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NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2025 15:03:56 +0000
From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Humble Choice April 2025
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2025 11:03:54 -0400
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Another month, another opportunity to juice The Number. 8 new games
for $12 USD? Sign me up! (Oh wait, I'm already signed up). Sure,
sometimes some of the games aren't anything I'm interested in, but
there's usually at least one game that makes it worth the cost of
entry. Let's see if that's the case this month.



* Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2478970/Tomb_Raider_IIII_Remastered_Starring_Lara_Croft
    These games are generally well-regarded, and are now 
    considered the way to play the classic Eidos titles. But 
    it does require that you enjoyed the originals to begin 
    with, because they don't really do much to update the 
    camera or some of the more archaic mechanics. Don't 
    mistake these for full remakes; these remasters are 
    mostly (slight) graphics overhauls with a few added
    quality-of-life features. Even with all that, modern 
    gamers will probably have a hard time getting into them; 
    these games still look and feel very old. They're just 
    slightly less ancient now than they used to be.


* Dredge
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/
    I haven't played Dredge yet, but it was on my wishlist; 
    it's gotten some great reviews and its hint of ancient 
    undersea evils triggers my love of the Cthullian. I was 
    going to play this game sooner or later; I guess now 
    I've got no more excuses.


* Aliens: Dark Descent
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1150440/Aliens_Dark_Descent/
    I played this one just over a year ago, and came away 
    with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it did some things 
    quite well: it captured the look and feel of the 
    franchise, and mixing it up with the different sorts of 
    aliens against your squad of soldiers (this is a top down 
    tactical action game) was pretty fun. But there was a 
    general lack of polish --bugs, some poor mechanics, a 
    terrible ending-- that worsened the experience. It's 
    possible that in the intervening year things have 
    improved though. 


* 1000x Resist
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1675830/1000xRESIST/
    An interesting adventure that's more of a walking sim 
    than proper game, 1000xResist has a deep story that asks 
    questions about the nature of sin. It's visuals, while 
    pretty, are a bit too anime for my liking, but the story 
    is worth enduring that stylistic choice. But, like all 
    walking sims, your influence on the direction of the 
    narrative is pretty limited; it's telling you a 
    story and you're just along for the ride (and 
    occasionally allowed to poke into some nooks and 
    crannies along the way). If you want more game in your 
    game, this one is definitely not for you.


* Nova Lands
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1501610/Nova_Lands/
    Another in a long line of Indie-developed factory 
    building games. This one is a bit too cutesy in its 
    visuals and, honestly, the entire genre never really 
    excited me. I guess it's okay.


* Diplomacy Is Not An Option
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272320/Diplomacy_is_Not_an_Option/
    I mean, I'm tempted to grab this game just based on 
    its awesome title alone. And being allowed to build my 
    own castle is always a joy. But then watching as endless 
    hordes of enemies tear it to pieces is less satisfying 
    (although the scale is impressive). I can't say I'm 
    digging the aesthetics either. It feels a lot like the
    "Stronghold" crossed with "Ultimate Epic Battle 
    Simulator" and passed through a mobile-game filter. 
    It looks like it has some good concepts; I just don't 
    know if it implements it as a good game.


* Distant Worlds 2
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1531540/Distant_Worlds_2/
    A 4X space strategy game. It looks good but... well, 
    I've tried so many games of its ilk and always have 
    disappointedly returned back to "Master of Orion", 
    because none of them have held a candle to that 
    ancient classic (and its sequel). "Distant Worlds 2" 
    might be one of the greats, but the odds are against 
    it.


* Nomad Survival
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929870/Nomad_Survival/
    A retro-graphic'd roguelike shooter. I'm not really 
    capable of judging these sorts of games; they're not 
    my thing. This might be great, but it's incredibly 
    unlikely I ever bother to play it.



This one is a tough call... for me at least. I'm happy to add "Dredge"
and "1000xResist" to the library; "Distant Worlds 2" has potential
too. "Tomb Raider 1-3" and "Aliens: Dark Descent" would make this a
slam-dunk of a month... except I already own them. Oh well, I guess
it's still worth the price. I can't really hold it against Humble for
not taking into account my spend-thrift nature when picking their
games. If you're not quite as reckless in your buying habits as I am,
this month's selection really is quite a good deal.

(I really gotta stop buying games outside of these HumbleChoice deals
;-)