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All of what makes Orcs Must Die! fun to play is there, and improved. All of the traps, the strategy, the weapons. The gameplay is largely the same, but new weapons and traps abound, as well as a new upgrade system. Several new traps range from bug zapper-like shock turrets to bear traps, and an awesome new guardian, dwarves that throw explosives and can melee enemies that get too close. Dwarven mud wrestlers. Always effective. There are so many new weapons and traps that I barely had a chance t
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Developed by: Robot Entertainment
Published by: Robot Entertainment
Platforms: PC
Players: 1-2
The orcs are back, and in greater numbers. But no worries, this time you can bring a friend along for the slaughter. Orcs Must Die! 2 offers a wide array of improvements over the original game, while retaining all of the great gameplay that made the first a hit.
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Orcs Must Die! is about the last of the War Mages defending the fortresses of the Order, an organization dedicated to stopping the orcs from invading their world. In each fortress there is a rift leading back to your home world, which you must stop the orcs from entering. You are given many traps to place as you progress through the game, as well as archers and paladins that will attack nearby enemies. You also have weapons ranging from your trusty crossbow and blade staff, to items that allo
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Developed by: Robot Entertainment
Published by: Microsoft Studios
Platforms: PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade
Players: 1
Rated T for Teen by the ESRB
Darwinism be damned, those crafty orcs have evolved adaptations that make them march straight into battle, directly through deadly traps and into incoming crossbow fire. It's pure science, orcs must die. Orcs Must Die! isn't so much a tower defense game, as it is a strategic third-person action game wherein you must defend your base with the traps and weapons at your disposal. Sure you plan out where to place the spike traps, arrow walls, and such to maim as many passing orcs as possible, but you actually get to be in the fray as well.
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The surface can be a dangerous place at night. Building is done via small blocks of various materials. These can be mined, cut from trees or simply dug out of the ground. With these materials it is relatively easy to create vast castles and living areas to live in. In the game exists a complex crafting system to create virtually anything the player needs or wants. Doors, tables, swords, armor, candles and countless other items, not counting the basic and complex building materials. The Under
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Developed by: ReLogic
Published by: Jeremy Guerrete
Platforms: PC
Players: 1/up to 8
Terraria is an 2D open ended world builder game, where players are free to create what they like. The game supports both single and multiplayer modes. Players enter the world with naught but the clothes on their back and some copper equipment, and are left alone to make a world for themselves.
Players first create a character and are able to modify the colour of each of the basic components of their character. This character and its inventory stay persistent across all worlds, both single and multiplayer. The playing area, a “world”, can than be generated completely at random. Up to five worlds can currently be created, and any world can be used in both single and multiplayer.
Also present is a full day/night cycle. During the day various slimes roam about on and under the surface, ready and willing to annoy the player. At night, things get interesting, with zombies, flying eyeballs and other creatures stalking around. This makes it essential to quickly build some some of shelter for the night time.
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The map, with clans shown. From here you can choose who to play as. The visual aspects of Sengoku are beautiful. Being a grand strategy, interface design is very important, and this game does not fail to deliver. Menus are neat and tidy, buttons look great and are nice to look at. However, in some areas buttons or menus can be hard to navigate if you do not already know what you are doing. There is a learning curve, but it is not as steep as some games in this category. A big step forward in thi
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Developed by: Paradox Interactive
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
Players: 1/Multi
Sengoku is a grand strategy game based on the “Sengoku Jidai” or “Warring-States” period of Japanese history by Paradox Interactive. Players can take control of the leader of a clan, the leader of a state within a clan, or the leader of a smaller area within those states, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the current shogun and retaining that power.
There are many historical clans, daimyos and smaller characters to play as in Sengoku. In fact, it is quite overwhelming. When choosing who to play as, players are greeted with a full map of Japan, with different view modes to outline the land each character controls. Playing as a clan means players can be much more powerful, dealing with diplomacy first-hand and commanding the armies of the entire clan. However, it also means that players must keep the individual states satisfied. If you are not careful in your leadership, there may be revolts and rebellions. As smaller daimyo leaders or individual characters, players can eventually break off from the clan and forge their own clans.
