Too Cute by Half

HIGH Flashes of brilliant design. Solid arcade-style training modes.
LOW Weapons are frustratingly underpowered. Progression is too grindy.
WTF Why can’t I preview the items I’m buying for my ship?
One of the most difficult challenges as a game critic is finding the right set of words when something finds its voice through a collection of tiny revisions to existing genre conventions. Steady and competent genre work doesn’t leap off the page and excite a writer’s fingertips with the same intensity as Something New.
HIGH Brilliant illustrations, solid writing, great music.
LOW Poor AI/pathfinding, uneven balance, large armies are awkward to control.
WTF It’s 2020 – why are we still putting stealth missions into RTS games?
HIGH Excellent emulation quality. Some great console rarities included.
LOW No supplemental material, no sound test mode.
WTF A Darius collection without Zuntata’s music front and center?!?
HIGH Fantastic turn-based action, surprising punches of solid writing.
LOW Simplistic strategic layer, cautious tactical AI, strategic UI is rough.
WTF The emperor of the Holy Gustava Empire is named…Tim Gustav?
To convey a sense of Warhammer 40K‘s enormous impact on videogames, all I have to do is say the words “space marine”.
HIGH Faithful rendering of D&D 3rd Ed. rules. Cross-play with PC.
LOW Technical issues, cumbersome controls, poor tutorial.
WTF Why not include the D&D3E Player’s Handbook?
HIGH Rich tactical gameplay, sharp writing, great tactical UI.
LOW Inconsistent pacing, numerous technical issues, simplistic AI.
WTF If alien captures are critical, why are non-lethal weapons so weak?
Welcome to This Is Not A Review. In these articles we discuss general impressions, ideas and thoughts on any given game, but as the title implies, it’s not a review. Instead, it’s an exercise in offering a quick recommendation (or dismissmal) after spending enough time to grasp the ideas and gameplay of a thing without necessarily playing it from A to Z.
The subject of this installment: the Revelations DLC for Age of Wonders: Planetfall, developed by Triumph Studios and published by Paradox Interactive.
Recent Comments