Street Level: Windows Edition
Great game. I beat it in about 1 hour, but it was a solid experience. It is sort of like that old TI-83 game Drug War, but with a cyberpunk theme. The whole game is just choosing “yes” or “no” to jobs, or fights, or to buy upgrades, etc. There is actually depth here, though, even with just 2 choices and the game can get intense. For the price and about an hour of time, seems worth it. One note, there is no save games and there seems to be a bug where the game loses control if you alt-tab. So you have to beat it in one sitting.
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cyberpunk Sci-fi Games.
Not a bad little game. I recommend it. It’s a nice little time killer at a cheap price. The art work is simple, but It works for what the game is (And seeing as how I love neon and cyberpunk, I like it). It’s a little tricky trying understand how some of the cards are going to behave, but I can see the appeal from a immersion aspect. It does feel like it’s building a rudimentary world in a way. There is a fair bit of reading on the cards, but once you get into the groove you begin to recognize them by appearance and can play it fast. I recommend it, and taking it for what it is, I give it a sold 7.5/10.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director’s Cut
Disclaimer: This review was written when Dragonfall was a DLC and will be updated to better reflect Director’s Cut in the future. If you are already familiar with the DLC version, skip to the end for my initial thoughts on the new features.
When Shadowrun Returns came out there were numerous complaints. Rather than ignore them, HBS listened to the fans and fixed many of them when they released Dragonfall. That wasn’t enough for them, wanting to better address the players suggestions they re-released it as a stand alone game and freely upgraded everyone’s existing copy.
– Real player with 605.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cyberpunk Story Rich Games.
2054. Berlin. The Flux State. It’s a world of magic, technology, metahumans, megacorporations, and dragons. You are a Shadowrunner, a criminal who does the dirty work for clients who can pay for your skills. But things aren’t always as they seem, as you’ll soon find out.
As the story unfolds, you’ll find yourself faced with some hard choices. Your clients can’t or won’t give you the whole story, and moral ambiguity will cloud the decisions you make. Not only that, the way you lead your team can have repercussions on how they view you. As you progress through the story, they may open up to you, giving you information about their lives. I felt like this was really well done. Your teammates have back stories, character flaws, and even side quests. It’s up to you to say and do the right things to gain their trust.
– Real player with 124.0 hrs in game
Drawkanoid
Absolutely love the balance of tension. It’s definitely exploring things left untouched in other re-interpretations of this classic, feels like the ultimate version of the brickbreaker genre.
omg, the hexagonal enemies are amazing for all the rebounding goodness, but the little orange rounds are complete nonsense.
– Real player with 17.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cyberpunk 2D Games.
Drawkanoid: Satisfyingly Chaotic
The premise of “Breakout but you draw your paddle” sounds interesting in theory and is actually really interesting in practice. The visuals do the game a huge service, especially when you manage to get an insane combo. It’s a nice game to come back to every so often and (unlike say “Super Hexagon") becomes more a game of endurance and in the moment decision making rather than one of reflex.
I’d recommend it! it’s like… the price of a lunch… and you get to keep it too. Definitely gonna play some more of it!
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
Strain Tactics
tl;dr - if you can endure the clunkiness of the UI, frustrating game mechanics, poor tutorial and lack of instructions/familiarisation in the early stages of the game, you will enjoy the squad-based controllable tactical experience that is unique in its own fun way. One of few games I played where a poor initial impression ended with a “definitely recommend” review.
Coming from games like Door Kickers and Running with Rifles, I was interested to see Strain Tactics recommended within the game genre. My initial impressions were….disappointing. After the first 2-3 tutorial levels, you were just dropped straight into the battlefield with little to no understanding of what to do next other than “kill no less than 42 strains per mission to avoid base invasions, keep killing until you prove worthy then join the final assault”. This becomes a pattern as the game mechanics are often explained a few short texts; reading the hints at the outpost/talking to the helibase crew provided very little extra knowledge. For example, the demonstration of your starter troop’s morale and traits system did not showcase what its benefits/drawbacks are (granted Combat Engineer’s 50% damage reduction trait isn’t visible). I only understood it when I had the first-hand experience of seeing my Decon blow two squadmates to pieces with a panicked shotgun discharge, or seeing Inka’s Xenophobia execute my medic who was only scratched with a minor infection who CLEARLY had decon pills (we’ll get back to Inka later). The game is littered with consumables, weapons, items, or troop unlocks which does not make the distinction of which one to use, keep, or sell off. Stats such as max weapon range vs detection range vs optimal attack range had me confused for hours. You pretty much have to learn by experience and if it doesn’t fit your playstyle, well too bad keep playing until you unlock the next thing and hope that one works out. Not only that, despite the game telling you troopers will only fire at the optimal range to reduce friendly fire, you will have the ominous experience of “Did your piss-poor just friendly-fire your squadmate again??!”. Couple the brain-dead AIs with poor pathfinding and a UI designed for mobile games, the game just creates an unrewarding learning experience that showed its fun potential…but missed its mark and in no way comes close to the two games I mentioned above.
– Real player with 67.2 hrs in game
Strain Tactics is RTS strategy, set in a post-apocalyptic world where bodybags are pokeballs and human trafficking is an acceptable business practice.
I’ve played a bit and will probably play some more. I recommend this to anyone who likes squad based strategy games. Included below are a bunch of pros and cons that I’ve come up with in about two hours of play. The game is fun, but is held back by UI problems (which makes it seem like it was for a touch screen primarily). The only time I found the UI actually intuitive was the Heli weapon fire screen, where the UI and big buttons were actually not that bad.
– Real player with 62.0 hrs in game