Hell Let Loose – What could have been?

German combined attack! Shame, everybody died though

While Hell Let Loose is not a bad game per se, I can’t help to think – what could have been? Going way back to their Kickstarter, and pre-early access release on Steam, this game showed so much promise! It was going to be the ultimate WW2 tactical multiplayer shooter, taking notes from all other similar games before them, and expanding on it. It was going to be huge, with you, and your team required to work together, securing zones for precious resources to be able to call in the heavy stuff – like tanks, and artillery. Some of this remains in the game to this day, of course, but it’s just a shadow of what was proposed. 90% of the players don’t care and don’t know about this function, and to be fair it usually doesn’t really affect the game in public matches since in the end it’s not required to win.

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Mirror’s Edge Catalyst – Parkour Bore

I remember playing the first Mirror’s Edge many years ago on the Xbox 360. It wasn’t my favorite game or anything, but I did like the system of movement, and the general atmosphere of the city in which the game takes place. It had this cold, minimalist stylistic corporate vibe to it, that for some reason left a mark on me. So when I saw Mirror’s Edge Catalyst for sale on Steam for 2 euros the other day, I couldn’t help to dive in – I mean, what is 2 bucks even if it sucks?

The first thing that hit me going in is that I don’t remember being thrown in prison from the first game, and apparently I needed to read some kind of comic to understand why I was. A huge negative stain on the game already, and I’m about 5 minutes into it. I hate when games do this, movies too for that matter. Expecting you to find/buy, and read media outside the game to understand the plot. Another thing that messed up my understanding of the story whilst it was ongoing, was that I had no idea that Catalyst is a reboot, and not a sequel, which I thought it was. I didn’t know this until after I finished the game. I discovered it when I was searching for answers to some questions I had about the plot. Apparently, it wasn’t a retcon or two, in the story, the whole thing had been retconned, huh!

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The Bureau: XCOM Declassified – A good game?

The confused Xcom. The hated Xcom! The Xcom that wasn’t Xcom. It was a divisive time, and I do agree partly with the naysayers—it sure didn’t feel like the classic games going by the promotional material. But as it turned out, I took a real liking to it. I can’t say anything about the first-person-oil-slick-enemy-Xcom that was the original pitch because that game never got to see the light of day. Instead, we got an underrated little squad-based third-person shooter with RPG elements in the company of a damn good pulp-like story. This game is one of my guilty pleasures, and I think I have finished it three times by now. I’m here to tell you why it’s so good and why you should play it. And there are plenty of reasons to do so!

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