Shower Thoughts – Was Microsoft’s Approach to Gaming Wrong?

While sitting on my balcony, taking in the sun and sipping on my coffee, I started to think, like you do: Could Microsoft’s approach to gaming have worked? As we now know, all those billions they spent on legendary studios didn’t really pan out in their “kindergarten” experiment. Kindergarten, since giving these studios infinite time and money didn’t produce any cultural milestones, which I assume was the intention—but instead gave us a bunch of mediocre titles just to fill Microsoft’s requirement to remain under the sweet money-tree. Let me explain.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction – Sam Going Loco [Review]

The one Splinter Cell game that, in my opinion, got the most flak. Not totally undeserved, but perhaps the critique was a tad harsh back when it was released. People wanted more of the slow, duct-crawling stealth kind. Instead, we got commando Sam Fisher, who has no problem with murdering people to the left and right for the slightest of reasons. This felt off with a lot of people. However, I think Splinter Cell: Conviction fits perfectly in the Splinter Cell lore. Sam is a loose cannon, and without anyone guiding his actions—he is just a brutal killer, especially when fueled by vengeful revenge. Having Sam go crazy with bloodlust, makes narrative sense in the grand story of Splinter Cell.

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Dverghold – Dwarf Digging [Early Access Impressions]

If I got a coin every time the dwarves dug too greedily, I would have zero coins, since they would nick them too. This will not be a full review of Dverghold, since this Early Access release is far from finished. And I don’t mean buggy, as it’s actually very polished and stable, but there are camp followers that should serve a role but offer nothing at the moment. This means that I’d rather stop now and wait for the complete experience instead of spoiling the game piecemeal. Even so, let’s go over my impression of this EA release!

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Critical Shift – Playtest Impressions

One thing that’s common now is to base your game on SCP, especially if you want mystery, and instantly want to set the tone of what’s to come. Critical Shift leans into SCP something fierce, being the game that feels the most similar—without actually being set in that universe. At least, that’s the impression I’m getting from the three missions in the playtest. 

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Dverghold – Early Access Out Now!

As most of us know, the dwarves in their greed can’t help but dig a little too deep—usually unearthing something foul that soon thereafter becomes a plague for everyone. Dverghold is no different, with you answering the call for massive underground cleanup. In other words, Dverghold is out in Early Access, with its first four dungeon levels to be explored. It’s a turn-based blobber, and when I tried the demo, I came to enjoy it a lot. 

I’m hesitant about Early Access games nowadays, but Dverghold feels like a sure bet if you like these types of (rare) games. It’s incredibly cheap too, coming out to 13.16 euros for me, with a current 15% discount. So, go get it! Release trailer after the jump. 

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