Fans of Patrick O’Brian rejoice, now you can channel your inner Captain Aubrey and take command of an 18th century sailing ship in the early access game, Naval Action. Creaking sails, strained rigging, and the rush of water all set the stage. The time period is probably around 1800, though some of the games features make it feel like it’s happen in the golden age of piracy, or about a hundred years earlier.
There’s rose covered glasses, and then there’s DOS emulated screens. Memories tend be an odd thing, especially very fond memories of video games past. As we grow, and the games we’ve played grow, how do the old ones stack up?
One of the first war games I ever recall playing was V for Victory : Velikiye Luki. I was probably about 14 years old at the time and had no concept of the history behind the game. For me the Germans were some sort of parody from Hogans Heroes and the Russians just a generic bad guy. But man, I sunk some time into those scenarios.
Initially I wasn’t going to step foot into reviewing Early Access games. It’s a realm of great ideas, marketing, fluff, and little substance. An idea for a great game is significantly different than a great game. Now we get to watch the process from shitty early access game all the way to shitty released game.
It’s kind of like sausage. You probably don’t want to watch. Getting the finished product is much better.
But, unfortunately, in our era of gaming we have a shitload of games in Early Access. As such, it’s worth taking a look and wading through the idea and getting to the substance.
was developed by On Target Simulations and released by Slitherine Ltd in 2013.
You take on the role of an all seeing Commander for either the NATO forces, or the incoming Warsaw Pact forces. As the game lays it out, the Warsaw Pact has struck while NATO was woefully unprepared. In fact it looked like the Cold War was coming to an end. Game wise it sets the tone for NATO to be the defender, and also scrambling to hold the border.
Flashpoint Campaigns has one very unique mechanic that elevates this game beyond just another hex and NATO counter game. Orders.
