Reviews - themediocritic

A 2020 Review - Alpha Protocol (PC, 2010)

Score: 6/10
Mediocrity Score: Mediocrity on a Good Day.

While taking it slightly out of context - Christian Donlan with Eurogamer describes it best, "[Alpha Protocol is] a contemporary super-spy mod of Mass Effect...".

Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: entertaining, anticlimactic, buggy, bittersweet.

Avg. Time to beat: 13 hours
Quickest Speedrun: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Ten years after its release, Alpha Protocol still sneaks by with a passing grade. A spy thriller, action role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment casts Michael Thorton as the spy protagonist. Diving deeper into the world, you'll be split between safe houses in Taipei, Rome, and Moscow where you'll execute various missions. While I found this title to be quite buggy and shallow in some respects, it still managed to entertain and amuse its way into my recommended list - even if narrowly. Many accounts have detailed the many missteps between Obsidian and Sega, but ultimately lack of direction and organization is what led to this release not being more of a slam dunk. Alpha Protocol has entertaining gameplay and the narrative, characters, and dialogue hold up well. Unfortunately where it sags down is in its lack of depth. Many components or aspects of the game either feel shallow and unfinished, or appear to be directly lifted and shifted in from other games (like Mass Effect in terms of leveling up, skill progression, and combat). I feel much today about this game as I did the first time I played it. And In a way, it's satisfying to see that my opinions on some things don't change through the years. I just wish in the case of Alpha Protocol, they weren't so bittersweet.

Pros:
- Character progression and leveling are rewarding and leave you excited to play further.
- Shooting the AI like fish in a barrel. It's also a barrel of fun.
- Reputation system makes conversation and dialogue choices all the more interesting.
- While minor - cool thematic settings, locations, and safe houses. They breathe some extra life into the game.
- Great and fitting characters. While there are some exceptions, most play their part well and add an extra bit of intrigue.
- Unique concept we don't see enough of. Spy action RPG.

Cons:
- AI is absolutely dreadful and brain dead.
- Unfulfilling ending conclusion. Especially with the characters outside of Michael.
- Dialogue options can feel shallow and limited. The responses based on options can be a bit off.
- The main character, Michael Thorton. I just don't like him.
- Bugs & Crashing are a present and occurred numerous times.
- Limitations of stealth and the options to employ it.

It's an odd experience in that I found it entertaining and wanted to keep playing, but on a component level, I found a mess of problems across the board. I think the entertainment in Alpha Protocol ultimately boils down to getting more stuff so you can kill more bad guys, rinse and repeat. Multiple weapons, armor, and gadgets; Lots of which can be upgraded or modified in some way. As you level up and your skills refine, you can really feel the difference in combat and gameplay. It does get a bit repetitive at the end of the game which felt appropriately long. Overall I found the game to be quite entertaining. All issues aside, I still enjoyed Alpha Protocol and would recommend it. Just keep your expectations realistic if not low.

Alpha Protocol is almost exactly how I had remembered; good but not great. A lukewarm, bittersweet, "so close" kind of game. It got some things right, but did a lot wrong - or sometimes even really wrong. Part of what makes Alpha Protocol good is it taking a different approach in being an action spy RPG adventure that has a skill map and leveling up involved. Very standard fare for modern fantasy games, but not for action games and certainly not any spy ones. It's just such a cool and refreshing genre and idea. Unfortunately, that alone is not a sufficient selling point to lure people into playing. It had a rough time during development and had to be majorly redone in parts. I think it shows through in many spots, but for the most part, holds up. I'd fully support either an HD re-release or a new title in the series.

If you're wondering where Alpha Protocol can be purchased, sales for Alpha Protocol halted in Summer 2019 due to expired licenses for music within the game.

If you have any interest in gaming history, I strongly recommend the following article which provides back story and interviews with the developers about the making of the game. It's quite a fascinating read that highlights why some aspects of the game seem so messy or poorly thought out.

Eurogamer.net

Thanks for reading!

A 2020 Review - Aliens vs. Predator (PC, 2010)

Score: 5/10
Mediocrity Score: Certified Mediocre.

Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: disappointing, quick, violent, action.

