Warhounds – An Oddity [Trailer]

Give a girl a sniper rifle, and she will give you a dead merc

Watched a trailer for an upcoming tactical turn-based game called Warhounds, and it was a strange experience, because I could swear I have played this before. And well, I have, as Warhounds seems to be a Western release of the game SPARTA 2035, which I liked when testing out the demo. For some reason, though, the Steam page for the game now shows an error message.

The Russians on Steam don’t seem too happy about this, as they think SPARTA 2035 has been abandon in favor of Warhounds. But according to one of the developers, there is no reason for them to worry, who also says:

[Google Translate] “Greetings! Warhounds is based on the game Sparta 2035. Sparta is a game for the local CIS market, available only in Russian. Warhounds is a global game with redesigned characters, a multitude of new features, updated balance, full English voiceover, and a number of significant plot changes.”

That explains the issue, but is this where we are now, two separate games, depending on market/culture, or is it just a re-release—who knows? I don’t see why SPARTA 2035 couldn’t be released as it was. Anyhow, trailer after the jump!

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – What the hell?

I was feeling for some casual tactical pop-a-mole, so I popped the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier disc into the good old Xbox 360—a game I bought for this specific reason months ago. What I didn’t expect was that the series had turned so casual, it now ventured into Call of Duty territory. It had become so casual that the incredibly heavily scripted nature of a CoD campaign was now part of the Ghost Recon franchise. I was actually taken aback a little, since this is the opposite of what the series once was.

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Ardenfall – Demo Impressions

I decided to try the Ardenfall demo, which is an Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind-inspired RPG, set in a fantasy world that can best be likened to Vvardenfell—strange wildlife and all. The oddity of the place, just like Morrowind, comes from the familiar, mixed with the unfamiliar—and while I’m not entirely sold on the visual style, it does play a huge part in its oddness. So, if you love to explore bizarre alien worlds with an oriental cultural flavor, this will feel tailor‑made for you.

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Star Trek – Redshirt Genocide [Review]

Star Trek caught a lot of flak when it was released back in 2013. It was a broken and boring game with supposedly no redeemable features at all, according to game journalists at the time. So, it was a given I had to try it. But first, before we get into the game, I want to say that I’m not the biggest fan of the Kelvin Star Trek universe which this game is set in. It’s too flashy, with focus on action, and making everything typical “Hollywood”, instead of the cerebral entertainment of the old show.

Despite that, I had to give it a go, since I have a soft-spot for third-person cover-based shooters, and military science-fiction. Yes, I’m a pop-a-moler at heart, or at least partly.

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Hypogea — Vaulting for Freedom [Review]

Who knew that even robots made for war and industry don’t like to live in vast underground rusty metallic tunnels—left to rot after the end of humanity. I can’t say I blame the poor things, since while these massive subterranean constructions look wondrous and are very atmospheric—they have an air of decay to them, as they’re all that’s left of a bygone era. With that, welcome to the review of Hypogea, which is a moody third-person platformer set underground, with no voice-acting, and no enemies—except the water that will rust your bolts within seconds if you miss that crucial jump!

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