Humble Choice: April 2020
Nothing as exciting as the news around the time of last month’s Humble Choice where I got myself a new(ish) Electric Vehicle. If anything the timing has turned out to be rather amusing given both the lockdown preventing any real driving from occurring anyway AND the Russia/Saudi oil war dropping petrol prices.
So that being the case, time to just jump straight into April’s bundle!
It’s one I have mixed feelings on personally; but largely because the headline title — Hitman 2 — is one that in the grand scheme of things I bought relatively recently, after holding out for quite some time.
But! As usual when it comes to listing out my order of preferences in making a selection from the month’s choice — I list as if I don’t own any of them, in the hopes the list might be helpful to others. Assuming of course, your tastes run in the same direction as mine. :)
My Picks for April 2020’s Humble Choice
1) Hitman 2
Official Description: Travel the globe and track your targets across exotic sandbox locations in HITMAN™ 2. From sun-drenched streets to dark and dangerous rainforests, nowhere is safe from the world’s most creative assassin, Agent 47 in the ultimate spy thriller story.
I think what I like most about Hitman 2 is that you can get all of Hitman 1 for it too. In fact, I believe if you own the GOTY version of Hitman 1 you will even get this for free. Otherwise you can add it on for a relatively cheap purchase to Hitman 2 directly. I don’t know what it is I love so much about sequels/later games bringing in earlier content, but I really love it. Always have.
Oh. And I suppose I should mention it’s a great game in its own right too. ;)
2) This Is the Police 2
Official Description: Interpret the law as you see fit! Run the sheriff’s department, manage your cops, make tough decisions – and try to keep out of prison yourself – in this story-driven mixture of adventure, strategy, and turn-based tactical combat.
I’m quite looking forward to this one, even though I… er… Also got the original ‘This Is the Police’ title from a Humble Bundle (I think) some time ago and ended up never find the time to so much as touch it.
Mayhaps this time around, I will! ;)
3) Gris
Official Description: Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.
I struggled a little with the positioning of this one. Gris as an experience is fantastic. I wrote about it not too long ago if you want to know more.
I would urge almost anyone with even a passing interest to pick this title up and then share their thoughts and interpretation of it. So it undoubtedly deserves a spot in the top 3, so that even in the smallest of Humble Choice plans it is picked up.
But if you’re after more of a ‘game’ than an ‘experience’, I think This Is the Police 2 will offer more value in that respect.
4) The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut
Official Description: The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut is the triumphant return of one of the most iconic RPG series of all-time. Delve into a tactically rich combat system that rewards creativity, solve puzzles to gain treasure and advantages, and discover a beautifully crafted world.
When this first launched in it’s non-Director’s Cut edition… It wasn’t particularly well received. Still- I remember watching Cohh’s playthrough and thinking it looked pretty alright to me.
Even so, with everything else on my plate and a general wariness due to the wider reception I let it pass me by.
5) Driftland: The Magic Revival
Official Description: After a devastating war between ancient mages, a powerful spell is all that holds together the shattered planet of Driftland. Take on the role of a powerful mage capable of moving and connecting floating lands, develop a mighty empire, and restore Driftland to its former glory!
As a turn based strategy game? This might’ve rivaled even Hitman 2 for top spot for me, personally, this month.
As a real time strategy game instead? *sigh* Well, I talked about my genre burnout with those just yesterday. Even so… With inspirations seemingly coming from a number of games I loved in the past, it’s essentially a given that I will at least dip my toes into the waters of Driftland.
6) Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
Official Description: Having defeated the Campaigner, Turok throws the Chronocepter into a waiting volcano to destroy it. Unfortunately the blast awakens an even deadlier force – The Primagen. Once again a Turok is tasked with restoring peace to the land and stopping the Primagen from merging Earth with the nether world.
I’m a simple man. I see a double barreled shotgun, I like.
7) Opus Magnum
Official Description: Opus Magnum is the latest open-ended puzzle game from Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem, Infinifactory, and SHENZHEN I/O. Design and build machines that assemble potions, poisons, and more using the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool: the transmutation engine!
Holy moly. This came out in 2017. Has it really been that long? *goes to look when he last played SpaceChem* Wow. Yep. Jan 2017 last played.
Because I remember when this came out thinking I would very likely enjoy it given my experience with SC. I just never quite pulled the trigger on it, imagining that sooner or later it would no doubt turn up in a Humble Monthly (now Choice). And here we go! ;)
8) Raiden V: Director’s Cut
Official Description: Arcade hit Raiden first left its mark on the shooting genre 25 years ago. The easy to learn, hard to master series comes to the PC in its most modern and advanced form yet! Join the war for Earth’s future-where the tide of battle holds constant surprises.
The Steam reviews for this are not particularly flattering (an overall ‘Mixed’ rating after a mere 133 reviews).
But Raiden was one of the first arcade games I ever really truly loved. I didn’t have a lot of spare change for arcade games growing up and by extension I was no deft hand at Streetfighter or Mortal Kombat. But Raiden? I loved this thing. 20c could get me a fairly long way!
So while I probably won’t play this thing to death, I almost certainly will play it for a bit of a nostalgia hit.
9) Shoppe Keep 2
Official Description: Shoppe Keep returns bigger and better than ever! Build your business empire and defend it from thieves. Explore the open-world in single-player or with up to 4 players online. Renovate and design your store, cook, fish, hunt for products, charm customers, evolve the town, and make your millions.
Hmmm.
The developer of this one, rightly or wrongly, seems to have garnered a bit of a seedy reputation. One wherein the story runs that they kick off these titles into early access and abandon them for a sequel before really ever fleshing them out.
If true, that’s absolutely atrocious behaviour. And it does indeed appear that yet another Shoppe Keep game is in development, soon to be launched to early access, while complaints about lack of content and the like continue to roll in for this one.
Still — I’ll pick it up and come to a conclusion for myself. The Shop Keeper genre is one that really needs some more love and attention!
10) Capitalism 2
Official Description: Create and control the business empire of your dreams. This in-depth strategy game covers almost every aspect of business that could be encountered in the real world.
2001! 2001 this game came out. I would have expected that to just about be upon the abandonware heap than still actively on offer… But here it is!
And colour me interested. It puts me in the frame of mind of the ol’ Simcity 2000 and Transport Tycoon games (even though in this one this is quite explicitly no transport logistics or the like to worry about).
Apparently it is *very* detailed in it’s economic simulation, so I’m kinda curious to see how I go at it. :)
The Drop Outs
Or at least — they would be the drop-outs if I didn’t already own Gris and Hitman 2. As it is, I should be able to pick these up afterall.
Molek-Syntez is another Zachtronics game (which puts a lie to Opus Magnum’s official description, as this one came out afterward)! It’s in a similar vein of connecting chemical elements to get a particular outcome. The spin on this one is to do it for particular… Pharmacological outcomes. Er… From a Romanian apartment.
Truberbrook, if I end up having to choose, is the more likely of these two I will pick up. It’s a rather lovely looking adventure game, set in a 1960’s parallel universe. The reason I may yet still have to choose from these is if someone in my friend group doesn’t yet have Hitman 2 — then I’ll certainly be passing that on instead of picking up these!!
This was a post for Blapril 2020, the annual blogging event (albeit usually as Blaugust), brought forward to help bring a sense of community during the challenging time of COVID-19. Blaugust is an event aiming to welcome new blogger blood into the fold and revitalise those who’ve been at it a little longer.
The Blaugust Discord is still available to join in, year round!
