Tuesday 19 July 2016

Kickstarter #6

Oh crap! My childhood returns

Very quick intro here because I want to jump straight away to a really big Big BIG kickstarter.  So, here is my kickstarter review, with its whimsical look at four of the current gaming kickstarters out there.  Once again, I do not have a copy of these things to play, these are basically my reviews of the kickstarter themselves, though serious one of these I would honestly die for (I wish I had the money for this I really do).  So without further a due, I'm opening up my brain and allowing an old friend to start messing with my head again

System Shock - Nightdive Studios

Sweet mother of mercy, please please please someone, anyone, I throw myself in front of you and beg for this game.  Actually, System Shock itself wasn't something I played, but System Shock 2... and just the thought that this Kickstarter going live could possibly mean SS2 comes out at some point as well.  I mean honestly, there are very few things in this world that could possibly drag me away from the computer if that were to ever happen.

Now, it possibly comes as a surprise to people that I, Mr "can't watch a scary movie even at home" would be obsessed with a Sci-Fi horror game.  However, please bare this in mind, System Shock was and still is a centenary game.  One of those that comes along once in a lifetime and spawns its own genre of gaming.  Deus Ex, Bioshock, A lot of the Aliens games (certainly Isolation) all come from System Shock.  I can (and probably should) put together a nostalgia post about System Shock 2.  Around 2002 I played it for the first time when the multiplayer mod came out.  In 2006 I trawled eBay and forked out £50 for this game.  It was release in 1999, and even seven years later it was worth having.  It still sits pretty at the top of my favourite PC games list.  Shodan is, and always will be, one of the best PC game villains of all time and I am so happy to see she is back.

So back to the Kickstarter.  With the recent run of remastered games, I jumped when I saw this.  The video intro is a little corny, but well worth the watch, and as you would expect the stretch goals are about multiplatform and additional content in the game.  What really makes this kickstarter is that you can already see they are most of the way through production.  Graphic shots, game play, music scores, all done.  So this Kickstarter is basically to refine the game and then get it out to people.  Instant win, and dear lord you will not regret it if this is anything even close to the original.

8 days left, $30 for a digital copy of the game.  Go look at it now and get yourself an absolute masterpiece of a game in next gen clothing.

Battle of Britain - PSC Games

So how do you move on from such a massive remake.  How about with another absolutely corking remake of another classic.

Now, I've never been lucky enough to play the original Battle of Britain board game, but from everything I have ever heard or seen on the original it really does warrant the title of classic.  I'm sure from the title you can guess what the game is about, but in a nutshell it really is the opportunity to recreate and rerun one of the most important parts of British history.

Now, with the correct hat on (ie not the one gushing over the fact that people keep remaking classic games that are impossible to get hold of in the original form), I'm going to look over the kickstarter.  First and foremost, the video will tell you far far more than I can on this simple blog.  It seems that the Plastic Soldier Company is basically releasing the original game, with refined rules for sections where they were a little weaker, and then adding some really nice 3d sculpts of the aircraft in as well, just to spoil people.  This kickstarter is well past all of its current stretch goals and the variety of miniature you are going to get (at a cut down RRP) really does look very very tempting.

Look over it here for more information.

Vampire Hunters - Dark Gate Games

Ok so something new, Vampire Hunters looks like a really good game.  You'd be forgiven for thinking this is just a Vampire version of Zombiecide, but on looking (and listening) a little more you will quickly notice that this has a lot more going into it, and there are some really nicely themed mechanics to get the distinct feel of the game well out into the open.

A few things that I picked up on really quickly though, the Minis are really really nice.  I mean really nice.  Someone has put a lot of effort into working out what this game is going to look like and feel like through those minis.  In addition it really does look like the rest of the pieces that have gone into the game have been thought through in detail, from the customisation in the game board (the bit that will make you think of zombiecide), to all of the cards, the art work and the general widgets that come with the game.  For a start, the hour counter is really very pretty, and the mechanic they have for it is pretty interesting.

Now, once you watch the game play video you really do get the idea that this is a very different game.  The Vampire activate based on cards, but after each player.. during the day anyway.  At night the order is reversed (and so are the vampire cards, making them harder during the day).  There are logical ways to play the game in a campaign as well, with points being usable to upgrade the characters between games.  This is something I've never really been happy about with Zombiecide's campaign play, because everything resets.  So I really think this is a good move.  And hey, if you die during a game you can always flip the character over and be a vampire for a while....

It does look rather tasty, so go have a look here.

Darkness Sabotage - Dethrone Games

Sometimes I just like to indulge in some truely gorgeous miniatures board games, and this one hits the nail right on the head.  While the wheat and chaff enemy models in Darkness Sabotage are simple, some of the boss models are just stunning.  I mean one of the ones shown in a picture of the board game is just unbelievable in scale.

So this possibly joins up three genres that most people would look sideways at and never put together.  But Dethrone Games have gone for a Space Pirates vs Demons board game, and what they have come up with is just... well eye catching is not doing it justice.

Again, it looks like the board is modular in design, giving you plenty of options in terms of games.  The art work on the kickstarter page is something else.  And serious I have to come back to those models, I mean blimey they are something else.

This looks like a truely immense cooperative game, with a variety of different scenarios to go with the game.  Some of which look really good.  Dice based mechanics for combat, a bunch of cards for your pirates to "steal" or set off on board the ship you have found.  I still can't register how good these models are either.

Go have a nose here.

The wrap up

Four things, all of which I want to have, and that is quite a rarity.  If I had the capacity to have them all I would, but I just don't.  I hope some of you find a few things you like here though and go and support these kickstarters.



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