Upcoming site maintenance and major changes


Upcoming site maintenance and major changes



Hello everyone!

We want to start off by thanking you for visiting our site and helping us do what we do, reviewing video games with diverse voices in hopes of helping you make a decision as to whether it's worth it for you, or not.

Because of this, we are going to be making a few upcoming changes to the website with the most important one being moving to a brand new host that will better support us in the years to come with hopefully little to no downtime. Our website should never be down unless we notify you first as otherwise, that's just bad for business, and in the last two years the amount of downtime has been unacceptable and because of this we are moving over to another provider which while it will cause some downtime, we'll notify everyone of the specific timing once we get there late next month.

The second item of note is that the visual presentation of the website is going to have a bit of an overhaul. While it could look a bit more basic in the beginning, the style / platform that we have chosen promises to both be responsive and "evergreen" as it's not a theme that has been set in stone and no longer being supported by the original developers as the platforms have evolved around it.

So that's it for now and again, thank you all for your continued support and again, we apologize for the unexpected downtimes as they have been out of our control and we hope to have that solved very shortly.

 


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Power to the People - PC (Steam) Review


Power to the People
by developer Hermes Interactive and publisher CrytivoPC (Steam) review written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes 


Introduction

Power to the People is a management simulation game that lets players focus on maintaining a functioning power grid. Players don’t need to worry about building up a city as it increases in size progressively. This allows players to be challenged organically. Players are given a few different power sources, a tech tree, and adds natural disasters to keep players on their toes. It is a fun game to play but doesn't offer much in replayability.

Gameplay

Other management simulators are where players have to split their attention between traffic, health care, schooling, pollution, and other aspects of city management. Power to the People focuses solely on maintaining and stabilizing a power grid. Should players fall below 50% power distribution, they automatically fail the campaign map and will have to begin again. In order to keep power consistent, players have a variety of options like wind power or diesel power. Additionally, players have access to a tech tree that allows players to upgrade the amount of voltage distributed through the power lines. Players can also increase the power storage capacity. They can also create ad campaigns to boost the city’s morale when power efficiency isn’t high.

For players who like to be challenged, there are two modes to choose from. First, there is the regular mode which passes daytime hours fairly quickly and pauses at midnight. Players are then able to make any changes or add buildings to succeed. The other mode does not have a pause option which requires players to think quickly on their feet. While the day moves at a steady rate, players have the option to speed up the process even further.

There are a couple of challenges beyond budgeting between massive spikes in power consumption. First, a unique feature of Power to the People is the fact that power plants will periodically undergo maintenance. This challenges players to have power storage facilities or redundancies to pick up the slack. In early gameplay, I found myself struggling to have the cash to keep the cities afloat because of maintenance. To compare an element of this title to Cities: Skylines, when you build multiple generators at once, they will often go into maintenance mode at the same time. In Cities people will generally die at the rate you erected the residential buildings. Thus, some of the strategy lies in staggering the building of multiple generators.

Another unique feature of the game is the fact that natural disasters will occur while you are managing the power. This often causes issues if your power lines or your generators are struck by lightning. In fact, the giant ‘boom’ sound causes players to frantically look for the striking point. Nonetheless, players must focus on maintaining and stabilizing the power to complete the campaign objectives to move on.

Players have to deal with setting up an effective power grid, but they must also watch out for potential incoming problems. This means that players must plan accordingly. What is readily apparent is that players need to be mindful of where they put their power lines as there is no refund for demolishing them. As such, Power to the People has a wonderful core gameplay loop. However, I’m not sure about its replay potential for people who enjoy titles in this genre.

Graphics and UI

As with any management game, there are a number of inclusions with respect to the UI that assist the player in campaign success. Notably, on the left of the screen lies a graph that shows the upward or downward trend of power needed. If that isn’t enough of an indication to boost power production, on the top right of the screen will be notifications like ‘10 days until generator maintenance’. Another one might state ‘14 days until a new city.’ These indicators help players determine when to boost their power production. Alternatively, they can add power storage facilities to handle the load for a period of time.

One of the other important factors to note is the various overlays that players can enable. An important overlay to look at is the power line usage overlay. It shows how much power is running through the lines. This allows players to determine if any of the lines will overload and it's critical to head off any issues. There is also a Satisfaction overlay that shows how many of the citizens are happy with the distribution of power. Another useful overlay is the NIMBY overlay (Not In My BackYard) which shows the radius that pollution (noise or environmental) will bother citizens. Finally, there is the power demand overlay which shows how much power each building requires to function at a hundred percent capacity.

