Icewind Dale II – Temple Hell

I can’t critique the full game since I have not finished it, and unfortunately, I’m not sure how likely that will be. Anyways, talk about a game that goes from awesome RPG goodness to a pure bore of the slog +2…

Let’s start with the good parts. The intro, like the first Icewind Dale, is great and gets me into the adventure headspace immediately. Creating the characters for your party is fun – especially now considering the engine was updated to D&D 3.0 edition rule set (which is my favorite version) from 2.0. The prologue and the first chapter have a magnificent feel to them, a freezing old town under siege by goblins and orcs. Mercenaries and guards are all over the place, and with an exciting narrative that steers towards conspiracy and treason. 

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Arma 3 APEX – Jungle Fever

My buddy and I recently finished the official APEX expansion in cooperative mode for Arma 3. The story is a direct continuation of “East Wind” from the original game. At first, it does feel disconnected until something specific comes up, which I won’t spoil. It’s a cool touch having a narrative that connects with each other, considering it’s a war simulator and not your standard AAA-game series.

Instead of the usual all-out war, you play as a cloak-and-dagger special operations team that has the task of taking out a local warlord on the island paradise (for criminals) of Tanoa. This group is named “Syndikate” and is mostly equipped with old-fashioned AKs and equipment like that. Not the high-tech armies of past campaigns. However, later on in the campaign, you get to meet another faction that is equipped with more futuristic high-tech weaponry, like yourself. The story is presented in a very Tom Clancy-esque way, which to me is awesome. It instantly gets me into the clandestine thriller mood, so well done here!

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