Last Train Home – Go East, to go West

The Christmas game is here, if you don’t mind the blood, the civilian casualties, and the general horrors of war. Beyond that, it has snow and that is good enough for me! Last Train Home is somewhat of an X-com title, in that you control a “base”, build it up, and equip your men in wait for harder tasks—with the mix of Men of War inspired real-time combat when it comes to the fighting. Does it work, and is it fun? Well, let’s get into that, but first a bit about the story.

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Starship Troopers: Terran Command [DLC] Raising Hell – The Gehenna Rumble

The bugs are back with a vengeance and this time they are harassing humanity on the volcanic planet of Gehenna. Raising Hell is more of the same, however with the killing now taking place in an extremely hostile environment – for both man and bug. There is more than just the mobile infantry fighting the crawly critters this time around, as private money-seeking mercenaries join in on the fun. With money being their primary concern, these units come with a different flavor. They are as good at destroying bugs as their brothers in the Marines, making the case that the promise of coin can be a potent motivator indeed.

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Monolith – Abandoned Planet

It’s time for some classic point-and-click adventuring in the form of Monolith. It’s made by the German team Animation Arts that in the past has created games such as Secret Files: Tunguska (which I have reviewed here on the site). Now the question is, does the team still have it in them to produce something truly special? Well, I’m happy to say, they absolutely do. While I didn’t find Monolith as humorous and exciting as Secret Files, it’s still a nice addition to the point-and-click adventure genre that probably won’t disappoint if you enjoy these types of games.

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Star Trek: Infinite – Resistance Is Futile

In preparation for Star Trek: Infinite I played a couple of different civilizations in Stellaris with all the minor and major DLCs. While I think it’s a pretty good game, especially now that it has been expanded through countless patches and expansions, I always seem to run into the same issue: total statement and lack of a real purpose. After a while, the galaxy just seems to stop, and kinda “settles in” with nothing major going on, and with that stopping your own civilization’s purpose (this is with roleplaying in mind). The sandbox nature of the game can only take me so far, and I can’t say the silly randomly generated civilizations you meet help much with this. This is where Star Trek: Infinite comes in.

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage – Arabian Nights

The only reason I got this game was the promise of the franchise going back to its roots. While that remains true to a certain degree, it’s not the long-lost promise land of Grandpa’s old-school Assassin’s Creed gameplay. It’s mostly a mix between the original games in the series, and the RPG take on it that started with Assassins Creed Origin. I mostly blame this half-hearted attempt on the engine itself, since Assassin’s Creed Mirage shares that with Origin, Odyssey, and Valhalla. It looks pretty, there is no denying that, but everything that involves the player, as in parkour and the combat feels very floaty, just like in those titles. It has much less of a “simulation” approach than the former games which leads to the setting feeling less grounded and realistic. More on that down below.

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