Recent reviews by Whoota

I have a quandary. You see, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor is by no means a qualitatively bad game. It has the quintessential Warhammer sheen. That dark and oppressing atmosphere which sells the grimdark world quite convincingly. The mechanics are well designed and character customization is exceptionally deep. However, the gameplay loop is so repetitious, the quotidian nature will exhaust your will to play rather quickly. The controls facilitate a quaggy experience that does not scratch the Warhammer itch. As such, Inquisitor has left me querulous in an effort to quantify why I would not recommend this game. At the end of the day, it just is not for everyone and I will try to qualify why.

Inquisitor is a role playing dungeon crawler in the same quiver as Diablo or Titan Quest. You are a lone, brutally powerful warrior, set out on a quest. In this case, a long believed lost vessel has appeared from the quantum realm known as the Warp and you as Inquisitor of the Empire must find out why it has appeared after all this time and question and interrogate everyone you encounter on in your inquiry. Although this premise sounds appealing and rather quaint, most of your time will be spent beating, blasting, vaporizing and vanquishing myriad quarry in the form of demons, evil space marines, heretical humans, giant chitinous bug monsters, and the occasional massive war engine. While the variety sounds enticing at first, you will quickly find that everything can be dealt with using the equivalent approach of “hold attack button a and then try b for a bit instead”. Nothing demands a really unique approach to be dispatched. It does not feel rewarding and it is a quizzical design choice because Inquisitors in the Warhammer universe execute their quarrel slightly differently.

For those of you not in the clique, Inquisitors are special agents for the Empire of Mankind. They go around the universe questioning and investigating outbreaks of heresy, demonic incursions and alien invasions. They wield a bureaucratic device so powerful they could theoretically nuke a city for when you are littering and blow up the planet for looking at coquettish images. They are basically Batman on (even more) steroids with religious zeal. Unfortunately, this does not translate to gameplay. Whereas investigating something in for instance Arkham City required you to follow traces, scan objects, collect clues and detain suspects, Inquisitor just has you fight your way to the blinking waypoint on the minimap. The Batman games were already ubiquitous in pointing out what to do. Inquisitor leaves your bereft of even a quantum of that experience.

An opportunity was squandered here for a different game. I do hope that a quixotic developer comes around someday and engineers a true inquisitor experience. While that does not mean that Inquisitor is bad. It runs well on my machine. There is a wealth of character customization to perform and the graphical design manages to show off the 40K universe quite convincingly. However, I do feel that you need to be a qualified fan of 40K to continue to want to play this game after the first 10 hours. Otherwise you will end up feeling queasy and uninspired.

I don’t like GTA. I know that sounds weird. Cause this review has nothing to do with GTA and “how can anyone not like GTA?” It has something to do with promise. GTA promises a world of unlimited possibilities. To do what you want. However, something will hold you back, for reasons entirely contrarian to the game’s promise. Therefore, the promise is not fulfilled and I am bummed out. Cybersleuth (I’m not going to write the whole name) promises Digimon. And it delivers. And that is why I like it.

Digimon is Pokémon’s cooler, less popular elementary school friend who went to do something for itself while Pokémon sold out and got stupidly rich. Digimon just entered a niche. Where it is still a very narrative driven property with a very big cast of characters. I have only seen Adventure, Adventure 2.0 and Tri, so my knowledge on all the other series is very limited, but Cybersleuth allows me to play what I want to play; with the Digimon from those series and any news ones I discover along the way are a welcome addition. In Cybersleuth you play a young kid who one day ventures into a part of the internet he/she shouldn’t have been and is eaten by some horrid digital entity. Your body and digital soul rent apart, you now exist as a proxy in the real world; able to ride phone and internet signals to visit a digital realm under siege. You end up working at a detective agency and try to solve one mystery after the other and eventually discover the truth behind the digital invasion. You’re accompanied by Digimon you find and raise along the way. And because you’re given the means and assets to raise these Digimon, even when they’re not on your party, you get play with a very broad number of them. Pokémon tends to funnel you into a team that you stick with, but Cybersleuth just lets you swap with impunity. It’s wonderful. It does require a bit of a grind from time to time, but nothing that can’t be managed in minimal time. Whatever you want is within reach. Do you want to play the original eight? That can be done easily. You want a squad of talking technicolor turds? Also within the realm of possibilities. You want a team of reality bending eldritch abominations? It’s got you covered.