Quick Take: A 2010 refresh of Rebellion's original game from 1999, Aliens versus Predator offers a new and exciting action-packed installment. There is an individual campaign for each playable race: Aliens, Colonial Marines, and Predator. The Colonial Marine missions provide plenty of entertainment and excitement, but the fun falls flat once you get to the other campaigns. Graphics look fresh for being ten years old but beware of map fatigue as the designers reuse the same maps and layouts throughout the game. Awkward controls and clumsy surface transitioning hurt the Alien and Predator campaigns. Sound design and audio mix seem mostly great, however, a few voice-acted moments within the Marine audio diaries are quite amateurish. No online multiplayer matches to be found. It's a shame, but common for many games even only five years old.

Pros:
- Well-paced campaign. Doesn't slow down much and seems appropriately long.
- Spectacular level and quality of gore. So violent it was banned in Australia.
- Predator thermal vision is amazing looking to run around while flipped on. They really improved this in all the right ways.
- A lot of action and great combat moments. Marine campaign feels very similar to modern DOOM releases.

Cons:
- Some really bad voice acting mixed in there. Some of the audio diaries sound like the voice actors were having a laugh. Tremendous overacting and too many "colorful" characters in the cast.
- Singleplayer is not long enough. It could have been much longer per each campaign.
- Marine weapons sound very weak, especially the pulse rifle.
- Map re-usage is a drag and makes the game feel far too repetitive.
- Albeit a minor complaint, the UI/Menu is really dated looking even for 2010. It looks pretty sloppy.

Concept: Similar to the original '99 release, the game pits Colonial Marines, Aliens, and Predators against each other in a cat-and-mouse deathmatch. Each playable race has their own campaign which intertwines with the others, all sharing an overarching narrative. Multiplayer consists of various competitive or co-op game modes. Unfortunately online multiplayer is dead. Also, don't go in expecting a quality story. It's pretty average and even notably campy in parts.

Gameplay: Gameplay is mostly fun - rather you play as a marine launching a bulletstorm assault against your foes or even if the bullets are coming from the marines while you play as an Alien or Predator. The marine campaign plays very similar to the modern DOOM games, or even somewhat like the first modern Shadow Warrior game. Don't expect much scares apart from the occasion jump. The vibes overall pale in comparison to say Alien: Isolation. The Predator has far more big combat moments than either of the other two campaigns. The controls alone have left me substantially disappointed. Re-mapping the keys was hugely helpful in making things feel way less awkward. It was still clunky and unnatural feeling. Appropriate amount of cut-scenes.

Entertainment: Certainly more fun than I had with Aliens Versus Predator from 1999. Don't play expecting any terrifying or horrific emotions. It's not particularly scary outside of a few jump scares. Even those are pretty predictable. Nonetheless, it makes for a fun romp around shooting things as a Colonial Marine. Really, really enjoyed that campaign. Unfortunately, the others did not provide the same entertainment, although they arguably had some of the better boss fights. I found the Colonial Marine campaign to be a lot of fun and left me wanting more. The Predator and Alien campaigns left me hoping they would end sooner. Not a good vibe.

Conclusion: Ultimately, the feeling I am left with after completing the game is disappointment. It seemed so promising at first and gradually got worse after the Marine campaign. There were some great moments still to be had, one favorite of mine is the final boss fight in the Predator campaign. It was in a cool setting and provided for a fun experience. It's a way more polished and complete release from Rebellion, which was a primary complaint of mine with their last AVP game.

If you can find it at its lowest price of $1.49, then I'd say it is worth it for the Colonial Marine campaign alone - especially if you are a fan of how the modern DOOM games play or even the modern Shadow Warrior. I found Aliens vs. Predator to be an improvement on the original but only slightly above mediocre overall. If you can't find this for under $5 I would not spend the money.

Thanks for reading!

A 2020 Review - Aliens Versus Predator (PC, 1999)

Score: 3/10
Mediocrity Score: Makes Mediocrity Look Good.
After twenty-one years, this once great action shooter fails to entertain. If only Aliens Versus Predator were as thrilling, exciting, and tight-playing as it was back in 1999 when it was released. Today it's dim, dark, and bland; being more of a mess than it's worth.

Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: dark, disorienting, multiplayer, unpolished.

