Star Wars Games Are Best When They Let the Weird Jobs Matter [Guest Article]

Star Wars games have always had one very obvious problem.

The Jedi are standing right there.

They have laser swords. They have magic space instincts. They get dramatic robes, ancient temples, moral crises, and the sort of destiny speeches that make everyone else in the galaxy quietly check their schedule and wonder whether they still have to pay rent.

So naturally, a lot of Star Wars games end up orbiting the Jedi fantasy. And fair enough. When it works, it works. Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast, Jedi: Fallen Order, and Jedi: Survivor all understand that swinging a lightsaber around while the galaxy collapses is, scientifically speaking, quite fun.

But the strange truth is this: Star Wars games are often at their best when they let someone else have the controls.

Not the chosen one. Not the last hope. Not the robed person in the middle of the poster.

The bounty hunter. The clone commando. The pilot. The smuggler. The soldier. The mercenary. The doomed fool in a cockpit wondering why the Empire brought that many TIE fighters.

That is where Star Wars games get interesting.

Continue reading →

WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans – Green and Mean [Review]

After many years of indecision, it was finally time to try the unreleased version of WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. It’s one of the games that made my Top 10 Saddest Game Cancellations, but it’s part of a rarity of cancelled games that’s actually playable with a complete story—thanks to having its beta leaked. The ever great modders and tinkerers of the PC gaming scene have restored it to a playable version, which is how I now got to ultimately play it. So, is it a long-lost tragedy that should have been released, or was it the right decision by Blizzard to drop it? Read and find out!

Continue reading →

Dead Space: Ignition – Puzzle Engineer [Review]

In space, nobody can hear you puzzle! Just recently, I bought this little spin-off called Dead Space: Ignition on the Microsoft game store for the Xbox 360. Yes, original hardware this time around. It was pretty cheap, around four euros for me, so not too much of an investment regardless of how it now turns out. The main reason for my purchase is that I am a Dead Space lore junkie, loving most of the franchise thanks to its cool dystopian sci-fi setting, and of course: horrifying monsters ready to slice off your skin with precision.

Considering what it’s part of, you might expect limb-cutting and body-horror coming out the ears, but nope. This is surprisingly enough a puzzler, best described as a game with typical mini-games at the forefront with an animated comic attached.

Continue reading →

Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy – Side-quests or Die! [Review]

Prepare your sword, and not the one in the pants!

Welcome to AtomTeam’s third RPG: Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy. If you have played any of their former projects, like ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game, or ATOM RPG Trudograd, you know what to expect here. It’s essentially the same type of roleplaying experience—created in the same engine, following the established structure, and gameplay mechanics they created. However, this time they are ditching the radiated wasteland for a lush low-fantasy medieval world, where the sword rules instead of the rifle.

Continue reading →

Syndicate – Corporate Assassin [Review]

Syndicate is the 3D visualization in the form of a first-person-shooter and reboot of the classic game from 1993 with the same name. While I think Starbreeze (the devs) managed to capture cyberpunk aesthetics and the dystopian corporate warfare, the story could have been a lot better. It’s somewhat disappointing, considering the rich setting the game has to pick from. What’s much better is the gameplay. However, this part is not without problems either, even if it’s fun. Before diving into the story and gameplay details, we will have to go over some technical hurdles!

Continue reading →