As a result, it is a game that requires some commitment. Not mobile game level of commitment; but it isn’t baby’s first JRPG material either. It’s a balance, and that makes it pleasant to play. If anything, I found playing Digimon very relaxing. It’s not too hard; nor extremely easy. It’s fanservice all the way and that’s ok. Level design is pathetic though. Isometric prerendered environments are kind of last century. Digimon models look like their cartoon counterparts. Music is a very basic. It’s always a loss when they don’t include the anime soundtrack.

Overall, Cybersleuth is very enjoyable for a light JRPG experience and strong Digimon adventure. If you like Digimon, be sure to check it out.

Shadow of Mordor is one of those games that borrows a bit from everything and gets away with being just average by simply being a well-engineered experience as a result of cherry-picking the best bit. It could have been more, but it’s fine as it is.

You know the opening to the powerpuff girls? “Suger, spice, and everything nice. These were the three ingredients chosen by professor Utonium to create the perfect little girl. But professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: Chemical X.” And then the bowl explodes and the Powerpuff Girls were born. Cool. Shadow of Mordor is a bit like that: “Assassin’s creed stealth, Arkham City combat, Tolkien lore. These were the three ingredients chosen by Monolith to create the perfect open world Lord of the Rings. But Monolith accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: The Nemesis system!” Truth be told, that wasn’t an accident, but it’s the only novel thing they really added. I was going to make Breath of the Wild allusions, but in Breath of the Wild there is a lot to discover and in the barren land of Mordor…well, there isn’t. It’s a bit barren.

In Shadow of Mordor you play Talion, or I think that’s his name; it doesn’t come up a whole lot. A former ranger of Gondor who loses his family and his own life in a sudden raid by Sauron supporters. However, Talion’s spirit is tethered to the mortal realm by an elven wraith who want to borrow Talion’s body to exact revenge on the Dark Lord himself. You work with the Wraith to recover clues about his past and muster an army of orks against Sauron.
Since Shadow of Mordor takes place in the late Third Age, the One Ring is still lost to Sauron, but his power is growing and the Ring is calling to its master. Ergo the mustering of dark forces. You and the Wraith can control orks by overriding their mind and using their numbers for your own purpose. The goal of the game is to recruit strong orks to your army by instigating rivalries between each other and yourself so they get stronger and so they can overthrow the war bosses. It takes a while before the game takes the training wheels off your ranger so that kind of hampered the experience when I had summarily slaughtered the entire ork host of Nurn only to learn I was supposed to champion them. Slight oversight on my part there.

It’s not a “raise your own ork” farm game. It requires stealth and guile to get these brutes to fight for your cause. You need to hold up lieutenants and squeeze them for intel on your mark. Then exploit their weaknesses to make short work of them. This creates a power vacuum other orks will quickly fill and so your army grows with strong orks that might rally to your cause. Sometimes the consequences of your own actions are fair, and sometimes you wonder why you are bothering with stealth because years of playing Batman Arkham City have honed my combat skills to such perfection I forgo the need to be secretive and I just want to slay my way inside. The game has a habit of pulling a good two feet of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ out of nowhere by killing you arbitrarily if you overreach your station. All part of the dynamic ork army mustering process, but an unwelcome speedbump in my game nonetheless.

