Spacebase DF-9

 Hello everyone and welcome to my review on the game Spacebase DF-9.

Well, first off it is made by Double Fine Productions. Who are Double Fine Productions? Good question considering I hadn't heard of them before so I did a little bit of digging and as it turns out, they seem to be behind titles like Costume Quest 1 and 2, Stacking, Psychonaughts, Iron Brigade, Broken Age and something that if it true, I am highly looking forward to, Grim Fandango Remastered. If you have no idea what Grim Fandango is then you need to watch Yogscast Duncan's play through, it is an old school adventure game that tells an amazing story and a game I highly recommend anyone play if you love good characters and interesting stories.

Anyway, back to the game that is the focus of this review, Spacebase DF-9. It is a base building game taking place after some sort of collapse, I have no idea what this collapse is or what happened but from playing the game, I'm guessing it was some sort of world ending tragedy that resulted in "seeds" holding three astronauts being flung to another system entirely to create a new base and survive basically.

You start off the game with only three citizens and the seed they were housed in. With only 2000 matter and 8 minutes of oxygen, you have to set up a basic base for your citizens to survive in and expand.

Personally through my experience in the game, I find a 3x3 airlock, 4x4 refinery, 6x6 life support and 6x6 generator seems to be a pretty good way to build your starter base. Make sure you add in the normal doors so they can move between the rooms. It is worth saying that your citizens will not build anything unless they are builders, to change one of your citizens into a builder you simply press R to bring up the citizen roster and then click on Builder.

Each citizen has a personality and mood, some will enjoy certain jobs while others wont but early game, no matter what, it is needed that you have all 3 as builders to build your base quickly. With your starter base built and powered, you can then assign your citizens to any of the other roles, one that is preferable to that certain citizen.

However, once again at the start you may need to compromise as you'll need a technician to keep your machines running and a miner to gain matter from the asteroids in the sector.

The game is challenging as there isn't any difficultly setting, meaning you either get good or you get lucky, the game is a challenge and in a world with games that are either easy as straw to win or just plain short. Spacebase DF-9 is a challenge and it is only amplified as everything is random, nothing is ever the same so it adds an aura of unpredictability to the game.

Another thing is the lack of a graphics option, the game only has one graphic option but it is a beautiful look and while the actually character models look a little dated, the building models which you'll be spending most of your time looking at are beautifully made and are pleasing to look at.

Now you'll probably be thinking to yourself "I've played city and base builders before, what makes Spacebase DF-9 any different."

Well, each of your citizens in unique and there are even alien citizen models, I remember I played a game where one of them was a Humanoid-Chicken. You can also change the names of any of your citizens, I actually changed the Humanoid-Chicken to me for the hell of it and added my friend Jake or TheCrimsonWolf in for the laughs of it. It does add a layer of personal connection to the game, not on the same level of lets say XCOM but it does make you feel when either you or one of your closet friends or hated enemies you put in the game dies.

And your citizens will die, from a number of things. Raiders, being sucked out into space, hunger, illness, each other, or god forbid you encounter the dreaded Parasite.

I was playing a game where one of my citizens had a parasite and it was like something out Alien or XCOM. This bug like alien burst out of his chest and started to kill everyone, it was horrible and the worse thing is, no matter what, the game is random so you can either be lucky or unlucky.

As far as I can tell, there isn't an ending to the game as I usually die before I get to it. I do know there is a sort of final boss in the form of the Pirate Fleet which will attack your base with wave after wave of Raiders when your base seems to take care of itself.

Meaning the game will constantly present you with a challenge to keep you interested in it.

Through everything, Spacebase DF-9 is a challenge and it is a great game for the genre and the idea behind it. I would like to see what the Steam Community can come up with for this game, I would love to see some Mods that add new races or possibly even new enemies.

Anyway guys, this has been OniOfTaint and this has been my review on Spacebase DF-9. Let me know what you think of the game and if there is anything you believe I have missed, then let me know. For now, Spacebase DF-9 scores a 7/10, it is a great game but I do feel it isn't worthy of being a legendary game currently, perhaps after some extensions by Double Fine then maybe. Anyway, take care and goodnight everyone.

