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Overall, Road to the Black Sea is another fantastic DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 that everyone has been waiting for since Beyond the Baltic Sea was released last year. Now we're just keen to see whether and when the final chunks of Europe will be coming our way.
As a game though, Bee Simulator needs a little more meat on its bones. It's not a full on simulator like other simulators; it's an open-world arcade-like experience. It would be nice if we could actually land on a flower to collect pollen, for instance, rather than flying through a gamified light ring.
But that's all for the future. In the here and now, Planet Zoo is the best zoo management game around and it's not even close. It also features far stronger management systems than Frontier has ever achieved before, culminating in a fantastic package for tycoon and animal fans alike. There's a lot to love here, even if the scope for creativity can't hope to match Planet Coaster.
Overall, the Utah DLC is a fantastic expansion, as it usually is with SCS and both ATS and ETS2. There's lots of attention to detail, and if something is missing they usually rework it into a future update.
I loved it, though I barely understood much of it. It's a wild ride despite being mostly walls of text.
However, taken on its own merit, GRID is a fantastic audiovisual experience, a decent racing game, and a barebones package. It's the epitome of just enough, but enough is the optimal word here. Here's hoping the next GRID can kick on bigger, better, and more ambitious things.
I didn't honestly think Trine 4 would enrapture me as much as it has, particularly when tackling the multiplayer. If you've played and enjoyed and title in the Trine franchise before, you're very likely to love this one, so grab a few friends and enjoy.
Overall, MXGP 19 has ended up being a great game. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did, to be honest. It still leaves some things to be desired, such as a ropey physics model and a lack of controller options, but there's some fantastic fun to be had here.. Some of the tracks are just incredibly tricky and technical, adding a layer of depth which just isn't found in more straightforward racers. The downside being, the same as any other racing game apart from the very few, replayability. Hopefully the multiplayer aspect does well and lots of people buy the game and should be quite fun.
Control is an excellent return to form. Not only is Control comfortably the best Remedy game since Max Payne 2, it may well be the best Remedy game ever.
I know it seems like a paradox to say that on the one hand, it's a well-oiled, impeccably balanced sci-fi empire building game with all the elements that make a great wargame; and on the other hand it feels a smidgen like they phoned it in, but there you are. That's precisely how it feels.
It breaks my heart a little to slap a relatively low score on this. Both The New Order and The New Colossus were fantastic reinventions of a venerated gaming franchise, delivering satisfying gunplay with surprisingly touching narrative hooks. Youngblood still has that great feel, it's just wrapped up in a co-op focused bubble which detracts from the traditional flow of the game.
Still, the end result is a relaxing, intriguing and sleek murder mystery tale that's certainly worth enjoying once. It's not overly long if you play on normal, nor is it particularly replayable, but finding out who the killer is definitely scratches an investigative itch.
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.
MotoGP 19 is a fantastic package overall and, hopefully, it ends up with a thriving multiplayer scene. The first post-launch patch was absolutely crucial in terms of tightening up the brakes and, while some of the physics still aren't quite there, it's a strong start.
Overall, as with all their DLC, SCS Software has done a fantastic job. From the level of detail on the road markings being different from state to state to the police cars having the correct state trooper name on the car instead of something generic. Throw in the free 2GB version 1.35 update and the addition of "experimental" DX11, along with many other features, and ATS is growing into a stronger game than ever before. For those thirsting to expand their US play area in American Truck Simulator, Washing is a must-buy.
It's not without its UI issues, but Total War 3 Kingdoms provides a beautiful, rich strategy that is well paced while enjoying a new layer of story depth through diplomacy and intrigue.
All in all, Mortal Kombat 11 is a great package, and nicely fleshed out with a ton of content and modes for both the casual fighting game players like myself and the hardcore community who want to get stuck into the online battling. The heavy involvement of microtransactions can be an annoyance, for sure, but there's more than enough to get busy with to help beat the grind.
One look at Close to the Sun and you’ll have a fairly clear picture of whether it’s for you or not.
Despite all of this griping, and all of these complaints, Tropico 6 is still sort of fun. Partly it's just watching the numbers going up. When the freighter arrives in port and your first shipment of electronics goes to market, netting you enough money to build a new stadium, it's like a little pat on the head that can be weirdly addictive. There are certainly some bugs that probably shouldn't exist on the fourth (fifth? sixth?) iteration of essentially the same game, but the special sauce that has allowed them to actually get away with making six Tropico games is still there.
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.