>> Underdogs <<

Questo topic si propone di diventare, anche grazie al vostro aiuto, una vetrina per quelle produzioni minori che, pur faticando a farsi conoscere presso il grande pubblico, si dimostrano spesso dei piccoli capolavori.

Sentitevi quindi liberi di inviarmi via PM le vostre osservazioni o segnalazioni, grazie... :)

Armageddon Empires

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If I had to narrow it down, it's got three things which are its stand-out features, and core to its appeal. Its setting. Its recruitment mechanism. Its length. It's a post-apocalyptic game with a card-playing/deck building mechanism in lieu of (most) of its traditional building and you can play it in a relatively short time. Most games last one to three hours, though you can expand it up or down depending on changing the size of the map.

The card mechanism is the first thing you'll notice. Taking inspiration from games like Magic: The Gathering (in mechanisms, not in terms of paying money for a piece of card with a fancy orc with some numbers printed on), you can only put units into play which are in your "hand".

Before the game, you design a deck of cards - each of the game's four sides have their own unique selections - up to a set point value (i.e. harder cards cost more). Or, if you're lazy or don't know what the hell's going on, you can pick a predefined one. Then, when you start, you get dealt a hand of cards, and you can bring them into play as and when you get enough resources (i.e. hard cards require you have secured more bits of space-floss and jam than others).

It takes a while to realise, but the card mechanism integrates tightly into the setting. It's a post-apocalypse game - in other words, about not having much stuff. Once you've gone through your deck of cards... that's it. If a hero's killed in play, they're gone forever. If you only put one enormous death robot in your deck, and he gets turned to bolts, you're not getting another one. This leads you to thinking carefully, both about what units you want to have available, and their fates when you get them.

The third facet - that it's short - means that so you can experiment with more tactics, decks, approaches and just play more games. I'd argue this brings the strategy more sharply into focus than it does with a longer game - the link between your decisions and the resultant actions is clearer, meaning you really do know when you've made a hideous error.


Puzzle Quest

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Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a brand new, genre-bending title that ups the ante on traditional puzzle games by incorporating strategy, role-playing elements and a persistent storyline. Set in the Warlords universe, the game challenges players to save the land of Etheria from evil Lord Bane as gamers engage in battles fought by means of competitive, head-to-head "match-three" style puzzle games in one of three gameplay modes: Single-player, Instant Action or Multiplayer. Victory will advance a player's customisable hero, magical arsenal, creature companions and more—ultimately rewarding gamers at nearly every turn and deepening their immersion into the richly diverse world. The game's remarkable mix of classic puzzle gameplay and an abundant suite of characters, customisations, spells, companions, tameable monsters and more provides a fresh take on the puzzle genre that offers endless hours of replayability. Designed specifically for handheld gaming systems, Puzzle Quest can be enjoyed in long or short doses, cultivating a casual but deeply satisfying and compelling gameplay experience.

Key Features

• Innovative Gameplay Style - Strategy and role-playing elements that function harmoniously in the puzzle gameboard setting offer a refreshing twist on classic puzzle gameplay, fostering an exceptional depth of investment and enjoyment.
• Head-to-Head Gameplay Mechanism - Competitive, turn-based gameplay encourages you to plan, think and strategize against opponents instead of just react like most traditional puzzle games; game difficulty and progression are related to outsmarting your enemies as opposed to difficulty increasing solely through level progression.
• No Penalty for Losing - If you experience defeat, you are still awarded experience points as well as partial gold and then encouraged to try again; this allows constant progression and avoids any feelings that invested play time is wasted.
• Continuous Reward System - At every turn, you will acquire helpful companions, collect or cast powerful magic spells, gather informational "rumors," and obtain items like weapons, armor and money to advance your hero.
• Short or Long-term Play Sessions - Play in long or short doses since the depth of the game does not waver according to the length of a gameplay session; each battle ranges from 3-10 minutes.
• Three Distinct Gameplay Modes Offer Unparalleled Replayability -
  • Single-player: Battle against the computer AI as you embark on more than 150 challenging quests
  • Instant Action: Jump in and immediately play continuous battles to level up your character without participating in quests
  • Multiplayer: Battle live opponents via wireless connectivity on both the PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) system and the Nintendo DS handheld system
• Create and Build a Hero - Choose from two male and two female avatars in each of the four character classes-Druid, Knight, Warrior and Wizard-to create, develop and customize your ultimate hero.
• Build Your Own Empire - Build an empire as you capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will aid you in battle.
  
