100 Word Review - #T21 - Gratuitous Space Battles

The battles aren't even that gratuitous.

Gratuitous Space Battles

Genre - Strategy, Indie, Simulation

Metascore - 72%

Developer - Positech Games

Other Games by Developer - N/A

Tom's Playtime - 2.4 hours

I saw GSB on sale once and thought “that looks interesting.” Conversely, GSB is one of the least engaging “games” that I've ever seen. The idea is that you design your own spaceships using a plethora of different components, before assembling a fleet to take on each level. Interaction stops here as the only option during battles is to watch in ecstasy or exasperation. I imagine GSB is enjoyable if you're persistent enough to decipher the egregious amount of mathematics involved in making anything decent, but it failed to give me any reason to want to do so.

Tom's Score - 4/10

100 Word Review - #39 - Microsoft Flight

I'd make an awesome pilot.

Microsoft Flight

Genre - Free to Play, Casual, Simulation

Metascore - 66%

Developer - Microsoft Studios

Other Games by Developer - N/A

My Playtime - 1.8 hours

The gameplay of the Microsoft Flight Simulator games hasn’t changed much in almost 10 years – take off, fly, land. They have now included missions and geocache hunts, of which there are new ones added every week. There isn’t much content in the base game, with only 5 missions and 2 planes, although more can be added through some rather pricey DLC. Some of the visuals are terrible even at the highest settings (see screenshot), and as there isn’t much to do while flying in a straight line for 15 minutes apart from messing around, you do tend to notice this often.

My Score - 5/10

100 Word Review - #T10 - The Sims Medieval

Easier to kill Sims in this one too.

The Sims Medieval

Genre – Simulation

Metascore – 77

Developer – Electronic Arts

Other Games by Developer – Medal of Honor

Tom's Current Playtime – 58.9 Hours

Never before has a game title been so indicative of said game's content, “The Sims Medieval” is pretty much standard “Sims” affair but set in the medieval era. Customisation is scaled back drastically to account for the limits present in medieval architecture and textiles, but in return you receive the advent of quests. The quests are nicely varied and add an actual point to the game, catering for those who complained “The Sims” lacked a true purpose. Very fun to play with a broad selection of features, the few nitpicks present knock the score down a peg.

Tom's Score – 8/10

100 Word Review - #17 - From Dust

I made this lovely river all by myself!

From Dust

Genre - Simulation, Adventure

Metascore - 76%

Developer - Ubisoft Montpellier

Other Games by Developer - N/A

My Current Playtime - 2 hours

In ‘From Dust’ you are a deity that has the ability to pick up sand, water and lava to manipulate your surroundings in order to allow your followers to make settlements and move to the next area. You work against persistent tidal waves and volcanic eruptions that make this game just too hard too early on. In the end, I just started to mess around with the environment, changing the paths of rivers and whatnot – this was a lot more fun. It’s like a cross between ‘Lemmings’, ‘Black and White’ and ‘Sim Earth’, but nowhere near as good as either.

My Score - 5/10