Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War - XBXS Review

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War published by Dotemu and developed by Auroch Digital—Xbox Series X|S review written by David with a copy provided by the publisher. 

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes 

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Are you ready to do your part for the United Federation and join in the most realistic depiction of war ever created? Today we join General Johnny Rico and Major Samantha Dietz as they present the first ever game created under supervision by FedDev for the enjoyment of those on the path to citizenship. Ultimate Bug War follows the path of Dietz during the First Bug War 25 years ago. Even though Dietz's highly classified mission to Planet P is under wraps, Rico and Dietz are put through the wringer from the Federation approved accuracy of this training simulation.

The gameplay is very familiar, and comfortable, for anyone who enjoyed Warhammer 40k: Boltgun in specific and retro shooters in general. For your bug blasting pleasure, there are 14 weapons (including several variants on the iconic Morita rifle), 11 tactical supports, which function as single-use smoke grenades to call whichever support you need, ranging from gas bombs to guided missiles to an M7 Razorback being dropped in for support. My favorite of these is the door gunner support, because you can throw it while absolutely swarmed and then temporarily despawn as you take control of the gunner as it circles above the area you indicated, allowing you to safely delete all the bugs preventing your survival.

Map variety is nice, with each planet getting a pair of missions before moving onto the next, with each being quite visibly distinct, especially Zegema Beach, which was beautiful despite the corpses littering the resort. For every pair of mainline Federation missions you complete, you unlock a corresponding Bug mission, framed as a simulation to train citizens in Bug Tactics. You play these levels as an Assassin Bug, which can take two main forms, and temporarily a third form as a Tanker bug. 

No key chasing in this game, the way forward is just to kill more bugs (or destroy more Federation buildings). Required bug kills will be marked with skulls over them, and often an event that is framed as timed won’t progress without those kills, making some of the “boss” events a serious resource juggle, including your “squad” mates as they die and re-recruit.

All in all, I think I absolutely love this game. From the visuals to the classic satire of the movie, from the set pieces to the commentary of the fighting and dying infantry soldiers. The loadout list could do with some greater variation, but it all very much fits the setting. The game is a challenge on higher difficulties, as fans of the genre should expect, but come on you apes, you wanna live forever?

Score: 9 / 10 

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Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun PC Review

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun by developer Auroch Digital and publisher Focus Entertainment—PC Review written by Robert with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a retro-inspired shooter developed by Auroch Digital and published by Focus Entertainment. I'd like to start by first thanking the good folks over at Focus Entertainment and Auroch Digital for providing a copy of Boltgun for review. I've been known to be hyper-critical of the slew of Warhammer titles that we've seen in the last ten years; at one point it felt like Games Workshop was just slapping the Warhammer title on games, then ushering them out the door. Fortunately that's not the case here with Boltgun; the grimdark setting of the 40k universe is ripe for the taking and that's what's happened with Boltgun. While I'm certainly a fan of "Boomer Shooters," the recent history of garbage with Warhammer titles on it, I was cautiously optimistic ... and Warhammer 40k: Boltgun is easily one of the best Boomer Shooters in recent memory.

I really hadn't considered a retro-inspired shooter for a setting for Boltgun and after burning through Boltgun a couple times, I'm kicking myself for it. The game starts off with you deploying planetside via one of their wicked orbital drop pods and you are then able to take control of Malum Cordeo Caedo, a member of the Sternguard Space Marine out of the Ultramarines chapter. As you're on your way down to the surface of Forge World Graia, your insertion pod is flung off course by enemy fire and you land alone, in the midst of Chaos Marines and Demons. Landing in the carnage of the botched landing, you're whisked through a quick tutorial then you're on your way.

If you grew up PC gaming in the 90s, there's a good chance that you'll feel right at home with Boltgun's aesthetic. Taking strong cues from the FPS titles of the 90s, Boltgun wears its heart on its sleave. The big, blocky, near-voxel design and the vividly colorful lighting effects might seem at odds with the brutal grimdark future of Warhammer, but it works, and works extremely well. Though designed with that retro-feel, Boltgun has a unique beauty that is at odds with such a brutal and visceral title. Levels are expansive, well laid out, and though not as detailed as other Warhammer titles (such as Total War: Warhammer 3 and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide), Boltgun is one of the best looking games in the franchise, and one of the best "boomer shooters" to hit the scene in recent years. 

Weapons, from your chainsword to your meltagun to your shotgun, all hit with just the right amount of oomph. The Boltgun, your first ranged weapon, is so incredibly satisfying to mow down the denizens of Chaos with it. For those not in the know, a Boltgun or "Bolter" is essentially a giant assualt rifle, but instead of shooting bullets, they're tiny rockets/grenade. Needless to say, when it hits the pulpy flesh of a demon, the squelch is quite welcome. (side note: I absolutely adore the billboarding of enemies- "billboarding" is when sprites always point in the direction of the player- it's a wonderfully-90's thing).

Sure, Boltgun looks good, has an expansive collection of maps that help keep the campaign fresh and at times, incredibly spicy (but not in the good way)... but how does it sound? If anything, this may be the weakest link in the overall experience that Aurch Digital is trying to sell here. While the voice acting is actually phenomenal, it's with the reuse of the "ah" sound that happens any time you off a human bad-guy that weighed on my nerves really fast, given how many times you'll be in combat with them. 

