Recent reviews by Adorned Eagle

NOTE: You CAN play on the Darkwinter servers on Steam by copying the contents of the standalone DW client's game folder into GFL2's Steam folder. Be advised that the majority of the EN-global community is playing on DW. Haoplay is mainly for SEA/JPN/KOR.

About GFL2:
Girls' Frontline II is a gacha F2P turn-based tactical game that is greatly inspired by Firaxis XCOM / XCOM 2 — battles are quick, snappy, and can usually be completed in a few short minutes.

Unlike its predecessor, every single line of dialogue in the campaign and story events is fully voice-acted. Filled with fantastic world-building, entertaining characters, and the classic twists and turns of a sci-fi opera, GFL2 picks up 10 years from the aftermath of the ending of GFL1. Newcomers do not require prior knowledge of the series to enjoy the story, but for veteran commanders, you'll easily recognise many of the returning cast and plot elements.

Play this game for turn-based tactical android waifus, stay for the visual novel story. 9/10, would highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of turn-based tactics and post-apocalyptic cyberpunk — and if you don't mind playing a gacha mobile game (with all of the associated caveats of that genre).

Chimera Squad is what you get when Firaxis takes XCOM 2: WotC and mixes it with a dose of Jagged Alliance. You are no longer in control of a squad of generic soldiers, but a group of characters with personalities and backstories. They will banter with each other in between missions, revealing interesting bits about themselves and the world-building following the events of WotC. It's not as comprehensive and in-depth as Fire Emblem's support system, but injects some much needed flavour into the XCOM series.

The biggest change on the battlefield is the new initiative system — individual units must take their actions based on the initiative order. If you've ever played a tabletop RPG like Pathfinder or the Persona games, you'll feel right at home. Encounters now play out like you're solving a puzzle — figuring out the right order to use your abilities, and how to disrupt or outright deny enemies from taking their turns. Hit rates still exist, but the RNG feels a lot less punishing. Bad luck is still salvageable, you just need to plan ahead and use the initiative order to your advantage.

Overall, I would highly recommend Chimera Squad to any XCOM fan who doesn't mind the change of pace and tone. It's a scaled-down and more focused experience that rewards players who truly enjoy tactical games and thinking ahead.

XCOM 2 with War of the Chosen is the best way to play the sequel to Firaxis XCOM 2012. WotC adds so much content that it feels like a full-fledged XCOM 2.5 expansion instead of a simple DLC pack — there are new enemies, new bosses, new equipment, and a greater variety of objectives to pursue in the strategic layer. The new faction-classes and SPARK units offers you more tactical choices, allowing you to carve your own playstyle on the battlefield.

XCOM2 + WotC also has full Steam Workshop support, and the modding community is still thriving (as of early-2025 when I'm typing this). I highly recommend the Second Wave Remastered mods (search for "SWR") by Mertius, as it randomises the starting stats and growth rates of your roster, making each of them truly unique instead of another generic soldier class.

This is what a turn-based tactical game should be, and I truly commend Firaxis for making the vanilla XCOM2 experience even better. Now please give us a sequel-remake to Terror From the Deep.

Just like Half-life 1, Half-life 2 has received some quality-of-life updates for its 20th anniversary. The most important update is proper support for widescreen resolutions with UI scaling — the game's fonts and menus will now automatically scale in size based on your window resolution. There are other welcome additions, such as borderless-fullscreen window support with an option to mute the game's audio when switching to another window.

A timeless FPS sequel has finally been updated to run flawlessly on modern systems with zero hassles. Thank you, Valve.

A fantastic introduction to Pathfinder 2E's (PF2E) combat system. You learn the fundamental basics of how to think tactically in PF2E: the Fighter's positioning is paramount as he is able to control the battlefield with his attacks of opportunity while simultaneously setting up the Rogue for flanking and sneak attacks. The Cleric's positioning is also important to set up Bless and Heal spells.