The game looks fine, but the textures are flat and grass really should be thing in a game all about roaming the planes. Orks are procedurally generated and it is up to you to promote the captains of fashion. Talion looks built like a brick ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with his massive torso and scrawny legs. If you buy the complete version you can get around this with different costumes, but none of the characters look alluring. When you watch the movies (the originals, go home if you like the Hobbit trilogy. Seriously, close this review. Downvote it, I don’t care,) you can see an incredible vision and style for the characters. In Shadow of Mordor that is lacking. The only distinct character is Gollum; and he isn’t even voiced by Andy Serkis. Furthermore, the sound is off. I mean literally off. It did not put out 5.1 surround no matter what I tried and in an open world game with stealth elements, that’s kind of a faux pas. Additionally, the music is generic. The lack of Howard Shore’s music is a major loss. Not even an callback can be found. Finally, I’m not going to elaborate on how none of the game’s plot really fits in the Tolkien world. However, the lore that is there is true and proper to Tolkien’s writings. So a nice exhibition to be sure.

Maybe I’m just nostalgic for the movies still. Maybe I’m weary for what Amazon is making. I understand I should be glad there is a Lord of the Rings game of this caliber available, considering many were cancelled and under EA you wouldn’t receive anything like this. However, it still lacks the polish and deliberateness I get from Jackson’s movies or the well-constructed lore and pure arcane feeling from proper Tolkien writings. Yet, it’s better than the sum of its parts and an enjoyable romp that is worth a few laughs here and there with some tested gameplay and sharp controls.

Lego games are always such a safe bet. They're simple, yet fullfulling. You work your way through stages, finding the right character and order of things to solve puzzles. Best of all, you can play them with someone on the couch. Like your kids, or a friend. Lego Star Wars III just messes up a lot.

You can clearly see this one is rushed based on its lack of QA testing and post-launch remedial. I've had this game crash on me so many times already we tend to cut playing this game short. The stages and puzzles are also janky. Being either inaccessible in nature until later in the game or buggy so you can't solve when you make one mistake. Combat is unsatisfactory and solving puzzles his lame. The newer heroes games involve a lot of powers. Star Wars somehow lets itself be limited and gimmicked just to make something like Marvel Heroes.

It's not all bad. For a change, this one tries something different with the battlefield stages. Unfortunately, they're kind of braindead too. Additionally, some of those stages arbitrarily restrict what you can build for no reason at all.

Because it one of the older Lego games, story cutscenes are largely silent with no voice acting. A shame considering they based it on a television show with some high level voice actors. The could have lifted the audio, but they went with the cheap option.

Honestly, just avoid this one. It's not worth it. You're better off waiting for the new Lego Star Wars that's coming out later this year.

Have you ever woken up, cranky, tired of the daily slump and a slow, simmering hatred for all things living; even outside of a pandemic? Well, this game has got you covered.

I am a teacher. My job is borderline thankless, tedious and you occasionally need to deal with certain creatures who at no risk of their own expect you to reciprocate their minimal effort tenfold. A proper vent is required to not go mentally insane. Please consider: DOOM Eternal, the much awaited sequel to 2016’s award encrusted power trip: DOOM.

Do you occasionally feel the need to crack skulls?
Do you want to rip out guts and shove them down their own necks?
Do you feel an unrequited love that has gone unspoken and the only way to placate the void inside is by showering in the torrents of blood as you rip the hearts from demons and squeeze them like lemons?
Please consider: DOOM Eternal

You don the helmet of the Doomslayer. A still unknown warrior from space who has come back to earth in his shiny new flying space castle to free the humans from the unrelenting demon invasion. “Rip and tear, until it is done.” Sound the first few lines of the game. And so the massacre begins.
You need experience it to fully appreciate the absolute measure of gore and eviscerating insanity that pass for graphics on your screen. Only one game I know put more effort into its violence (Mortal Kombat 11) and that isn’t as fast and as brutally satisfying as this. I am haunted by constant thoughts and fantasies of violence and even committing them to paper would constitute a crime, but DOOM Eternal satisfies my desires sufficiently to function like a proper human being in today’s society.

