The open-world style games where you can "do what you want" have been around for quite some time. From some older games like Morrowwind to GTA V, these genre of games capitalize on freedom of choice, letting the player progress the main story, or the side stories at your own leisure. However, one thing that these kind of games, especially games like GTA run into is the combat or the lack thereof. They focus on using guns, and fighting can get dull. In addition, the story line can get a bit stale. This is where Sleeping Dogs comes in.

Join Wei Shen, an undercover cop from the US, coming back to his old stomping grounds in Hong Kong to investigate the triad activities. To infiltrate the triads, he must find a way in, but by becoming one of them. This is easier said then done, as Shen has a complicated past with a history with these people. Follow him on his journey as he is torn between his past, and his future.

Sleeping Dogs, combines a coherent story with a developing character to provide a solid tale of conflict. In comparison to many other Open world games, this game successfully portrays emotions within the story, as you feel for a fellow comrade dying in your arms, or just barely escaping a rival gang ambush. The fact that the game made us feel anything is a huge plus. The main character is like-able enough, with his own set of problems. Now in terms of level design, Sleeping Dogs is absolutely phenomenal. The city of Hong Kong has never looked so vibrant. The brilliantly designed highways and roads, give distinctions to each region, having a different feel in each part of town, from the port side of docks and warehouses to the upscale and chic financial district. To add on top, the weather effect, and night day cycle really brings life to every part of this Hong Kong, whether you're fighting a bunch of thugs on the sun bleached port ware houses, or cruising in your ride through the glitzy neon forest of downtown HK.

Sleeping Dogs's "quests" and side stories are done very well. The main story is gripping, with alot to do, and not just the same things over and over. In contrast to many competing games such as GTA, Sleeping Dogs offers a wide variety of cool side stories to finish, and to grab cool equipment, new outlook on the existing story. Some more cherries on top of that, is the wardrobe function. The character is able to change his clothes to hundreds of different choices of clothing. You can choose at will from your house closet, and purchase and even find some clothes and accessories.

What separates Sleeping Dogs from the other open world style games is its fighting style. The character will be able to fight people with a wide variety of kungfu moves and combos. The combos are similar to fighting style games, where you have to press a combo of buttons to perform certain moves. You can learn more as you progress, and fighting becomes actually fun.


Pros-
-Hong Kong is beautiful. Levels are designed brilliantly
-Interesting, intuitive melee combat, lessens emphasis on firearms
-Driving has an arcade fun feel
-Actual fun storyline, with interesting characters


Cons-
-Driving may not be what people want it to be
-Objective opinion regarding fire arms, some may want more
-Occasional graphical glitches, clipping bugs

Conclusion- At the end of it all, this can be perceived as the better version of GTA, placed in Hong Kong, giving a different twist to the run of the mill open world games.


https://steamhost.cn/app/307690/

For as long as many of us can remember, Sid Meier's Civilization game series have been the standard setter for the RTS genre. Despite the slowly dwindling interest of RTS as gaming moves towards a more mainstream direction, Firaxis Games does it again with the newest installment: Beyond Earth. Despite Civ BE being dubbed the spiritual successor to the old title " Alpha Centauri", this newest installment is nonetheless exciting, with the positive qualities that make Civ games so enjoyable.

Civ:BE takes place in the near future, after a series of cataclysmic events that refer back to an event called "The Great Mistake" tear the Earth into chaos. Although the world is not "ended" or in immediate danger, the remaining nations of earth form various cooperatives and look to the stars for a new home. A selected number are chosen to embark on a journey through space in search for a new home. Keep in mind this is NOT an apocalypse based end of the world, the story was left open-ended in some respects (probably to make way for exciting DLCs!)