  
  

Galactic Civilizations II

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Galactic Civilizations II is a strategy game set in space in which rival races vie for control of the galaxy, via the traditional "4X" game style of exploring the universe, expanding your empire, exploiting your rivals, and exterminating your enemies. That may sound familiar, but right from the opening screens you're presented with the ability to create the gaming experience that you prefer. You can play as the humans or any of the other nine races, each bringing its own unique strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and societal personality (trade-oriented, militaristic, evil, good, and so on). If that's not enough for you, you can create your own unique race with its own distinctive characteristics. You then select the type of galaxy in which you want to play out your space adventure. Do you want fast action? Play in a small galaxy packed with stars and habitable planets and several rival races, and crank up the speed of technological advances. Are you more in the mood for a long, epic space opera? Set up a gigantic galaxy (there are six different map sizes) with widely spaced star systems.

Multiple paths to victory also provide you with completely different gaming experiences. You can choose to be a benevolent ruler and eschew violence, spreading your cultural influence throughout the galaxy. Instead of invading a planet, you can let their citizens see your luxurious way of life, complete with malls and fancy restaurants, and sway them with diplomatic expertise. There's a special satisfaction in having a planet's inhabitants dump their leader and join your empire purely through winning their hearts and minds. Or you can choose to be the evil emperor, crushing the naïve civilizations that dare resist your military might. Throughout the game you are presented with ethical choices, such as discovering that the planet you just colonized has a primitive civilization that you can either protect at the cost of some progress, move to the equivalent of a reservation, or enslave to increase your production. Your choices will result in a moral "grade" for your culture--good, neutral, or evil--which will affect how other races deal with you. For example, if you are the lone evil empire in the galaxy, "good" races may form an alliance against you. These moral persuasions also result in different technological advances being available to your race.


Space Rangers 2

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In terms of the structure, it’s essentially a more complicated turn-based Pirates set in Space. So Elite meets Pirates, basically.

You play an eponymous Space Ranger, looking down on a two-dimensional view of the solar system you’re currently in. Planets rotate around stars in perpetual motion. Meteors float along. Other space ships go about their daily business – Pirates, pirating, Traders, trading, Diplomats, diplomatting. Space Stations float silently. Dominators invade and destroy all life, but we’ll get to them a bit later.

You’re free to do whatever you want. Travel between solar-systems via your jump drive, exploring. Try a little trading, by buying high, selling low and swiftly going out of business. Take missions from planetary governors for cash rewards and honours. Either turn to intergalactic thievery or help innocent merchant vessels beat off attacks. Explore, laying down probes on uninhabited space areas. Mine space rocks. Join the war effort against the dominators, who, no, really, we’ll get to eventually.


Knights of Honor

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It's generally hard to be surprised in the real-time strategy genre these days, but you have to give the developers at Black Sea Studios credit, because they've created one of the most original and enjoyable real-time strategy games in recent years. With that said, it should also be noted that Knights of Honor is a game that's not for everyone. This is an incredibly deep medieval kingdom simulation, and it's the closest to actually being able to put you in the ruling seat of a feudal land.

Rewrite European history any way you like. In this game, Poland is the top dog of Europe.
The idea in Knights of Honor is that you can take command of one of more than 100 different European countries from three different eras of European history. Your goal is to survive and expand. This means that you have to arrange marriages to ensure an heir for your ruling family, as well as improve your economy, make diplomatic and trade agreements with other countries, and assemble armies to stamp out rebels and wage war on your enemies. You can even dispatch members of your royal court to infiltrate enemy courts to spy. The end goal is to accumulate enough political and military might where you either win by score or are crowned the ruler of Europe.


Europa 1400: The Guild

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Europa 1400 consists of several simple parts that add up to an interesting whole. On the surface it's a basic economic simulation. On a deeper level, it's a strategic game about politics and ambition. It's not really a role-playing game, but you have a character with statistics, and these statistics can be improved. Any element examined on its own would seem pretty skimpy, but together they make for an addictive and unique game.

It's somewhat difficult to get started. There's a fairly comprehensive tutorial and a bulky manual, but both are disorganized and confusing. The game seems to have suffered from a poor translation in this regard. Even after you read the manual and go through the tutorial, Europa 1400 is a bit overwhelming. There are so many options right from the beginning--you have to choose your location, your goals, your career, and even your parentage--that it will likely take you a few false starts to understand the basics.