The fast pace behind DOOM Eternal’s action is what makes it so awesome. You are in control of everything. Combat is a puzzle and you hold the pieces. Use quick blasts for imps, grenades for cacademons, quickly shift to the plasma rifle to deal with shield. Lock on with missiles to get the mancubus off your back and shift back to the shotgun to grapple the nearest demon and set it on fire before cracking its skull on your knee. Killing keeps you healthy. Burning keeps your armored. Chainsaw action will get you ammo and killing your enemies with extreme prejudice will give you power akin to Captain Falcon to land a disgustingly effective Falcon Punch. Never stop; always run. A strong offence is the best offence. Screw defending; demons don’t kill themselves. You need to prove yourself. The game demands input and it rewards you; as after every fight you let go a sigh of relief. You are in a zone and it is that feeling that makes playing games worthwhile.

DOOM Eternal introduces some new elements that feel off at first. They slow things down; and that is bad. It felt more like Metroid Prime at times than Doom. Doom is supposed to be fast and the changes and additions really made me consider the refund button; simply because it didn’t give me the release the original did. Luckily, after a while, you get used to it and learn how to use it. Making you a bolder, more effective and aggressive slayer.

On that note, this sequel adds a lot of story and story lore. Which admittedly is interesting, but it kind of gets in the way of the slaying again. So do with that what you will.

In truth though, you really play this game for the soundtrack. Mick Gordon has delivered again and it is every ounce as sick as you can expect from a man who spends hours feeding jpegs through spectrographs, distorters, mixers, fades, more distorters and finally the microwave just to get that screaming just right. Positively incredible.

So, relieve yourself from your boring life on earth and go on an adventure to hell and back. To rip and tear and let loose some serious stress over some sick tunes and gorgeous graphics.

(Expressions of violence are made for humorous intent and should not be taken as fact.)

I never thought I’d see the day, but The Wonderful 101 finally got an encore. It was like the one reason why I hadn’t boxed up my Wii U yet. I even went as far as to buy new pieces of furniture to actually put that gamepad somewhere so wouldn’t neglect it as much. Tough luck though, The Wonderful 101: Remastered is all I ever wanted.

The Wonderful 101 is one of my favourite games ever. Heck, it might just be my favourite. Wonder Red has been my Steam Avatar for over 7 years now. The soundtrack never left my music player and the box art serves as my lock screen on my work computer so my students have to admire it whenever I hit that Win+L.
What makes The Wonderful 101 so amazing then? Let me tell you. This is quintessential video games. Colourful graphics, upbeat music, gameplay that is easy to learn but infinitely rewarding to master, crazy story, mad set-pieces and nearly infinitely replayable. It is the gift that keeps on giving.

The Wonderful 101 is mad crossbreed between Pikmin, Okami and Bayonetta and Power Rangers. You take control of a squad of up to 100 super heroes who can combine into giant technicolor weapons based on the symbols you draw with the right analog stick. Circle gets you a giant fist; a straight line makes for a sword, and a straight ‘L’ makes a gun and then some. The bigger the symbol, the bigger the weapon. You’re limited by your energy, so draw conservatively. You need certain weapons to avoid damage. The fist can absorb fire, the sword can reflect lasers and nullify lightning, while the whip can be used to rip spikes off your enemies. Drawing these symbols requires some practice, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to unlock the wild combo potential. Before you know it, you’ll go from having trouble with drawing the hammer, to unleashing 3 different attacks at once while continuously pounding the smaller enemies with your spare forces. And there are enemies to spare. Countless unique enemies and magnificent boss fights are a treat every time. Combat is so involving it becomes an art form onto itself. The game is therefore not shy to demand absolute perfection from you. This is a Platinum game after all. After every battle you’re weighed and measured, and when found wanting, you’ll go home with less than Pure Platinum. This game will condition you to hate the colour gold, but in the end, the reward is pure satisfaction.