Yogscast Duncan's Playthrough of Grim Fandango: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBuMtIpVlq8&list=PLGN8WikMb4WG3vk2sRoIlQJvMMJjuK2Ur

Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth Review

 Civ Beyond Earth or Civ VI as I guess you could call it... what can I say about this game that people haven't said or thought about already? Well... to be honest, I rather enjoy this game and maybe, just maybe. Not for the reasons you the reader think I enjoy this game for... or at least possibly some other reasons which you didn't expect or believe.

Let's get the biggest issue out the way first, the Faction Leaders, no matter which way you look at them or analyse them, they will never hold the weight of the previous games historical leader. That was part of the charm of Civ V, you could have Nobunaga Oda, the demon king of Japan go up against Alexander the Great in an epic war. Part of the charm of Civ V was that you could create this entire parallel world where these leaders are all alive round the same time and at each others throats, that was part of what made Civ V great.

The Leaders in Beyond Earth will never be able to compete with that, they won't. So don't expect them too, Beyond Earth in my opinion was an experiment, using a new idea and a new setting that is completely different from Civ V.

That being said, I do agree that the new Factions are a little bit in-balanced, especially when analysed together. I do like how the cultures and the peoples of Earth have banded together in the future to create these new... almost Mega-Cultures I guess you could say that which to gain control of this new planet... planets depending on which map you pick.

One thing I will say about the Factions and the Leaders, is while they will never live up to the weight of the historical leaders of the past, I do believe they hold potential. Here is how I look at Civ Beyond Earth compared to Civ V. I look at Beyond Earth as Civ V was before Gods & Kings and Brave New World. That is how I look at Beyond Earth, I see it as a diamond in the rough that has a massive amount of potential and I pray, I really do pray that Firaxis follow through with this potential and continue to polish Beyond Earth because, it truly does hold a massive amount of potential I would be devastated to see wasted.

As a lover of the Civ franchise I read, watched and basically hunted with purpose, everything I could about Beyond Earth before I purchased it only 2 days ago. I currently as of this review have 25 hours logged on Steam playing Beyond Earth compared to my 239 hours logged for Civ V.

So, you could claim that this review isn't valid if you don't believe I have spent enough time playing the game to give a fair opinion and review, fair enough but I am giving it anyway. Recently I saw one of my favourite YouTubers give a review on the game, AngryJoe. He said and I quote "Beyond Earth feels like an incredible opportunity wasted." I do not agree with that, I agree the game doesn't live up to the expectations that were presented for it then again, we are talking about a Civ game, possibly the best strategy game franchise ever, in my opinion. I don't know, maybe Total War is better I have yet to play a Total War game but I plan on getting Shogun 2 which seems to be the best choice.

Back to the point, I do not believe the game is an opportunity wasted, I believe it is a diamond in the rough that with the proper care and love and grow to become something close to Civ V, I doubt it will ever beat Civ V mostly due to the weight the historical leaders brought, but it has a fighting chance of being close. However, you must remember, Civ V has G&K and BNW whereas Beyond Earth has nothing so far, which, is why I look at the current state of Beyond Earth as of the post date of this review as Civ V was before G&K and BNW enhanced the experience and made it something truly amazing.

I feel I have ranted on a little more than I should of about the comparison between this game and it's older brother Civ V but it was a point I felt I had to explain my own opinion for.

Let's move on before this review goes on for longer than it should. I've heard Rythian of the Yogscast another of my favourite YouTubers talk about the graphics of the game, how they look dirty and muddy. Honestly, I cannot tell as I haven't played the game on High or higher graphics, I play on Medium level as I use my laptop and the game runs perfectly so I may try a higher setting so I can look at it in full detail and have a better opinion. However, I agree and disagree with the comments they made, about the graphics.

I agree they do look dirty and muddy, they definitely have a darker colour palate for some terrains and a brighter one for others. These are enhanced through Mods which are easily integrated with the game through the Steam Workshop and if you play with the Distinctive Terrains mods, you will see more detailed terrains so I do recommend playing with those Mods just for the visual effect.

