Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising – Red Island Menace

Soldier, strap on your boots and load your rifle. The commies are looking for a fight! And this time, it’s not the North Koreans. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a really weird game. It’s a continuation of the classic Operation Flashpoint franchise, but now with Bohemia Interactive out of the picture. So, Codemasters decided to make their own version. The game has a slight schizophrenic feel to it, as it at times does feel like OPF of old. The engine used, and the scale and sandbox freedom is almost a carbon copy. In some places it’s improved upon, and works even better than Bohemia’s Arma series. For example, having units clearing buildings and shooting from windows. What makes it an oddity, is the console focus, and above all, the mission design.

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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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