In The Wonderful 101 you need to protect the Earth against and alien invasion. You start off with Wonder Red, who is a school teacher by day and a textbook superman in the face of danger. You’re joined by Blue, a swarthy police officer; Green, a portly sniper; Pink, a vivacious socialite; Yellow, shy Russian; White, public weeb and Black, hacker supreme in an effort to repel the unyielding torrent of alien invaders. The story is told through amazing cutscenes with dialog lifted straight out of snappily written Saturday morning cartoons. It is a bit pedantic at times, but amusing all the way through. I can sit through it without skipping every time. The dialog, characters and enemies are also full of Platinium Games references and Easter eggs, so if you’re into their work, you’re in for a treat.
What sets The Wonderful 101 apart from other games is the way it handles its set pieces and the pay off will always make you smile from ear to ear. After a long and intense boss fight where it is all hands on deck, the music rises to the heroic tunes of a newly orchestrated main theme that sets the mood for something incredible and it does not disappoint. Although you may frown on quicktime events, The Wonderful 101 does them tastefully, with ample time to react, incredible payoff when you pass and hilarious consolation if you fail.

Visually, the game is seven years old now. The PC version upscales cleanly to 1080p (I can’t do 4K on this PC) and a heavy dose of anti-aliasing makes it all look smooth. The framerate is also smooth at 60fps on a GeForce 970. A much needed boost from the 30fps on the Wii U. The game is violently colourful and used high-gloss models to give that action figure look. Facial animation is a bit ‘8-bit’, but that’s the trade off for having 100 of them on screen at any time. However, it’s the total picture that counts, the comedic timing and amazing screenwriting really put everything together. Don’t dismiss it for looking cartoony until you have beaten your first real boss.
The soundtrack was composed to scream heroism at every note. Brass, choirs, marching drums, it has it all. The principal voice cast does an incredible job selling the insane story credibly. It gets a bit over the top, but at this point, over the top is the new normal.

The Wonderful 101 will humble you the first time through. Don’t feel bad, this is normal. It will take time to come to grips with the controls, the camera, the combat system, how to draw a hammer, dodging, counters and crowd control. It’s a lot to take in. However, do not let that ‘plastic’ trophy get you down. Just get to the end, smile and all, and then go right back to the beginning with all your powers already unlocked and ready to fire. Suddenly you’re playing a new game. No longer are you trying to beat it; you’re trying to own it. Additionally, the game has so many secrets and things to unlock, you’ll be occupied for a while. Take into account that it also includes Platinium Games’ general quality of life care and you won’t need another game for the rest of this pandemic.

All in all, I cannot recommend this game enough. Its insanely cool set pieces are worth playing, the music is worth enjoying and the combat is so cool, it is prize to master. The PC version is a simple port, but it did what it needed to do, 60fps, smooth textures and little to no load times. You’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t try it. For me, I’m just happy I can now get a higher definition avatar. It has been a long time coming.

So here I was, €15 game. Sitting in my list for months. Decided to blow through it during my final week of summer holiday. I was wrong.

You don’t blow through Hollow Knight in a day if you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re going to be a broken man/woman when you come back from this. Hollow Knight is so deceptively massive it puts other games to shame. Also take into account the consistent art style, amazing music and captivating story and lore and you’re looking at the most incredible bang for your buck.

Hollow Knight throws you into the depths of Hallownest. A forgotten insect kingdom that has long since been reduced to destitute and ruin. Only a small town and divided tribes remain. Enter you, a small stag beetle with a black cloak and a rusty nail, devoid of memory and burdened with a purpose to seek out a great evil and seal it. Along the road, you’ll meet many other characters who either sympathise with your quest to downright try to murder you. Slowly, but surely you’ll uncover what has happened to Hallownest and what your real goal is.

As a Metroidvania, Hollow Knight doesn’t hold your hand too long. It gives you the basics and immediately throws you into the deep end. No, that’s not right. It throws you in a pool with three deep ends, and none of them warn you about the sudden drop-off. Hollow Knight is entirely non-linear. Certainly, some obstacles need to be passed before you’re able to clear some definite roadblocks, but even then, the game is not going to stop you from going about it exactly the way you want it. This is incredible, because it allows you to go on a real exploration. This is also disheartening when you run into a brick wall and have no idea how to get around it without learning how to play at a level you were never eased into.

