This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Wargame: European Escalation/AirLand Battle My last attack failed. This one, I promise myself, won’t. I’m playing a NATO vs NATO mirror match, one of the options available in … Continue reading
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series StarDrive I’m five hours (per Steam) and three abortive practice games into StarDrive, a new PC space strategy title from one-man studio Zer0 Sum Games. So far, I can perhaps … Continue reading
This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Wargame: European Escalation/AirLand Battle Wargame: AirLand Battle is the upcoming sequel to Wargame: European Escalation, a Cold War-themed fusion of two genres: the RTS and the beer-and-pretzels wargame. EE was … Continue reading
Papers, Please is an indie game by Lucas Pope, currently in beta, in which the player takes on the role of a 1980s border guard in a Communist country. On paper, the game is simple: read the papers of … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series BioShockSince so much of my response to BioShock Infinite is wrapped up in the details of the game’s story, I thought it deserved a short follow-up of its own. As … Continue reading
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series BioShock “Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt.” The year is 1912. With those words ringing in his ears, Booker DeWitt, washed-up private detective and … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Tomb Raider After finishing Tomb Raider, I’m happy with the gameplay appraisal I posted halfway through. This is a title that’s not sure whether it wants to be “the … Continue reading
Eador: Genesis is a turn-based fantasy strategy game in the vein of Dominions, Heroes of Might and Magic, and Master of Magic. Originally released back in 2009 as the brainchild of one man, Alexey Bokulev, it was only recently … Continue reading
Following on from last year’s Gods and Kings, 2K/Firaxis has announced Brave New World, a second expansion for Civilization V. Whereas G&K‘s headline features were religion and espionage, BNW seems to focus on “soft power”: trade, culture, diplomacy, and a … Continue reading
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Tomb Raider For the last week, I’ve guided Lara Croft across an island filled with dangers, both natural and two-legged, in Tomb Raider. This is the first game in the … Continue reading
As promised, here’s the Age of Wonders III Q&A with designer Lennart Sas of Triumph Studios! By way of introduction, Age of Wonders is a high fantasy, turn-based strategy series that has been around since the late 1990s. … Continue reading
Civilization V designer Jon Shafer has unveiled his latest project on Kickstarter: At the Gates, a 4X strategy game that casts the player as a barbarian chief out to pick the carcass of the crumbling Roman Empire. The game … Continue reading
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Fallout: New Vegas (With apologies to every writer, director, and star of the Wild West) EXT. THE MOJAVE DESERT The one-horse town of Goodsprings bakes, silent, in the … Continue reading
The railroad must get through. Chicago must connect to Santa Fe. But I’m almost out of locomotives, my rivals are muscling in, and can I get three cards of the same colour? Welcome to Ticket to Ride, the … Continue reading
First Aubrey & Maturin sailed into the digital world, and now one of my all-time favourite games, Illwinter’s strategy masterpiece Dominions 3, has finally made its way to digital download shops Desura (edit: and Gamersgate)! It’s also reasonably priced, at … Continue reading
Drox Operative is the latest title from Soldak Entertainment, an indie developer of action-RPGs (Depths of Peril, Din’s Curse) renowned for their dynamic worlds. Drox transports that concept from fantasy into space opera – its galaxy is filled with alien … Continue reading
This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownFor one month, you followed me as I played through Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the successor to one of the greatest games of all time. Now that I’ve … Continue reading
It seems all over for the crew of the airship Babbling Goldfish. On one side – the enemy, two airships bigger and heavier than ours. On the other – the ruins of a vast, ancient airship, still lodged vertically … Continue reading
This entry is part 9 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy Unknown North America, 1 September 2015. The aliens’ forward base on Earth, the wee hours of the morning. Above the landing bay, a shape appears: XCOM’s Skyranger, … Continue reading
This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownThe battle of Melbourne, June 2015, dealt a bitter blow to XCOM. It left us down two countries and five soldiers (four of them amongst our finest veterans), … Continue reading
This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownAs Part 4 ended, things were going smooth as butter. XCOM’s soldiers were winning battle after battle, and coming home almost invariably in one piece. The strategic layer … Continue reading
This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownAnd we’re back! After Part 3’s successful terror mission, the rest of April passes without incident. Dr Vahlen and her scientists finish research on beam weapons, which … Continue reading
This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownWelcome to the third part of my Let’s Play (Classic difficulty, Ironman mode) for XCOM: Enemy Unknown! When we previously left off, I had two worries. One, … Continue reading
This entry is part 4 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownWelcome back to my Let’s Play (Classic difficulty, Ironman mode) of XCOM: Enemy Unknown! We finished our last instalment on March 20 (game time), with a successful end to … Continue reading
This entry is part 3 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownMarch, 2015. We are not alone in the universe. Humanity is under attack from an alien army equipped with technology beyond anything we have seen. The armed forces … Continue reading
With the new XCOM game around the corner, it’s time to reflect on the fallen. The First and Second Alien Wars had horrific death tolls. Tens, hundreds, thousands of little pixel-dudes rotated on the spot to face the player, screamed, … Continue reading
For the last three days the Sydney Showground has played host to the EB Games Expo, and that was where I spent yesterday. There I met some folks from the industry, both publishers and indie developers; watched trailers and gameplay … Continue reading
Banner Saga, a Norse-themed tactical RPG trilogy from indie studio Stoic Games, was one of the early titles to ride to prominence on Kickstarter this year. Now Nathan Grayson of Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a monster three-part interview/preview, and … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Sleeping Dogs I must be one of the few gamers out there not to have played Grand Theft Auto, or any of the other modern-day, open-world, crime-themed games that it … Continue reading
This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series FTL: Faster than Light The best way I can describe FTL: Faster than Light, the new indie title from Subset Games, is to say it lives up to the very … Continue reading