As for the graphics for the units and the cities, I honestly am not too sure. I feel they suit the purpose enough, they suit their purpose enough. I don't know, maybe as polish is added to the game as I believe it will, this is Firaxis we are talking about, as more polish is added to the game they may upgrade the textures to make them more pleasing or eye catching but for the most part they are descent enough.

Hmm... what else is there for me to talk about... I seemed to have focused a lot on what other people were saying about the game and what I believed so I am a little stick... bear with me a moment here. Okay, the Aliens, something you will be seeing a lot in Beyond Earth.

Personally, I believe these Aliens are done well and they are impressive to look at, especially some of the unique Harmony units like the Rocktopus and the Xeno Titan. However, the only game in which I got the Rocktopus it seemed to be bugged and wasn't able to move to the orbital level, whether I was doing it wrong and it needs something to latch onto I don't know but while I wasn't able to make full use of the Rocktopus, it is impressive to look at, as with the Xeno Titan which... as it's name suggests is like a Titan.

Talking of bugs, I have encountered a few but like I said, I do consider Beyond Earth is the state it is currently as of the post date of this review, do be a diamond in the rough so I can excuse these bugs because they don't really take away from the overall enjoyment I get from the game, other people might disagree.

The unit models when getting to a level three upgrade for the Soldier, seem to stay around when upgrading a different unit, meaning you'll have two conflicting unit models when upgrading but it does seem to go away or you just stop noticing it.

Oh! One thing I will say annoys the hell out of me, is that bloody ADVISR, I'll admit, it is nice to actually have a voice giving you advice and offering you guidance but for the love of all that is sacred in creation, turn it off the moment you can because it will constantly tell you about trades and pointless advise that you've already been told. That is a problem I have with the game but you can turn it off fairly easily so at least it can resolved that way but, I do believe they should patch it so the ADVISR doesn't keep annoying gamers with constant reminders on Trade.

Also, the new Tech-Web instead of the traditional Tech-Tree as we are used to, I think is a nice addition and it does add to the atmosphere of the game, you get this sense of, what the hell am I to research which, you will. It is confusing as hell when you first see it but you get the hang of it quickly if you take your time to learn it.

Another thing I will say, the Tech-Web incorporates the affinity system into it well, you can research techs that will give you affinity in either Harmony, Purity or Supremacy which basically means Aliens, Humans and Robots.

The Tech-Web while designed like a confusing web, actually has some tree like traits, each main Tech on the web is known as a branch and within each branch there is usually one or more additional specialist techs known as leafs, and it is usually these leafs that will give you the techs in the affinity you wish to advance in whether they would be Harmony, Purity or Supremacy or a blend of all three, which is another option.

Continuing on from that, the affinity system and how it ties in to how the game plays out is something I really enjoy. Because this is a new setting and everything is random, you can face against the same NPC Leaders and they will adopt different tactics by having different dominant affinities. Your structures and units also change depending on your dominant affinity which is a lovely touch.

Talking about the Leaders, AngryJoe said in his review that the NPCs are not able to do war early game, like the Warmonger Civ's could in Civ V. While I do believe Beyond Earth is a diamond in the rough, I do have to agree with Joe on this, I do wish there was a Leader or a Faction that would be that hated Warmonger and come after you early game, like the Zulu did in Civ V... fucking Zulu.

I do like the randomness of it all though, it adds an element of surprise and suspense because you never really know what the other Factions are going to do but you'll have a basic idea from their Faction benefits.

However, late game when the A.I does go to war, they will come after you with a vengeance or, they will use the coverts ops to really stick it to you, if you allow them. Now, Covert Operations in the game I have to say are done well enough to work but they are not really needed. To use some of the more powerful covert ops like the dirty bomb or the calling of a Siege Worm, you need to get the target city up to an intrigue level of 5, which is near impossible if you don't keep at it and at it and at it, meaning you will either never use them, or you will only see the NPCs use them if you allow them.