You can easily get information about your fellow citizens. Once you have a basic grasp of the game, however, Europa 1400 is great fun. You can choose to amass wealth, become a master of your chosen profession, gain rank in society, or any combination thereof. But first, you must start small. You pick a profession and get to work earning a meager living. The majority of professions are related to craftsmanship, such as carpentry, masonry, and blacksmithing. You can also choose to run more unusual businesses such as churches, apothecaries, or thieves' guilds. With the exception of the thieves' guild, all of the businesses produce items which you cart to the market and sell. At first, you'll want to manage your business, hiring employees and choosing what is produced. Later, as your responsibilities grow, you can hire someone to run your business for you.


Sacrifice

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Recensione

Sacrifice is a little hard to describe if you aren't sitting in front of the computer looking at it as we discovered when I tried to explain the game mechanics to the rest of the guys here while they were loading up for some multiplayer fun. Basically, it is an RTS game with action and role-playing elements in it. The default camera view is stuck behind the head of your wizard. You can rotate the camera around his head and zoom in and out but it will always follow you around. Unfortunately there are a couple of little problems when climbing large mountains that make it hard to see what is going on. Mostly though, it works very well and gives an incredibly frenetic feel to the action that makes you worry about not only your creatures but yourself as well.

Anyway, your character is your general, wizard, unit factory, research bay, resource collector, etc... All of the normal buildings and producers of a normal RTS rolled into one. There are two resources in the game and come in the form of souls and mana. There are a set number of souls on a board, so the more you get, the less the enemy has. So how do you get souls? You convert them with one of your spells. Once they are converted, you can use them to summon creatures. Each of the creatures has a different soul and mana cost to summon depending on their strength and abilities. You need mana to cast all of these spells, so that means you need manaliths. Manaliths are structures that are used to collect mana from the mana fountains. Once you have a couple of those, you are good to go.

The main point that I need to get across here is that you are going to have to abandon your ideas about the traditional RTS. This game does not play like one. There is an extensive tutorial series to help you learn, but you really have to spend some time with it before you can get the strategies down. But the single player experience lets you build up slowly and forces you to utilize a lot of basic strategies as you go.


Disciples II

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In Disciples II: Dark Prophecy the contrast between Good and Evil could not be clearer. I've never played a game where the forces of Good appeared more angelic or the side of Evil more demonic. Beyond issues of what gamers familiar with Dungeons & Dragons would call Alignment, Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a welcome addition to the genre of turn-based strategy games.

The Legions of the Damned and The Undead Hoardes employing units of possessed humans, Demons, Lichs and Death Knights are unequivocally Evil. Conversely, The Empire and The Mountain Clans with their Archangels, Druids, Novices, and Pegasus Knights are clear representations of Good. The landscape, graphics and sound effects in this game all combined to immerse me in the epic struggle it presents.

Disciples II: Dark Prophecy unfolds in dramatic fashion. As a turn-based fantasy-themed game, it opens with a video describing events just passed: after closing the gates of Hell in an epic battle, the four races of the land have returned to their homes. Games can be played in two forms: stand-alone adventures or a campaign-like series of adventures interlinked with one another in an ongoing Saga. The player chooses the type of game he'd like to play and then selects one of the available races out of the four in the game (all four are not necessarily available in every quest): The Empire, The Mountain Clans, The Undead Hordes, or The Legions of the Damned.

Once a player has selected a race, the next step is to select a Lord. The purpose of a Lord isn't really clear from a storyline perspective, but it has a major influence on some of the player's armies' strengths and his spellcasting ability. Although it isn't stated as such, it's almost like the player selecting a class for a Role Playing Game, along the lines of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. There are three Lords to choose from, and once selected, there's no going back. The choices are Warrior Lord, Mage Lord, and Guildmaster Lord. Each brings unique talents to the table.


Darwinia

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Recensione

It's a terribly difficult game to explain. A game scientist could be able to distil at least a couple of dozen influences from it, from the large scale ones (like the touch of real-time strategy in the way you control and create your units) to the small ones (the way the centipede's attack patterns are a direct reference to the old-skool videogame of the same title). But noting all these separate bits would just confuse everyone... however a more streamlined approach just misses huge chunks of what make the game interesting.

It's important to just stress that all the parts come together in an entirely understandable form in the actual game. Its sense is best experienced rather than described.

Set in a TRON-styled retro fantasia world, you're charged with clearing out a viral infection. To do this you control a squad of programs in a similar manner to the classics Cannon Fodder and Syndicate. Left click to move around, right click to fire and both at once to fire a heavy weapon. Your opponents cover the terrain, and vary from the weak mass of swarming virii to the absolutely fearsome soul-destroyers who float above the battlefield, sweeping down to annihilate everything they touch. You move around. Enemies are shot. That's the basics.

