Hi there and welcome to another edition of DGA’s Early Access Corner, a place where I take a quick look at what I’ve been playing as of late. Like my previous article, all of the games featured here were both gifted to me by their respective developers and are currently in an Alpha or Beta state. As such, the below content does not serve as any sort of review…though I do provide my personal thoughts as to whether or not they are worth buying into in their present state. Happy gaming!
Archives
All posts by Vincent
The “Roller Coaster Tycoon” and “Zoo Tycoon” series always have a special place on my hard drive, but let’s face it, they are showing their age. For the last five years, I’ve been itching for a modern-day game of either caliber…though most games that have tried to be as in-depth and expansive fell short. That leads me to “Zoo Park”, a game that recently released on Steam (as of 6/13/14). It advertises that the user will have the ability to “care for over 40 different animals from all four corners of the Earth whilst running a professional programme of rescue, rehabilitation, research and conservation”, but is it any fun and does it live up to standards that “RCT” and “ZT” have created from years past? Before we get started, I’d like to thank Richard Barclay from Excalibur Publishing, LLC. for providing me with a free press copy.
There are a TON of trick-taking games out there…but seriously, how many of them feature dragons? “THE DRAGON GAMES”, a family-friendly trick-taking card game that will be launching on Kickstarter on or around 6/28/14, has them in “Spades” (pardon the reference). In this variant, players will assume the role of an actual playing piece, unlike most card games of the genre. By winning tricks, you’ll be able to advance your pawn further up the playing board. The first player to reach the end of the path, wins! Before we take a brief look at what this game has to offer, I’d like to thank Carl Hansen and Rebecca Smith from Dream Options Inc. for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final product, making everything featured in this article (including the rules) subject to change. The symbols on the dice, for example, will be a bit more clear in the final version.
Listen up, you trick-taking card game fans! “THE DRAGON GAMES”, a family-friendly card game reminiscent of “Spades” and “Clubs”, will be launching on Kickstarter on June 28th, 2014. As the name implies, this isn’t your standard run-of-the-mill trick-taking game. While it does use terms like “trump” and “trick” regularly, it features a game board, an action card deck, and of course, plenty of dragons! Winning tricks will nudge your character along the board, but you’ll need to pay attention to the colored spaces and the suits being played to get ahead of the others. A written and video preview are in the works for those of you wanting to learn more, so stay tuned for more content as it’s released.
I’d like to preface this article with a tidbit about myself: I’m a perfectionist. As a kid, I’d often reload saves constantly when I didn’t complete a level just so, perhaps some of you can relate? Anyway, I had to really fight the urge to do so again when I played “Xenonauts” for the first time. This game is punishingly difficult, but there’s a reason for that . “Xenonauts”, just to give you a little back story, started development back in 2009 and later sought funding through Kickstarter in 2012. Promising to recapture the thrills of the original “UFO: Enemy Unknown” (a.k.a. “X-COM: UFO Defense” and “X-COM: Enemy Unknown”) from 1994, “Xenonauts” tripled its funding goals and officially released in June, 2014. The question remains, is “Xenonauts” worth your time and money? Before I answer that, I’d like to thank Chris England from Goldhawk Interactive for providing me with a free press copy.
Now I know why games journalists sometimes hate their jobs. The sheer number of games out on the market always seem to be increasing, what with the recent rise of Indie developers over the past couple of years and Steam’s Early Access program. I used to be able to write reviews and previews for every game I featured on my YouTube channel, but no longer. Either I’m getting older and slower, or DGA is growing beyond the scope for one man to handle. Perhaps a little of both? At any rate, I wanted to quickly hi-lite some of the games I’ve been playing that have not yet reached final production quality…meaning Alphas & Betas. The following are games that I’ve been gifted by their respective developers and I’ve already covered on my YouTube channel, but haven’t here. It’s worth stressing that all of these games, as of 6/17/14, are not finished. Therefore, I’ll simply be reporting on whether or not I think they are worth playing at the present time.
After recently publishing my controversial review of “Age of Mythology: Extended Edition“, I was somewhat surprised to see Skybox Labs and Microsoft Studios at it again…by “it” I mean the revitalization of another RTS classic, “Rise of Nations” (originally released in 2003). Just to give you a bit of back story, I played “Rise of Nations” and its expansion “Thrones and Patriots” religiously back in the day…moreso than “Age of Mythology”, if you can believe it. My brother and I would spend hours playing co-op against the AI, simultaneously bringing our forces out of the stone age whilst creating a sizable force to take out the enemy. Oh, those were the good old days. Before I get into the beast that is “Rise of Nations: Extended Edition”, I’d like to thank Ashton Williams, a Marketing Coordinator at Microsoft Studios, for providing me with a free press copy.
I’ve played a few “run your own movie theater” simulators in my day, but I have admittedly not touched a “run your own movie studio” simulator before. I was tempted to pick up “The Movies” (released in 2005), but I was afraid of how incompatible it may be with my current system. “Showtime!” popped up on Steam the other day (today being 5/31/2014) and my curiosity got the better of me. What can I say, I love being able to go on a power trip without offending anyone in real life…business sims often allow me to do just that. Along those lines, I’d like to quickly thank Damien from Myrtilus Entertainment for providing me with a free press copy.