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The theatres interface. Another development is the Air Mapmode. This allows players to view each airbase across their nation, and the range of the planes stationed there. This shows how far a plane can go before coming back to refuel. It is great for planning bombing runs or sending in fighter planes to battle it out, as you can quickly see where each plane needs to be based. Having bombers based just behind the front line allows them to easily travel into enemy territory. The new partisan syst
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Developed by: Paradox Interactive
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC/Mac
Players: 1/up to 32
ESRB: E for Everyone
Note: For the Motherland requires both Hearts of Iron 3 and Semper Fi. Hearts of Iron 3 and its expansion Semper Fi have previously reviewed by Gamercide here, so this review will only analyse features added by For the Motherland.
For the Motherland is the second expansion pack for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron 3. While it is an expansion pack, it does not bring with it a new story or time period, and does not bring new nations. It takes place in and around the events leading up to and including the Second World War. It brings with it many features, for every aspect of the game. Some may be fooled by the title, but it does not only concern the Soviet Union.
The new Theatre interface gathers information about each Theatre of War into one interface. It is very useful. With it you can see whether each theatre is properly defendable or not, what needs to be built or produced in the area, and which units are in the area. This makes it easy to quickly flick though the theatres that are going well, and to draw attention to the theatres which are struggling or will be easily lost. The interface also shows what objectives there are for each theatre, as well as what operation, if any, is taking place there. From this window it is also easy to set the stance of the units at particular fronts between defending, attacking, blitzing, withdrawing and preparing. In the same window, players are able to view some information on the theatres of allies, which is very helpful to see where they might need help. This is a great improvement which streamlines some of the strategic information into one place, to it is easier for the player to take it all in.
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The Pirate Stronghold, the first available, and some units. Missions range from collectable missions, assault missions (going in on land to destroy buildings, kidnap people), chasing down boats and waging war on the seas. The world is alive, with boats from various other factions such as the Netherlands, Britain, Spain and France always sailing around. Missions earn money, which can be spent hiring units, building strongholds, buying a new boat and even upgrading the boats you own. Naval warfar
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Developed by: Nitro Games
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
ESRB: T for Teen
Note: Check the bottom of this page for a short update on the state of the game.
Pirates of Black Cove is difficult to classify. Players sail around the Caribbean gathering and completing missions on both land and sea, in an aim to gain access to a Forgotten Isle and defeat the Pirates of Black Cove. Part role playing, part strategy, this game is a casual one.
When first starting a game, players can choose one of three playable characters. These characters, each with different stats, level up though the game and earn abilities. The character you choose is playable on land, where they can command up to three other units hired from a stronghold.
Along the way, the player will become champion of three different pirate factions, the Pirates, Buccaneers, and Corsairs. Through these factions, missions are handed out. Every third mission will be a plot-advancer, often a special mission such as a boss fight. Along the way, you and your pirate crew will take the fight to various pirate icons, such as Sirens and the Kraken.
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Some of the great details on units. Before a battle is played, however, the game shows one of its most interesting points. After selecting a character on the campaign map and moving to a mission, the player is presented with a written story, accompanied by sketched images. This helps advance the plot and really draws players into the world. It is almost a choose-your-own-adventure style story, allowing players to actually decide what their character will do. This helps players relate to the cha
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Developed by: Neocore
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Players: 1
Platforms: PC
King Arthur: Fallen Champions, the latest addition to the King Arthur strategy roleplaying franchise by Neocore fills the gap between King Arthur I and II. It is, however, very accessible to new players as well. One might assume from the name that this is a strategy based in reality, but this is not so. Along the journey, players will come across many fantasy elements as well. Set in a fictional land in ancient Britannia, players will fight knights, twilight creatures, tribals, and other fantasy creatures
The game follows the stories of three heroes on their respective paths. Players take on the roles of Sir Lionel, a human knight, Lady Corrigan, a magical Sidhe, and Drest the Chosen, a shaman from the northern regions. The player can play any character at any time, but must complete all of their stories before the finale. This provides a good level of variety, as each character and their units are different on the battlefield. Characters can be leveled up, and gain experience points to spend on abilities and acquire equipment, like armour and weapons.