Things are enlivened by the more strategic elements. When anyone dies, they drop a "soul". These can be recovered by one of your engineer units, brought back to a structure and processed into a Darwinian: the natural, friendly inhabitants of the world. Initially defenceless, these can be manoeuvred around the landscape by converting one of them into an officer. Missions often involve moving these to a position without being destroyed, a little like Pre-GTA DMA classic Lemmings.


Supreme Ruler 2010

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Supreme Ruler 2010 allows strategy gamers to bring territories under their control from small scale regions to full-on global domination. Players achieve this through diplomacy or military supremacy supported by the resources gained through a detailed economic model. Further supporting your successes are the social policies that keep your people happy, healthy, literate and the envy of neighboring countries. And to help manage all of these richly detailed systems, players are given the reins of a thoroughly modeled political apparatus; lead through policy-driven cabinet ministries or directly intervene in tuning everything from healthcare spending and pension funds to what guided munitions get loaded on to which bombers.

Battlegoat Studios’ flagship (and debut) strategy game is set in a near-future world in which a cascading political and economic collapse sundered the countries of the developed world. Many countries have splintered into smaller territories with their own agendas; Vermont forges ahead alone, wearily eyeing Massachusetts, while southern France refuses to let its natural resources be exploited by gluttonous Parisians. Even those countries that remain intact are adrift in an unstable and uncertain world where peace is not a given and old grievances or economic ambitions may manifest in conflict. It may be hard to imagine Sweden having imperial ambitions, but the offshore oil fields of Norway can be mighty appealing shortly after a global economic collapse, a world free of the multilateral agreements and trade relationships of the world we know now. Students of history can easily point to Japan, circa 1930, for a precedent. The dissolution of the world order saw the United Nations supplanted by the World Market, a shadowy organization with the stated goal of seeing all of the bickering regions stabilized, preferably through peaceful avenues but they will support resolution through force. Effectively, the World Market serves as an in-game commodities market and power broker as well as a source for military and economic aid.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto

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Recensione

Imagine what would happen if Salvador Dali decided to design a computer game after an all-night marathon of watching cartoons, monster movies, and pro wrestling. Then you'd start to get an idea of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, one of the most wildly imaginative, funny, and enjoyable action games to date. Actually, to simply call it an action game would be to do it an injustice. While it's played from a first- or third-person perspective in the fashion of a typical shooter, the game also has resource-gathering and base-building elements that are similar to those in real-time strategy games. These elements are linked together by the game's distinctly stylish and goofy sensibility, which is immediately likeable and entertaining. While Giants does have a few problems, you'll certainly want to look past these since the game itself is so inventive and so much fun.

The game's action is set on the Island, a planetoid hurtling through space. It is covered with lush, tropical islands and brilliant azure seas and is at least a temporary home to numerous strange creatures, including the game's three playable races. These are so different that they can make Giants seem like at least three different games in one. First, there are the Meccaryns, or Meccs, who were swallowed by a giant space fish while heading to a vacation planet and then unceremoniously defecated onto the Island. They have access to a full range of traditional shooter weaponry such as machine guns, missiles, sniper rifles, grenades, and more. Meccs also have special backpacks, including a default jetpack that lets you fly short distances before having to recharge. For higher flying, there's a gyrocopter that can be piloted by one Mecc while you carry others in multiplayer mode.


Etherlords II

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Most everyone has at least heard of Magic: The Gathering--it's the strategy game where people duel each other with cards representing various spells and creatures. Each card has unique properties that turn the game into a fight of tactics and sometimes even luck. 2001's Etherlords took that concept and managed to turn it into an entertaining turn-based strategy game. Now developer Nival Interactive has produced a sequel that improves the original game's combat--its best feature--as well as resolves some of the original game's issues. The result is even better than its predecessor, and brings Etherlords' distinctive gameplay up to today's standards.

Enemy heroes will guard passages and precious resources. The story in Etherlords II takes place in the World of Lords that is inhabited by followers of four ether powers: Kinets, Chaots, Synthets, and Vitals. These factions are always engaged in skirmishes with each other. Etherlords II includes five different campaigns, during which you'll get to play as each of the four sides. The story unfolds from the perspective of a single hero character you control at a time. This is one of the differences between Etherlords II and its predecessor, which let you control multiple heroes spread across a large map, like the Heroes of Might and Magic series.


Kohan II: Kings of War

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Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns was released in 2001, and though it wasn't a blockbuster success, many of those who actually played it loved it. Its particular take on real-time strategy focused on the strategic control of companies of troops and on eliminating much of the tedious micromanagement often associated with the genre. As such, the game proved to be an innovative change of pace from the conventions of real-time strategy. The sequel, Kohan II: Kings of War, retains its predecessor's unique gameplay while also making key changes that distinguish it both from the original and from any other RTS games in the intervening years. And while some of the changes streamline a slickly designed RTS model even further, they don't detract from this great game's own winning formula.