Now, I do believe I have talked about everything that I can at this point, I haven't tried Multi-player at the moment and I probably won't because I get Civ for the solo play honestly, I never really play Multi-player. So I cannot give an opinion on the Multi-player.

I will say, I would love to see either Firaxis or a Modder create a Faction that actually focuses on the Aliens, like the Scrin from Command and Conquer, another strategy game franchise from my childhood that I love.

Anyway, my verdict on Civ Beyond Earth is a 7/10, it is a brilliant game in my own opinion, playing with Mods definitely enhances the experience of the game but I will in it's current state it isn't really worthy of a 8 or a 9. Perhaps when they start to polish the game and they add stuff to it via expansions like G&K and BNW did with Civ V, then maybe it will become a truly great game.

If you believe I have missed something in this review then please let me know, I will try and answer it by adding it to this review. I am not a professional reviewer so I highly recommend that you look at what other people are giving the game, but, I also recommend the game.

Anyway guys, this has been OniOfTaint, this has been my very extensive review of Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth and I bid you all, goodnight and Sayonara.

Assassin's Creed Unity

 Assassin's Creed Unity, the latest title in the Assassin's Creed series and one that I was excited for. I have been a fan of the AC series since the first assassin Altair burst onto the scene to slaughter templar after templar.

First things first, AC Unity does not have the same multi-player options as previous titles, nigh, they've gone for a more co-op route which, for all intents and purposes works really well, I have encountered some lag on the Xbox One version however, not all the time but it does happen.

Do I think this was a good move for the AC series, I must admit I enjoyed the co-op missions more than I did the multi-player modes in the previous titles.

SPOILERS!!! If you do not wish to know the end boss battle of AC Unity, skip down now.

I am utterly disappointed with the end boss battle of AC Unity, it almost felt lazy in comparison to the fight you have against Bellac, that fight was worthy of an Assassin, it was worthy of the AC series and I found myself loving every moment of the fight with Bellac. Nothing really out of the ordinary for other games but it was a true breath of fresh air to the AC series with how the fight flows and because of this, I was excited for how the final fight would be.

But, I was alas disappointed, there was no worthy and epic final fight it was more of a lazy "wait for him to round and then stab him" rinse and repeat and if he sees you, you will get shot by the Sword of Eden.

The fight felt lazy and ultimately, after the amazing fight against Bellac, just didn't seem right. However, I do have hope for the future. Because I have seen what they can do with the Bellac fight, I want to see more of these epic conflicts between characters, it's how it should be done, and less of the lazy route like what was done with the final boss.

SPOILERS END!!!!

Okay, now we have that business out of the way I'm going to discuss something I am excited for, something that was shown in AC Unity but I don't think has gotten as much recognition as it should of. The Sword of Eden, now I know it may just seem as an ordinary over powered sword and for the most part you would be right, but allow me to try and explain what this could mean for the AC series.

We already know there are more artifacts than merely the Apple of Eden. Assassin's Creed 2 introduced the staff that would be used along side the Apple of Eden, although, the staff seemed to only have a minor part.

The sword however, has a greater part to play within the story of AC Unity but not as much as the Apple of Eden. did in Ezio and Altair series.

The artifacts of Eden are something I am eager to see expanded on, something I would love to see more of. AC Black Flag also introduced an artifact where you could see through the eyes of those you had the blood of, the possibilities for the Eden artifacts to enhance the story of AC is incredible and I pray that they do not waste the chance to include even more artifacts and make them play a more vital role.

Now, enough with the fan-speculation and hopes, let's get to something I felt was done fairly well but could of been improved. The relationship between Arno and Elise. This is something the AC series may of attempted for the first time, but it has been in the works for a while, if you look at the long run.

Conor from AC 3, his father was a Templar, the Grand Master of the Templar order at the time no less. Edward from Black Flag infiltrated the Templars although, it can be argued he didn't know about them at the time.

The relationship between the Assassin's and the Templars has been growing and expanding over the series and I am hoping they expand this even more, the game Assassin's Creed Rogue where you play as a former Assassin turned Templar proves that there is potential for even more games in the series, maybe one that focuses the character as a Templar instead of an Assassin.

