- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Release Date: Oct 3, 2023
- Also On: Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Jan 24, 2024To be sure, even with its bugs and glitches, there’s still a decent game to be found in The Lamplighters League. It doesn’t quite hit the highs it could, however, so if you’re enticed by the promises of XCOM-meets-Indiana Jones, be aware that performance issues mean it’ll never quite be as good as it could be.
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Oct 13, 2023In its current state, I’m not happy about a new playable character being sold as paid DLC day one, but almost everything else The Lamplighters League does is very good. It has some camera issues in specific modes and I don’t care for the stealth implementation, but I ended up enjoying my time with The Lamplighters League on Steam Deck quite a bit. I’d recommend getting it on sale if you aren’t sure it is for you, but those who enjoy the developer’s prior work will find something very interesting here.
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Oct 13, 2023The Lamplighters League's approach to mixing real-time and turn-based tactical gameplay is enjoyable, and its charming misfits make banter a delight. If it can fix its technical issues, it has a chance to be a hit.
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Sep 28, 2023Competent and stylish in its real-time strategy, The Lamplighters League puts an art deco spin on a simplified XCOM formula, but is let down by real-time segments that dilute and distract from its core offering.
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Sep 28, 2023The Lamplighters League attempts to deviate from tradition, promoting creativity over power, but ultimately falls short. However, its simplicity puts it into the more approachable realms of turn-based tactical games and is a great choice for anyone looking to try the genre for the first time.
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Dec 17, 2023The Lamplighters League is an interesting and ambitious, albeit flawed, tactical adventure which invokes the fantastical elements of Indiana Jones (plus you're fighting Nazi's). The blow by blow gameplay is well developed and features interesting and varied characters, in both gameplay and narrative, but is let down by a large amount of repetition. A few technical flaws also let the game down in a market where stronger competition has already done the game thing. It's a decent game, and you could have a good time with it, but one to pick up on discount.
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Sep 28, 2023An over-ambitious and technically flawed tactics game that can't live up to its more accomplished influences.
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Edge MagazineNov 2, 2023Given all the admirable character work and tactical substance on display, it's a shame that individualism isn't spread more evenly. [Issue#391, p.118]
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Oct 6, 2023Developer Harebrained Schemes returns with an evocative and pulpy tactical adventure, where enjoyable turn-based combat just about offsets some woeful real-time stealth.
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Oct 5, 2023But the structure is repetitive and frustratingly random. Strategy devolves into grinding through the same side missions to perk everyone up so they can endure main missions, which quickly repeat a grind of scouring the map for resources, hoping enemy placement and movement won't screw you over, and then slogging through too many enemies with very irritating attacks in a system where just one or two lost actions can doom a whole mission. It's far from a write-off, and some players will love the exact elements I hated, but I've mostly been left with mounting disappointment and frustration at a design that lets down a very likeable game.