Kohan heroes round up followers to save the world.
Kohan II's fantasy setting takes place long after the events of the first Kohan game. Naava Daishan is chasing after the remains of the Ceyah faction, who were the aggressors and losers of the first game. Led by Sebak, the Ceyah survivors escape from Naava's grasp and unleash a dark power upon Khaldun. The forces of humanity are on the brink of annihilation, and it's up to Naava and Jonas Teramun, a recently awakened Kohan with no memories, to unite the races of the land. The storyline is a little unoriginal for a fantasy setting, but it is enjoyable nonetheless, thanks to a few well-placed plot twists. The last mission is also quite fun and suitably climactic, although the game's ending is rather dull and disappointing. The single-player campaign spans 25 missions and should take anywhere from 15 hours to twice that long to complete, depending on your strategies and if you complete optional secondary objectives. At any rate, like its predecessor, the campaign in Kohan II is too scripted and suffers from weak artificial intelligence. Also, it'll be an absolute breeze for experienced RTS players at the default difficulty, and even hard difficulty won't be much of a challenge for the first half of the game. The missions are varied, though, and you'll get to play as each of the game's races at various parts in the campaign. You may or may not enjoy this aspect, because even though this lends some variety to the gameplay, you don't really get attached to any particular characters or their causes.


Crown of Glory

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Say the words Matrix Games and the mind immediately conjures up visions of products where historical accuracy and attention to detail are often of paramount importance. The company’s latest release, Crown of Glory: Europe in the Age of Napoleon, is such an example and offers a substantially different approach to strategy than similar but more light-hearted fare such as Cossacks II or Imperial Glory. Here the emphasis is on substance vice glitz, and in this venue Matrix has a solid winner on its hands.

Recall one of the most remarkable things about Napoleon was his ability to run both the army and his country even while on campaign hundreds of miles away. It was this ability to manage vastly different areas of expertise in detail that at least partially defined his genius. In Crown of Glory gamers are offered an invitation to do likewise, not simply from a military perspective, but from economic and diplomatic ones as well. This is a game of national strategy, folks, and winning as the Emperor of France or any opposing monarch is a victory players will savor, because they will have earned it. And even defeat is a remarkable, nail biting ride that will certainly increase most gamers' appreciation of just how good Bonaparte really was.


Steel Panthers: World at War

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The Steel Panthers trilogy was one of the most decorated and praised wargame series from SSI. Now Gary Grigsby and Matrix Games, the company he now works for, has licenced the name and came out with a remake of Steel Panthers games called Steel Panthers: World at War (SP:WAW). This game is being distributed free of charge by Matrix Games (although it has minimal in-game advertising), and you don't need any of the previous Steel Panther games.

At first glance, this top notch war game looks complicated, but is quite easy to get into. The manual has a great tutorial, a section for Steel Panthers veterans that lists what is new and what has changed, and a detailed explanation of everything. In a nutshell, SP:WAW is a turn-based, hex wargame updated from DOS to Windows 95/98. The game covers battles all through World War II, from Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931 to a 'what if' cold war secnario in 1949. 27 nations are repersented, with pictures and short movie clips to add to the realism. You can select a quick battle if you like, and configure it to your preference. Or slug it out with a scenario -- over 50 secnarios are available with the game, and more user made ones are available for download from Matrix Games' website. There are also three Campaigns options -- a Campaign Generator that allows you to set up a custom made campaign, a Linked Scenario option that will link some scenarios together for you, and the classic Long World War II option, where you can play as one of six nations -- the United States, the United States Marine Corp, Great Britian, Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan. Both Europe and the Pacific are repersented and you can switch back and forth if your chosen nation fought in both areas. You start each campaign by building a group of 'core' units, and you can add on to them and modify them as the war goes on. In each battle, you earn points by killing enemy units or by taking and holding objective hexes. The core unit and point system is similar to SSI's 'five star General' series and makes it very easy to understand and operate.