Avg. Time to beat: 6.5 hours
Quickest Speedrun: 1.2 hours

Retail Price: $5
Lowest Historical Price on Steam: $1.24

Quick Take: I'm not going to sugar-coat it; the years between now and 1999, when Alien Versus Predator was released, have not been kind. Graphics, textures, lighting, sounds, UI, AI, and everything else unmentioned have all vastly improved during that time. All of this will become incredibly apparent as soon as you launch the game. AVP became a LAN party cult classic of the early 2000s through its chaotic multiplayer deathmatch. Players could compete between Aliens, Predators, and Colonial Marines (a fancy-pants name for Humans). Unique for its time, each race is completely different. Rather it be weapon selection, visual-modes, tools, or movement speed, each playable-race requires a different strategy and approach. It makes for a crazed deathmatch experience. Each race also has its own campaign to play through along with several bonus levels. Today, the majority of what made Aliens Versus Predator such a standout game of 1999 has been washed away. The improvements in gameplay, technical design/engineering, story, and multiplayer experience have all long since improved offering more than what was possible at the time. The AVP franchise has also seen more releases since '99 which have each sought to improve upon the original title. In 2020, AVP is more interesting as a retro-museum of what once was rather than a competent game worth your time. It's interesting on a component level, but not as a whole.

Pros:
- Fun, chaotic multiplayer. Offers multiple game modes.
- Controlling the Alien feels crazy and is entertaining enough just running around the walls and ceiling.
- Predator's vision modes is a really cool feature to play with, and is something we don't see enough of in modern games.
- Nostalgic for some.

Cons:
- Confusing, dark, bland environment that runs together and makes navigation difficult at times.
- Non-existent storyline and narrative.
- Amateurish voice-acting.
- With multiplayer being the primary source of value, there are very few available games online. Most often, none to be found.
- Bare-bones, ugly UI.

Concept: Leaving humans out of the name, Aliens Versus Predator pits the two Hollywood beasts against each other as well as the Colonial Marines in a triple-sided deathmatch. Each race gets its own multiple-mission, multiple-map singleplayer campaign.

Graphics: Unfortunately, not all components of a game age as well as one another. In many regards, It was behind the times even for 1999. With repetitive texture and object re-use, variety in colors being very low, and the brightness-bar being either strongly too low or too high - it results in a disorientating. Part of this is to permit for a bigger "woah!"-factor when using the different vision-modes that either of the alien-races have. Both modes require a dark setting for ideal wow-ing. 

Sound: There's a key mapping for releasing a loud taunt for players who choose to join as either an Alien or Predator. It makes for a really thematic screech or hiss, depending on which alien species you select. Each race has a distinctive set of noises it emanates. From weapons, to tools, grunts and even footsteps all have different sounds than their other opponents - be it Marines, Predators, or Aliens. Adequate if not good across the board.

Gameplay: Mixed. Often a negative and frustrating experience. Too frequent did I feel disoriented and lost as to what to do or where to go next. Sometimes for an hour of hunting high and low for a button to press or lever to pull which would allow me to progress further. Until, of course, I find myself trapped in another exercise along with a very similar problem.

Entertainment: Campaign provides little more than a proving grounds in which you can practice against AI. The most enjoyable and exciting part of AVP is its online multiplayer deathmatch. While still flawed, it provides for fast-paced rounds that are a chaotic and fun experience worth having. 

Replayability: Only in its online multiplayer. Its singleplayer campaign is painful enough to finish just once. I'd pass on reinstalling this, really.

Thanks for reading!

A 2020 Review - Alien: Isolation (PC, 2014)

Score: 7/10

Mediocrity Score: Not Mediocre

Alien: Isolation is a death-by-alien simulator masquerading as a first-person survival horror game. Dripping with late-1970s tech-ambiance, Creative Assembly has produced a rather safe narrative that closely follows the original Alien's tale of Ellen Ripley. Not falling far from the tree, the protagonist you play is none other than Amanda Ripley - Ellen Ripley's daughter. In what must feel like the family curse, Amanda is stricken with a far-too-similar fate being stuck on a space station trying to survive against aliens. If you aren't a fan of the series or haven't seen any of the movies - don't sweat it. Just bring an extra pair of underwear and dive into this insanely atmospheric and engrossing experience.

Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: atmospheric, stressful, powerless, tedious.

