Comments (0)

By Mark D, November 4, 2010 7:45 am

As I noted during my Victoria 2 review, I tend to prefer gameplay over graphics.  Hearts of Iron 2 is now Five years old, Victoria is now Seven years old. Yet I have played them more in the last few years then any other games in my whole collection.  They are even getting more play then their newer sequels. So it might not be surprising to find out that I enjoy games like Dwarf Fortress and a few other Roguelikes I’ve played. But another reason I don’t review is I tend to play a game non-stop for a week and then get bored and never touch it again. So I bring you my current flavor of the month:

The UnReal World RPG

The UnReal World RPG

The basis of the game is that you are dropped off in the middle of Iron Age Finland and have to survive. There are many beasts you have to fight along the way that could have their way with you. There are also Raiders from the far east looking to make life even worse. There are many ways to survive, from farming to trapping to fishing and you are given a wide open world to live in. Of course you could just walk into a village, kill everyone, eat their flesh and enjoy their goods. In the end it’s all up to you how to live. Sometimes I like to carve up the Raiders for meat, not because I need it but just to send a message.

There are scenarios and lessons to ease you into the game, which is good if you’ve never played a game like this before. The real challenge though is just to survive the winter. The winter is so cold that as soon as you walk away from a fire you will start to freeze. Unless your clothing is just right, or your covered in bear fur. It’s even tough to fish in the winter because the rivers freeze over except for the rapids.

Now the game does become tedious, and sometimes the controls are a pain (if your thirsty at a river drink enough so your not thirsty anymore damit!) but as you improve at the game you can always add new challenges in. Or you could even try starting out in winter, a position that is just asking you to die. Also the NPCs, although lacking in dialogue can definitely be fun. The world is in constant flux when your away, so you may find that NPCs have fallen into your traps and died.

It costs three bucks to buy the one time license, and considering this is just a single person’s hobby/dream, it’s money well spent. At the very least the game should give you a few hours of fun as you try to survive beyond a month. Eventually you’ll set yourself up a little too well and the game will become boring. But if you can make your own story and find guidelines for yourself to make it interesting it can be fun. Also make sure to swing by the Wiki, it can definitely give you some great tips.

Comments (0)

By Mark D, August 9, 2010 10:33 am

I recently got Swashbuckler! from Jolly Roger Games and after reading through it decided it would be fun to do an adventure with. The rule book finishes with a short introduction story, so I began with that. But first let me introduce the two companions who are on this journey.

Romero Tunis

Romero Tunis

Although short and skinny, what Romero lacks in size he makes up for in intelligence. The son of a lesser English noble, the well dressed 19 year old is off on his path of adventure. His father is more then happy to finance his “adventure” as long as it gets him out of his hair. Romero has dreams of righting wrongs and bringing justice to evil doers, but he does not seem to notice he might be lacking crucial skills to do so. Well dressed and armed with a rapier, it  is easy to tell that he is from the upper classes.

Pippen The Bold

Pippen The Bold

The mostly Irish Pippen has gained his reputation as the bold for being quite the drinker. The twenty one year old has made a name for himself as the Bold from his drinking and fighting. Although not from any noble family,he has long taken on the roll of a big brother to Romero. As Romero has tended to get himself in trouble over time, the large Irishman has been able to get him out. Now that Romero is out to be a heroic adventurer, Pippen is with him to make sure he comes back home alive.

Romero and Pippin reached the town of Fotheringham, and strike out for the town’s pub the “Gilded Unicorn”. Pippen enters in front of Romero, making his presence known just by his size. Romero proceeded to make his overly dramatic entrance on the way to the bar. Although Romero tended to miss the somewhat somber mood at the bar, Pippen got into conversations with the locals. Apparently a shooting star was seen crossing Shepford south over Fotheringham and slowing down. Following that several young children have been abducted. Some of the folks at the bar believe it has something to do with an old warlock living to the east of town. With the Spanish Armada looming, the locals are already in a state of alarm, the missing children has just made it worse. Pippen ends up grabbing a slightly woozy Romero as they get some rooms for the night.

In the afternoon (After Romero had assuredly slept off the last of the drink) they decide to head east and check out the warlock. On the road heading east they are stopped by four men on horseback. The best dressed of the four informs the duo that his is Sheriff Parker, and these are his deputies. He doesn’t like them sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong and they are to turn back to town or face being arrested. Romero informs the Sheriff that he has no intention of breaking any law, and they start heading back towards town. Once the Sheriff and his men are out of site they decide to take a less used path further south and continue their way east.

They eventually come upon the Warlock’s house. Pippen The Bold knocks on the door of the old shack and it’s answered by a small elderly man. “Your not with the sheriff, are you boys?” When they answered no, he proceeded to bring down some Jugs. “Want to have a drink on me?” Romero and Pippen sat down and started to drink. It ends up that the “Warlock” is simply an old hermit who scares away the locals so he can make his moonshine in peace. After a few drinks, they get to discussing if anything weird has been going on. He tells them that there have been weird noises and sounds to the east of his house over the next hill. He’s also seen the Sheriff and Lord Abram heading together in that direction in the mornings. After a few more hearty drinks by Pippen they head off towards the east.

They decide to camp out within site of the hill as night comes. They see the lights go up and the sounds of metal on rock. They spot two guards over a hole in the ground and spring to action!

Romero Takes a Charge at one Guard, the Guard responds with a Hack. Romero throws the Guard off balance
Pippen Takes a 2 handed hack at the other Guard,the Guard responds with a Hasty Parry, their weapons interlock

After a few choice words, Pippen and the Guard back off
Romero throws a punch at the Guard who answers with a Hasty Parry, Romero knocks the Guard back a bit

Romero kicks at the Guard who Jabs at him, Romero strikes with his kick before the jab can connect
Pippen hacks at the Guard who tries to dodge but gets hit

Romero takes a Jab at the Guard  who charges him with a shoulder block, Romero connects knocking out the Guard.
Pippen takes a two handed hack at the Guard who tries his own hack, Pippen connects knocking out the Guard.

As Romero and Pippen catch their breath, six more guards show up ready to fight.

Romero takes a thrust at a guard who dodges but the Thrust connects
Pippen takes a two handed hack at a guard who hasty parries but Pippen connects knocking him out.

The other guards, watching Pippen knockout their friend with a single swing quickly decide better then to get involved. While Pippen stares menacingly at the remainder of the guards, they grab their buddies and take off into the darkness. First one small figure, and then others stick their heads out from the holes in the ground. They were being sent down the holes to mine. Unfortunately they do not know who was running the mines other then the ruffians that were guarding the holes. They walk back to town with Pippen carrying three youngsters, two on his shoulders and one on his head. As news spread through town people celebrated the return of their childrem. Romero and Pippen enjoyed their day as heroes as the townsfolk bought them more then enough drinks.

Meanwhile, off at a dilapidated castle, Lord Abrom is informed by Sheriff Parker about the mines being closed down. Abrom is not happy to say the least and whispers something to Parker.

Thanks, if you enjoyed that, I might try writing some more. I recommend the Swashbuckler game. It can easily be incorporated into any time frame, and stands well on its own too.