Starship Troopers: Terran Command [DLC] The Eradicators – Mad Science [Review]

The good news is that The Eradicators got a story campaign like the other Starship Troopers: Terran Command expansions—but the bad news is that it uses Territory Mode exclusively in the mission design. However, it’s not that bad to be honest. My main issue with it when I tested the beta version was that it had almost zero narrative, just endless combat, which felt very flat and gamey to me. This is now fixed with this campaign—and who knew, giving me a reason to kill the bugs, however little or much, works wonders for the old motivation!

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The Black Pits (Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition) [Review]

The Black Pits is Beamdog’s arena expansion that came with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition when it was released years ago in 2012. And here I thought it was high time to finally try it out. Now, this little side-adventure isn’t much more than a string of fights put together, but it does have a story, and a prominent antagonist (Baeloth the Entertainer) that will make an appearance again in the future Beamdog releases (The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay and Siege of Dragonspear) and Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition itself. Effort was made to at least have the main bad guy in a continuation of sorts, which is nice, as Baeloth is one of the best parts of this expansion besides the battles.

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Star Wars: Zero Company – Three Strikes and You’re Out

Finally, a long-sought-after turn-based tactical game in the style of an X-com-like is here, and simply, it’s good. Now, that’s not to say it doesn’t have problems, because it does, but in a general sense, Star Wars: Zero Company is a welcome addition to the genre and should satisfy the call for squad-based combat. I might as well make one thing clear already. This is not a battle simulation in the style of Jagged Alliance 3—it’s more of an Xcom 2 (nuXCOM) game, with perhaps even a stronger focus on board game rules, gameplay and combat abstraction. But before we get into that, let’s talk about the story, which is a huge focus in Zero Company, maybe to its detriment in some cases.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction – Sam Going Loco [Review]

The one Splinter Cell game that, in my opinion, got the most flak. Not totally undeserved, but perhaps the critique was a tad harsh back when it was released. People wanted more of the slow, duct-crawling stealth kind. Instead, we got commando Sam Fisher, who has no problem with murdering people to the left and right for the slightest of reasons. This felt off with a lot of people. However, I think Splinter Cell: Conviction fits perfectly in the Splinter Cell lore. Sam is a loose cannon, and without anyone guiding his actions—he is just a brutal killer, especially when fueled by vengeful revenge. Having Sam go crazy with bloodlust, makes narrative sense in the grand story of Splinter Cell.

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The Tragedy at Deer Creek – Frontier Trauma [Review]

Put on your best jacket and a warm pair of socks because we are heading into the cold frontier! The Tragedy at Deer Creek is a point-and-click adventure title with a heavy focus on its story. While the gameplay, the presentation and the narrative are very competently made, I’m in the middle of how I ended up feeling for the game. That’s mostly for my general dislike of ghost stories, as they usually don’t work on me at all.

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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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