Command & Conquer 4 – What the hell?

Having never played the final game in the Command & Conquer series before, I thought it was about time. To finally experience the ending for myself, and see how the legacy of Kane finishes. I know about the controversy, of course. How disappointed fans were of this release – but, really, how bad can it truly be? Well, as I soon learned, very bad indeed. The suffering starts even way before actually playing the game. To play Command & Conquer 4 you must first login to their servers, and nine times out of ten, the EA servers just refuse to connect. Luckily, or should I say, unluckily, I managed to log on…

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Deus Ex: Black Light by James Swallow [Book Review]

In my review of the novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect by the same author, I wrote that Icarus Effect was almost required reading to understand Deus: Ex: Human Revolution—at least when it comes to the finer details, and the antagonists. Well, in contrast, Black Light is mandatory reading. It’s amazing how many important plot points this book sets up for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. When I played Deus Ex: Mankind Divided back in the day, it left me utterly confused why I was in Prague, what actually happened after the Panchaea incident, and the general state of the world. Black Light explains everything, while also being a good book to boot. Minor beginning spoilers incoming.

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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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Vampire Syndicate: The combat

The solo developer behind Vampire Syndicate recently released a video about the turn-based combat it will use. It will use a modern Xcom control scheme, meaning it leans more into abstraction than being realistic with simulated projectiles and the like. While a simulation is preferred personally, I don’t mind the Xcom take, if it fits the game. Which, to be fair, it does look like Vampire Syndicate will pull off. From the little shown, I enjoy the scale, and the focus on all these different skills – from regular gunplay, to magic, since it will have ancient vampires ripping the head off people. Take a gander for yourself down below.

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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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