Lotheneil vs. The Backlog Hydra, Ep. #37
This week I’ve shot down two titles from my newest “Rule of sevens” target list. One “oldie but goldie”, the other… meh. As the list consists of titles I was (and am) really looking forward to playing, I hope it has no more “rotten eggs” like that. As always, time will tell.
A team-based hack and slash RPG with active pause.
Quite recently I've tried to play - and failed - the first instance of the series. The reason I've dropped it was not dated visuals (though it definitely offers nothing to write home about from today's perspective), but extremely clunky and user-unfriendly controls and interface in general. The sequel rectified that issue, which let other game elements shine - and shine they did, as Dungeon Siege 2 was a really enjoyable experience for me. Detailed character progression system (including "raising stats by using them" mechanics I'm a complete sucker for), a lot of equipment to choose from, diverse environments to visit, dungeons, crypts and other underground areas to plunder, a ton of secret areas opened by hidden buttons and levers to find. The one thing the game does not deliver is story, as it is as bland and cliche as possible. Combat and party development systems do make up for that though.
So, even after 13 years after release, I recommend this game - just make sure to set launch options so that it boots in Full HD and be ready for a really enjoyable time.
Turn based tactics game set in Warhammer 40k universe. Personally I know next to nothing about Warhammer 40000, and I had no contact with the original Space Hulk either. I've just played the title as any other tactics game - and promptly dropped it a couple of hours later.
The gameplay is slow. Extremely, painfully slow. And I mean both movement animations (walking anywhere takes ages, though we are leading a group of Ultramarines - or members of other Chapters - after all, which are human tanks in a nutshell, so it's kind of understandable), and actual combat strategy the game forces on the player. The number of enemies encountered is always superior, and letting them into melee range more often than not ends with troop loses - as there is no actual health bar for party members, one successful hit means death. We have to play very cautiously to avoid mistakes - move troops just a few steps per turn to leave enough action points for overwatch (in this state the character can shoot at enemy if it is spotted during their turn). This takes ages and is extremely repetitive and boring.
Maps we explore (at least as far as I've managed to get) consist of series of very poorly lit metal corridors, which means that all missions look the same. Moreover, there is no plot whatsoever (just a short briefing - planet this-and-that was attacked by genestealers, deal with them) - so there was absolutely nothing the game had to offer for me. Some people may like it and really have fun with it, I didn't. At all.
Space Hulk Ascension is quite directly based on the tabletop game Space Hulk (it’s a bit more tweaked than the previous Space Hulk game on steam), and it kind of suffers from it. Many of the things that are easy to do in a tabletop setting, like moving & turning a model, is a lot more clunky with a mouse & keyboard. The tabletop game is amazing, the digital adaptions of it are sadly not.
How can moving & turning mode be clunky with keyboard? It’d be enough to tie rotation to Q and E to move it .Or whatever.
I’m playing through Dungeon Siege II as well at the moment. It’s really fun, I agree with your assessment of the game wholeheartedly. Today I’m about to finish Act I, looking forward to the rest!