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AirBuccaneers originally was conceived back in 2004 as a mod within Unreal Tournament III during Epic's "Make Something Unreal" contest. Now almost ten years later a new and improved standalone version has graced my PC's hard drive and I have to admit to you I'm completely hooked! There is just something so mind-bogglingly satisfying about taking to the skies in a hot air balloon of death and watching your enemies plummet to the ground in a fiery blaze after a hail of cannon fire. Original
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Developed by: LudoCraft Ltd.
Published by: LudoCraft Ltd.
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Dec 5th, 2012
Available on Steam for $14.99 (3/25/13 - On sale today for $5.09 which is 66% off!!!)
If last year you approached me to say you had an idea to create a game where you pilot hot air balloons which are loaded up with cannons, rockets and flamethrowers I would have to say my interest would have been piqued. Throw in persistent character leveling, hilarious taunts (you really have to hear these to believe them), ship boarding, round it all out with two opposing forces of vikings and pirates and I would have told you to shut up and take my money! Thanks to Steam's GreenLight service this is exactly what happened when gamers united to give LudoCraft Ltd the go to release their fantastic fantasy balloon battling title, AirBuccaneers.
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The world of Fable III is based heavily on your decisions and promises that you make to other leaders throughout the game. The decisions not only effect your moral standing with the people of Albion, but also your relationships with others in the world around you and in some cases it is a matter of life or death. Can you order innocents to die for a supposed "crime" and save the love of your life or should your lover die and have the lives of the civilians spared all in the name of doing the r
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Developed by: Lionhead Studios
Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Players: 1 player, 2 player cooperative online and offline
Platforms: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Rated: M
Date of Release: October 25 2010 in North America and Australia and on October 29, 2010 in Europe
Albion is about to face it's biggest threat yet and it is up to you whether or not Albion can muster up enough force to rise above and defeat it or crumble under it's very own regime and existence. How will you lead the revolution? Will you be the hero that Albion desperately needs and deserves or will you be the tyrant that rules with an iron fist?
In Lionhead Studio's latest entry into their highly successful Fable series, Fable III is set 50 years after the events of Fable II. You find yourself as either the prince or princess depending on your gender choice at the beginning of the game, living under the ruling of your tyrant brother King Logan, who has taken over the crown from your father or mother which was the character you played as in Fable II. He has turned the world of Albion and it's surroundings into nothing but wastelands for poverty and crime. The people are outraged and determined to see a change and they look for you to do it as your first major decision on your Road to Rule happens very early in the game.
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Graphics aside, the gameplay is very smooth. You can perform light and heavy attacks, use guns, grappling moves, and (thankfully) move around and jump. It has very standard controls, but it's in the way that you combine them that the game gets interesting. Throughout the game you get a variety of weapons, from the default shanks and chainsaw, to machetes, a shotgun, and my personal favorite, a chain that you wrap around your fists to attack your enemies' weak points for massive damage. You can s
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Developed by: Klei Entertainment
Published by: Electronic Arts
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Players: 1, with 2 player local co-op
Rated M (Mature) by the ESRB
We gamers love violence. It's a well known fact. So a game about a dude running around shanking fools and cutting them up with a chainsaw already has enough to appeal to the average hardcore gamer. But is it just an overindulgent cash in, or is it a finely crafted outlet for your murderous rage?
As it turns out, it's both. It's a delightfully overindulgent outlet for your murderous rage. And it has a fairly good story as well. Sure it was published by EA and released for the usual $15, but the design behind the game is very good. The art style is very unique, having a very cool Saturday morning action cartoon look. A more recent comparison would be to say that it looks similar to The Venture Brothers (whose art style was in turn inspired by Johnny Quest). The result is a game with an awesome, almost graphic novel-like appearance.
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There isn't really an objective in the game aside from maybe seeing how far you can go. You can play the game normally like any other shooter, flying around the levels, blasting enemies until you find the level exit. If you can't find the exit, you can stand still and a guide line will lead you to it. And when you get to that exit, you move "up" to the next level. Sounds simple enough, but the twist is that you can also go inwards, to find levels within enemy ships, power ups, and even yours
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Developed by: Jason Rohrer
Published by: Jason Rohrer
Platforms: PC
Players: 1
What happens when you cross Geometry Wars with Inception? You get a space shooter of epic, layered proportions. Inside a Star-Filled Sky is a space shooter unlike any other. I say space shooter for lack of a better term, as you're really in some odd, layered pixel dimension.