Jagged Alliance 2

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Much like that of Jagged Alliance, JA2's story centers around the oppression of a small country by a despotic dictator. The culprit this time around is a tyrant known as Queen Deidranna, who rules over the nation of Arulco with an iron hand and a whole lot of heavy artillery. As the game begins, your mercenary boss is contacted by Enrico Chivaldori, the deposed leader of Arulco who also happens to be the ex-husband of Deidranna. His proposition is a good, old-fashioned externally funded revolution, with his money and vocal support buying equipment, personnel and the aid of a few well-placed agents throughout the country. Thus backed, you'll have to lead a team of mercenaries into Arulco, contact the kind of locals who would be sympathetic to Enrico's cause and take the fight to Deidranna. Accomplishing these goals is a matter of conquering territorial zones, managing your financial and human resources and basically making yourself useful to the oppressed citizenry of Arulco while engaging in a guerre de course with the Queen's tyrannical forces.

It all starts from your laptop computer, a nifty little bit of interface work that puts a familiar face on the framework around which you'll build your mercenary army. You'll receive e-mail from Enrico and other sources, have access to logistical data on Arulco and its denizens, and, in what is no doubt the focus of the game, hire mercenaries to serve as your army. This is performed through a faux web interface -- complete with download delays -- that takes you through a fictional mercenary referral service that makes contract negotiations a snap. There are a large number of mercenaries available for recruitment, some of whom will no doubt be familiar to veterans of Jagged Alliance and others who are entirely new arrivals. They vary in abilities such as marksmanship, strength and medical proficiency, as well as that all-important factor, cost.


Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising

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Recensione

Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising is a breed apart from the typical real-time strategy game. UK development house Rage Software has picked apart the traditional design, which was pioneered by Westwood Studios in such classics as Dune II and Command & Conquer, and developed a captivating fully 3D game that defies convention. Although there is much for the real-time strategy veteran to latch onto in Hostile Waters--including resource gathering, unit construction, enemy base assault, and so on--much has been added, tweaked, or removed altogether from the basic formula. Actually, one of the more significant omissions in Hostile Waters is its lack of multiplayer support. Yet in spite of this, the game's excellent story, action elements, de-emphasis on repetitive base building, and largely automated resource collection ensure that even the most jaded real-time strategy player will find something fresh and exciting in Hostile Waters.

The impressive Antaeus waits offshore. Perhaps the most obvious discrepancy between Hostile Waters and most real-time strategy games is its detailed story. Written by acclaimed comic book author Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority) and told through evocative cutscenes, the tale is emblematic of the best science fiction of John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes). Unlike the traditional postapocalyptic setting, the scene in Hostile Waters is a "future world gone sane." The year is 2032, and mankind has abandoned weapons and entered into a golden age. Of course, the situation promptly becomes more interesting with the arrival of a cabal of "Old World magnates" bent on regaining their lost power. They promptly establish an artificial island chain in the Pacific and begin launching attacks on the new and improved humanity, apparently with the assistance of aliens. The only hope for this peaceful society is the Adaptive Cruiser Antaeus, a super aircraft carrier and war wagon that's spent the better part of the past two decades rusting at the bottom of the ocean. You must complete 21 missions in the solo campaign to get the vessel back in operating condition and save the world from tyranny.


Space Empires IV

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Recensione

The space faring versions of the 4X-strategy genre have met with mixed results. Most fans agree that the best one so far has been the MOO series (Master of Orion I & II). There have been other success', and failures, as well. Malfador Machinations (MM) has been working on and improving their Space Empires series in an attempt to give fans the type of game they want. MM is a very small game company (the driving force behind the game is comprised of two main people, an artist and a programmer) who, without the backing of a large company, has created a very respectable and well-polished 4x game. But is it the best?

SEIV is a game created by fans for fans. MM listened very closely to what people liked and disliked about SEIII and went ahead to refine the game. What we end up with is a game with many options so that you, the game player, can set up and play the game the way you want to. Even before the game begins, you will have several choices to make in order to play. This means there is a lot of customisation that is put into your hands, the way it should be. You will decide the galaxy size, starting resources, number of AI opponents, etc. You can choose a predefined race or create one of your own.

The goal in SEIV is to conquer the universe. To begin this task, you start on your home planet. Within your system you will see other planets (some habitable, others not), moons, perhaps some sort of nebulae and warp points that lead to neighboring systems. You'll want to construct colony ships with which to expand to these planets and scout ships to see what 'treasures' the neighboring systems hold. To do this you will design your ship. MM has done an excellent job with this system. It is icon based, you drag and drop from the list of available components to slots that represent your ship. Each component takes up a certain amount of space. Components include a Bridge, Crew Quarters, Ship Drives, weapons, storage bays, etc. The beauty is just how much control you have. If you want a faster ship, just add more ship engines. The system for ship construction is elegant and easy to use, so the interface does not get in the way of your imagination.