Hollow Knight can be quite hard the first time through. Not just Dark Souls hard, but Megaman hard. The only way to really clear some of the fights is by learning and getting better. There are no real workarounds or cheese methods.
That doesn’t mean Hollow Knight is impossible. It’s just a surprising change from what you’d expect from a game that looks like an early 80ies Disney film concept. I got stuck on a nasty boss with a lot of magical powers and a long walk to its room I couldn’t beat without snapping my controller in half. I decided to leave the area and explore other parts of the game. Eventually I went through roughly three times as many areas as I had already explored. Acquired a much stronger weapon, more health and practice.

Your character, the Knight, starts out weak, like Samus would in Metroid, but gains more power and abilities over the course of the game. However, unlike the former trendsetter, the Knight’s options don’t open up so clearly as they to do Samus. There are no brightly coloured doors or jumps that seem to far without an augment. Hollow Knight has you chart your progress on a map. Since it only updates when you save, it’ll often show blank spaces and gaps for you to try and find a way through with your new ability. The map mechanic in general is very well designed and is used much more frequently than you would in Metroid. Although that might be because I know Metroid maps by heart these days.

Combat in Hollow Knight is another important element to master. You must come to respect all its aspects. From jumping and slashing to focussing and pogo, it’s essential you make yourself familiar with everything to even stand a chance. To help you there are charms. Little upgrade tags you can equip in a limited capacity to augment your abilities. However, there are no hard counters to any enemy or boss in the game, so you’ll still need to do the work yourself. It becomes rewarding, but can also be stressful.

That doesn’t mean it is all bad news. From the moment you begin, you’re thrust into a beautiful world with so many mysteries to ponder you’ll be forgiven for dying while admiring the view. Dark caverns, lush forests, shining mines, dreary cities and ghastly pits are all par for the course. Another thing to lose yourself over are the enemy animations, which are clear and telegraph incoming attacks well. Making it possible to at least learn enemy patterns before being sent back to the bench. Furthermore, there are over 150 different enemies, so a lot of work went into preserving the variety. So even in the furthest regions of Hallownest, you’ll be running into new threats.
The sound helps to sell this bug-infested hell hole. Great care was taken to create a nuanced set of ambient and action effects that help sell the world. However, we cannot ignore the incredible soundtrack. Hollow Knight is accompanied by very subtle, but an effective score. The soft tunes add incredible character to any scene. The elegiac nature of the score makes the world so much more fleshed out. It’s like walking into the Phendrana Drifts in Metroid Prime over and over again.

I think that a special mention has to go out the final boss. Not only is this bad boy hard, but it is also a great case of boss design because it will test you on everything. The boss’ attacks are straight out of the books from all the other bosses and even the insanely hard platforming gets a show.

I managed to beat the game at 106% at the end of my first playthrough. I didn’t even do everything there was to do. I didn’t beat a hard boss from the second content pack. I didn’t fight all the rematches. I also couldn’t pull off a victory against the pantheon boss rush from the last content pack. Forget the Path of Pain or the Steel Soul mode. It’s not for me. However, even after passing on those parts of the game, the rest of the is so insanely rich in content you’ll be hard-pressed to feel buyer remorse. Even if you’re not into somewhat challenging, massive non-linear action-adventure games with compelling art style and beautiful music, then at least you owe it to the industry to support this effort.

I went to a Lego exhibition once with my dad and brother. Lego also makes model trains and these adult fans of Lego had built this giant network. On the way home my dad had significan mid-life crisis itches to buy a Lego railway. Lego is expensive though. Railway Empire can be cheap.