Power to the People does a great job of giving players a lot of information through graphs and popup windows.

Pro and Cons

There are elements of the game that I dislike. For one thing, the game can be fairly tedious. In the easy mode of the game, players wait for the day to pass before expanding. If not for that, then the day passage is often chalked up to waiting for an influx of cash. This is clearly something that is more important in the early part of gameplay.

Because the focus on the game is to provide power, there isn’t much to do other than wait. Yes, one could argue that that is what the harder version of the game is for. I still feel like the gameplay loop may lose its luster over time.

Otherwise, the game has a lot of wonderful features that I appreciate. The graph that shows projected power usage on the left of the screen is incredibly useful. Also, the ability to see when a new city erects helps players strategize their next move. Finally, I like the overall concept. Power to the People isn’t focused on everything of city management. It focuses on one aspect that people often take for granted. While the game doesn’t seem like it would be enjoyable after one playthrough, it is a fantastic title for those who want a focused objective.

Full Powered Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed Power to the People. It’s a fun and relaxing simulation game that tackles city management in a different way than others in the genre. It runs incredibly well despite the low poly graphics style. Power to the People has a nice aesthetic that players of all ages can enjoy.

That said, there was at least one thing that bothered me about the gameplay. Power lines don’t refund you any money! Only buildings will offer a refund, meaning players have to be mindful of power line placement. While this isn’t a problem, I felt that the extra cash would have helped my gameplay.

Summary and Rating

“Power to the People is a relaxing game and I found myself rather pleased with it. It’s a game that challenges people at a level that they feel comfortable with. That said, while the game is solid, I feel as though there isn’t a lot of replayability. Additionally, the tech tree adds flavor and assistance to the player, but it’s a feature that management simulation games possess making it common place in this genre. Regardless, if management simulation games are your style, this is a great entry level title to pick up. It helps that it isn’t expensive either!”

Score: 8 / 10




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Check out Beacon Pines demo on Steam Next Fest!


Austin, TX - February 21, 2022
Hello - we're reaching out to let you know that our cute and creepy adventure game Beacon Pines is participating in Steam Next Fest this week, and with a newly expanded demo! This update adds new characters, new areas to explore, new music, a fully voice-acted narrator, and more.

Beacon Pines is a cute and creepy adventure game set in a mysterious book. In it you play as both the book's reader and its main character, a young boy named Luka probing strange happenings in his hometown. Along the way you'll find charms inscribed with new words that let you rewrite past events, leading to entire new sequences of events to explore. Check this game out today - It’s like “Winnie-the-Pooh” meets “Stranger Things”.

Coming to PC and Switch in the first half of 2022, from Hiding Spot Games and publisher Fellow Traveller!

Find out more:

Steam store page with demo

Beacon Pines Discord community

@BeaconPines on Twitter

@BeaconPines on Instagram

@BeaconPines on TikTok

Quick info:

● Demo length - 30-60 minutes, depending on completionist level and amount of discussion

● Keyboard and controller supported

● Demo save will not carry over into full game when released

Content Warnings:

     Discussion of missing/passed away parents

     Bullying

     Frightening situations with children (no jump scares)

     Kids using mild swear words

     A dismembered appendage

     One character’s body morphs in scary / unnatural ways

Screen Elements:

Most of the gameplay has character art on the left and right side of the screen, with text between them along the bottom. Occasionally there are UI elements in the top left corner. The top right corner is generally open:

No combat

- gameplay focuses on exploration, deep character-driven dialogue, and light puzzle-solving

Explore

a hand-illustrated town full of charming characters - and unsettling secrets

Change past

events by turning back the storybook, uncovering new branches

Discover

new words and use them to write (and rewrite) the game’s story

Made by

a small team of three developers

Coming to

PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022

History:

Believe it or not, Beacon Pines started its life as a rhythm-based RPG. Seriously. But as we slowly designed the game over several years, we pivoted when it felt like the game was telling us what it wanted to be. For us, the most compelling aspects of the game wound up being not the combat, but the story and characters. So we followed that instinct.

