Dune 2000 – Cravings for Melange

It’s time to go back to 1998 and take a stroll down Westwood lane. Well, almost anyhow. According to the Wiki page, it was actually made by Intelligent Games Ltd, while Westwood published it, as far I understand. A bit surprising to me. But the genetics of a Westwood title can be found in Dune 2000. It even got the cheesy FMVs (full-motion-videos) between missions, and the engine used for gameplay is the Command & Conquer one. I remember trying this game back in the day, and I wasn’t too impressed, seeing as it was mostly a reskin of that game. However, now some 20 years later, I couldn’t care less. I should also add that Dune 2000 is a remake of the legendary RTS game Dune II: Battle for Arrakis. When that game came out, it blew my tiny mind. It was my first dip into the RTS war-gaming sea, and ever since then I fell in love with the genre. I suspect this story is the same for many millennials.

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Sniper Elite: Resistance – Déjà vu Edition

Brush up your French, monsieur, because we are going back to France. However, this time we are ditching the mass-murdering expert sharpshooter Karl Fairburne, for the new and somewhat unfortunate looking British fella Harry Hawker. It’s not that it matters much, as they could be the same person, with the only difference being the accent. Sniper Elite: Resistance follows the exact same gameplay formula that was set by the earlier titles. I must say, though, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth, even if I like the premise. There is just so little added in mechanics, and the story remains as unengaging as ever.

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Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter – Rats on Ice

Welcome to the Kingdom of Rats! No, we are not in the sewers. Like the name might imply, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a sequel to the excellent 2D-action adventure game Tails of Iron. And much like the first game, Tails of Iron 2 is great as well. Essentially, it’s more of the same, but bigger, with some new mechanics, while other things have changed a bit. So, with that, I can safely say already; if you like the first game, you will enjoy this. Nevertheless, let’s burrow into the details!

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Star Trek: Elite Force II – Vengeance of the Xenos

Munro is back to kick alien ass, but this time in Federation Space. His part of being a crew member of Voyager is over, but does the more civilized Alpha Quadrant (well, more civilized than the Delta Quadrant anyway) need a Hazard Team? As it is, they do, but not until after some thick Federation red-tape has been cut through. So, is Star Trek: Elite Force II a worthy sequel? In the graphical, and presentation department, it certainly is. Unfortunately, they didn’t learn too much when it comes to the gameplay, and made alien bugs craving a fight in melee the main opponent once again.

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Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force – Attack of the Scrimps

Put on your black tights, and make sure the batteries for your phaser are charged. Because it’s time to kill an endless line of alien bugs, and a few humanoids. The prime directive is secondary this time around! Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force is an old school first-person-shooter in the style of the arena shooters of the past, seeing as it’s made in the Quake 3 Arena engine. However, it feels fairly “modern” in the sense that the mission structure is linear, with a touch of the cinematic, aka cutscenes that propel the story forward. Let’s get into it.

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