Squawks and Doves
By Adam Smith on March 5th, 2013.
There are all sorts of Paradox games these days, which can be confusing for a fellow who is mostly looking for armies to command and maps to paint in his chosen colour. Fearful that March of the Eagles might be a Napoleonic era take on Angry Birds, I was pleased to find an internally developed strategy title, but this is a wargame rather than a historical playground. I am rubbish at war.
The Least Serene Republic
By Adam Smith on February 19th, 2013.
They say history is written by the victors and they quite often go on to say that Churchill said that, but they don’t appear to have any proof of the latter. I’m here to prove the former wrong as well. This is a Europa Universalis IV tale of betrayal and bellicose bastards, in which the losers have the final word, and that word is an obscenity, bellowed across a field of the dead.
Situational comedy
By Adam Smith on February 15th, 2013.
The Showdown Effect is a bombastic game, packed with more eighties action movie clichés and stereotypes than Schwarzenegger’s CV, or that one friend’s DVD collection that you’re fairly sure is entirely an edifice of ironic appreciation. I spoke to Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt at the Paradox Convention and we talked about Warhammer, dice and situational comedy. And, hey, why not the game as well?
It's dangerous to go Stallone, take Plissken
By Adam Smith on February 7th, 2013.
The Showdown Effect stood out at the Paradox Convention. Among the fine Port*, maps and history, here was a game that threatened to introduce itself like a shot of Tabasco sauce to the back of the throat. GUNS! ONE LINERS! SWORDS! BLOOD! ACTION MOVIES! THE EIGHTIES! I was braced for impact but as the sauce settled, I paused to swirl it around my mouth, nodded appreciatively and then turned a man’s head into a blood pudding by liberally applying a fire extinguisher to his face. There are explosions and gibs aplenty, but between the bullets and blades, there’s a great deal of precision.
By Adam Smith on February 7th, 2013.
Victoria II has always felt a little incomprehensible to me and it’s not just the time period or the focus on industry and empire. When I play strategy games, grand or otherwise, I tend to prefer taking control of a small entity. I’m no Ozymandias – my pedestal would read “Look upon my works, if ye like, I mean, if ye have a minute to spare” – so I’m more naturally drawn to the small-scale squabbles, exploration and expansion of earlier ages. The next piece of DLC, Heart of Darkness, could be just what I need to give the game another shot. As the title suggests, the expansion concentrates on the ‘scramble for Africa’, but it also promises to make the game more interesting for smaller powers. Details below.
More of a strut, really
By Adam Smith on February 5th, 2013.
I didn’t expect it to happen like this. I knew that one day I’d end up sucked into a multiplayer affair that left me checking over my shoulder, erasing entries in my diary and losing sleep, but I figured it’d be Planetside 2 or Day Z, not a strategic wargame. In the last week, I’ve spent a few hours playing March of the Eagles and Europa Universalis IV multiplayer and, despite myself, I’m ready to admit there’s a future in this ‘gaming with other people’ malarkey. More on EU IV soon. First, it’s Napoleon time.
By Adam Smith on February 5th, 2013.
I played Impire last week, although my hands-on time just about saw me through the tutorial so I didn’t get to summon any truly horrible minions. My dungeon was packed with scurrying imps of various sorts though and, later, with heroes too. The brief hands-on session revealed Impire to be a solid take on dungeon management, with a neat incorporation of simple overworld missions and combat that is more engaging than it first appears. It’s also an attractive game and while you’ll have to wait a couple of days for my full impressions, you can watch a few minutes of playthrough footage from the first scenario right now, which gives a good look at the all-important interface.
By Adam Smith on February 4th, 2013.
Paradox are finally ready to unleash the Pagans, or at least they are finally ready to announce that they will unleash the Pagans in the near future. The Old Gods expansion for Crusader Kings II won’t just allow players to control Pagan leaders, with all new mechanics and events, it will also open up a new start date of 867 AD. Details are scarce but I did speak with members of the studio about raids and Viking bands. Raids sound like a sort of terror event, with bands sprouting from the woodlands and wilds once a trigger is hit, falling under the leadership of a nearby ruler. Their numbers are not tied to the provinces that leader controls, so they can quickly become overwhelming. Trailer follows.
By Adam Smith on January 25th, 2013.
Impire is apparently due for release in early Q1 2013, which translates as ‘soon’. I’ll be seeing more of the game, which revolves around those PC staples of dungeon construction and monster management. During my brief look at the game, I was impressed by the impact the animations had on the impartation of character. The minions were already polished little blighters, likeable in a comically cruel sort of way. The overworld missions should add some longevity and tactical depth to the tunnelling and torturing. I shall be seeing more of the game in the very near future soon and will report back then. In the meantime, here’s a new video with music that may have come from Fred Wester’s personal collection.
By Craig Pearson on January 19th, 2013.
As the ice-god Wulþuz is exacting his revenge on the blasé warm bodies of Britain, it might be a good idea to sort yourself out with a game this weekend. You might get dripped on. You might nearly slip! Why even give yourself the option of leaving the house when you could be inside and away from the icy danger? You could just plug your name into Steam Roulette and see what pops up. Or, if you’re not one of the 1.8 million people that bought a copy of Magicka, then you could pop over to Steam and grab the free weekend.
Read the rest of this entry »
By Craig Pearson on January 17th, 2013.
Annoyingly, Mr Walker has already provided an excellent impersonation of map-loving Adam In his Crusader Kings II expansion post. I can’t compete with his skewering of him, so instead I’m going to copy him, but in Afrikaans, because it has the best translation of “mumble”. Thanks to Google Translate. “If you listen, you can hear him mumbling to himself about how much he loves Crusader Kings II March Of The Eagles. Listen now… [mompel mompel awrite ourkid ek is lief vir Maart van die Arende mal vir dit mompel mompel]“. What prompted this erudite expression of map-lust? This talking head with the excellently named Chris King talking about his Napoleonic War game.
