An excellent new addition, but one that doesn't shake things up massively. The New story campaign is great and the new ships are a nice addition to the main campaign.

For all its comparatively minor flaws and one major issue that will most likely get patched by the time it releases, Broken Lines is a great strategy game that takes the usual tactical thinking and bends it just enough to feel fresh. Without the safety net of unmoving opponents or the ability to react on the fly, you have to consider what the AI might do more carefully and really utilise your powers and squad composition to get through a fight unscathed. So even with the occasional gruelling travel section, Broken Lines is still a pretty enjoyable ride. Kind of like that one war movie you love but no-one else gets.

This version of Warcraft III has welcome graphical updates to a great game, but it's not reforged enough to justify its price.

Aside from the graphics that give a quality-of-life boon on modern rigs, there's little else about this remaster that excites or even excels.

Praetorians HD Remaster brings the game into the 2020s; but is ill-equipped to compete with the almost two decades of progress since.

In the end, Astra Exodus is a capable 4X game. It is much better than other similar titles out there and it is definitely worth a shot if you want something more straightforward than Stellaris or GalCiv. It as a very well-executed game, so if you are not put out by the 2D graphics and the cartoony, anime-like illustrations then give it a try.

The Last Autumn is as uncompromising and atmospheric as Frostpunk, but its real trick lies in making players relearn the game, and punishing them for underestimating it.

A great expansion that enriches the main campaign while also being interesting to play in its own right. Some excellent new units, characters and mechanics.

With everything from a Daemon-possessed Dreadlord to a Regiment of Renown mortar that has airburst poison shells, this DLC is surprisingly interesting. I'm definitely not a Dark Elf nor Skaven fan, but the new mechanics are good enough to keep me engaged for the duration and make me seriously consider a replay. Warhammer 2's latest DLCs have often been way more 'hit' than 'miss', and The Shadow & The Blade is no exception.

A challenging, visually vibrant sci-fi rogue-like following in the fine tradition of FTL et al - definitely worth checking out.

A very capable game that excels at the strategy layer, but the tactical sphere is a bit sterile and leaves you feeling cold.

In the end, Revelations is a fairly modest DLC. It’s no small thing to add in an entire new race and units to go by, but you also wouldn’t be completely wrong in thinking it was a fairly light expansion. Still, it’s purpose is to flesh out existing game content in ways that are meaningful and worthwhile, and in that sense it succeeds pretty well without over-complicating the scope. A quick shout out must also go towards the free patch that came with the game, which included a lot of quality of life features including ways to make navigating around large empires much easier. All in all, a pretty decent first DLC outing, and one that should be seriously considered for anyone who’s been enjoying Planetfall up till now.

I've played a good number of video game adaptations of tabletop games over the years. I don't think I've ever played one that fully understands what its source material is fundamentally about better than BattleTech does. Heavy Metal is the extra push it needed to become the living vision of what I daydreamed about while playing with tiny plastic robots, hex maps, and firing tables decades ago.

In the end, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a game with good production values, let down by a tactical layer that doesn’t seem to have been fully thought-through. There are impressively few flaws here, but the ones it does have are so key to the nature of the game that they end up dragging down the whole experience. Like Pablo Escobar’s intrinsic arrogance which led to his downfall, so does Narcos’ rather basic assumptions ruin what could have been a very exciting tie-in game.

Sadly, not nearly mechanically sound enough. This is no way to run a railroad.

The basic controls are simple that this still serves as an excellent gateway experience to more complex wargames, but it also contains within it deep mechanics that require mastering and that can transform the game into a more complex experience. If you were a fan of the first game, you'll definitely like this one.

An unforgiving AI enemy, high game configurability, and satisfying interaction makes AI War 2 a worthy inheritor of the mantle.

An excellent & innovative strategy game, and the best John Wick Simulator you're ever likely to experience.

While The Bloody First is a decent start to the new era of Close Combat, it still needs a bit of TLC, and we hope some dedicated post-release support and future DLC will iron out the game and make it a title worthy of the legacy.

This game needs a lot of work, and so far only goes to highlight how better other contenders in this genre are.

Deadlock was already one of Slitherine’s best games -- if not the best one -- boasting a more interesting gameplay and beautiful space engagements and replays that are quite welcoming to newcomers and have the potential to appeal to a slightly less niche market. With Resurrection -- a DLC that adds a new campaign, new ships, and further capitalises on Battlestar Galactica’s signature ship -- Deadlock just became even better.

Personal bias aside, with all the influence coming from The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game and the fact that the cards are essentially permanent, you would be as well just buying a deck and playing at your friendly local game store. The only real advantage to the video game version is the story and the ability to change card art by unlocking it with points - which is a nice change from paying for it though the groundwork is there for microtransactions to seep in eventually. However, if you want more stories about Middle Earth, then I guess it’s worth it for that. Just, maybe mute the game whenever Smeagol is involved.

Fantasy General II brings some modern additions to a tried and true formula in an engaging and challenging campaign. Overall - a great success.

Planetfall sets some new standards for 4X games that would be wise not to ignore, and is an excellent start of a new strategy journey.

All in all, Eight Princes is a surprisingly sizeable expansion, especially given CA’s penchant for releasing faction packs this close to release. It packs enough changes and new mechanics and feels novel enough for another playthrough, while keeping mechanics and the basics as feasibly close to the original as possible. If you can’t get enough of Three Kingdoms and just wants a bit more of almost the same, Eight Princes is the right expansion for you.

I love the music, the electro-Indian soundtrack is so wonderfully unique and gives the journey such a magnificent texturing. The various factions with their distinctive styles, like the Blue Devils that voluntarily allow themselves to become infected and die young in order to become more powerful. Sharkbomb Studios have done fantastically to create a gameworld that feels unique to the point that I, even more than usual, want more games based on cultures outside the usual UK, US, Japan influence. And while I have harked on the gameplay, I actually really enjoy it up until the inevitable unfair fight that brings me to my old friend, the Game Over screen. It’s much like FTL. Yay, yay, yay, ooh close one, yay, no, what, stop it, bugger off, f*** this game, repeat.

Interstellar Space: Genesis is a modest and conservative return to a genre classic with meticulous attention to what fans of 4X Space empire builders crave.

In summary, Warriors of the North is a successful expansion to Battle Brothers in that it is strictly adding on additional options without disrupting the core gameplay in a significant way. Personal taste aside, it’s hard to argue that isn’t what an expansion should be doing at a base level. Just note that outside of some unique Barbarian flavor or Cultists shenanigans, this isn’t offering any fundamental changes to how you are going to play Battle Brothers once the reality of the scenario’s difficulty sets in. For you diehards out there, rejoice in your newfound glory! For those looking to see a little more variance, your mileage may vary depending on what starting scenarios pique your interest.