War in the Pacific

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War in the Pacific is a 2D operational level portrayal of World War II in the Pacific. There are a number of scenarios that can be played, but the big campaign starts on December 7, 1941 and can run as late as March, 1946 depending on how well the player performs. Expanding on the Uncommon Valor system, it is essentially a turn-based game in which players, assuming the role of the Fleet Commanders and their subordinate staffs, use a planning phase to issue orders and then observe the results as the computer maneuvers and fights both sides in quasi-real time. The operative word for War in the Pacific is “huge” in just about every respect. Huge in scope, huge in detail, huge in documentation, and huge in the amount of time it will take to play. It is a simulation for the hard core war gamer who wants to account for every ship, air squadron and ground element throughout the vastness of the Pacific Theater. True, there are automation routines that allow entire regions to be run by the computer, but in the end the game requires dedicated effort by players willing to put time and energy into the experience.


Dominions 2

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Dominions 2: The Ascension Wars is an epic turn-based fantasy strategy game unlike any other fantasy strategy title that you’ve ever played. On the surface it may seem familiar; after all you’re raising armies, conquering enemy lands, and wielding powerful spells. Scratch deeper though and you’ll soon find that Dominions 2 introduces a depth that will satisfy even the most hardcore strategy gamer.

Acting as a pretender god leading one of seventeen different nations, players will strive to become the one true god through the power of spell and steel. As both the grand leader of your nation and their god you will seek to spread your dominions across the known world with divinely inspired priests, with masters of the arcane, mages, and of course with armies that grind your foes to dust before them. Use awe-inspiring magical items or craft your own, create new prophets to spread your gospel, and build up your defenses with new castles. On the field of battle you’ll fight with legions of bizarre creatures and truly heroic heroes, as the best in the world will be rewarded for their deeds with newfound powers.

You will find yourself waging war against the intelligent and challenging computer or up to sixteen human opponents. Designed from the ground up for such huge multiplayer games in mind, Dominions 2 effortlessly handles such worldwide mayhem. With a simultaneous turn structure downtime is kept to a minimum, even with a large group playing.

Silent Storm

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Just when you thought World War II was pretty played-out as a setting for computer games, along comes Silent Storm, which has enough great qualities that it'll make you happily indulge in yet another game that pits the Axis and Allies against each other. Occasionally in top-secret walking tanks. It's primarily a turn-based strategy game of small-squad tactics, and it plays out like an homage to the cult classic Jagged Alliance 2. Silent Storm features a surprisingly impressive presentation, complete with realistic physics and some of the most destructible environments ever seen in a game, which lead to some very exciting unscripted moments. The game offers a lot of interesting tactical depth, to boot. Silent Storm is unfortunately a little too open-ended for its own good, as the dynamic campaign structure is a little weak, and the game suffers from some noticeable balance issues. However, the core gameplay is so cool that you'll probably be willing to forgive Silent Storm's shortcomings.

A very slick presentation highlights this challenging and addictive turn-based game of squad tactics.
Unfortunately, there's no multiplayer mode, but Silent Storm does feature two big campaigns--one for the Allies and one for the Axis--that may be played in any order and at any of three levels of difficulty. The fact that one of the difficulty settings is called "easy" is a bit misleading because even at this setting, Silent Storm will provide a hearty challenge even for an experienced squad-tactics gamer. In any case, the campaigns' stories aren't well told and primarily unravel through the discovery of awkwardly written textual "clues." Regardless of which campaign you choose, you'll get to select or create a main character, who can belong to one of several nationalities and six different classes, like soldier, sniper, grenadier, and scout. After an introductory mission, you'll get to select five additional squad members with whom you'll conduct a top secret campaign throughout Europe and Asia.


Tropico: Paradise Island

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Tropico was one of the best strategy games last year. It took the familiar city-management-simulation genre and infused it with a great premise and an interesting political element. You not only had to preside over a Caribbean island, but you also had to deal with vastly opposing factions within your populace. Tropico had personality, charm, and a robust system of simulated individuals that could be coddled, terrorized, and manipulated in a variety of ways. And it was the first management game in which a certain subset of your population would never fully support you simply because you could choose to play as a fascist pop singer with a predilection for drink.

Tropico: Paradise Island adds a number of welcome new features to the original. The majority of the expansion's additions involve tourism: There are more types of hotels and attractions and even more types of tourists. But Paradise Island also fills in some gaps from the original game by introducing new edicts, buildings, music (another hour of excellent songs from Daniel Indart and Latin Music Specialists), and Presidente backgrounds and traits. Moreover, it fixes some minor problems and includes a slew of new and improved scenarios to challenge your ability to keep your people in line and your Swiss bank account brimming.