For starters, CIV:BE retains the similar turn-based gameplay styles of Civ V and Civ IV. However, in addition to the facelift, making way for a more sleek and futuristic looking HUD, many features were removed, reworked or added. Many of the basic units were modified such as the explorers, now equipped with more having the job of aimlessly wandering around. Some key concepts introduced in Civ V such as religion were removed completely. The biggest thing to this game however is what they ADDED. As most Civ fans know, the Civ games for the most part, are based off ancient civilizations and their development. Beyond Earth, however is the future. The technology being researched and used is new, and conceptual. The new tech tree at first glance will be very confusing. Each technology paves way for a concurrent or logically sequential tech to research. However, the tree is more free flowing, as you can go in any direction you want, given it will take more turns as you deviate further from the center. New units are introduced, with different combat, and utility-based capabilities. One of the most interesting things Beyond Earth has is the affinity. There are three: Supremacy, Purity, and Harmony. Each affinity stick to one ideal (Harmony being at peace/working with the indigenous population and the planet, Purity, striving for enforcing humanity onto the foreign world, rejecting "new" world ideals of integrating with this new planet, and Supremacy, utilizing alien technology in any way possible to be the most powerful being on that planet). Each affinity offers different kinds of bonuses and passives. In addition, as you progress further into an affinity, you will notice you will be able to make special affinity-based units. In addition, your cities, units and even your world leader will shift in appearance. Whether you want to peacefully coexist with the planet or run rampant and be the supreme beings of the planet by any means necessary, there is a play style for you! Though it goes without saying, there are a plethora of new interesting resources that all play a role in endgame, something that was objectively lacking in Civ V. Endgame in Beyond Earth is much more exciting, instead of two powers just throwing nukes at each other. The revamped spy agency system in this game can even turn a game in one person's favor in just a few turns. The new revamped missions and mission rewards are much more worth your time as you can even steal someone's capital city in a coup de'tat right under their noses. Even more icing on cake is the addition of a new enemy/potential friend: the aliens. Similar to the barbarians from the other Civ games, they are AI-controlled entities who spawn in large numbers from alien nests. As predicted, most are not hostile unless when close to their nest. The most interesting part is the type of aliens. Ranging from hordes of wolf beetles to the elusive sighting of the kraken, the aliens will keep you on your toes.


Pros-
- fresh approach to the slowly stilting Civ series
- unique affinity based units and appearances, based on your playstyle and preferences
- vast improvements on specific units, providing more function and utility
- spectacular cinematic soundtrack
- exciting potential DLCs


Cons-
- (for the nitpickers) same or very similar game engine as Civ V, graphics seem the same
- removal of well liked features such as religion
- confusing tech tree at a glance
- limited factions, only 8 playable as of now


Conclusion- Although it may not beat out the superior Civ IV or V, Civ:BE provides a fresh approach to the Civ games set in a futuristic setting.

https://steamhost.cn/app/65980/

A combination of amazing music, tactical game-play, and the ability to pick it up for a couple minutes or play it for hours, FTL is a must buy for indie game enthusiasts.

You are a captain of a small ship. You are racing against time to deliver a message to the helm of your fleet to warn them of the impending attack. With your sparse, but capable crew, you jettison off into the cosmos, finding adventure, adversity, and success.

FTL by all definition is a tactical game. Despite lacking in a physical story, the best part of the game is just that: you create your own story. The star maps of which you travel, the enemies, and events of the game are all randomly generated, so no two missions are the same. You get to choose from a wide array of ships each with their weaknesses and strengths. You can also unlock ships by doing hidden achievements (which you have to figure out and not Google it!). The gameplay experience is where this game shines. Fighting other ships is pretty straight forward: damage their ship's critical systems, or blow it to smithereens. Each ship has a set of critical systems that provide something to the ship (shields, oxygen, engine, door systems, etc) and the true tactic lies in the decisions you make. Will you tactically knock out the oxygen supply and while the enemy crew is in a frantic rush to fix it take out their engines? Or will you decimate their shields, and cause living hell with your lasers? In addition to enemy ships damaging your ship, there is weather, and asteroid fields to deal with! The game can be paused during a fight so you can think on what to do next. As your ship gets damaged, you will need to divert power from one source to the other and so on. The choices are endless. You can also upgrade your ship's weapons, hire new crew, and upgrade your ship's infrastructure. This game is definitely not an easy game. Even on "normal mode" beating the game the first time is hardly likely. Challenging games like this don't come around very often anymore!