Avg. Time to beat: ~20 hours
Quickest Speedrun: ~2.5 hours (even on nightmare difficulty)

2020 Retail Price: $40
Lowest Historical Price on Steam: $10
Lowest Historical Price outside Steam: $7.50

Quick Take: Alien: Isolated is not fun. It is not an enjoyable experience by traditional standards, but it is a horrifically beautiful and a completely immersive one. Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton said it better than anyone else, "While many a video game has been designed for people who enjoy killing aliens, Alien: Isolation can only have been created for people who derive some perverse pleasure out of being killed by an alien." This game in its purest form is an engrossing simulation of how it would feel to try your odds against the alien xenomorphs in a bout of survival. Your odds are very slim. Between the sound engineering and the visual design, the two complement each other like two peas in a pod or...two facehuggers in an egg-sack, if you prefer. Together the two bring about an utter sense of dread, panic, and stress. You can hear the alien scampering through the ventilation; you can see its slimy drool ooze down in wait. You can hear the rich pops and sizzles of the CRT screens and analog devices used throughout the game. From opening production credits to end-game credits, it's a technical marvel...but is it an entertaining one? Well, that's where things get complicated... That's where I begin to feel the ol' quote "I want to get off Mr. Bones Wild Ride" becomes relevant again. At 16 hours in, I decided that's all the thrill I'll be getting out of that ride. Are you ever 100% glad you did or tried something, but wouldn't ever do it again? I appreciate Alien: Isolation for having done so much, so right - but I can't say I enjoyed or had fun playing it. It's stressful. I'm a huge horror film buff, yet this is a much longer and interactive experience - one that did not give me that "just 5 more minutes" feeling. It was more of a "where the hell's the savegame telephone at?"

Pros:
- Scarier than I expected. Panic-inducing experience, as designed.
- Completely engrossing experience thanks to the top-notch audio and visual quality.
- Alien AI is something to behold. Something other developers should aspire to accomplish.
- Great map design and setting. The rough state of things on the Sevastopol station really add to the effectiveness of the game's darker, more dreadful tones.

Cons:
- Boilerplate story that does its best to imitate its original source rather than set itself apart more meaningfully. Doesn't hold together the weaker points of gameplay, but sags down with them.
- Second half of the game becomes incredibly tiring and tedious when managing your alien woes mixed with having to frequently backtrack the map in order to accomplish new goals.
- The feeling of powerlessness and stress become exhausting. The trial-and-error quality to survival leaves me feeling like I've wasted a lot of time and that I can't win.
- No replayability. 100% glad I played it, but have no interest in ever playing it again.

The worst thing I can say is that through all its thrills and immersion, I never found it to be a fun experience. It's one I'm glad I had, but not one I enjoyed much. I think this might be the case for many players or potential ones. It's made for a difficult game to review; how do I recommend something that I did not enjoy? My advice is to view i like a thrill-ride. Look for a low price point (have seen it go for $10 on Steam) and keep expectations realistic. I don't see the need to put more than 4-10 hours to really get the full experience. If you scare or get startled easily, perhaps see if any of your friends have a copy you could check out with them. It's absolutely worth experiencing but I'm not convinced the price for admission is priced right for most of the year. At being 6 years old, I feel $40 is quite a reach. $20 seems fairer - but I personally would wait until it falls to $10 or less.

A 2020 Review - The Age of Decadence (PC, 2015)

Score: 4/10

Mediocrity Score: Mediocre at Best.

The Age of Decadence is a strangely unbalanced turn-based CRPG. It rather uniquely takes combat out from being the main focus and pits the player into a scenario where you can take different approaches. Touted for being a game where "choices matter", the game somehow feels so linear - locking the player into a path chosen early on. Choices in the game will keep you on your toes, that is until you realize the pattern of don't trust anyone, ever. My advice before buying is - play the demo first.

Tags: The few words that come to mind are: mediocre, unbalanced, dialogue-heavy, cheap.

Play the demo first. If there is anything you should do before buying, it is to play the demo. This game is both very difficult and very easy. Rather unique in its approach, within The Age of Decadence you can 100% avoid all combat in the game by taking a more charismatic-stacked approach in your character build. What they don't mention is how incredibly simple the game becomes when you go for this non-combat route. It turns into a dialogue-heavy, point-and-click game where if you make the wrong choice you likely will be thrown into a combat situation where you will surely, and cheaply, die. Go with the combat route, and you are faced with a stacked-against-you RNG-based combat which is difficult to the point of coming off as both brutal and cheap. The one thing both routes have in common is the smoke-and-mirrors masking the cheap game-ending situations it constantly throws your way. In complete fairness reading reviews, watching let's plays, playing the demo, or even the reading developer's own disclaimers - potential players have been warned that "there is a good chance that you won’t like it, precisely because we took too many liberties with the established design". I can't help but feel like this is akin to being told "Here's the really over-cooked steak you ordered. There is a good chance you won't like it, but since this is all intentional - we've taken an extra heavy-handed approach with its blackened design." Yet here I am, disappointed that I paid for a really over-cooked steak that has an impressive char-broiled aesthetic.