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Gathering Fun by taking buddies for a ride. Those are the basic principles of how the game is played. As you collect more fun and build better vehicles you can gather fun much faster and also reach places that were unreachable before. Once you have obtained enough fun you can use it to add gravity to the objects orbiting earth and bring them down. Some items just add more buddies to the world, but many of them are plot points that must be removed from orbit in order to progress the game.
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Developed by: Ice-pick Lodge
Published by: bitComposer Games, Viva Media
Platform: PC
Players: 1
Rated T by the ESRB
Cargo takes place in a vibrant world where a well meaning but incompetent group of mechanical gods have flooded the planet and broken gravity. This has resulted in humanity being on the verge of extinction, and has left a random assortment of their objects orbiting the earth. The very Gods responsible for humanity's demise have decided to replace us, and all our rubbish, with a new form of life called 'Buddies' . Buddies only have one purpose and that is to have fun. This is where you come in.
You are piloting a blimp searching for salvage when you crash into a nearby island. You are then tasked by the Gods to help these buddies have fun. You do this by kicking them ( they love to fly ) and driving them around on one of your vehicles. The faster the better. Whenever you help a buddy have fun it is added to a running total that acts as your currency. Fun is the only thing the Gods have faith in anymore and they will trade that fun for vehicle parts. Parts can also be salvaged by finding crates around the map.
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The story centers on Dust, a somewhat cloaked figure that is woken up in the forest by a mystical talking sword called Ahrah and a flying sidekick named Fidget. As Dust awakens, he steps in to a world that is being overrun by monsters and runs across a village that needs to be saved from an impending monster horde. From there, the story of Dust's past and a war between races unfolds. With Fidget and Ahrah in tow, Dust sets out on his quest to regain his memories and determine what is going on in
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Developed by: Humble Hearts
Published by: Microsoft Studios
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade
Players: 1
Dust: An Elysian Tail. Just the name brings great joy to the members of Gamercide and a lot of the gaming community. We've been looking forward to the game for a very long time now. Back in 2009 we hooked up for an interview with the awesome and amazingly talented guys of Hyperduck Soundworks and our excitement for Dust only grew stronger after talking with the guys. You can check out our follow-up interview with Chris and Dan from 2010 here.
Dust: An Elysian Tail is an action RPG that was set for the Xbox Indie Games Channel, but after winning the 2009 Dream.Build.Play Challenge, it was given a full XBLA release. The game was basically designed by one man, Dean Dodrill, from the ground up. It was originally set for a 2011 release, but was later added as the anchor game for the Summer of Arcade of 2012. With its release, it will take its rightful place in the upper echelon of not only Xbox Live Arcade games, but of all the latest Xbox 360 games in general. Let's dive deeper in to the world of Dust and see if it can live up to my super high expectations. Sneak preview guys . . . It totally does.
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Harmonix took a definite “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach in the game. The basic structure of Rock Band is still intact here. The only major addition is the 3 part harmonies on the vocals. You can have up to 3 people on one microphone or 3 separate mics. Each person can sing the same part or choose a harmony to sing for maximum points. The lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums are still here and for the most part unchanged. The only difference here is really with the drums. Instead of pl
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Developed by: Harmonix (PS3/360); Pi Studios (Wii)
Published by: MTV Games
Distributed by: EA Distribution
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Players: 1-6
Rated T for Teen by the ESRB
The Breakdown
Take the already popular Rock Band and mix it with one of the biggest bands in the world, The Beatles. Throw in a developer that absolutely loves The Beatles and you will get The Beatles: Rock Band.
The Important Stuff
Let me preface this review by saying this, it will be a little skewed because I am a huge Beatles fan. From the beginning intro video, all the way through to the very end of the story mode, you can tell Harmonix has the same love for the group as any Beatles fan does. Apple Corps obviously saw this in the developer as well, by giving them unprecedented access to photos, recording studio sessions, and many extras that will be new to fans. The sometimes overprotective owner of the rights to The Beatles franchise also gives Harmonix the rights to allow full downloadable albums, starting with Abbey Road soon after the games release. Keep in mind that Beatles music can’t be legally downloaded from ANY of the download services as of yet, so this is a huge deal for Harmonix.
