Recent reviews by [SsT] Talkos

It was released yesterday....I apparently lost over 13 hours of last 24 to it. The diplomacy and warfare are a little rough, but that's offset by the deep economical and social balancing act you find yourself in. Intend to build an arms factory to support your growing army? Time to expand the steel plant. Oh, the steel plant became to big and unprofitable because it sucked up all the coal and iron. Time to expand the mines. Mines have maxed out the infrastructure of the province transporting all that coal, better upgrade the place with trains. Trains need motors and steel, back to working on that steel plant. Oh hey, all this industrial expansion has empowered the working class and they're demanding a place in your government now....etc. etc.

Pushing the levers of industry to release the happy brain juice.

Probably the best overall WWII grand strategy game out there. More streamlined than the previous edition of Hearts of Iron. Although it has a big learning curve like most Paradox games, so expect to have to put a few hours into it before things 'click.' It is an essential part of any collection.

You like turn based tactics? You like management games? You like x-com like move and shoot games? You like big stompy robots? You like lasers and missiles? You like inclusivity? You like excellent music and beautiful artwork? If you answered yes to any of that, you need to get this game. HBS built up a lot of credit with me from the Shadowrun games, and they did not disappoint with Battletech. Beautifully done and a pleasure to play. It takes the one more turn feel and runs with it. I keep feeling like one more mission, one more salvage run, and I can build the perfect lance of mechs, not to mention keeping my mercenary company afloat. It is a game of interesting choices. Highly recommended. Buy it and see the next few days of your life disappear into a hole of deciding whether your mech needs more missiles(yes) or more heat sinks(yes) or more armor(also yes).

Takes the classic isometric RPG, shines it up with all the modern quality of life improvements that you always wanted and wraps it all in a novel story and with some interesting twists. If you have played other games of the genre the control scheme and party management will feel familiar. What sets it above the pack is good storytelling and a unique magic system. I was pleased to learn that I started out not as some farmkid learning to fight evil in a black and white world, but a talented and respected leader who was able to build their backstory through actions that had an effect on the game world. Similar to how you get to fill in backstory if you hadn't played the first game in series like Mass Effect or Dragon Age. It was refreshing to be on the moral grey edge for once, as opposed to some champion of saccarine goodness. The other unique part of this game is the magic system, letting you build your own spells was nearly a game in itself. Overall, highly recommended, especially to those that enjoy the genre, fans of the old Neverwinter Nights series or the first Dragon Age or Pillars of Eternity will get plenty of fun out of this.

Excellent city builder, what the new Sim City should have been. The workshop customization is an excellent option, and offers a lot of replayability. My only gripe is that the difficulty curve is pretty much all in the first half hour or so of playing, and once past that, rarely will you face any major issue that will put your city into the red. Still, lots of fun, visually appealing and highly customizable.

Excellent game, reminds me of Sid Meier's Gettysburg. Deceptively simple on the outside, but containes a lot of nuance once you get into it.

So...the enemy AI is crap, the music is repetitive, and the guns/shooting is uninspired. Why am I recommending this? Well, it often goes on sale for under a dollar and the sheer enjoyment of co-op dinosaur shooting makes up for it. Expect about 4 hours of entertainment from this before your ears start to bleed from the sounds, but hey, 4 hours with friends shooting T-Rex are ones well spent.

Nice Indie game that reminds one of the flash games of yesteryear. Don't expect hundreds of hours of entertainment out of this, as once you know the good combinations of genre/platform/topic it's not difficult to get some best-sellers out there. Expect around 6-12 hours of good entertainment and then it's a decent time waster when doing nothing else, but if it's on sale, then for the price, 6-12 hours is a pretty decent deal.

While the concept is good, the actual execution is lacking. Many of the expected tactical options are either missing or only unlocked at higher levels, and it often comes down to either hiding and sniping behind cover or advancing straight at the enemy. The first few maps have an intenseness that is needed, but as you progress to bigger, more open maps, it becomes a chore to clear out the area and there is little in the way of breaching.

Waste of time and money, the CD key given by Steam doesn't work to activate it via the SecureRom DRM. Just keeps giving me an invalid key error. Haven't even loaded the game up and I'm annoyed.