Railway Empire has you build the many railway connections accross the continental United States during the great westward expansion. It is your job to make wagons of money by transporting goods, people and main between towns and suppliers. Eventually you'll even dabble in real estate and stocks. A veritable money machine. Luckily everything is kept nice and simple so no complicated mortgage and down-payment schemes. Just trains, stations and tracks.

I like watching the rail network unfold. It's soothing to see your locomotives work hard for you. It can be quite stressful though. Sometimes your competitors leave little room for you to operate and you will have to build stations and tracks far out from where you want them.

Building is easy though. Tracks come out looking neat. However, there is skill involved in building an efficient line that allows for fast travel. You'll need to learn how to direct trains with signals and switches. Limit arrival platforms for freight and passengers. You'll even need direct the loading of trains to make sure you have enough resources in the right spot all the time. This is heavy micromanagement and if you're not into that sort of thing, then you might want to pass on this game.

Despite its easy to learn hard to master appeal and the general appeal of model trains, there is something about this game. The voice acting acting is somewhat off. It's not unconvincing, but it is overly cartoonish. The delivery is just not on point. Something more subtle might have suited the nature of game a bit better.

My only regret is that after all that building enterprising, it is sad to know that hardly any of all that rail still remains in the USA.

I distinctly remember a moment, about six years ago, when Bioshock: Infinite was released. All the game journalists wrote their reviews and concluded that your choices in that game were pointless. They then followed that up with feature articles on how no choice in video games ever has an actual consequence. We now know that game journalists know absolutely nothing and clearly they had never played Infamous 2. Unfortunately, that game isn’t on Steam. However, Frostpunk is.

Frostpunk is an apocalyptic city building simulator. Set in an alternative version of the 19th century during a catastrophic new ice age after the eruptions of a number of volcanos blotted out the sun. The temperatures are plummeting and traditional cities can’t shelter the people anymore. You must lead your people north, to the coal rich regions of England and set up a new city around a giant coal powered generator and weather the ice age.

Frostpunk doesn’t pull its punches and immediately tries to tug on your heartstrings. In order to overcome the frigid conditions you might be required to make some extreme decisions. Like putting the children to work, freezing corpses for organ transplants, making the labour-force work overtime to prepare for a coldsnap or publically execute apostates. The consequences of your actions are measured in hope and discontent. It is imperative to keep the former high and the latter low to make your people follow your directives. Otherwise they might leave town or rebel. Quelling rebellions in turn calms the population, but people with broken arms cannot work the mines and beating the dissidents to death will decrease the available workforce. Your choices matter. Sometimes on the short term, and sometimes in the long run. Because every now and then the temperature drops to points where work is impossible and if you cannot power that generator it is game over for everyone.

The game features four scenarios with different challenges which each demand a different approach. This is where replayability comes in. Because the first time through on any scenario, you will play a disgracefully uncoordinated run with snap decisions that hurt you in the long run. When playing it for the second time, you know what to expect and as a result you enter the game with a grand scheme. Unfortunately, this does take some of the challenge and surprise out of the game. If you’re a masochist you might want to crank up the difficulty, but I thought normal did just enough for me.

As you play Frostpunk you’ll be accompanied with a melancholy score which might sound determined from time to time, but usually accentuates the ordeal and hardship before you. The ambient sounds give a sense of business in the city, while the howling winds sound oppressively ominous overhead. The visuals are stylish and convey a sense of hard earned heat and frigid steampunk. It looks gorgeous. Since you’ll be looking at it a lot; that is for the best.\

By the end of your first scenario you might tell yourself that you know nothing of city building; or politics. However, that doesn’t matter anyway. You made it somehow and that is what matters. How you accomplish victory in Frostpunk is entirely on your conscience. Awkwardly enough, Frostpunk might be the only climate change related game where Donald Trump’s approach to energy and climate might be relevant: Open the mines, burn coal and shun refugees. Can your conscience live with that thought?

Go insane. Fight Aztec dinosaurs with Vampire Pirates who ride giant crabs and beckon ghostly cannonades.