Review - Fireteam Zero: The Africa Cycle

Designed by Mike Langlois and Christian Leonhard
Published by Emergent Games
For 1 to 4 players, aged 14 to adult

They say that "a change is as good as a rest." I guess "they" don't work for Fireteam Zero, because as far as those hardened war vets are concerned, it's more a case of "no rest for the wicked." The Fireteam Zero base game threw them into the heart of enemy territory, into villages swarming with alien entities, and even into the bowels of the corrupted earth. Each mission was a gruelling battle of attrition against an unstoppable, immeasurable foe; and always the fate of humankind was in the balance. After all that, a chance to soak up the rays on a relaxing tour of Africa probably sounded like a great idea.

But this is no vacation. There are no margaritas on the beach for Sarge and his motley crew, and you can scratch any idea of a rest.

Sarge would probably put it best: "Same shit, different day."

And indeed, the new Africa Cycle expansion for one of my all-time favourite games is very much more of the same. But shit?

Not even close.

Review - Horus Heresy: Burning of Prospero

Published by Games Workshop
For 2 players, aged 12 to adult

Oh, hi there. Come on in. Sit down. You've just caught me thumbing through some of the old paperwork in my filing cabinet...

What do you mean, "You don't have any paperwork... or a filing cabinet"?

Just go with it. It's an intro skit.

So, I'm flicking back through some of my old reviews. Do pull up a chair. Hold on, this looks promising... Ah, yes. My review of Deathwatch: Overkill. This is what I wanted. Let me read an excerpt:

Review - Ghost Stories

Published by Asmodee
Designed by Antoine Bauza
For 1 to 4 players, aged 12 to adult

I've been gaming for a long time. Forever, really.

I always loved board games more than video games or computer games. While I owned a Sinclair Spectrum (oh, yes), and eventually upgraded to an Amiga, before getting one of those new-fangled Mega Drives, it was always board games that captured my imagination. I guess, part of the reason, is because I have always been creative. From my perspective as a writer, a board game is a framework of rules that allows you to create your own story. By contrast, a video game is a framework of rules that allows you to star in someone else's story.

Back in the good old days, Parker Brothers, Waddingtons, and MB gave me exciting worlds to explore, and stories to tell. But over time, I felt the lure of Games Workshop, and I progressed into the dark realm of brutal fantasy and grim-dark science fiction.

And then I went to the brutal and grim-dark world of university, and everything changed.

Review - Kingdom Death: Monster

Designed by Adam Poots
Published by Kingdom Death
For 1 to 4 players, aged 17 to adult

One Sunday afternoon, way back in my sepia-toned youth, I watched a film that changed my life.

The film was Clash of the Titans. And no, I don't mean that bloody awful travesty of a remake. I mean the original, which while not being an amazing film even by the standards of the day, was pure cinematic magic to me. The tale of gods and monsters, brought to life through Ray Harryhausen's incredible stop-motion animation, transfixed me. I was instantly transported to another world, and some people would argue I never really came back.

It's hardly surprising that my first trilogy of children's novels was an attempt to recapture that pure sense of wonder by creating a world populated by the same mythical beasts that had stolen my heart so many years before.

Review - Lost Patrol

Published by Games Workshop
For 2 players, aged 12 to adult

When did the world become so bitter?

When did we start finding it so much easier to mock than to admire? When did we start seeing the bad in every good, and making sure no good deed went unpunished?

I blame the Internet.

I blame the medium that gave everyone a voice while taking away their face.