Features:

     Explore an illustrated mountain town to collect word charms

     Use those words to alter the story

     Use those words to make friends

     Use those words to weave the fabric of fate itself

     Open the magical book at any time to go back and change your decisions

About Hiding Spot Games:

The common thread between all Hiding Spot Games projects is feeling. The music, art, story, and gameplay all serve that common goal. Hiding Spot Games is an indie game developer based in Austin Texas, with team members scattered around the globe. Their previous game, Flipping Legend, is the highest rated iOS game on MetaCritic for all of 2017. Before that, they made Ephemerid, a musical adventure game that won the IGF award for excellence in audio. Their newest game, Beacon Pines, is their most ambitious project yet.

About Fellow Traveller:

An indie games label exploring the possibility space of what narrative games can be. We seek out and partner with pioneering game developers working on unusual games with narrative at their core.

We are passionate about the vast and untapped potential of games as a medium. It is our mission to seek out and support the developers and artists pushing at the boundaries of games and to travel with them on their journey into uncharted territory, helping bring their creations into the world and connecting them with players looking for something different.

Founded in 2011, you may know us from the serene underwater sci-fi adventure (In Other Waters), the murder mystery with a cast of otherworldly suspects (Paradise Killer), the political RPG in which you lead a broken country your first term as President (Suzerain), or the noir adventure set before, during and after Big Bang (Genesis Noir).

Join us on a journey into a world of surprising games and unusual stories.


beaconpines.com


 


Article by: Susan N.

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Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle - PC (Steam) Preview


Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle
by developer Invader Studios and publisher Leonardo InteractivePC (Steam) preview written by Pierre-Yves with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes 


Having released Daymare: 1998 on PC in 2019 and consoles in 2020, Invader Studios are back with a prequel to their take on the zombie apocalypse with Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle. Taking on the shoes of Dalila Reyes, a former government spy now in the service of H.A.D.E.S. unit, our first look has her going through a seemingly secret government facility in which only corpses can be found littering the ground as something is banging on the outside door trying to get in.

Check out Mylene’s PC Review and Pierre-Yves’ PS4 Review of the original Daymare: 1998.

Overall enjoying my time with Invader Studios’ first title short of how zombies just didn’t die which was my only major complaint, I liked having a classic zombie based puzzle horror Resident Evil styled experience that was made by someone else. On that point, Invader Studios delivered a solid experience with its own mechanics and quirks to help you survive. Back again and with its own new quirks, this is really just a quick taste of Daymare: 1944 Sandcastle but I think we are in for a good time if the introduction is anything to go by.

Not exactly sure where it’ll fit into the overall adventure, other than perhaps somewhere close to the beginning, the current build that we got to take a look at set us up in some sort of US Government military installation. Dark and quietly eerie, this space works as a great introduction for how to move around as Dalila as she searches for a man named Commander Foster.

From the moment that you are given control of Dalila it is clear to see that the development team have put a lot of work into their latest title. While no longer being able to walk, jog and run like in Daymare: 1998, walking and running are easy to swap between and both feel natural as you move through the installation that we got to play through. Switching from looking around to aiming is the same thing and there are no issues with lining up for a headshot even with a controller which felt like it was thought of from the beginning and not an afterthought.

As for what you'll be aiming at… that's something I'm going to want a lot more context on but my interest is piqued. In this quick look you will not be going up against the undead, or at least, I don't think they are the undead. Creatures which look like muscular burnt husks of what may have once been humans will be charging at you in either a blue or red energy arcing variety.

It's a little odd compared to your standard and mutated undead but it was also a bit refreshing to see something other than a zombie. What’s neat about these versus the traditional undead is that once they die the energy is released and if you calculate it properly, you can use it to help take out others once you are no longer dealing with one at a time. I'm fully expecting to see zombies in Daymare: 1994 but as a prequel I'm also expecting, especially after this, a bit of creative weirdness as who knows what else goes on within these secret government installations.

What I also enjoyed about this first look is that it wasn't just a run and gun. Slowly starting there's an atmosphere that builds up as it's just too quiet. Other than the beings charging at you you'll have to figure your way through a few doors and passageways which is where the puzzles started to come into play. Not just needing to get a key card or adjust a platform to the right level, Dalila also has a cryo extinguisher to put out flames, cool off pipes or stop a creature in its tracks to allow you either a very easy kill shot, or at least enough time to reload.

Summary

Just when things start to get really good though our first look ends but you can also get a glimpse of this during the currently on-going Steam Next Fest February 2022 edition. With what we’ve been able to see so far though, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle should be fairly interesting once we get to sit down to the full experience once it launches for the PC and consoles later this year.

