Category: Reviews

02/22/13

Alea Jacta Est – Cantabrian Wars Scenario DLC


Reviewed by Boggit, 22 February 2013

Developer and Publisher: AGEOD and Matrix Games

Back in December Boggit reviewed the well-received core Alea Jacta Est game – see here for the original review. Recently, AGEOD have added to this excellent game with the Cantabrian Wars scenario. Boggit takes the Grog’s view of whether it is a “Fiery War” or should “Just burn”.

For those gamers with Alea Jacta Est, it is recommended to upgrade to the v1.02 patch. V1.02 adds a number of nice features including tabs for city and fort size, enabling these important values to be spotted at a glance, but most importantly if you want to be able to play Cantabrian Wars you do need to patch to v1.02 from vanilla or from v1.01.

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02/20/13

PC Game Review of Eador: Genesis

Dan Smith, 20 February 2013

Developer: Alexey Bokulev and Publisher: Snowbird Games (Russia)

 

Mix three parts “groggier version of Heroes of Might & Magic”, one part “more RPG’ish version of Dominions”, add in a dash of Eastern European difficulty, and you’ve got Eador: Genesis. It’s a one-man labor of love by Russian developer Alexey Bokulev, with all of the good (and only a few of the drawbacks) that comes with such a bare-bones resource model. For $6, it’s a steal!

The Good: Challenging AI, Deep Game Play, Good Replay Value, Whole is Greater than the Sum of the parts
The Bad: Poor English-language documentation, Basic Graphics, Unforgiving Game Play

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02/17/13

PC Game Review of Squad Battles: First World War

A review by Boggit, 17 February 2013

Developer and Publisher: John Tiller Software

Click images to enlarge

 

The recent surge in wargames set during the First World War is leaving Wargamers spoilt for choice. With Squad Battles: First World War, Boggit takes Grog’s view of whether it is a “Breakthrough” or is “Caught on the Wire”.

 

Squad Battles: First World War John Tiller Software’s latest addition to their series of Squad Battles games. Hitherto John Tiller’s Squad Battles have focused on the Modern and World War Two timeframe. The First World War is a new departure for this series so what has changed and does the Squad Battles Engine “work” for the First World War?

 

sbfww

Pins and casualties everywhere as the first wave break against the British line

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02/6/13

PC Game Review of XCom: Enemy Unknown

Review by Jim Zabek, 6 February, 2013

Developer: Firaxis and Publisher: 2K Games

XCOM is a top-selling game and GrogHeads’ readers voted it best general strategy game of 2012. What makes it so great?

Back to the Future

Keen observers of PC gaming may note a trend. Over the last several years there has been a move to resurrect, polish, and re-release some great older classics. Tropico, Baldur’s Gate, Sid Meier’s Pirates, StarCraft, and Close Combat to name just a few. The latest game to receive this treatment is XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

I can remember playing the original XCOM when it was first released. It could be a devil to play and win – just when I thought I was making progress in one area the aliens would introduce some kind of new technology or invade my base. They were always just one step ahead. I have played the new XCOM from start to successful finish on the Normal difficulty level (there are four, the next higher level is “Classic”). The normal level of difficulty was quite satisfying and challenging, but allowed me to eventually win without the frustration that the old XCOM gave me. I probably dithered a bit too long before triggering the final series of missions, but I put off developing psychic technologies until I had exhausted all other tech trees. The result was a highly satisfying 60+ hours of gaming – good numbers for many single-player campaigns these days and with my experience I can share insight into the game if you haven’t bought it yet, and I can share a few overall tips on how to win if you’re having some difficulty.

There are gamers out there who will derive great satisfaction in being able to recall every nuance of the original game and point out every deviation by the new one. I am not that guy. Suffice it to say that the original model of XCOM is followed: the strategic game unfolds in a pausable real-time environment as the player invests in technologies and building weapons, armor, and gadgets. The turn-based tactical game is where the player drops a strike team into an alien encounter and proceeds to either kill/capture the aliens, save civilians, or disarm a bomb. It makes for great fun, and while it is clear that the new version isn’t an exact clone of the old one, I found more than enough commonality to be satisfied. The new XCOM is great and I have no complaints. It’s updated enough to feel good, and yet true enough to its roots to recognize its origins.

 

xcom

A UFO is spotted over Russia. If I don’t attempt to engage it, panic will rise there. But do I have the technology to shoot it down? Do I have a team capable of taking on the alien threat?

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01/23/13

Crisis in Command I: Battle of the Bulge for iPad

Developer: John Butterfield • Publisher: Shenandoah Studios

Reviewed by Jim Cobb, 23 January, 2013

Click images to enlarge

Will a staple battle of wargaming look any differently on an iPad tablet? Jim Cobb jumps into the Battle of the Bulge to find out.

botb

New media do not initially bring new gaming paradigms. The first wargames for computers were ports from board games; the first wargames for tablets have been ports from mainstream computer games. Other than tapping instead of mousing, play hasn’t changed that much. With Shenandoah Studio’s Kickstart-supported Battle of the Bulge, a new paradigm may have been developed.

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