How does this tie in to Arno and Elise you may ask? Well, while I do enjoy the idea of them being lovers, I couldn't help but get an almost Romeo and Juliet vibe from which, while not bad could of been expanded on a lot more. Instead of Arno running off to the Assassins, I would of liked to see some sort of more gritty confrontation. Arno going after Elise and possibly being dragged into the Templar order and then defecting to the Assassins or possibly not. It has been proven through Arno's character that he would sacrifice everything to be with Elise, so in another version, Arno could of been a Templar by Elise's side.

There is a lot the series can do now with the ideas of character development between the two factions and with the inclusion of the Sages in Black Flag and in Unity, it only opens even more doors.

I feel I have gotten a little off topic but I do hope this was if not the least bit helpful. Assassin's Creed Unity is a good game, it is not great as it still suffers from some glitches and bugs and... well, the disappointing end boss fight.

Because of this I can only recommend you go out and buy this game if you are a loyal fan of the AC series like myself and the Co-op elements do improve the game if slightly.

So, as it is I can only give AC Unity a 7/10, it would of been an 8 if it was more polished without the glitches and the bugs. It loses a great deal because of the sheer disappointment that was the final boss fight.

Anyway guys, this has been OniOfTaint, this has been my Assassin's Creed Unity review/discussion and I'll see you all next time. Sayonara.

This War of Mine

 What can I say about this amazing game, well, it is amazing and I bloody love it, I don't care if this doesn't seem professional I am going to do a review about this gem of a game.

First of all, it takes a great deal of courage to do a game like this, now I know war games have been done before but remember, War is a touchy subject by any means for obvious reasons and instead of doing another glorified bullet fest of a CoD game. 11 bit studios took the high road and made a game of gritty and desperate survival where you aren't playing as a one man army but as a group of normal people trying to survive.

The game will hit you emotionally and it will tug at your heart strings because it is a very dark and gritty game as war is but, I would almost say it is within a safe zone. They have pushed it to a point of realistic but... I feel there could be a little more to make you more attached. Bare in mind I have yet to unlock all of the stories in the game but as far as I know, there isn't a way for you to create your own survivor which I would love to see in the game, make it more personal.

In the game, you will be scavenging and defending your shelter by night against other survivors trying to survive and during the day you will be building new constructs to be able to improve your shelter and produce a lot of different items you will need to survive.

The game is incredibly difficult and challenging as you would expect, this game is very true to what a good survival game should be, and the war time setting with how desperate both you and the NPCs become, it is a match made in Heaven and it is my favorite game of this year.

Some people will complain about the simplistic point and click style of gameplay and honesty, I love that about the game, the game isn't about being a one man army, it isn't a glorified war game, it is a gritty, dark and down right depressing almost war game where you will do whatever and I do mean, whatever it takes to survive and make sure your survivors survive.

I could talk and write about this game forever but I would go into spoilers by accident and I don't want to do that so do yourselves a favor, get the game and experience one of the best games ever made in my own opinion.

I'm agreeing with the steam rating, I am giving this game a solid and worthy 10/10, it is a must buy and a must play.You know what, I'd say it needs a little more, borrowing a little from AngryJoe here, I am giving this game a seal of legendary status because it is a legendary game now go out and play the damn thing will you!

Starbound

 Hello all and welcome to my very happy review of Starbound, currently still in Beta I believe with the latest version as of the posting of this review being Enraged Koala.

So what can I say about Starbound, well it's an  Indie game developed by UK based company named Chucklefish, as far as I am aware, Starbound is their latest game and I must admit, it is brilliantly made and a game I have spent as of this review 23 hours playing the game as my custom character Ace the Avian. I am not that original with names when I cannot come up with a story.

Speaking about the Races, there are several Races currently within the game with another Race planned. The Races are currently Humans, Apex, Avian, Glitch, Florian and Hyotil (I cannot spell that to save my life.)

Each Race is unique and has a set personality and history which, depending on which Race you pick for your character, you will get a couple of Codex entries about this.

I am partial to the Avians.