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Wren and Reynold both learn that something more sinister is at work in their neighborhood after stopping at a seemingly quiet jack-o-latern decorated house. Unfortunately for your brother or sister, depending on your choice you made at the beginning of the game, this house is anything but quiet. Mistaken for a giant piece of candy corn, the monsters that have invaded your neighborhood kidnap your sibling and it is up to you to get him or her back and stop the monsters from taking over your neigh
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Developed By: Double Fine
Published By: THQ
Platforms: XBLA, PSN
Players: Single
Release Date: October 19, 2010 and October 20, 2010
Price: $15.00 on PSN and 1200 MS Points
Version Reviewed: XBLA
It's every candly loving fiend's favorite undead holiday, Halloween. As two siblings argue over who is going to lead their night of Trick or Treating, they have no clue what is in store for them, but the monsters that have taken over their once quiet neighborhood are determined to make sure that they find out.
Double Fine and THQ take a stab at adventure/role playing with their latest arcade friendly title, Costume Quest.
In Costume Quest you will find yourself in the middle of a classic sibling rivalry. It is up to you whether sister Wren or her brother Reynold will take the lead for the night's festivities of Trick or Treating. After deciding between the fighting siblings, the kids put their respective costumes on with you being a blue robot that can eventually skate with later upgrades and your sibling A.I. dresses up as a giant piece of a Halloween candy staple, candy corn.
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Your move, universe. The game starts out with a level very reminiscent of the final boss battle of N64 classic Sin and Punishment. You fly around using your lock-on projectiles to fight the entire freaking planet. Or rather a colossal, menacing entity emerging from it. The story is certainly very epic and Japanese, taking inspiration from various sources including anime and mixed Asian mythology. The entire structure of the game is modeled after an anime series, with levels being separated
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Developed by: CyberConnect2
Published by: Capcom
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
Players: 1
Betrayed by his fellow demigods. Locked away in Hindu hell for 12,000 years, his rage building all the while. Asura's wrath is great indeed, and now he has returned to set things right.
Let's clear one thing up right away. As much as it might seem so, this is not a Japanese God of War clone. There are certainly some similarities, but Asura's Wrath is very different from God of War or other similar hack'n'slash titles. In fact very few, if any, games are all that much like Asura's Wrath at all. The approach taken is quite unlike most games you may have seen. You spend as much time watching the game as playing and interacting with it. This may turn many players off, but if you're willing to give something innovative a try, you might be surprised to find a rather engaging experience.
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Let me put it this way: I've been playing the original on and off for almost a year and had about 9 hours of in game time in it (time spent actually in a song, so it's more than it sounds like). In just two days I added another 4 hours to that time. Those evil geniuses over at Cold Beam Games knew just what needed to be added to bring an already addictive game to a whole new level of addictiveness. Whereas in the original you would max out after a certain point, and everything after that was
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Developed by: Cold Beam Games
Published by: Cold Beam Games
Platforms: PC, PS3
Players: 1-2, online and offline
Rated E for Everyone by the ESRB
Beat Hazard in itself was an extremely fun music visualizer slash space shooter often compared to Geometry Wars. Rightly so, as the basic gameplay is much the same, with the onslaughts of enemies coming at your omnidirectionally firing ship, equipped with devastating, screen clearing bombs. The twist is that the gameplay is powered by your music. Your firepower is immediately influenced by the intensity of a song, while enemy and boss spawn patterns are determined by various factors throughout the entire song. Every song generates a different level, but the same song file will always generate the same level.
It all comes together in a very slick, flashy, space shooter powered by your own music. Beat Hazard was a very fun game when it was released back in early 2010. Fast forward back to today and now we have a new DLC that adds many new features to an already awesome game. But are the new additions worthwhile?
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And there you have it folks, what I think is our first kid review of a game. After watching him play it on the iPad, I think it was a little easy for him and hope they bring some harder puzzles out in an update. However, overall, he, his friends, and his sister had a great time with it. For $0.99 you can't go wrong with fart noises, jazzy music, and cute doggies. If you have smaller kids, I think this would be right up their alley.