Pros:
- Has an honest demo.
- Multiple routes may be taken to beat the game.
- Incredibly funny and useful skill/ability descriptions. More games should take inspiration from this.
- Some hilarious ways to find yourself dying, made out as a fool, or being separated from your money.
- Budget-friendly in cost and in required/recommended system specs. 
- NPCs are hilariously evil, greedy, untrustworthy, and always out to get you. 

Cons:
- A lot of cheap situations made to make you fail while masquerading as being a "choices matter" feature.
- RNG in combat is grossly stacked against the player, and always in favor of the NPC combatants. 
- The non-combat path becomes a trivial point-and-click game that leads to instadeath anytime you find yourself having clicked the wrong dialogue choice and end-up in combat.
- Boring story with a boring end-conclusion. Dialogue becomes a chore.
- The most important choice you will pick are your attribute points at the start of the game. Once you set yourself on that path, there is no deviating from it. You are locked in and cannot improve your stats in the game. 
- Lacking equipment options to suit your character with. I felt it was far too shallow.

$15 USD is a good, reasonable asking price for the game. If a sale put's it at 50-75% off, then all the better. Great budget recommended system specs and even better minimum. If you've got an older, or perhaps simply not as high-performance of a computer, this game would be a great fit and all the more worth the price. That being said, I don't know that I can put much more than maybe 10 hours into the game. Sure - there's some replay value but the same NPC conversations and quests get dull rather quickly. It's simply not something I'd generally recommend. Only with asterisks. Which brings me to my rating and recommendations:

For me, a 4/10. Strangely unbalanced. It does some things really right, and some things really wrong. I preferred the non-combat, more dialogue-driven paths - but that required a lot of reading of a rather...mediocre story. I did like how dishonest and untrustworthy almost the entire NPC base is. Kept me on my toes... until I realized the pattern of don't trust anyone.

I'd recommend the game to people who:
-Loved the demo.
-Love hardcore combat.
-Love point-and-click games and are willing to stick to non-combat builds.
-Have a budget or low-performance system, but are itching for a different RPG.
-Getting it with a significant discount

Everyone else, probably don't bother. There are much better RPG titles out there more worthy of your time and money.

A 2020 Review - 7 Days to Die, Alpha v18 (PC, 2015)

Score: 8/10
Mediocrity Score: Definitely Not Mediocre.
If it weren't for its unpolished nature - this game could easily be a 9/10 or dare I say - a 10/10. Survival thriller meets RPG-esque builds and progressions. Rough edges or not, this game is an absolute blast and I expect to see more and more content to be added over the foreseeable future. So incredibly close to being a top-tier game. I'd nickname this "The Rust Killer".

Tags: The few words that come to mind are: fun, potential, exploration, and engrossing.

My original review within the first 10 hours was scathing. I gave it an initial score of 4/10 because of how unpolished it is and because of that, I quickly wrote it off as a dismal attempt at a game in a very saturated genre. I was wrong. I found myself frequently recalling how much fun I had reviewing the game. Which led to me reinstalling and relaunching my little, hellish world appropriately called "EatMyShorts". Since writing that negative review, I've managed to play 72 additional hours within those two weeks. For me, that has NEVER happened. 7 Days to Die isn't a very pretty game. It has no plot or setting in a larger world. At a quick glance seems like a very average survival game. I personally made the mistake of jumping the gun and judging too harshly. But why should you play what still sounds like a pretty run-of-the-mill game? Because it is fun. Spectacularly fun. That is the #1 reason why I've decided to grade it an 8/10.

Pros:
- Incredibly fun. An end-of-your-chair thriller. You'll shirk your real-life responsibilities to play more.
- Every building is like its own dungeon or instance. Incredibly varied - full of secret rooms, traps, and sweet-sweet loot. Also Zombies.
- Strong RPG qualities - leveling, unexpectedly large skill tree, character builds/classes, and a large variety of quests.
- Challenging AI. Even at a high level, the game finds ways to bring about more difficulty and more scares. 
- Finally, a post-apocalyptic survival game that could entirely be played and thoroughly enjoyed in a singleplayer mode. 
- Robust crafting system providing an abundance of items, resources, and materials to create a vast amount of objects.
- Super customizable server/world options. Admin/singleplayer cheats are really, really fleshed out.
- Can dismember and decapitate zombies. 

