What to eXpect of Ara: History Untold
Ara: History Untold has been one of my most anticipated games of the year. To be honest, I don’t love grand-sweep-of-history games that take the player from the stone age to the space age. For me, it’s hard to feel invested in a faction that undergoes so many fundamental changes over the course of the […]
Revival: Recolonization Early Access Review
A millennium after mankind’s near-extinction, a few sleeping “Emissaries” of the old world rise from the ashes of the apocalypse in an attempt to reunite humanity and begin again. Revival: Recolonization, developed by HeroCraft PC, retells the familiar story of Civilization, but set on an Earth that’s now alien and starring a humanity that can […]
ZEPHON Preview
The fifth demo for ZEPHON (Steam Link) was the first time I played the game. I had some idea of what to expect since I had played a fair amount of the developer’s previous game, Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War. I hadn’t expected the game to wear its predecessor’s influences on its sleeve […]
Five Reasons You Might Like Scorchlands (and Three Snags)
Scorchlands can best be described as a relaxed city-builder with puzzle elements with a hint of the recent hit, Dorfromantik, and a little Factorio sprinkled in. The player spends his time dropping buildings on hexagonal tiles across a colorful map, each producing a certain resource that needs to be refined to progress in the game […]
4Xperiences with Age of Wonders 4
Four Things You Should Know After My First 50 Hours With Age of Wonders 4 Paradox Interactive and Triumph Studios were kind enough to let me play Age of Wonders 4 in its entirety these past few weeks. Aside from multiplayer, nothing was off-limits. Here are my impressions of the nearly complete version of this […]
The Pegasus Expedition Early Access eXamination
The Pegasus Expedition is a narrative-driven strategy game with a strong emphasis on fleet combat. The story it attempts to tell is a classic space opera, exploring themes likely familiar to science fiction fans, projected through the collective lens of a cast of characters with each reflecting their own unique worldview onto the narrative. The […]
Galactic Civilizations 4: The eXplorminate Preview
It’s time to talk about Galactic Civilizations 4. Any 4X fan should know of the Galactic Civilizations (GalCiv) series. While the first of the series was hardly noticed, its sequel Galactic Civilizations 2 is still considered one of the greatest 4X experiences you can have and made our Top Ten 4X Games of All Time […]
Dune: Spice Wars Early Access eXamination
Introduction Dune: Spice Wars is a leisurely RTS game that successfully integrates 4X elements into a complex tactical experience that rewards quick thinking over quick reflexes. The task that the team at Shiro Games took upon themselves seems daunting: develop a game based on not only a beloved book and film franchise but also a […]
An eXclusive: Research in Distant Worlds 2
Distant Worlds 2, by developer Code Force and published by Matrix Games/Slitherine is the well-anticipated sequel to a title the staff at eXplorminate recently voted “The Best 4X Game Ever Made”, or words to that effect. Distant Worlds: Universe was an incredibly ambitious real-time space 4X game with a huge scope and a solid execution: […]
Becastled Preview
I am starting to really like castle defending RTS games: the gameplay loop is fun and immensely satisfying when the defenses I have meticulously placed repels a terrifying force trying to wipe me from existence. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw another recent castle defending game right after I finished reviewing Stronghold: Warlords. […]
