HIGH Surviving long enough to witness a galactic empire rise to glory… or infamy.
LOW Having my empire absorbed repeatedly by mid-game.
WTF The xenophobic AI humans hated me while I was playing as human.
Red Solstice was a high-quality squad-based mouselook shooter set on Mars, in which the player controlled marines attempting to survive a monster apocalypse. They had to explore a fallen colony while teaming up with AI marines to battle zombies and mutants while securing technology and making good their escape. In addition to a stellar solo mode, it allowed up to four players to team up online in campaign or skirmish modes together. In developing Red Solstice 2, the developers have really dug in on the multiplayer aspect, refining the hybrid shooter/RTS.
HIGH Striking visuals and a great sense of humor.
LOW Once again, I am asking why every game I play now is so hard.
WTF Yeah, there’s too much going on.
HIGH The game mostly works!
LOW It mostly works.
WTF Sure, don’t explain what those meters do until the end of the game.
HIGH The first time connecting to a victim.
LOW The ‘dedicated to Rutger Hauer’ message on boot-up.
WTF Those Fire Sword minigames could be their own release.
Haven caught the industry by surprise by capturing romance among the stars with a game that’s equal parts RPG, cooperative date night and sci-fi art piece. I sat down with Haven‘s creative director, Emeric Thoa, to learn how the Game Bakers gave rise to such a fresh take on romantic gaming.
HIGH Finishing a boss by forcing him to miss two turns.
LOW Not being able to fast-forward through easy fights.
WTF Watching the drone roast virtual marshmallows.
HIGH Suspending enemies in mid-air before blasting them with a shotgun.
LOW The knight boss fight is torturously slow.
WTF I don’t know why anything is happening!
HIGH Leaping around in low gravity outside the station.
LOW Trying to complete the baffling campfire sub-quest.
WTF The mad god boss fight is something else.
The first and most important thing to note about Star Renegades is that it’s gorgeous — the world is rendered in some of the most detailed and animated pixel art I’ve ever encountered. This isn’t a case of people using pixel art for budgetary reasons, these are artists embracing the chunky rawness of the pixel art aesthetic to build their world.