Recent reviews by Cosmic Engine

Video Review

https://youtu.be/YJ7ejbBTQiw

Pros
- Nice art style and sound.

Cons
- Total reliance on RNG no skill based play even in resource management.
- Lack of content
- Shallow mechanics with little consequence.

Video Review

https://youtu.be/NmcKuTLbuuQ

PROS
- Solid twin stick shooter combat
- Arrowhead humour
- Combination abilites (like spells in Magicka)
- Difficulty and progression
- Non linear objectives
- Community focused galactic campaign

Cons
- Lacks a real single player mode, can play offline but little point.
- Repetative levels and objectives

Six shooters and satanic rituals wrapped up in turn based combat.
PROS

- Interesting story.
- Solid turn based combat with some fun mechanics.
- Art style and soundtrack is great.
- Character progression is fun and unique.
- Narration is well written and voiced.

CONS

- A few minor performance issues.
- Disjointed story telling in places due to scenerio format.
Video Review

https://youtu.be/mYUUCr_4UMA

PROS
- Story.
- World and locations.
- Hugely improved combat mechanics.
- Crafting and settlement building.
- Improved companion system.
- Fully voiced characters

CONS
- Over simplified dumbed down RPG mechanics
- Character progression no longer has depth.
- Dialogue choices could have been more clear and had more choices.
- Buggy mess ( Save OFTEN)
- No visible weapon holstering ( why?)
- Graphics are ok but not on par with high end games such as witcher 3 and again buggy mess

VIDEO REVIEW

https://youtu.be/n9mKecGBG6M

PROS
- Warhammer fantasy.
- Left4Dead style co-operative gameplay.
- 5 unique characters each with own weapons promoting asymmetrical gameplay.
- Great story and funny dialogue between characters during battle.
- Level design is good.
- Great selection of enemies.
- Loot system

Cons
- Ranged hits don't register when they should.
- Some levels are short.
- Only 13 levels.
- No versus multiplayer.

Video Review -

https://youtu.be/p3HljoMHyjk

PROS
- Good single player campaign with well written and voiced dialogue.
- Good Graphics and art style.
- Fun drop in co-op and multiplayer.
- DM mode is a laugh.
- Great for playing with a group of friends.

CONS
- Dungeon creator is severly limited and a huge disappointment.
- Limited character creation.
- Talent trees lack depth.
- Ability cool downs are too long.
- Combat is standoff which can become boring.
- Content gaps through out lack of races, classes, dm tools.

VIDEO REVIEW

https://youtu.be/rtNAAh6pswo

A fantastic indie space action game that has a heavy firefly vibe.

Pros
- Broadside combat
- Lots of ships and equipment to progress into
- Good story and large universe
- Randomly generated universe
- Non linear progression
- Very enjoyable Combat
- Soundtrack is great

Cons
- Some aspects are shallow such as diplomacy
- Side missions are used over and over just with different locations and enemies.
- Long travel times
- Debris can stop warp

https://youtu.be/tbtTyDMLUM8

https://youtu.be/0qIaqdVR1PI

Grab cooking pot.
Put FTL, Banner Saga, X-Com in said pot.
Sprinkle a dash of Judge Dredd and glaze with Borderlands.
There you have Bedlam.
Serves one.

https://youtu.be/1dPMlvAoVaA

Cross of the Dutchman’s controls are relatively intuitive and simple and the game comes with full controller support. The mouse is used for everything and the left mouse button is used for both movement and attacking which is odd at first. You most hold down the mouse button over the enemy you wish to start attacking however should they move your attack will stop leading to clunky fights, mind you keys are rebindable which does help. Movement is better with the controller however there is one major drawback with the controller with the controls which is input speed which directly relates to the character animations. On a controller if your moving with the thumb stick, you cannot instantly attack instead you have to wait for Pier to come to a complete stop before the attack will initiate which often means getting hit by an enemy. It’s infuriating.

Pier has both a health and stamina bar and can must a basic attack combo that never changes as well as a powerful attack that uses up stamina. Pier will have access to hand to hand combat as well as the use of a 7ft sword. In historical text it was said that pier was so proficient with a great sword that he could decapitate several men in one swing.
In the first part of the game you don’t have access to the sword meaning that all combat is done via fist fighting. This coupled with multiple enemies dealing a heavy amount of damage leads you to kite enemies around the map while your health regenerates as there are no heath and stamina pickups. After some progress in the game you’ll not only gain access to your sword but several purchasable upgrades that will increase your health and stamina allowing you to take a lot more punishment before ducking out.

While the combat is passable and indeed sometimes fairly enjoyable, it’s so basic that it leaves me wondering how great it could have been with a couple of core design changes. The implementation of combos and a blocking mechanic would have work wonders for the combat. It would have given it depth, stopped it becoming repetitive and ultimately stopped the kiting issue. While Pier can change out his power up ability via purchasable upgrades it doesn’t change much in terms of the combat. The enemy variety in the game is also non existent with just melee fighters and arches in varying degrees of armor denoting health.

Triangle studios in the past have developed games for mobile devices and this clearly shows in their approach to cross of the Dutchman. In fact everything from the UI design to the combat reeks of touch screen friendly meaning a mobile port of this game is pretty much on the cards and while that’s all well and good for the developers, what it leaves PC gamers with is a husk of what the game could have been. Not to mention the game is incredibly short taking just about three hours to complete. In fact the game only really tells half of Pier’s story and just as things are heating up the game ends which was both a disappointment from a story perpective and a relief from a mechanical one.

At a 9 dollar price points it’s a difficult one to recommend simply because there just isn’t that much there. The game is not bad by any stretch but I don’t think it meets the standards it could have. I think that it will appeal to history buffs, younger teens and people who just need a quick hack and slash experience but other than that I cannot see many walking away completely satisfied from what the game has to offer.