Score: N/A


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Ocean's Heart - Switch Review


Ocean's Heart
by developer Max Mraz and publisher NordcurrentNintendo Switch review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes 


Ocean's Heart is a top-down RPG where you explore an archipelago to fight off pirates, battle corrupted beasts, and discover the secrets of the mythical Ocean's Heart. An action adventure in the same vein as games such as A Link to the Past with a more oceanic theme, Ocean's Heart is a great tale that hits a lot of the retro feel while providing a new world to explore with its own twists and takes.

Ocean's Heart tells the tale of Tilia. She and her family, her dad and sister, run a bar. One day, while she's off getting a bottle of booze for her dad to restock with, their village is attacked by pirates and her friend Hazel is kidnapped. Her dad, a member of the volunteer navy, sets out to save Hazel. After some months has passed, Tilia's father has not returned, so she sets off to discover what has happened to her father, and to get even with the pirates that ransacked her village.

Ocean's Heart plays very reminiscent of A Link to the Past, with more of a Windwaker theme, although with its own takes and twists. You control Tilia in a 2D top down view, with a sword you can swing at enemies, a combat roll, and two item slots to equip items/weapons at a time. You also have a magic bar and you can gain access to magic when you find some spells, or meet certain requirements. As you play through the game, you will explore ruins, caves, temples, and such. In these areas, you can find new weapons and items to use, health upgrades, passive upgrades, or even magic spells. You'll also find a lot of berries. Like, so many berries. Channel your inner Mumei.

So, the reason I bring up the berries is a rather simple one: you can collect a lot of stuff. You can collect crafting items, such as mandrake roots, and healing items such as apples. Each healing item will heal a set amount, such as the berries that heal half a heart, and you can carry a decent amount of them, 50 to be precise. Yeah, there may have been some boss fights where I paused the game to open my menu, and just scarfed down, like, 30 berries. Makes me think of that advert for Skyrim super special edition and the "eat ALL the cheese" thing.

Seriously though, you've got a huge inventory that you can stock full of healing items, consumable potions, consumable weapons, and more permanent weapons, as well as collectibles like the mandrake roots and coral. Coral is a little special though, as you use it to upgrade your sword and bow. Yeah, you can upgrade your gear, and you can upgrade it a lot. Same with your armour. Yup, that's right, you can reduce damage taken by upgrading your armour, usually by completing a side-quest for a reward or finding upgrades in miscellaneous caves. You'll always take at least half a heart in damage though, so be aware of that. Similarly, you can find these little light orbs that increase your maximum health in a similar manner.

So let's talk a bit about exploration and quests. While you do have a main questline you are tasked with, you can do A LOT to avoid touching it for a lot of the game. What I mean is that there are TONS of sidequests to complete, and as long as you've gotten the requisite item to enter a new area, you can go explore way past where you're supposed to be plot wise. The world of Ocean's Heart is made up of a series of mostly interconnected islands, where you will need to find thin strips of land to cross over, or rocks to hop across. The map is left blank until you first enter an area, but your location indicator actually moves with you, so you won't always appear "in the middle" of the area you're in, provided you aren't in a cave or anything, which really helps you get a feel for where you are.

One of the aspects I loved about Ocean's Heart is how much there is to do. Between finding bonus items, upgrading your gear, crying about the Exploding Chaos Flail after forgetting to change it back, the very large amount of side quests, including some that span the entire length of the game if you start them early enough, there's a lot going on, which is great. There's even a secret bonus boss to fight if you figure out where and how! It was tough, but exciting! Also, pro tip, you can actually die after beating the last boss, but without having anything technically hit you. Just a fun fact there.

Now, there are a number of departures from the standard Zelda format which allow Ocean's Heart to stand out. First of all, there's a whole crafting mechanic, which allows you to take those flowers you've been hoarding and turn them into something useful. Second, the game is tough. Not so bad that it's unbeatable or anything, just tough enough to present a decent challenge, and that's even before ringing the "make it harder" bell right outside the first non starting town you set foot in. Finally, the fact you can upgrade your gear numerous times is also a departure from the typically Zelda format. Oh, and as an added bonus you can carry things between screens, which threw me off at first.

