Hello, strategy-loving folk! I’ve been a bit off for the last couple of weeks, mainly because I’ve been focusing a lot on my cardio. Coming home late at night, rather tired, I have no energy left to write anything properly other than a few notes to focus on during the weekends. Hopefully, you’ll forgive me, and in a couple of weeks, things should go back to normal once I hit my weight cap.
Players Aren’t Happy With Civilization VII
This is something absolutely unexpected. Civilization VII came out last week, and the reception from both players and critics was less than stellar, it’s currently the worst-reviewed Civilization game of all time. Complaints about an unusable user interface that’s hard to understand and lacks basic information, multiplayer disconnects, bad map generation, and an overall complaint of the game feeling a lot less complex than the previous entry, which, in my opinion, was already quite basic. Interestingly, I also saw several comments from people claiming that Civilization VII has a feeling of “emptiness”. That can’t be good.
Take Over The World In Heart of the Machine Out
This week I started playing a bit of Heart of the Machine, a unique and recently released title from Arcen Games, and published by Hooded Horse, where you act as the first sentient AI, and the humans are blissfully unaware of it. It’s up to you to decide what you want to do next: use your newfound conscience and power to strike terror into the hearts of humans? Or help them live better lives? I’m enjoying the experience so far, even if I haven’t delved too much into its systems. The game is far more complex than I originally thought it would be and can be quite micro-intense. If you’re the kind of gamer that loves obsessing over details, and the premise interests you, give it a look. The game’s costing 30 euros at the moment, and it’s still in Early Access.
Door Kickers 2 Comes Out Of Early Access
After 4 years in Early Access, the excellent Door Kickers 2 is finally out, and unlike Civilization VII, it garnered massive praise, currently sitting at a 95% Overwhelmingly Positive Steam rating. I reviewed it way back in 2021 and called this top-down tactical-strategy game “a classic in the making“, and a game well worth your money if “you enjoy free-flow, top-down tactical engagements with somewhat realistic and brutal combat”. I guess I wasn’t wrong.
Commandos: Origins Out April 9th
After several delays, Commandos: Origins looks like it’s finally coming out on April 9th. The game was originally supposed to come out at the tail-end of 2024 but got delayed after the team received some much-needed feedback from the demo that ran in October. First, the game was delayed to March, so that the team could focus on performance optimization, AI behaviour and voice-overs. After that, a new date was set for April 9th. As someone who loved Commandos and Commandos 2 as a kid, I’m excited about Origins, but the demo didn’t really sell me on it, at least not as of right now.
MicroProse Announces Liquidation
Liquidation, the RTS set in the war-torn world of Veá, “where sci-fi and fantasy collide” is getting published by Microprose. I haven’t heard about this one before, but the trailer looks pretty neat, and the factions look like a mix between Warhammer 40,000 and Starcraft 2, and I’m totally down for that. Hopefully, we will see a campaign, and the game won’t be exclusively multiplayer.
The German Last Counterattack Arrives Soon In Headquarters: World War II – Ardennes
I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised to see Headquarters: World War II still chugging along and releasing new content. Up next is Headquarters: World War II – Ardennes, focusing on the last major German offensive in the west, as they desperately tried to split the Allied army in two. The new expansion brings two new campaigns, one for each side of the conflict, totalling 16 new missions. To tackle those new challenges, players will be provided with an additional 12, late-war units, and 5 new heroes. There are also new weather, and terrain types, as well as winter uniforms and camouflages.
Wargame Design Studios and Panzer Campaigns – Poland ’39
The wargame-developing virtuosos at the Wargame Design Studio are going to release Panzer Campaigns – Poland ’39 rather soon, and it’s going to be their first game upgraded with the upcoming 4.05.2 standard. There’s a massive list of bug fixes, enhancements and content changes you can check out here.
Hooded Horse Announces That He Is Coming
He Is Coming sounds a bit ominous, but if you love retro graphics, once you take a look at the game, you’ll be glad that the Demon King is once again rising. Developed by Chronocle and published by Hooded Horse, He is Coming is a turn-based strategy game auto battler where you’ll act as a knight trying to stop the demonic incursions.
Bellfortis Out Now
Rake in Grass, the developer behind Bellfortis sent me a key to play their game, but I have been unable to give it a proper look, it presents itself as a lightweight alternative to other titles like Medieval: Total War and Crusader Kings. It has both a grand-strategy map and tactical, real-time battles. If you enjoy medieval games, it might be worth a look. As for me, I just wish they could remove the big-head aesthetic, it never looks good. It came out to Early Access on January 29th.
Soldiers: Heroes of World War II Updated After 20 Years
It isn’t every day that a 21-year-old game gets updated out of nowhere, but when it does, it’s always newsworthy. Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, the predecessor to the Men of War series of titles got a new patch in January. It added Steam Workshop support, Windows 10 and 11 support, network multiplayer support and 4K support, amongst some other stuff. It’s really cool to see something wholesome like this.
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