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Developed by: Bombajam
Platforms: iOS
Price: $0.99
Release Date: April 15, 2013
As a parent, it's sometimes tough to know what games are going to be fun for your kids. Especially younger kids. We here at Gamercide wanted to do something about that problem. That said, enter our first review (That I can think of) written by one of our little ones. The way I approached this was to allow him to play the game and then I wrote a list of questions for him to answer that are basically the same ones I would answer myself when writing any review. My son is 7 years old and when he heard the idea of being able to get a game, play it through, and then answer a few questions about it, he was over the moon excited. Keep in mind while reading the answers, I have not edited them or changed anything. This is his honest review of the game after playing it through to completion twice. So without further delay here's Hayden's review of Shade Dogs:
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The Reapers have finally arrived, and have begun to lay siege to civilization around the entire galaxy. Even after all the warnings Commander Shepard had given, no was prepared, nor could they truly be even if they tried. The stage is set as the Reapers begin their assault on Earth and Shepard is forced to retreat aboard the Normandy. The only hope for Earth now is for Shepard to rally together as many of the other galactic races to stand together against the Reapers as he can for one last stand
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Developed by: Bioware
Published by: EA Games
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Players: 1, with 4 player cooperative multiplayer
Four and a half years since the launch of the revolutionary original Mass Effect, which introduced a new style of RPG, the final installment of the trilogy has released. More than four years of hype are riding on it. And with as epic a follow up as Mass Effect 2, the stakes are even higher.
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The biggest change of course is that guns are much more prevalent. All of the enemies now wield guns ranging from AK-47s to RPGs, will attack you from a distance, and have humorously been renamed to the Goblincong. There is fitting new music that blasts as you make your way through the jungle, and now you have the mildly useful ability to crouch behind cover. You can still use all of your normal spells, but in the Vietnam Rescue Mission challenge you don't get most of your spellbook spells aside
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Developed by: Arrowhead Studios
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
Players: 1-4
You already know we here at Gamercide love Magicka. But does the new DLC stand up to the greatness and originality of the main game, or will it just leave you with nightmarish Vietnam flashbacks?
Magicka: Vietnam is a fairly small DLC. It consists of two new Challenge maps, and adds nothing to adventure mode. However one of the challenge modes is structured similarly to adventure mode, with three screens you must make your way through to complete the level. The other mode is a new arena with just one small area to face waves of the new enemy types just like the other arenas
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In Magicka you play as a mage from the Order of Magic and are sent by a man named Vlad, who is by no means a vampire, on an ever cliche quest to save the world of Midgard from the evil wizard Grimnir. Things get crazy as you progress through the story, chock full of awesome references ranging from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, to Castlevania, and even Ski Free of all things. The game is fully voice acted, if you can consider Simlish proper voice acting. This just adds more to the wacky humor
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Developed by: Arrowhead Game Studios
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
Players: 1-4
Rated T (Teen) by the ESRB
What happens when you combine the style and humor of Castle Crashers with gameplay reminiscent of Diablo? Magic happens. Or rather Magicka happens, to be more precise. That's not to say that Magicka is very much like either of those games, rather it has a very distinct style of its own. But like Castle Crashers it is a stylish, humorous, and fun experience that can be played and enjoyed with friends, and like Diablo the game has very smooth, isometric gameplay where you can run around slaughtering hordes of monsters and fiends to your hearts content.
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All the signature humor is there, with various areas, new and old, to explore. You start with none of your spellbook spells from the main adventure, but a few new ones await, such as a spell for pulling objects and enemies towards you, and a spell to place portals like those in the eponymous game (guess which). Having not played Magicka in ages, The Stars are Left provided an experience that was both familiar and new. There are new robes and items to find, and many new Lovecraftian enemies to
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Developed by: Arrowhead Game Studios
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
Players: 1-4
Magicka has come a long way with all of the new updates and DLCs, but aside from the Magicka: Vietnam DLC, they've only been robes, items, and levels for the arena and versus modes. Now finally a true addition to the Adventure mode has been released. This isn't a quick, challenging little map like Magicka: Vietnam either. There are three full chapters with checkpoints, bosses, and cutscenes.
