The Temple of Elemental Evil (Rediscovered)

I have been playing the semi-forgotten party based D&D RPG Temple of Elemental Evil from 2003 with the mods Temple+ (engine fixes) and Circle of Eight (more engine fixes, + extra game content). The reason I mention the mods so early in the article, is that when I played Temple of Elemental Evil the first time, none of these mods existed. And Temple of Elemental Evil was not a stable game, at all, at release. However, it showed serious potential, which these excellent modders saw and started to work on. These mods are now, as I can see it: essential. Temple+ for the numerous fixes, and Circle of Eight for the additional quests, that makes the first part of the game much more enjoyable.

Continue reading →

Space Scum – Battle Brothers in space?

Discovered this game over at RPG Codex, and after watching the trailer shown: I’m hyped! Space Scum looks to take the gameplay and visual style of Battle Brothers and set it in space. You know what that means? Having your own (doomed?) mercenary company fighting slimy aliens, horrifyingly disfigured mutants and robots hell-bent on human eradication (I presume). It seems to be open-world too, as the game promises a sandbox experience over at their Steam page, which can only be a good thing in this type of game. Now, we just hope the mercenary company mechanics match Battle Brothers too. That losing a couple of guys is not necessarily the death of the company. They are promising a demo soon in August, so I’m looking forward to that. Make sure to keep an eye out if you think Space Scum looks intriguing! Trailer after the jump.

Continue reading →

Every Day We Fight – Demo Impressions

Never stand next to red barrel in a videogame

It was time that I finally got to play the X-com-like Every Day We Fight, and I’m not disappointed. To be completely honest, I didn’t expect much going on. However, soon after trying the shooting mechanics, and getting to experience the story setting, I’m hooked. Except for one thing. A thing the game hangs heavy on, both gameplay-wise, and narratively. And that is: time-shenanigans. I have always struggled with time-travel plots, since for the most part the story ends up in an unsolvable mess of paradoxes. It’s way too early to say for Every Day We Fight, but it’s in here!

Continue reading →

Future War Tactics: SOF vs. Alien Invasion – Demo Impressions

The game with the longest name ever (Future War Tactics: SOF vs. Alien Invasion), is what I can best describe as a Xenonauts clone. But instead of being based on NATO (with the help of the Soviets), it’s entirely a Russian endeavor. It’s a bit of an oddity, since it’s very rough around the edges. The game seems to have a linear mission structure with only a few soldiers to pick from, and it’s set to be released in a month, which limits the amount of polish that can be done. Yet, somehow it’s still charmingly playable and I found the setting compelling.

Continue reading →

Cyber Knights: Flashpoint – Impressions (semi-review)

Now, after spending about 30 hours in the deadly cyberpunk world of Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, I’m ready to write some impressions. I would rather do a full-blooded review, per usual, but the game is not complete, even after being released as 1.0. Call me autistic, but I think this should mean something, especially in this world of gaming when dubious Early Access releases are very common. I’m not calling Cyber Knights: Flashpoint “dubious”, far from it. Yet, it doesn’t change the fact that it was released unfinished, as I will show in screenshots after the jump. Other than that, it’s a good title for anyone who enjoys X-com-like games.

Continue reading →