I play and GM a lot of tabletop Pathfinder 1E/2E and I absolutely love what the developers have accomplished: a snappy, fun, and lighthearted taster of a superior RPG system. Paizo would be proud.

A run-and-gun shooter inspired by Metal Slug... without understanding what made the Metal Slug games timeless and fun to play. Your default pistol has infinite ammo, and Jones can knife enemies if they get close enough. Weapon power-ups are placed generously throughout the map — the Machine Gun has a high rate of fire and can perform diagonal shots (again, exactly like Metal Slug), while the Flamethrower does the same, but with more ammo and higher damage.

So what is wrong with NWO Wars? Every time you fire a shot, the screen starts to shake. It's very jarring and eventually gave me a headache, since you are constantly shooting non-stop at hordes of enemies. Some bad guys are inconsistently designed and seem to serve no purpose — the flying bats and zombie cats don't do anything when they touch you.

Levels are very basic with no variation as you reach the final stages. There IS a cool sequence in stage 4 where you start the level fighting on an Info Wars truck, shooting at enemy vehicles. However this ends too quickly and feels like a wasted opportunity. Why not have Jones jumping from vehicle to vehicle as the stage progresses? Or introduce a turret-mounted weapon, like a rocket launcher, to blow up enemy tanks and drones?

With no difficulty levels or branching paths, or any incentive to replay the campaign (the high score table is very barebones and basic), I cannot recommend this game at all. Especially when there are so many other side scrollers available. Go replay the original Arcade Archives Metal Slug series on Switch/PS4 for an authentic arcade experience. Or Konami's recent Contra re-releases. Or wait for Black Finger Jet (from the original creators of Metal Slug) to be released.

Note: As of Apr 2024, Death Must Die is still in Early Access and features only two 20-minute stages, Act I and Act II. Also, a controller is highly recommended.

I rarely purchase Early Access titles, but I decided to give Death Must Die a shot after watching a friend stream it. Despite still being in Early Access, the game is already leagues above all of its peers from the Vampire Survivors genre. Probably the most unique feature about Death Must Die is the Dash mechanic: your character doesn't take damage if enemies touch you, but instead your foes must actually land their attack animations or strike you with a projectile. This makes combat exciting and keeps the player engaged at all times — you are constantly Dashing to avoid enemy attacks.

Fantastic soundtrack; great animations and sprite work; interesting characters and setting that were clearly inspired by Hades; a loot system that is reminiscent of action RPGs like Diablo — you can completely change your character's playstyle if you have the right set of (unique) items equipped.

This is gaming in its most purest form of snappy fun — straightforward, addictive, and you are encouraged to experiment with different tactics and builds. I am eagerly waiting to see where the developers will take this game with future patches.

Serious Sam Fusion 2017 is the best way to experience The First Encounter HD, The Second Encounter HD, and Serious Sam 3 in a single package under the same engine. Running the first two HD games under the SS3.5 engine feels like you're playing a re-remake thanks to the updated engine and textures, plus proper upscaled UI support for modern high resolution monitors.

Be sure to check out the Steam Workshop mods for SS Fusion. I highly recommend A Seriously Stupid HD Remaster (ASSHDR) as it adds the chainsaw from Second Encounter to the First Encounter campaign, and reworks the lighting and visuals of some maps to be in line with the original non-HD games.

The 25th anniversary update for Half-life 1 comes with one very crucial improvement by Valve: proper widescreen support and UI scaling that increases the size of the game menus and HUD to match your higher resolution. This makes the game fully playable on modern 4K monitors with zero inconveniences. Note that this engine update also applies to the Opposing Force and Blue Shift expansions.

A timeless FPS that has been updated for modern hardware. Thank you Valve, now how about an update for HL2 next?

A great stress-reliever to pass the time. Take Vampire Survivors and replace all the weapons, characters, and monsters with weeb stuff. Incredibly addictive. Game is absolutely free with no MTX. What more do you want??