There are a few rough points however, so let's tackle the biggest issue I had first: frame rate. Occasionally I would have periods where the game would slow right down, chugging to get through, and then all of a sudden I'd be moving at super speed for a few seconds. This tended to happen when there were a large number of moving effects on-screen, but could be resolved either by waiting it out, or saving and closing/restarting the game. Another problem I encountered was that, occasionally, there would be a small screen shake when I was moving around, depending on the layout of the area I was in and how the next room over was oriented. It's…annoying, but not debilitating. The last major issue I had was with the item inventory. While the basic inventory is fine, there are some key items that aren't shown, which I suppose is fine given that they all associate with quests, which will let you know if you've acquired the item, but is still annoying. Compound on this that you can't read descriptions for items you can't "select", and it can get a little annoying. As a final mention, in each town there should be an apothecary table you can use to make items, which I didn't realize until halfway through the game you could even do, as it isn't really explained well. The game also doesn't tell you what the item you're making does until after you make it, which is super frustrating.

I'd like to add special mention that, as far as I'm aware, there was only a single person that worked on this game. I'm not sure about porting it to other platforms, but at least the PC version I'm pretty sure was just a single person. Seriously impressive work.

Summary

Overall, I had an absolutely wonderful time with Ocean's Heart and loved it the whole way through. With that old-school Legend of Zelda vibe in both gameplay and art style, add in some unique twists and takes, and couple it with an immersive world, and you really have a recipe for success. While there were a few technical problems and design choices that I didn't agree with, most of the time it wasn't a big enough issue to truly worry about for the most part. With tons of bonus quests, caves to explore, and a secret boss, Ocean's Heart is sure to keep you well entertained!

Score: 9 / 10




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Bullet Hell 'Thy Creatures' Launches into Early Access on Steam


Bullet Hell 'Thy Creatures' Launches into Early Access on Steam

https://chalgyr.com/2022/02/news-thycreatures-release/

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 19:00:00 +0000

Munich, Germany - 19th February 2022 - The dark adventures of Thy Creatures started, 19th February, for gamers on Steam in Early Access!


With a Successful Kickstarter Project in April 2021, the dark horror story is now ready to launch a new thrilling adventure, based on the work of Mary Shelley’s opus, ‘Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus’. Players can enjoy a compelling story through puzzle elements and a barrage game system, and test their dodging skills and resistance to seizures!

MazM has created a special kind of adventure in which the badly injured creatures manage to escape from humans and fulfill their most fervent wish by entering a tower that promises them all of these things. Players can dive into the scenic world through unique graphics that MazM is so well known for

For Switch players, the developer announced a Switch release this autumn.

Thy Creatures - Game Characteristics

THY CREATURES is a story game in which the severely wounded Nameless Creature was chased by the humans, and fled to a mysterious tower. In this tower, reality and memories are tangled, and the creature must fulfill its desire.

The Creature dares to climb the tower for its one single wish... The eerie tower where reality and memories are intertwined.

Help the creature escape the maze and the barricades, the byproducts of its memories, so it can climb the warped tower.

“Longing for the deepest desires”

- Single Player Dark Fantasy Adventure Novel

- A compelling story through puzzle elements and a barrage game system

- Bullet Hell genre, test your dodging skills and your resistance to seizures!

- Language support for English, Korean, Russian, Japanese & Simplified Chinese

- Understand the world from the perspective of a living creature

- Unlock and collect additional Storybook content

- Dive into the scenic world through unique graphics that MazM is so well known for

“The path ahead”

- Meet residents of the tower and get to know their story

- Encounter bizarre events that are just the products of your distorted memories

- Meet transcendental beings that occupy each floor

- Reveal the truth that can only be exposed in the tower

“Embark on a journey to find the truth”

'Thy Creature' plans to continue updating the story starting with this 'Early Access


About MazM:

Founded in Korea in 2013, MazM is a story game development studio that finds compelling stories and reinterprets them into games. It aims to deliver the joy of stories and forgotten precious values ​​to users and to have a positive impact on the world.

MazM released mobile games Jekyll and Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, and Pechika, and recorded more than 5 million cumulative downloads worldwide.

Homepage: http://mazm.me

About NeoBricks:

NeoBricks GmbH is a Global Game Service Partner based in Germany. NeoBricks provides services such as community management, game operation, marketing, and public relations in the gaming industries of Asia, Europe, and America; bringing Asian games to the Western market.


Article by: Susan N.