As of the latest version during the time of this review, I would say the game isn't complete, evident by it still being a Beta which, doesn't actually make me worry, it makes me excited as I am already loving Starbound thus far and I cannot wait to see what the finished game would be like, and I am especially excited at the prospect of playing as the planned Race Novakid.

You can pick it up on Steam from around £10-20 and it is definitely worth every penny I couldn't praise this game enough and I couldn't recommend it high enough,.

Word of warning though, due to it being a Beta when it is updated you will lose your progress across all characters but then again, for the game being in only a Beta stage, I don't really mind, considering the game will keep you coming back as a different character of the same Race or different.

Anyway guys, this has been OniOfTaint and this has been my review on my current favorite game, Starbound with a score of 9/10, it would of been a 10 but it is a Beta and thus, I cannot give it a 10. So, have a good day and hopefully, I'll see you among the stars, sayonara.

Banished

 A merry Christmas to you all and welcome back to my game reviews. Today I am covering a game I am having a very good time playing with my new laptop and I'll be covering a lot more games hopefully.

So, what can I say about Banished, well, I class Banished in the same category as I do Outlast, it is a gem from the Indie scene and the reason why I class it as a gem is for a couple of reasons.

It is a very good city-management and building game right off the bat, the way you build and grow your city from a couple of banished families to a much larger and thriving community.

All the options for building are open to you from the very beginning but it is up to you to decide when you wish to build them and how many people will be working there because at the beginning of the game, you will only have a few adults to be able to work.

On the subject of the population, you will need to make sure they have everything they need ranging from food to tools and clothes, it is very in-depth with how you can manage your population and keep them happy, especially in early game when everything is tense and that tension may get easier as the game goes on, but it is never gone.

I, myself have gotten to year 3 and 4 and because I wasn't keep an eye on my populations growth, I was losing food and without a Blacksmith or a Mine, they were running out of tools making getting food harder than it should of been.

In any aspect, if you love city-building games you will love Banished and I highly recommend it. All in all I give Banished a 9/9, the only way this game would of been better would be if you could ascend through the ages and not just stay in Medieval but as it is, Banished is brilliant. If you haven't gotten Banished yet, you are missing out so go get it, NOW!

Game Topics 1

Hello, I know this is normally a review blog but I've been seeing and hearing many different things about what games should and shouldn't have within them and while I am against censorship, I do understand why it can be needed.

An quote from one of the creators of the TV show South Park Matt Stone. He said that he didn't agree with the way it was censored internationally and to be honest, I can agree and disagree with it for a couple of reasons.

The first reason shouldn't be any surprise is because it is South Park, that is the reason. Anyone who has seen South Park will get an idea instantly as to why the game would be censored by other countries for certain reasons.

This game contains everything from swearing to an abortion mini-game some people are not going to be okay with this and not to mention the rest of what South Park does.

Now, talking as someone who doesn't agree with censorship, I look at it like this "Either it's all okay to write about, or it isn't." now, I know this may be flawed to some people but it is just how I am, now, I am not saying just put it in for no reason, I do believe in having it there for a reason or at least. make it make sense.

Now, I must admit. Anyone who has seen South Park knows what to expect, they know what to expect from the creators and from the game itself because it's going to follow or embrace what South Park is all about.

Continuing on, there was a quote from one of the creators of South Park saying that they have never created an episode that they couldn't defend and stand behind. Which, I would expect any creator of... anything really. I would expect any creator to defend what they have created against anyone and everyone because, everything is going to be disagreeing with it.

Now, I have played South Park the Stick of Truth on the PC and I have seen what is censored in the console releases of the game. And I will admit, I do understand why it may be censored but then again, we are people with our own thoughts and ideas and if people are going to be offended by this, then they shouldn't buy it.

That may be a stupid idea but it is just my opinion, this game is like playing an episode of South Park, and people who like South Park know what it is going to contain or at least, have an idea about what it will contain.

Now, I know I may of ranted on and gotten off point but I do want to hear from people who have an opinion on this topic. This has been OniOfTaint and this has been my opinion on censorship within South Park the Stick of Truth. Sayonara.