Cons:
- Graphics and physics are quite unpolished. The world is missing a lot of the "filler" objects that make a world look less bare and cookie-cutter. Appearances often look vague, blocky, and sometimes out of place.
- Vehicle physics are laughably bad.
- Difficulty scales with leveling, but rewards do not appropriately scale.
- Only non-enemy NPCs are basic traders/merchants.
- Many of the non-combat paths seem like an after-thought. Very shallow.
- Base building is tedious and boring. It's more useful to re-purpose and fortify existing in-game structures. This is often blocked/forbidden on online servers.
- Leveling becomes SUPER slow to progress.
- Quests often feel like either a waste of time or overly difficult & resource expensive to complete.
- Online servers are a dime a dozen. Most public servers are empty/low-population or entirely looted. PVP is awkward and very unbalanced. 

A 2020 Review - Age of Wonders III

Score: 7/10

Mediocrity Score - Not Mediocre.

It's hard to get me to like most strategy games, and I really enjoyed this one. Had to knock it down a whole point due to the lack of available servers & players online.

Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind after playing are: tactical, "just one more turn", RPG-esque, time-consuming.

Avg. Time to beat: 25 hours

Quickest Speedrun: 8 hours

Quick Take: Six years after its original release, Age of Wonders III still stands as a remarkably competent and fun 4x turn-based strategy and tactical combat game. Triumph Studios two-games-in-one approach sets Age of Wonders III in a rare cross-genre we only see come out of the Total War franchise. It's immensely exciting and fun at the onset, but it does begin to drag on and show it's repetitiveness after 20-40 hours. If you're already a fan of this style game, you could very easily double or triple that number. Unfortunately, multiplayer is almost entirely dead. Single player or LAN games would be your only viable options. If you've not played this wonder of a game - I'd recommend you give this one a shot. It has a lot to offer, particularly in it's tactical combat battles. Plus - I've seen this title go on sale for as low as $7.50. That's a bargain for a game that you will easily put 30+ hours into playing.

Pros:
- Sprawling tactical battles spice up the long game by providing a variety challenges one must strategize on in order to succeed.
- Beautiful, lush graphics that keep up with 2020 standards for strategy games.T
- Heroes provide an RPG-esque feel by finding loot which can be equipped along with leveling-up which provides ability points - both of which are used to further buff your hero.
- High level of replayability.
- "Just one more turn!"

Cons:
- Multiplayer is dead. Local LAN or private games are your only hope for such competition.
- Campaign story is tired and uninspired.
- Simultaneous turns results in some confusing and frustrating delays. Some clicks take upwards of 20 seconds to register, worrying the player that their game may have crashed.

Concept: It's rare we get the genres of a tactical combat game blended with a 4x strategy game. They've really pulled it off on this one and that alone makes it worth checking out. The challenge keeps the game fun and interesting, while also feeling very achievable.

Graphics: Beautiful game. Still looks very fresh and lush having been 6 years since it was released. Combat scenes are impressively detailed and varied for something most developers would have done less with. That sort of attention to detail is not common enough.

Sound: Music is fine, but for a game that spans such a long amount of time - I found myself muting it within the first 8 hours of game play. Voice acting, however, is great - even if only included in the two campaigns.

Playability: Tutorial does a poor job, mostly relying on an in-game encyclopedia appropriately called the Tome of Wonders. Game itself is easy enough to get the hang of, but learning effective strategies for the many different scenarios is a challenge but one that brings you back for more. Some campaign goals could be better communicated.

Entertainment: I wish the city-building component was more fulfilling, but as a whole the game really does an awesome job of creating an atmosphere that sucks you in wanting "just one more turn". Combat is where the game shines the most providing a large array of options to destroy your enemies and competition.

Replay: High. You can create your own heroes, your own scenarios, partake in online play (which is very limited in 2020), and make good use of the modding community. This all breathes more life into a game that already is very replayable.

Cheats?: Yes! An adequate amount of cheats are available using the in-game console. No trainers or file modifications needed. To enable, withing game launcher's check the checkbox for "Run in Debug Mode" before starting the game. Once in a campaign or match - use CTRL+ALT+C to bring up the console. Recommended cheats are as follows:
- +100,000 gold | BOSCH
- Explore map (does not disable Fog Of War) | TASMAN
- Free movement | CRUIJFF
- Instant production of current queue in every city | PHILIPS
- Kill the selected target (in battle) | GETOUT
- Auto-win a battle (in battle) | WINNOW