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Total War: Warhammer III - PC (Steam) Review


Total War: Warhammer III
by developer Creative Assembly and publisher SEGAPC (Steam) review written by Robert with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes


In the stunning conclusion to Creative Assembly’s Total War: Warhammer trilogy, Total War: Warhammer III is an incredible step forward in many ways though at times can it be not only a grind but exceptionally frustrating. With eight new races, a dozen new Lords, TW: Warhammer III has plenty to offer longstanding Total War fans and new players. In a welcome change from previous iterations of Total War, not just the Warhammer franchise, the onboarding process for Total War: Warhammer III is one of the best I’ve seen in recent years; it’s a shame that shortly after the intro hours for each of the various campaigns, Warhammer III rears its face and the uglier side of things…

This game is huge and not only in its size and scale - clocking in at 112GB, it’s going to eat up your hard drive spaces, so get ready for some belt-tightening. Once you spend the three or four years necessary to download and install the game, you’re ready to hop in and so you do… and you’ll be able to hop in the Prologue which is a great way to provide some really cool backstory / lore while also walking you through how to play as Kislev; I strongly recommend everyone give it a go, irrespective of your experience with Total War.

The story, acting, writing, and art for the Prologue are spectacular and really well done- in fact, it’s these tighter, more scripted moments that really show how much Creative Assembly has grown as a studio. Amazing writing tied together with a narrow scope in such a massive world really allows the writers and the artists to really shine. However, once you’re out of the Prologue and you start a new campaign, well… things become a bit more problematic. Each of the 8 races play uniquely… so uniquely that every race is so different that they feel like different games. Even further down that train of thought, though lie the various Lords (for those races like Grand Cathay that have multiple Lords) who in some cases, feel so completely different from the other Lord(s) of their race that you’ll need to relearn how to play them. That’s not a bad thing and gives huge amounts of replayability, but where it becomes a problem is that once your training wheels are off in game…

It's a grind. A significant grind, and one that’s so clogged with performance issues, piss-poor pathfinding, some of the dumbest hybrid units ever as they rarely ever work as either melee or ranged- why is that a problem? Because Kislev’s roster is almost exclusively hybrid units, sure, pistols are heinous but when your own unit shoots itself in the back because pathfinding is for losers, and well… it gets frustrating.

There's a screenshot below of a chaotic battle where I was playing as Kislev and lost. Even though I was projected to win (look at that balance of power bar…) to win, but lost because of the issues surrounding pathfinding, hybrid units, and a mass morale-based route. And there's nothing you can do to fix it. That’s not even the worst of it- in the utterly amazing and absolutely exceptionally-gorgeous siege/settlement maps… if you’re defending, when an enemy unit is shattered, it will pass over the walls or through the  unbroken and closed front gate and through the settlement…. You might think, “well, that’s not a problem, they’re shattered” except, that’s not always the case with the CPU- I lost my capital playing as Grand Cathay twice because the CPU can recover shattered units.

Even though I always keep 1-3 units at the important / strategic points, well, the CPU can recover those shattered units that are behind the wall and often-times, they’ll recover when they are behind the units I have in those locations as guards… and because most units are incapable of defending themselves without your active intervention, well, I’ve had winged knights and kossaks and all even an Ice Witch killed (and thus the city was lost) because they just stood there while the enemy units would just stab them to death. It’s frustrating and impossible to prevent (at this time). My only hope is that their next update will address some of this, because it literally makes the game unfun to play.

In fact, that’s generally the sentiment with every one of the factions in Total War: Warhammer III- amazing start, horribly terrible grind and slog through the middle of the game, then a snowball / avalanche effect to wrap up the campaigns. I legitimately believe that if CA could address these longstanding issues (the whole retreating-through-settlements thing has been around for nearly fifteen years) rather than waiting for the modding community to fix their problems, Total War: Warhammer III could tread dangerously close to being utterly perfect.

Alas, it’s not meant to be and given the sour taste that the mid-game leaves in your mouth after the 14th campaign and all the samey-ness regardless of your faction- that said, the factions are unique enough at the start and end that they all really do feel like different games. From the extremely RPG-heavy elements of the Daemons of Chaos where you not only are able to name your hero, but as you continue to fight, you essentially level up (via researching) and you unlock new bodyparts- from there you can build your Daemon to be whatever you want to be, or the “I’m pretty sure that I’m playing ANNO and not Total War” feelings of Grand Cathay to the… whatever Kislev is (seriously, a near complete hybrid army is just un-fun), Total War: Warhammer III is just massive.