A while back I reviewed “Camping Manager 2012” and had a decent time with it. You were tasked with building a successful camping area for visitors and would-be vacationers. It was a bit limiting however and didn’t offer a lot in terms of content. It also frustrated me from time to time, but gave just as much as it took. “Water Park Tycoon”, also published by Excalibur Publishing, feels almost exactly it. In this case however, you’ll be in charge of turning a profit by constructing a water park. Think “Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Soaked!” but a bit more simplified. Before I go any further, I’d like to quickly thank Richard Barclay from Excalibur Publishing Limited for providing me with a free press copy.
Pythagorean theorem? Check. The atomic number of Carbon? Check. The correct use of “their”, “there”, and “they’re” in a sentence? Check. The capital of South Dakota? Ummmm…let me get back to you on that. As well as I did in school (proud honor student), there were always a few things that I just couldn’t grasp: geography, the lunch menu, and why “The Custom House” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” was necessary. I can’t help you on the latter two, but “State Master“, a game currently seeking your support on Kickstarter, might just be able to help with the geography bit. In short, it’s a family-friendly card game that will help teach players about the fifty US states. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Nat Dunn, the founder of Homeschool Games, for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final components, making everything featured below subject to change.
Most first-person horror games I play revolve around some sort of no-named protagonist whose storyline is questionable at best. Who cares, right? I mean, you’re not there to learn about the hemorrhoids surgery they had in the fifth grade…you’re there because you WANT to be scared. While there isn’t much of a story in “Among the Sleep”, the setting is what really makes the game unique…you get to play as a toddler. A helpless, pint-sized toddler who, for obvious reasons, can’t make use of weaponry to fight off any evil things that come his way. It’s similar to playing “Amnesia”, but as a child protagonist. Before I go any further, I’d like to thank the folks at Krillbite Studio for providing me with a free press copy.
Foul-mouthed toads? A modern-day Snow White? Pigs smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol? Glamour? What in blazes did I just get myself into!? These were just a few of thoughts running through my head as I played the first episode in “The Wolf Among Us”, a game developed and published by Telltale. This is the same company that brought “Back to the Future: The Game” and “The Walking Dead” series to my virtual doorstep, so I can’t complain much. “The Wolf Among Us”, like the aforementioned games, is an interactive narrative with the occasional quick time event. Despite my reservations about the storyline (which chronologically takes place before the comic series), Telltale hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Before I get started, I’d like to thank Pat Doyle from Sandbox Strategies (a PR firm) for providing me with a free press copy.
“Match-3” games and I generally don’t get along. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what they offer, but I’m often left feeling empty by the end of a play session. In short, I get bored quickly with “Match-3” games. “Puzzle Quest” was a nice exception to that rule, offering RPG elements and a deeper “Match-3” experience. Along those lines, “ReignMaker” dares to be just as different, if not moreso. While the RPG aspect is somewhat lacking, there’s both tower defense and town management mechanics mixed in to keep things interesting. Before I go any further with that, I’d like to thank Michael A. Hartman, the President & CEO of Frogdice, for providing me with a free press copy.
As a huge fan of the “Tropico” series, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on “Tropico 5”. This does potentially make me a little biased, though I’ll do my best to be as objective as possible. If there’s one thing that I’m absolutely sure about however, it’s that I know my “Tropico”. I think I’ve logged more hours (300+) into this series than I have any other…this means that you should probably pay attention to what I have to say. The heartache of watching my Tropicans revolt, the sighs of frustration as my finances went into the red, the raging shakes associated with hours of work flushed down the toilet…I’ve experienced them all.
Most of us have been there: sword in hand, shield in the other, and a trusty book of spells in your back pocket for emergencies. Whether you’re playing an action game, an RPG, or an adventure game, this scene will probably be second nature to you by now. Enter “RPG Merchant Tycoon!!”, a game that reverses your role and puts you behind a counter. Rather than selling off all the junk you looted from the corpses of your dead enemies to some random NPC, you’ll be running a shop and providing customers with the loot they’ll need to succeed. It’s a bit like “Recettear” minus the dungeon crawling. When I first learned about this game, I initially suspected that it was developed by a disgruntled NPC merchant who was tired of having to buy useless junk…”oh, the irony!” he’d/she’d gleam happily. In all seriousness though, I’d like to thank game designer Ryan Cowler from FiercePunch!! Games for reaching out and providing me with a press copy.
Telltale really knows how to keep us in suspense for long periods of time, which is not a feeling I particularly enjoy. I am the type of person who waits until a show on television is over before starting my journey, simply so that I don’t have to wait months in between seasons to see the resolution to the cliffhanger. “In Harm’s Way” is the third nerve-wracking installment into Season Two and is no less suspenseful than the last two. It goes without saying that there will be spoilers from the previous two seasons in this review, so I encourage newcomers to STOP READING and just go buy the game already. Those who have already purchased the season pass may find this review redundant, so I’ll be aiming this article at those who are able to purchase these episodes individually.