you’re a fan of the strategy-RPG genre.
Earth Defense Force: World Brothers took a big risk giving a whole new look and feel to the EDF series, but it’s a gamble that pays off well. The more cutesy stylings and arcadey gameplay will turn off some, but many others will find it to be a fresh twist on the EDF formula. With a gigantic cast of international characters to play as, there’s plenty of chaotic joy to be had.
City of Gangsters provides a brilliantly free-form gangsta’s paradise, where countless options are available to weave intricate criminal schemes. It can get repetitive during certain stages of expansion as you have the same interactions over and over, but if you can get over that then it’s pretty compelling. There’s an irresistible one-more-turn appeal that’ll keep you greasing palms and bootlegging hooch long into the night.
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis is a thoroughly brutal mix of simulation and roguelike. It’s more narrow focus may alienate those wanting a more complete management and strategy title, but may interest others. It’s only for those who want an unforgiving experience and are happy to labour not for a glorious kingdom, but for one more day of desperate survival. If you want a darker simulation title then you’ll find Siege Survival: Gloria Victis is gritty enough to clear a snowed-in driveway in Antarctica.
Postal Redux is a great definitive version of a subversive late nineties classic that men of a certain age can wistfully look back on as a naughty pleasure from adolescence. Still, returning veterans and new players alike will notice that this 24 year old game can only be polished so far and there’s a janky lack of refinement in the core gameplay. There’s enjoyment to be had in Postal Redux, but it’s best enjoyed if you’re able to set your mind and expectations back to 1997.
Bassmaster Fishing 2022 provides a really in-depth and realistic simulation of fishing at the tournament level, but it is missing a lot of the flair that might have made it more accessible to gamers at large. It’s not a catch that will go down in legend, but for fishing fanatics it’s a hearty haul nonetheless.
Siberian Mayhem is an entertaining little jaunt for fans of Serious Sam 4. It’s a quick five levels to run through, and I wish it had been a little longer, but for all the new weapons and vehicles it introduces, it keeps the familiar Serious Sam formula fresh and fun without overstaying its welcome. Siberia doesn’t seem an obvious destination for those looking to escape the seasonal bleakness this Winter, but for fans of pulse-pounding action, Siberian Mayhem hits the sweet spot (with a cannonball).
Postal: Brain Damaged is, rather ironically, a sane and clear-headed new direction for the Postal series. Taking out the menial errands and aimless open world of Postal 4 to focus on straightforward levels and intense wave shooting was a great choice. Though the humor is as low-brow as ever, it’s much less repetitive and dials the penis and poop jokes down from a grating 10 to a tolerable 5. Featuring a vast variety of wild weapons and a netherworld full of nightmarish nemeses to use them on, Postal: Brain Damaged is a long-awaited return to psychopathic form for the series.
Prodeus is self-consciously an old-school shooter, and it does a good job in replicating the frenetic, explosive gunplay and oppressive atmosphere of classic 90’s FPS titles like Doom and Quake. Sadly, beyond some interesting aesthetics, it doesn’t really stake out much of an identity of its own. The lack of any real story, worldbuilding or unique gameplay mechanics stops Prodeus short of being something really special. Still, if you’d like a game where you can switch off your brain and just exercise your trigger finger, Prodeus provides a great world to blast your way through.
Terminal Velocity’s gameplay is a little dated after two and a half decades in the hangar, even with a fresh coat of paint, and isn’t going to win in a dogfight with today’s premier flight sims or space shooters. Nonetheless, the developers have done a great job of polishing it up and making it work perfectly on modern systems. I enjoyed playing it again for its high-octane tunnel-traversing, radical soundtrack and bombastic alien blasting, and I think others could too provided they’re primed for a nostalgic blast from the past.
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is a lovingly made restoration of a cult favourite FPS title that significantly improves the source material. However, it can’t hide how fundamentally dated and limited the core design is. It just doesn’t stand the test of time like Doom or other classic 90’s shooters. Nonetheless, old-school FPS fans, and those looking for a shooter that doesn’t take itself too seriously, will be pleased and punch with this truly definitive version of Rise of the Triad.
If you’re the sort of person who solves Rubix cubes with one hand while finishing crosswords with the other, you may find Filament to be an entertaining diversion, and jolly good for you! Speaking for myself, I tend to like a little bit more sizzle in my steak. Maybe I’m just a twitchy dopamine fiend who needs to blow something up or have sex with an alien every few seconds to hold my interest, but as Popeye would say: “I yam who I yam”.
Overall, the experience of Port Royale 4 ends up feeling stretched a little thin. Though there are riches to be made, treasures to be found, and pirates to defeat, the whole experience lacks the tension of being in constant competition with an equally powerful rival. Since you’re not in symmetrical opposition to anyone, it’s not a great grand strategy, and it’s not a particularly in-depth turn-based combat strategy either. Instead of feeling like a cunning pirate king or merchant tycoon, you often end up feeling like you’re in a rather aimless sandbox with a list of fiddly errands to do.
Those Who Remain is a Frankenstein of cool concepts lifted from other horror games and shoddily reconstituted into a mishmash of mediocrity. It’s got some of the ingredients of a good horror game, but they mesh together like pizza and ice cream. Though the game doesn’t deserve to be cast into hell for eternity, it definitely has some mistakes that are hard to forgive.