I do wonder what the future holds for Creative Assembly- Total War: Warhammer III is a fantastic title that shows the clear appreciation that Creative Assembly has for the Warhammer universe. I tend to be extraordinarily critical of Warhammer titles as they always seem to miss the mark by a wide margin- that hasn’t been the case with the Total War line of the Warhammer franchise and with Warhammer III, I can finally say… “About damn time…” The Warhammer franchise has long-been maligned by titles not worthy of the GamesWorkshop-owned universe and we finally get a title that will likely be played for years to come… assuming the Modding community can get in there and fix things (looking at you, battle camera).

With stunning battlemaps, some of the best sieges I’ve ever experienced, a massive array of characters and units, all tied together with some of the best writing I’ve seen come out of Creative Assembly (ever), and wrapped up in a tasty, Chaos-filled Warhammer title that, more so than almost any game I’ve ever played, Total War: Warhammer III is simply huge. While I love the stories told here in the 8 campaigns and roughly a dozen new Lords, what I’m really looking forward to is how they’ll merge the Warhammer III campaign maps (yep, plural-ish, but you’ll need to pick up Total War: Warhammer III to understand, and expounding on it would be spoilery and I’m not a fan of that) into the Mortal Empires map of Warhammer II. I am legitimately sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next iteration to come out… in the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to settle for playing the absolutely spectacular and amazingly written campaigns.

Summary

In Conclusion, Creative Assembly's Total War: Warhammer III is their Warhammer-franchise swan song and it exits stage left in a massive, yet dignified manner.

With eight unique factions, most with their own extraordinarily unique sub-factions (with the exception of the Daemons of Chaos), a huge, multi-tiered campaign map, a complete overhaul of sieges and how they work, dozens of unique and absolutely gorgeous battlemaps, the best music in the franchise, and housing one of the best-told and designed tutorial prologue- with a little more work, some clean-up for balancing, Total War: Warhammer III could very-well unseat the reigning Total War king, Total War: Shogun 2

Score: 8 / 10




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All in! Games Show off a New Gameplay Trailer for Red Wings: American Aces


Publisher All in! Games is thrilled to announce a new gameplay trailer for their in-house title, Red Wings: American Aces, a spin-off of their previous aerial arcade shooter, Red Wings: Aces of the Sky. The dynamic trailer features commentary by the games creator Norman Lenda, and offers insights into the inspiration behind the game as well as highlighting some of the features that will help players master the skies as a true dogfight ace.

Red Wings: American Aces is coming to PC and Nintendo Switch with a confirmed release date to be announced soon.

About Red Wings: American Aces

Red Wings: American Aces puts you in the pilot’s seat of a nostalgic, action-packed arcade shooter illustrated in a vibrant comic-book style with a gaming mode for every occasion. Prove yourself in exciting aerial battles and make a name for your squad as the best aces of WWI!

Key Features:

     Fly online - Test your skills against a max of 9 other players in Last Man Standing, Score Battle, or Time Battle modes or gather your squad of up to 5 pilots and battle other squads in Elimination, Time Team Battle, or Score Team Battle modes

     Fly locally - Play custom games in 3 different modes (Score Battle, Time Battle, and Hide n’ Seek (2 players only)) solo against AI or against another player

     Complete 30 missions in campaign mode - relive the aerial dogfights of WWI and encounter all manner of unexpected challenges (available in local co-op for 1-2 players)

     Upgrade your pilot progression skill tree - develop your pilot skills and rearrange points depending on the mission at hand

     Pilot 15 different warplanes, each with unique skins - stand out in the heat of battle with a plane your enemies won’t soon forget

     Rise to the challenge - be prepared for thunderstorms that blast skill cooldowns, sandstorms that reduce visibility, missions where you’ll only be able to take out enemies with barrel rolls, and more!

About All in! Games

All in! Games is a publicly-traded video game publishing and production house based in Krakow, Poland. Founded in 2018, the team creates and supports local and international games for PC and consoles. All in! Games’ portfolio features titles such as Chernobylite (The Farm 51), Paradise Lost (PolyAmorous), Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms (Gamera Interactive), Tools Up! (The Knights of Unity), and many more. For more information, visit: https://www.allingames.com/ 


Article by: Susan N.

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