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Military Map Mode showing the unit cards that represents armies. These cards stack upon each other. When creating buildings or units, applying decisions, and moving troops around the map the game uses a drag and drop system. By picking up a building card, for example a railway, you can drag that card onto a region to begin construction. When you pick up a unit or building or construction, the map becomes colour coded so you can see where it is possible to put said building/unit. Green means it
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Developed by: AGEOD
Published by: Paradox Interactive
Platforms: PC
ESRB: T for Teen
Pride of Nations is a turn based grand strategy game from AGEOD that tackles the period of history between 1850-1920. It is a very detailed historical game, and as such is a very in-depth game for the player. Players can start the game at different times, setting up different scenarios for play. So far, the scenarios include the grand campaign, the Indian Mutiny, Risorgimento, the Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. The Spanish-American War has also been added by downloadable content.
Each scenario has different objectives, and are of different lengths. These range from 10 turns in the Spanish-American War, to 1680 turns in the Grand Campaign. Each scenario has different playable factions. In the Grand Campaign, players can choose from eight different nations. These include Great Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, the United States of America, Russia, Japan and Sardinia-Piedmont (which later becomes Italy). Each of these has a different style of play.
The game allows freedom to choose goals for your nation, though these are limited by the historical capabilities of the nation. This means that goals such as huge colonisation are unrealistic for a country such as Prussia, who will have their hands full at home. That is not to say that smaller countries aren’t as interesting as big powers such as the US and Great Britain,as each have its set of stuggles. The game is for those who are into this period of history, and want to hop in and live the history that they love.
The game is controlled via a system of map modes and submodes, making it quite easy to control everything, once one figures out how to control it all properly. By going into one of the modes, such as Economic, Military, Decision, and Colonial modes, the map and bottom bar fill with the various options for that purpose. When entering economic mode, the map features icons representing what commodity each region is producing, among other things. When in military mode, all the armies on the map are represented by larger unit cards (see screenshots) Within those modes, there is a sub mode, for splitting the features of each mode. For example, the economic submode fills the bottom bar with various buildings that can be constructed. This system of control is quite a lot to get used to when learning how to play the game, and really poses a problem.
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This game has some amazing vistas! Metro’s story isn’t an entirely a new concept. Nuclear destruction wipes out society; society crumbles on itself and retreats underground to survive. Throw in a dash of mutants, terrifying and telepathic monsters known as the “Dark Ones”, set the stage in Russia with an economy based on trading military grade bullets and you pretty much get the point. Once again you’ll be filling the shoes of the previous protagonist, Artyom, although the storyline seems more
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Developed by: 4A Games
Published by: Deep Silver
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Prior to the release of Metro 2033 way back in March of 2010 I hadn’t heard much of the game, never read or knew of author Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels bearing the same name, and despite these things I fell in love with the dark and depressing post-apocalyptic setting presented by Ukrainian based developer 4A Games. I can find flaws in just about any game I play, Metro 2033 itself also not excused, but the presentation of the game and the world that I was thrust into more than made up for my small criticisms at the time. When Gamercide was offered an opportunity to check out the newly released Metro: Last Light I immediately jumped at the chance to once again to don my gas mask and explore the incredibly detailed desolate landscapes.
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I would be remiss if I did not mention the music in the game. Our good friends at the newly re-branded HyperDuck SoundWorks do one hell of a job with the tunes in the game. When I interviewed the guys a few months back, we got to sample some of the tracks from the game and I have to say, the remainder of the music did not disappoint. I can not wait to see what these guys have up next for us and hope to nail them down for another interview soon. **Just a subtle hint there for the guys** I serious
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Developed by: X10 Studios
Players: 1
Platforms: PC (Available through Gamer's Gate, Desura, Steam, Direct2Drive, and directly from X10)
Drawing from various classics such as Metroid and Mega Man X, A.R.E.S. Exinction Agenda is the first chapter in an episodic side-scrolling shooter. Set in the 21st Century, Earch is over polluted and we are facing extinction. A processing station is sent in to Earth orbit to help with this problem, but is overrun by "zytron" that kills the station's systems and turns all the machines hostile. ARES is a robot tasked with clearing out the station, rescuing the hostages, and stopping the machines.
Graphically the game is quite impressive. There is a consistent frame rate and everything has a very futuristic aesthetic. The character designs have an anime feel to them which really lends well to this type of game. ARES' look really great after his armor upgrade and in motion really does give a Mega Man X feel that I love. The bosses at the end of each level are really impressive and give a good sense of scale to the game.
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