Preview: The Banner Saga (PC)

Preview by Sam M.

The Banner Saga was a successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2012 and now the full release of the game is right around the corner.

The appeal of The Banner Saga is immediately obvious; it brings the same gameplay elements found in games such as Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. Drawing from Norse culture, The Banner Saga also brings a fantasy world to live thanks to its stunning hand drawn art style.

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Preview: Frozen Endzone (PC)

Preview by Mike B.

Frozen Synapse is a title that is heavily regarded among the Digitally Downloaded staff. It's such a simple concept, but executed to a level of precision that we rarely see at any level. The player plans the movements and actions of a small unit of troops which after finalised play out against the actions of enemy forces within a five-second period. When that time interval is over, the player can reevaluate their plan of attack and change their soldiers' movements and actions to fit the current situation. The game system actively encourages a metagame reiteration of strategy, making tactical planning as exciting as when that strategy is executed successfully.

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Review: Rainbow Moon (Vita)

Review by Matt S.

Are you a fan of old school RPGs that involve a load of grinding and not much else? Rainbow Moon is the game for you. I loved it back when it released on the PlayStation 3, and I love it that little bit more on the Vita.

The game hasn't changed in any meaningful way in the transition to the small screen. It's a little more difficult to appreciate the vibrant colours that was a big part of the big-screen Rainbow Moon's charm, but in every other way the Vita game is every big as slick as its predecessor. Cloud saves even allow you to share the save file between versions. 

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Review: Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies (PC)

Review by Matt S.

The only criticism I could possibly come up with with the original Ace Patrol game was that its free-to-play structure was a little expensive and didn't really gel with the serious strategy game structure.

So the fact that Pacific Skies is content to charge a small premium (around $6) and then lay off from begging for money makes Pacific Skies the perfect iPad strategy game. Literally, there is no possible criticism I could see anyone with their head screwed on correctly leveling at this game. Pacific Skies is accessible tactical strategy with enough depth to keep the most hardcore of strategy players hooked for quite some time to come.

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Review: Arma Tactics (PC)

Review by Nick H.

The idea behind Arma Tactics appeals to me on many levels. Having played and enjoyed the Arma shooting titles, I liked the idea of a tactical game based on the series. Described as a turn-based combat strategy game, Arma Tactics drops you into a scenario without any guidelines to necessarily follow - simply try to complete your story-based missions (with some randomised objectives sprinkled in) in whatever fashion suits you best.

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Review: Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness (PS3)

Review by Matt S.

Disgaea is a series that is quite happy with sticking with what it does best. It's a franchise that isn't really known for innovation, but then fans keep buying the games for one great reason - it doesn't actually need improvement. No tactics RPG has come along and managed to outdo Nippon Ichi on its home turf.

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Review: Arma Tactics (iPad)

Arma Tactics achieved something that no other iPad game has done before; it burned my fingers. So hard does this poorly-optimised engine push my 3rd Generation iPad that before I knew it smoke was floating up around the device. Then I realised that that was because my fingerprints were being melted off. The fact that I'm typing this review now is proof of how much I love my readers and I have to go through the sheer pain of typing in this state to warn others before they burn down their houses or something by leaving the game on before running an errand.

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Ace Patrol now on PC

Earlier in the year we reviewed a little iOS exclusive strategy game from the great man himself, Sid Meier. Ace Patrol absolutely blew us away, and now it's available to people without iPads.

Ace Patrol on PC is in-app purchase free, and contains all the content of the iPad game unlocked... for a very friendly price of just $10 on Steam. This game is a fresh new tactics IP with plenty of depth in how it recreates a early-era military plane dogfight.

It's well worth a look for strategy or tactics games fans. Enjoy!

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Review: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (PS3)

Watching what Edward D. Wood thought would be his magnum opus, Plan 9 From Outer Space, it's easy to see how much care went into such a flawed product. Wood was a truly horrible director, but the ideas found within his work were remarkably progressive; he's a man that cared deeply about issues from environmentalism through to gender roles in society (another one of his infamous films, Glen or Glenda), and these themes were genuine and quite intelligent, even if they were packaged within total tripe.

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