Despotism 3k has a solid strategy resource management core and some excellent, creative text dialogue events oozing with humour. It also has one of the most punishing and demotivating RNG event simulators that can break each of your runs without mercy and will happily kick your progress to the curb. It’s a decent game, but just like its real life despot counterparts, holding onto ultimate power will always be impossible to enjoy when a Cthulu monster decides it doesn’t appreciate your delusion of grandeur.
Curved Space is a decent twin stick shooter which has a variety of weapons, striking level backdrops, satisfying upgrade systems and a cool leash mechanic. Sadly, it’s significantly let down by repetitive objectives, technical issues and level design which is aesthetically, but not practically, interesting. While not a bad game by any means, Curved Space sadly fails to capitalise on its promise despite its solid offering of modes.
Green Hell is a surprisingly great game which has exceptional depth in its mechanics, an immaculately detailed and immersive world to explore (and die in), with a story that has absolutely no right to be as fantastic and deep as it is. With a wealth of options in modes and difficulty settings, wannabe survivalists will be hard pressed to find a deeper, more rewarding experience. Despite some minor technical flaws and a punishing opening, Green Hell is a game fully deserving of your time and investment.
Chivalry 2 is an immersive, chaotic, gory, hilarious, carnage spilling thrill ride of a game which will have you storming castles like a true knight of old one moment, before bewildering you with someone beating you down with a loaf of bread. It’s a fantastically enjoyable experience which is unfortunately held back by a light content offering and some technical as well as balance issues. While this knight may have taken an arrow to the knee, it battles on to launch a cabbage at you another day.
In short, Handball 21 is a poor imitation of the real-life counterpart it tries to emulate. With janky, inconsistent mechanics, comical goalkeeping AI, lifeless presentation and shallow gameplay, there’s little to recommend to anyone other than the most hardcore of handball fans. The greatest compliment I can give it is that while the game itself made me question my existence, I did at least watch a couple of actual matches of handball, which were far more enthralling than the virtual version. Stick with the real-life sport on this one.