This game isn't a AAA title with eye popping graphics. Instead of focusing on visual aesthetics, FTL focuses on spectacular gameplay. Icing on top the of the cake, FTL has an award winning soundtrack that will make your cruise to space all the more enjoyable!



Pros-
- Intuitive and tactical gameplay, you can pause to formulate your strategy
- Spectacular music, provides great ambience ingame
- FTL Advanced Edition (the expansion composing of new ships new missions etc.) is free after purchase of the game!
- Randomly generated levels for a different adventure everytime
- User created mods

Cons-
- Learning curve is fairly steep for a seemingly simplistic indie game
- No co-op/online gameplay (we wish!)


Conclusion- If you're a person who loves tactical games with great music, and casual playability, FTL is the game for you!


https://steamhost.cn/app/212680

Yep! Durante is a very well known modder who has worked on DS and DS II. FF fans can overlook this still enjoy it!

Finally! Final Fantasy XIII is out on Steam and for play on PC!
Since its debut on the Playstation 3 & Xbox 360, FFXIII has received critical acclaim for the held to standards storytelling and spectacular music.


Follow Lightning, an ex-soldier whose sister gets chosen by a higher beings known as the Fal'cie. Followed by a gang of unlikely allies, let Lightning take you a journey like never seen before! For full disclosure, I won't reveal anymore as the story is one of the highlights.

This game has received a very mixed review. Many people apparently have issues with the Steam version, as the port is not as good as everyone has hoped. However, after playing and beating it on xbox, then replaying on PC, it is easy to overlook the 720p lock resolution. The visuals are still fantastic, and the CGI cutscenes are still as amazing as you remember. FFXIII combat system is intuitive, and requires tactical decisions. The combat never gets boring as you customize your character's attributes using the Crystarium Customization system. The game is much more linear than the other FF games (though most FF games are linear). Many might not like that, but the FF games are known for its storytelling, not for its openworld. The characters are one of the other high points. They are multi-faceted, three dimensional characters, which all have a unique personality. The PC version supports keyboard and controller. Controller still proves to be the best choice to play it on, as it felt like the xbox version. The game is rather large at a whopping 50gb, which may turn off impatient people from downloading.



Pros-
- Refreshing combat system
- Lovable/unforgettable characters
- Top notch music
- Hundreds of hours of gameplay, yes there is still grinding!

Cons-
- VERY LARGE file ~50GB
- 720p screen lock (windowed or full screen)
- Very linear (more so then other FF games)
- Optimization questionable, many people have issues running it smoothly

Conclusion- Whether you're returning to replay, or this is your first FF game, this is a great way to start your adventure into the beautiful world of Final Fantasy. Overlooking the 720p lock, large file, and at times overly linear gameplay, FFXIII will keep you stuck to your computer, as you root/boo your favorite/hated characters!


https://steamhost.cn/app/292120/

From the people who brought you Bastion, comes Supergiant Game's second release: Transistor. With a combination of intuitive puzzle/live hybrid style of combat, an absolutely amazing soundtrack, all told through a style of narration who brings the story to life, Transistor is one of the best indie games of the past year.

You play as Red, a once famous singer in a dystopic city named Cloudbank. After being attacked by the antagonistic beings called the Process, she wakes up somewhere in the city with a large swordlike device called the Transistor. The Transistor, voiced by the amazing narrator of Bastion will accompany you on your journey to solve the mystery of the Process and Cloudbank.

The biggest highlight of Transistor for me was the music. I have never played a game, no less an indie game that can express emotions through solely music. Not to mention there is New Game+ options and Steam Trading Cards. Definitely something to grab!!

https://steamhost.cn/app/237930/