Along with the reused sound effects, the soundtrack just missed the mark with me. By the time I was 2 hours into Boltgun, I finally turned the music off as it was adding to the cacophony and made it extremely difficult for me to work around. Turning the music off definitely improved the experience for me. Once the music was off/down to a very low level, you can hear the hollow footsteps of Caedo's power armor or the echo of a grenade explosion that sounds distinctly different pending where you're at in the level. These little details being drowned out by the overbearing noise. Most of the weapons sound great (especially the chainsword) though I was pretty bummed about the Heavy Bolter. It sounds like bubbles popping underwater and for being an oversized Boltgun ... was really underwhelming. 

Though Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun can be finished in about 7-8 hours, it's still an entertaining romp through the retro-esque, gore-infused, grimdark future of Warhammer 40k. There are enough secrets throughout the levels that in order to seek out those goods, you'll want to take it a bit slower and more methodically. This may sound at odds with the fast-paced frenetic action of a boomer shooter, it actually works out very well. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is fast, chaotic, and feels great as you go smooshing your way through hordes of Chaos, but there are times when it's nice to just take a moment and soak in the dirty, grungy, and relatively unpleasant-looking environs of Forge World Graia. Though I enjoyed the relatively simple and straightforward story, some may be feeling a bit unsatisfied with it, while others (like me), are just thrilled to be entertained with some good old fashioned FUN. Much to my surprise, I WAS having fun, and a whole heck-of-a-lot of it, too.

Score: 8.5 / 10

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Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics - XB1 Review

Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is a wonderful semi turn-based squad-focused strategy title focusing deeply on tactical setup and execution. The unfortunate thing about this alternative take on World War II is that it will be inevitably compared to the revamped XCOM franchise and that does Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics a bit of a disservice because while similar, it still feels and behaves very, very differently. There are certainly similarities, and the inspiration of the venerable XCOM franchise is easily spotted in Achtung!, it is still very much its own brand of strategy gaming … and though wonderful at time, still has a bit of a way to go to fully mature into a household brand.

Alternative-history games have been done countless times and one of the most notorious eras would be the horrific years between the early 1930's to mid/late 1940's commonly referred to as "World War II." From zombie Nazis to superpowered Nazis, to generally just the fight against Nazis in any form or faction; it has literally all been done before. Almost. Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is something fresh and new in the alternative WWII history genre; they add XCOM-style tactical gameplay and mix it up with a little Lovecraftian devilry … the notorious Cthulhu. The refreshing take on World War II though, wears off its novelty with a bit of repetitive gameplay; each mission (main story of side mission) feels the same with only the end objective being slightly different from others.

Though a bit shallow, I do have to say that the game runs wonderfully on Xbox One; rarely do multi-platform releases run so smoothly on all platforms but Achtung! Seems to have taken care to ensure each platform looks gorgeous and runs smoothly. This is doubly-impressive given what I believe is the single best implementation of "fog of war." FoW in games has been around since the dawn of time it seems; I have fond memories of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness, and Command & Conquer campaigns where I would, in my youth and immaturity, simply find the cheat code to remove the FoW because I wanted to see what was going on.

That practice of mine has since gone by the wayside unless I am replaying a campaign for the umpteenth time and I simply want to see how the AI reacts to me (for science, you know?), but with Achtung! I could watch replay after replay of enemies being vaguely represented in the "lite" fog of war, as darkened, misshapen blurbs until you get into a closer sight radius, is wonderful. As you move free-form through the linear maps, until you come into combat where it then goes more traditionally turn-based, the black FoW disperses to this shallow "lite" fog of war that is simply gorgeous. If an enemy takes an action while in that fog, their model comes into a clearer view, but then goes back to this darkened shade. It is great to behold.

Each mission briefing/setup honestly feels like it could be a more serious entry into the wonderful Inglorious Basterds film, with a rugged table, a map that has objective pins into it, and WWII-era accoutrements throughout the screen. I love looking at it, even if it is a bit bland after you have seen it a dozen times, but it serves its purpose and allows you to choose the mission, kit out your team, then drop into a fairly straightforward map that has you running from cover-to-cover with the hopes of destroying any resistance while keeping your team alive. The first half-dozen missions are exciting, but as you progress it just feels … the same. Run to cover, set up overwatch, hope to the heavens that you hit whatever nastiness is coming your way, then move to the next rock formation or sandbag setup. But hey, at least your soldiers have a far better hit percentage / possibility than those in XCOM …

As you progress through Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics's Cthulhu-riddled campaign the repetitive and generally shallow nature of the gameplay rears its ugly head early, however it is still an enjoyable romp through a new take on an alternative World War II outcome. It helps that it runs like silky-smooth butter and has some wonderful models in it, though it does feel a little too linear in its encounters and does not scale well with different difficulty settings. Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is, I hope, the start of an interesting genre that blends relatively free-form movement until turn-based tactical combat rears its bestial head. A perfect title for those that are itching something different than their three hundredth playthrough of XCOM 2, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is a great way to pass the long days of your holiday vacation.

Game Information

Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One
Developer(s):
Auroch Digital
Publisher(s):
Ripstone
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Robert

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Ogre - PC Review

Ogre is a classic tabletop strategy game by Steve Jackson Games, and while it is fantastic to see a game like this get the digital treatment, the end result is generally solid, if not great. Ogre hits many of the necessary notes needed to make it a success, though there are better strategy video games out there.

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