GOG release: “SPORE Collection”

The most recent EA-published addition to GOG is the SPORE Collection that brings back the ultimate life organism simulation from Maxis.

Will Wright is known for making simulations fun, e.g. with the Sims or Sim City titles, but his most ambitious title was 2008’s SPORE, a game that is about creating and guiding life forms through various stages of evolution. It’s not only possible to customize the creatures, but to build their whole civilization with vehicles and spaceships. Other players’ creations can be shared and integrated into this experience, making it an even more involving (or evolving?) process.

The game still looks great (and cute) and offers the same sense of humor all of Wright’s games have. Being able to influence the outward and inward appearance of an alien civilization and looking at what other players are capable of is quite intriguing. With the inclusion of the add-ons Galactic Adventures and the Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, customization and variety is even more important.

It might not have the same C-movie story vibe and action as Impossible Creatures, but if one simply wants to see how crazy life forms can turn out to be, then this is for you. The game is now available with a 60% discount that will last until September 29, 12:59 PM UTC.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG

Official Website

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every LIKE or comment is appreciated on EMR’s Facebook page or FS’s Facebook page🙂. Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps😉.

GOG release: “The Saboteur”

Pandemic Studios’ The Saboteur, another EA-published game and this time a full-fledged FPS, comes to GOG’s DRM-free service.

World War II shooters are as common these days as zombie multiplayer modes, but if they’re delivered with a bit of humor and an interesting art style, then a title like this one should stick out from the crowd. Having an unlikely hero in the form of race car mechanic Sean Devlin work against the Nazis in Paris is already quite a welcome narrative device, even if the reason for this is less than subtle, i.e. his brother is killed by a sadistic German officer.

Of course there’s also a bit of stealth due to the subject matter, but shooting lots of Nazis in some beautiful environments is the order of the day. It’s quite a weird game that handles serious topics like oppression and historical atrocities in a more pulp adventure fiction way. Just looking at the different trailers (my favorite being the one with the Flogging Molly song), it at least looks like a lot of guilty pleasure fun with explosions, car chases and false German accents.

Speaking of German accuracy, even if the trailers don’t show swastikas, the GOG version seems to have them, surprisingly. For how long it’s available for German users, considering that everything else with the symbols is region-locked, is unclear, so it might be a good idea to grab the DRM-free version with a 50% discount that will last until September 29, 12:59 PM UTC while you can.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG

Official Website

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every LIKE or comment is appreciated on EMR’s Facebook page or FS’s Facebook page🙂. Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps😉.

GOG release: “Mirror’s Edge”

DICE‘s sequel of the first-person runner is already out, but the original is still worth playing, especially now that it’s DRM-free on GOG.

The story is a rather conventional dystopian one with main protagonist Faith, a Runner who carries data from rooftop to rooftop and whose sister has been framed for a crime, trying to outrun the system. She might not be the deepest character and the story has a few holes, but it serves well as a background for the unconventional gameplay.

In contrast to other FPS games, shooting is only possible when evading enemies and pulling their weapons from them. Most of the time it’s really running from one area to the next, which involves climbing, wall and ledge jumping. While this is certainly too much for people with motion sickness, the way everything runs smoothly as in the best of platformers speaks for the quality of the game. I played it years ago on the Xbox 360, and even if I had to take pauses in between plays, it was an unforgettable experience.

The graphics still look great with a unique visual style and really good sound design, even after seven years after its original release. The game is now available on GOG with a 50% discount that will last until September 29, 12:59 PM UTC.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG
Steam

Official Website

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every LIKE or comment is appreciated on EMR’s Facebook page or FS’s Facebook page🙂. Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps😉.

Game release: “We Are The Dwarves” (PC)

Tactical strategy games in a fantasy setting don’t always have to involve different characters, as Whale Rock Games’ We Are The Dwarves focuses on the smaller race.

Telling the story of a Dwarven Starship that is in search of new energy sources and crashes with only three Dwarven astronauts alive who then have to fight their way through dark caverns already shows that the typical fantasy fare is mixed up with sci-fi tropes. It remains to be seen how deep (pun intended) the storytelling really is and how relatable the tough characters are, but at least it feels quite fresh, compared to the standard save-the-world-and-defeat-the-ultimate-evil tales. And dwarves are so much cooler than elves, anyway.

Each dwarf has their own unique abilities, and one can switch on the fly between them while controlling the whole squad as well, giving real-time orders to overcome all the enemy obstacles. Pressing the pause button and adjusting strategies is also a nice way to think about each new step in the tough battles. Using the environment to one’s advantage, e.g. throwing nasties off cliffs, is also a viable option to progress.

The game certainly looks and sounds nice (and bloody) with fluid animations, atmospheric backgrounds and lighting effects, while offering some good voice acting and suitably epic music. It’s now available for PC with a 33% discount that will last until September 28, 1:59 PM UTC.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG
Steam

Official Website

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every LIKE or comment is appreciated on EMR’s Facebook page or FS’s Facebook page🙂. Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps😉.

Game release: “Zenith” (PC)

Most RPGs take themselves very seriously, but there are a few, like Infinigon’s action-RPG Zenith, that have a much more lighthearted approach.

Some might think that action-RPGs are less strategic than their turn-based high fantasy counterparts, but if the epic stories and characters aren’t always on par with a Baldur’s Gate II, then it’s okay to simply enjoy the company of some more down-to-earth people like Argus Windell, a former wizard and arcanologyst who simply doesn’t want that whole prophecy chosen-one bravado and who’d rather spend his time in less stressful situations. But of course when the apocalypse calls, everyone has to join the party if they want to or not.

Self-referential humor, a protagonist who doesn’t take anything or anyone seriously, a world full of fantasy stereotypes, but also pop culture references make this parody quite a joyful journey through standard point-and-battle territory. Of course it’s questionable for how long this can hold anyone’s attention without getting too annoying, especially with the use of swearwords. But if it’s on the same level as the Fable series or Bard’s Tale and even has some subtle emotional elements as in Stories: The Path of Destinies, then this should be a pretty good time waster.

It also looks rather pretty with some very nice backgrounds, character animations and lighting effects, while the voice acting sounds convincing as well. Using special abilities and upgrading certain attributes is obviously what every action-RPG since Diablo has done, but this doesn’t mean it’s any less fun. The game is now available on PC with a 20% discount that will last until September 27, 3:59 PM UTC, but it will also be released on PS4 and Xbox One in the near future.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG
Steam

Official Website

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every LIKE or comment is appreciated on EMR’s Facebook page or FS’s Facebook page🙂. Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps😉.