Chris Wray
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WCCFtechLatest Reviews
Atomfall is a game that came out of nowhere for me. I was browsing Steam a few weeks ago, having taken a little break after the gaming marathon of Civilization VII and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and there it was: a post-apocalyptic game set in Britain. Considering I'm from Britain and have been to where this is based—that being Windermere—and I love Metro, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Fallout, and other similar games, it was a no-brainer.
Civilization VII is a great game, that's the simple answer. With an improved city-building system, terrain features, and diplomacy, there is much to like in the new release of the three-and-a-half decade old franchise.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a game I massively anticipated when it was first announced. I eventually got my first hands-on with it and then finally played it. Playing it did reveal the more modest nature of the development, but it also made it clear that Warhorse Studios cared about what they put out. With what was nothing short of a monumental success, the sequel—Kingdom Come: Deliverance II—was inevitable.
Horror has always been about the atmosphere created by eerie silences and the noises that break those up. Be it from the character, trying to be as quiet as they can to avoid alerting the big bad to where they are, or in some cases, the noises that the big bad makes as you know it's coming towards you. How else would you be able to identify the scariest horror monster ever without the distinctive sound of it on the tarmac? Though it must be said, A Quiet Place, led by the incomparable Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, also knew how to create that atmosphere. A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead looks to recreate that in game form.
Coming into Europa, I had no idea what to expect. Indeed, before I mentioned in a chat with other Wccftech folks how I like to cover indies, and I was going to look for one to give a bit of coverage, Europa wasn't even on my longest distance of radars. Unlike the Europa around Jupiter, the Hubble Telescope would have had little chance of picking this up. It would have been a shame, too, because you can tell the passion of developers Novadust Entertainment.
Let's all be honest: Silent Hill 2 (the original) is one of, if not the best, horror game ever made. Indeed, it's arguably one of the best games ever made, point blank. With an outstanding story, compelling enough characters, and strong visuals (for the time), but most of all, a horror game that dripped in the atmosphere and sucked you in better than even the most adept of prostitutes.
Ara: History Untold is an odd game. I don't quite know how it fits into the Oxide Games' mission of "building great games that no one else dares to create" since I wouldn't say this is a game others wouldn't dare to create; it is, after all, not overly dissimilar to Civilization, Humankind, Old World, and more. That isn't to say it doesn't go beyond other games in the genre or do things a little differently because it does. Sometimes, it's for the better, but other things remind me of the fable of Icarus and not writing into Jim'll Fix It.
Anybody who knows me knows I like my strategy and simulation games. Then again, if anybody has any memory of my nine years of writing reviews here at Wccftech (and before then), they'll also know my fondness of the genres - so much so that of the 303 reviews for this site, 103 of them sit firmly in strategy or Simulation. Others have a bit of a toe-in, too. I'm saying this here mainly to fill space because I've already previewed Frostpunk 2 twice, covering both the Utopia Builder beta and then getting hands-on with the story mode while in Warsaw.
It's rare that a game, one that hasn't had a groundswell of support for a sequel over the past decade - and one that isn't tied into a nostalgic trend, gets a sequel so long after the original. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the 2024 sequel to the 2011 game, naturally made by a completely different developer under a completely different publisher due to the death of THQ. It's not that the original wasn't successful; it was one of THQ's few success stories during their final years, but with so much time passed, will this be the sequel that propels the game forward into the collective consciousness?
If I'm being honest, I can't remember much about the original Age of Mythology. I remember thinking it was a great game, but I've not played that twenty-two-year-old game in about five years, and even then, it was only a quick jump in. Playing Age of Mythology Retold has left me wondering a few things, such as "Was the campaign this long when it launched?", "why haven't they allowed for WASD movement of the camera?" "Will I ever play the online PVP mode?" and "What time is it?"