Paradise Island is a worthwhile purchase simply for its surface improvements to the core game. Building construction is noticeably faster, and canceling buildings now refunds the full price. Plus, more buildings can be rotated, and support graphs are shown before you must decide whether or not to hold elections. It doesn't fix all of them--roads are still next to useless, and you'll still have people taking yearlong vacations from their jobs. But if nothing else, Paradise Island is a great patch.


Norm Koger’s The Operational Art of War III

Segnalato da: ViolentKop

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Norm Koger’s The Operational Art of War is a legendary title among wargamers. A masterpiece of flexible design, it allows you to play and create any battle from the entire 20th Century of warfare and up to the modern day. Now, Matrix Games together with Norm Koger and a new design team bring you the definitive release of this unsurpassed operational wargame – The Operational Art of War III.

nota: é disponibile la traduzione in italiano nella sezione Member area del sito Matrix Games (registrazione necessaria).


Victoria: an Empire under the Sun

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With Europa Universalis II, Paradox chronicled a Euro-centric history of the world from 1450 to 1820. Skipping a century, the Swedish developer then covered the ramp-up to World War II and the war itself in Hearts of Iron with same engine modified for technology and combat. Victoria: Empire under the Sun fills the gap in a way that underlines the strengths and weaknesses of Paradox's engine.

Published in North America by Strategy First, Victoria portrays this tumultuous period in detail using a pausable, continuous time engine. The player controls any country in the world by manipulating resources, industry and citizenry at a provincial level. Elements include societal, political, technological, diplomatic and military considerations. The original three scenarios are the Grand Campaign (1836-1920), A House Divided (1861-1920), and The Great War (1914-1920). Although eye-catching for the military enthusiast, focusing on two wars sends the regrettable message that the product is just another wargame. Paradox attempted to rectify this slant by including a fourth scenario, A Place in the Sun (1881-1920) in version 1.01. However, focusing on any one set of events pulls the player's attention away from the historical interaction of many factors. The game is about a stream of events, not any given set of conditions, which will define how the player's nation gains all important prestige points.

If this description smacks of a complex game, then the description is accurate. Victoria is not for either casual or one-dimensional players. Gamers must be prepared to spend many hours playing and should understand the interaction of the multitude of factors. The manual's introduction admits that knowledge of the period's history is helpful to play the game. Who knew Swedes had such a propensity for understatement?


Weird Worlds: Return to infinite space

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Now, I've tried this with Weird Worlds, and... well, the review hasn't been written for the last three days. The problem is its structure. In this space-strategy exploration game, the sequel to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, you're placed as commander of an interplanetary vessel with a ten to thirty year mission to explore the nearby galaxy. Heading off, you move from system to system, seeing what's out there and being terribly Captain Kirk. Half an hour later, at most, the clock has ticked down and you either return to your home planet or you've perished in one of the systems of deep space. In other words, it's a short-form game. Is there a save? I honestly don't know. I've never checked, and it's beside the point. It's like expecting there to be a quick-save in Defender: even if there was, why would you use it?

Now, you may think that the quick-game would make it easier to tear of a mouthful of gaming flesh then turn to the keyboard bloody-lipped, but it's not so. See, when I finish a game - either successfully or via one of my hilarious mishaps, such as accidentally piloting into a black hole without the appropriate high-level shields - I don't turn away high from the experience.

I just want to another go. And because it takes so little time to do so...


Oasis

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Turn based strategic bliss in minutes instead of hours? Yes!

I'd read a lot about Oasis before playing it but none of the descriptions of the game really conveyed just how much fun it can be. Yes, it's true, the game's maps can be played in short 5-15 minute sessions and each map delivers enough suspense, challenge and strategic depth to keep you coming back for more.

The mechanics are simple, as a pharaoh you must defeat the impending barbarian horde on each map by gathering followers, discovering and connecting cities with roads, finding power ups and researching technology. Research and road building require you to invest followers in each endeavor. You find followers, cities and power up treasure by uncovering portions of the map as you travel. You are given a finite number of turns before the invading barbarians attack so you must manage your resources, strategically place and time your moves and have a bit of luck in order to prevail. All in all it's a pretty deep game fronted by a simple point and click interface that's easy to learn.

Graphically the game is decent. It holds up to the prevailing indie game standards. The game does do a little zoom in on the city battles which is a nice effect though all you end up seeing are little red and blue dots fighting. The sound is similarly serviceable and nothing spectacular but considering it only costs $20 to unlock the full game, you get a great deal.

Download the demo and play through the tutorial so see for yourself. It's a gem of an indie game and worthy of a sequel.