The Expanse: A Telltale Series – Embrace the Vacuum [Review]

In preparation for Owlcat’s upcoming RPG The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, set in The Expanse universe, I decided to watch the show. Why it took me this long, I honestly don’t know. Because it’s excellent, as it reminds me of the cool sci-fi underground crime world of Mass Effect 2—where a mercenary’s life is only worth as fast as he is on the trigger. From here on, one thing led to another, and I got curious if the show has seen any other game adaptations. And to my surprise, yes, in fact it has, in the form of a Telltale style game in The Expanse: A Telltale Series, which we are reviewing today. 

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Warcraft II: Remastered – Orc Fest [Review]

Put on your troll-skin boots—it’s time to return to Azeroth, where the orcs are once again restless and in need of a lesson in etiquette. While Warcraft II: Remastered has seen a little more effort put into it than Warcraft I: Remastered, it still suffers from the same issue: cheap AI slop, masquerading as improvements. Now, to be fair, it runs better and much smoother than the original (I tried), but the new visuals and the upscaled CGI cutscenes are of poor quality. This means that the only part you pay for is the increased performance, as everything besides that is worse, or on the same level as the original.

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Warcraft I: Remastered – My liege? [Review]

I decided that I wanted to experience the canonical storyline of Warcraft up until World of Warcraft. Where else to start than the beginning with the first RTS game in this legendary franchise. Now, I’m not playing the original release, but a remaster simply called Warcraft I: Remastered—made by Blizzard themselves. While it left me with a disjointed feeling towards its presentation, it’s probably the best way to play the original campaign. Many mechanics have been made modern in terms of gameplay, like being able to select larger groups, and hot-key support. 

However, as mentioned, the presentation is questionable at best, with the “improved” graphics seemingly only getting a cheap AI upscaling instead of genuine care to keep the aesthetics and feel of the original game. So, is the remaster worth the trouble, or does it undermine its own legacy?

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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.

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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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