The Raven Remastered – Raving mad Ravens

The Raven Remastered is a remaster of The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief. A game I have never played, meaning that this article will not reference that title at all, and will be a stand-alone review. The Raven Remastered is a point & click adventure game that takes heavy inspirations from the detective stories by Agatha Christie. If you ever read anything by her, or watched any movies based on her works, you will come to recognize plenty of stuff. However, this is of no problem, and actually enhances the superb atmosphere. I was ready to rate this game a five out of five in entertainment value, despite a few issues, but then the ending comes along…

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Close Encounters

I played some more Xenonauts 2, even though I have said to myself that I won’t touch it until milestone 5. It’s just too much fun when you are in the mood for some X-com-like action, but don’t want to go full autism mode. Anyway, I decided to try the zoom function a bit, and boy. There are so many details that go missing when you play at the default perspective. The models of the units, and the environment are very elaborate with markings of uniforms, detailed faces of humans, and alien features that you otherwise wouldn’t see, or take notice of. Here is an example of the fine texture work:

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SPARTA 2035 – Demo Impressions

SPARTA 2035 is a turn-based tactical game that I can best compare to Jagged Alliance 2 and Xcom 2. Jagged Alliance 2 in terms of story, and setting, since you will be running a bunch of mercenaries saving a despot country from itself. And Xcom 2, in terms of gameplay, seeing as it ditches true line-of-sight, and cover that actually gives protection in favor of the more abstract Xcom 2 “board game” rules. That’s not to say it’s bad, though. It all depends on what you prefer. I enjoyed the demo for what it is, and I can say that it’s a title worth watching for the future.

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Xcom 2: Resurrection by Greg Keyes [Book Review]

Xcom in-universe stories and lore? Yes, please! Xcom 2: Resurrection is a prequel to the fabulous Xcom 2, set between the two games, Xcom: Enemy Unknown and Xcom 2. While it’s an okay story, and expands on the world-building in the compelling existence of a post-alien invasion earth, it has a couple of issues. Now, I don’t expect a mesmerizing writing style in any of these kinds of books, and I would say it’s adequate in this one. However, the plot feels pretty hacked up, as locations shift way too often, with the main characters coming off as pretty one-note.

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The Lamplighters League – Kitchen Sink Adventures

Welcome to Paradox Interactive’s attempt at a Xcom-like turn-based tactical game in the form of The Lamplighters League. While it does not live up the legacy it was aiming for, I did find it enjoyable periodically, albeit a tad grindy. In this alternative 1930s world of earth, every kind of pulp fiction exoticism has been thrown in for good measure. Everything from the spirit world of ghosts and walking skeletons to monsters of the depth out to feast, Cthulhu style. Don’t worry, there are Nazi type regular human soldiers to shoot up too. In other words: there’s a whole damn smörgåsbord of critters and ancient horrors waiting to devour your soul!

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