Neuromancer
Member
So I read about this turn based strategy game over on Tom Chick's site (his write up is right here and he can explain it much better than I can) so I picked it up and I have to say, it's kind of awesome. Oh yeah- and it's only $3 (it's $10 on the PC).
Basically the default goal in the main game (you can change the win conditions though) is to find three artifacts (which are sold in certain ports) and defeat this big guardian monster. Along the way you upgrade your ship, trade cargo between ports, fight the other players (up to 4 AI bots or people over Xbox Live, system link or local) and sea monsters. It plays kind of like a board game, but it's completely original.
The battle system is a little confusing at first, basically you get these colored cards with point values (which are determined by your ship upgrades). Certain colors have an advantage over other colors, which adds +2... Anyway it's hard to explain but once you do a few battles you'll get the hang of it.
Finally and most importantly (as you can probably already see from the screenshots), the art style is really cool. The game board is basically like an animated map of the world circa the age of exploration, and the music is good too.
One con I've found, is you can't really set up a private game per se. At least I couldn't figure out how to. So you have to create an open game, go to the character select screen, then tell your buddies to look for a game and hope they get in. I guess for an indie game that kind of rough edge isn't too surprising.
All in all, for $3 (its $10 on the PC), I would highly recommend this game to all strategy gamers here.
Buy on Xbox Live Marketplace (Xbox 360)
Buy on Gamersgate (PC)
Basically the default goal in the main game (you can change the win conditions though) is to find three artifacts (which are sold in certain ports) and defeat this big guardian monster. Along the way you upgrade your ship, trade cargo between ports, fight the other players (up to 4 AI bots or people over Xbox Live, system link or local) and sea monsters. It plays kind of like a board game, but it's completely original.
The battle system is a little confusing at first, basically you get these colored cards with point values (which are determined by your ship upgrades). Certain colors have an advantage over other colors, which adds +2... Anyway it's hard to explain but once you do a few battles you'll get the hang of it.
Finally and most importantly (as you can probably already see from the screenshots), the art style is really cool. The game board is basically like an animated map of the world circa the age of exploration, and the music is good too.
One con I've found, is you can't really set up a private game per se. At least I couldn't figure out how to. So you have to create an open game, go to the character select screen, then tell your buddies to look for a game and hope they get in. I guess for an indie game that kind of rough edge isn't too surprising.
All in all, for $3 (its $10 on the PC), I would highly recommend this game to all strategy gamers here.
Buy on Xbox Live Marketplace (Xbox 360)
Buy on Gamersgate (PC)
