This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Civilization V Last night, I sat down to play Civilization V for the first time in most of a year. There have been a lot of patches in that time, … Continue reading
Sometimes, sequels and remakes are exactly what the doctor ordered. In recent weeks, two upcoming air combat-themed indie games have caught my attention: AirMech and Guns of Icarus Online. AirMech The further advanced of the two is Carbon … Continue reading
This is part 2 of an irregular series on Europa Universalis III. Part 1: The Byzantine Empire and puzzle-like gameplay. Part 2: The Manchus, hordes, and the consequences of deficit spending. I recently picked up Divine Wind, … Continue reading
If I had a penny for every game set in outer space, I’d be writing this post from somewhere sunnier and sandier. How many first-person shooters have cast us as Angry McShootsalot, the space marine? And how many RPGs and … Continue reading
When we want to praise a well-made device, a skilful cook, a more convenient way of doing things, anything, we commonly say, “It’s spoiled me.” Usually this is just a figure of speech. But as with many other clichés, there … Continue reading
When we left off with the first instalment of the Empire: Total War multiplayer campaign, Great Britain had held off the French at sea, while on land, the Dutch had driven a mighty French invasion force out of their homeland. … Continue reading
Over the weekend, I picked up Frozen Synapse, a new, cyberpunk-themed indie squad tactics game, and so far I’m quite impressed. First off, the actual game seems pretty cool. It’s stylish, with its green-and-red outline soldiers, blue backgrounds and … Continue reading
The following post, by Peter Davies (aka Beefeater1980), playing France, is the belated first instalment in the Empire: Total War multiplayer campaign write up! Click here to see what it’s all about. In this episode, Britain and France go … Continue reading
One indie game project I‘ve followed for a while is Xenonauts, essentially a fan remake of one of my favourite games: X-Com (which I played under its UK title of UFO: Enemy Unknown), the strategy game where you led a … Continue reading
This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Total War: Shogun 2This is the third post in my series on Shogun 2. You can find my early impressions here and my write-up of the game’s diplomacy here. … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series Total War: Shogun 2Update: You can find my verdict on Shogun 2 here. Total War: Shogun 2: A diplomatic victory, but not in the way you’d think I’ve … Continue reading
The Total War series of PC strategy games does not dream small. Players choose a nation – a sweeping empire, ambitious upstart republic, barbarian horde, or anything in between – and set out to conquer all before them. On the … Continue reading
The original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War came out to rave reviews all the way back in 2004, but I didn’t play it until a few months ago, when I jumped into the Dark Crusade expansion. And I liked it! … Continue reading
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the differing pricing strategies that Matrix Games, Shrapnel Games and Paradox Interactive use for their respective catalogues of niche strategy games. Matrix and Shrapnel keep prices high and discounts rare, while Paradox titles … Continue reading
Stardock has just announced Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, a standalone expansion (quasi-sequel?) to Ironclad’s 2008 space opera RTS. Here are some of the promised features: “New Factions: Players decide whether to become Loyalists or Rebels, which unlocks … Continue reading
The demo for Shogun 2: Total War Total War: Shogun 2 is out, and I’ve spent a little bit of time with it. What do I think? Well, I saw absolutely nothing that would change my expectations for the finished … Continue reading
For some time, I’ve kept my eye on a space-opera 4X game by the name of Distant Worlds, developed by Code Force and published by Matrix Games. This game (based on what I’ve read) could best be described as Master … Continue reading
The Middle Ages! An era when life was supposed to be “nasty, brutish, and short”. An era associated with war and famine and massacre. A era, supposedly, in which might made right. Not knowing much about medieval history, I can’t … Continue reading
So just days after I complained about a glut of high fantasy and space opera games, and a corresponding lack of other settings such as steampunk, what should make its way through the blogosphere but this: Gettysburg Armoured Warfare. … Continue reading
I’ve played video games for 21 years. Adventure, rhythm, role-playing, platformer, first-person shooter, and of course strategy – I’ve played virtually every genre, with the notable exception of sports games, at one time or another. But for all that, there … Continue reading
I’m pleased to present this blog’s first cooperative after-action report (AAR)/Let’s Play (LP)! For today’s post, The Stompers of Comps #1, we played one of my preferred timekillers, a polished and, I’m glad to say, profitable space-opera RTS from a … Continue reading
This is part 1 of an irregular series on Europa Universalis III. Part 1: The Byzantine Empire and puzzle-like gameplay. Part 2: The Manchus, hordes, and the consequences of deficit spending. One of the supposed sins of strategy … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Civilization VI’ve played Civilization V for 32 hours, according to Steam, and I’ve won my first King (hard)-level game. And with that, I think I’m ready to formulate my opinion: … Continue reading
I’ve talked about how a strategy game should ideally build to a dramatic climax, a point also made by the most recent episode of Flash of Steel. I gave several examples: Civilization, Emperor of the Fading Suns, and (going by … Continue reading
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Civilization VI’ve now won two practice games of Civilization V, and while it’s still early days for me, so far the new city-states system (which I blogged about back before … Continue reading
While I have been in no great hurry to play single-player Worms Reloaded, the recently-released (August) entry in Team 17’s long-running series, multiplayer is a different story. Anyone living with me should be able to tell when I’m playing multiplayer … Continue reading
Victoria 2, Paradox’s historical simulation of the nineteenth-century world, is a game to which I have to take off my hat. Now, I have not played the full game — just the first game in the series and the demo … Continue reading
My Storytelling in Dominions 3 post, part of my Storytelling in Games feature series, is now up at Flash of Steel! Check out my guest post to see how Dominions 3, from Illwinter and Shrapnel Games, illustrates the techniques a … Continue reading
Why do we play strategy games in ways that, in real life, would land us in the dock for crimes against humanity? Three Moves Ahead, Troy Goodfellow’s strategy game podcast, recently discussed the ethics of wargames, but to me, … Continue reading
Since Arcen Games’ AI War, which I’ve previously mentioned, is currently 50% off at Steam and Impulse, I took the plunge and bought a copy. I’m still in the midst of the tutorial, but one look at the game’s very … Continue reading
