Posted 2 days ago
Seems like every time someone mentions the phrase “Early Access”, a lot of people will cringe and walk away. And yet, some “Early Access” games are worth looking into either because they’re that good and interesting, or they’ve reached a point where they’re close to release, save for a few additions or some polish.
I mentioned Fallen Aces in my previous newsletter, but I’ll do so again, because there’s echo.
The first episode of Fallen Aces consists of five impressive missions, separated into chapters, and serve as a great introduction to the comic-book-style story. It combines 3D maps with 2D enemies, similar to Outlaws, albeit with higher resolution textures. The gameplay is a combination of first person brawler, shooter, and stealth, with a number of ways of completing the objectives. Episode 1, entitled Heart of Glass, is complete and polished, and is a great indication of what’s to come. The maps are well thought-out, the music oozes of atmosphere, the voices add a great deal of character to the overall feel, and the gameplay can only be described with a chef’s kiss. The devs are currently working on Episode 2, with plans of releasing a map editor before the next episode drops, which will give Early Access players something to fiddle with in the mean time. There will be three episodes in total.
And all these details are shared with another Early Access FPS game, that one being Selaco, developed on the GZDoom Engine. Selaco is… how do I put this? Ridiculously well made, with the production value going through the roof. Again, there seems to be echo in here, because I’ll just be repeating what I said about Fallen Aces. The maps are intricately designed, and the music adds a lot to the overall feel of the game, even paying tribute to Selaco’s inspirations, and the sound design, oh, the sound design, is just brilliant. The gameplay is a mix of Doom, Quake II, and Half-Life. The devs have completed Episode 1, with Episode 2 coming out in 2025, and Episode 3 in 2026. Episode 1 is about 5-6 hours long, which is usually the length of games like the Call of Duty franchise, so getting the game on Early Access is not that bad for the current price.
However, this is where the echoing stops, since Project Zomboid isn’t an FPS, and we’re entering sandbox territory. Project Zomboid has been in Early Access since 2013, and has since become its own thing. It’s a survival game, with added gameplay mechanics such as crafting, farming (build 42), and whatever else needed for surviving the zombie apocalypse. The devs are still working on polishing the game with a better UI (it currently uses a lot of windows and menus), better aiming, and occasionally reworking some balancing parts. And yet, people have been playing it as it is for quite a few years, and there are quite a large number of mods for it. It’s better enjoyed with friends, but playing it solo is also a lot of fun. The final release will include a campaign, as well as all the scenarios and the sandbox mode that are already available in the current builds.
Yet, one game that is really close to release is Manor Lords. Yes, I saved my favorite for last. A friend gifted me this game before a weekend, and I ended up spending 15 hours on it in two days. Think of Anno 1404, but with slightly different gameplay mechanics (and better battles), upgraded graphics, and developed by not-Ubisoft, but by Slavic Magic. It’s a city-builder/management/RTS hybrid, with some 4X elements thrown in for good measure, and is set in medieval Europe. The gameplay is intuitive, the music suits the atmosphere quite well, and the game is overall annoyingly addictive. The developer is quite active on the Manor Lords Discord server, posting polls and taking in input from players quite often. Hopefully, the game will see a version 1.0 in 2025, according to the dev, and it sure looks like it. What may be added down the line are naval battles, as well as cavalry for land battles.
Even though these are the only four Early Access titles I’ve actually tried and spent time on, there are another two I’ve been keeping an eye on, but have only watched a few gameplay videos, and have been following their development for some time; and these two are Monomyth, a highly interactive, Ultima Underworld-inspired type of dungeon crawler, borrowing heavily from Looking Glass Studios’ cookbook (you can even stack crates on top of each other. Oh joy!), and Xenonauts 2, which seems to be a 3D upgrade of the excellent Xenonauts, with a few improvements in the gameplay department. Xenonauts is a series thoroughly inspired by the early X-COM games from the ‘90s. However, I haven’t played these games, and I will probably wait until they’re finally released before trying them out.
I’m sure there are other Early Access titles worth supporting in one way or another, but the above four are the ones I’ve had an interest in for quite some time, and the only ones I ended up getting and playing.
And here’s where I wrap her up.
Thank you for reading.
See you in the next one.
Also posted on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelSupernova/comments/1i2dvdl/newsletter_2_early_access_corner/
I mentioned Fallen Aces in my previous newsletter, but I’ll do so again, because there’s echo.
The first episode of Fallen Aces consists of five impressive missions, separated into chapters, and serve as a great introduction to the comic-book-style story. It combines 3D maps with 2D enemies, similar to Outlaws, albeit with higher resolution textures. The gameplay is a combination of first person brawler, shooter, and stealth, with a number of ways of completing the objectives. Episode 1, entitled Heart of Glass, is complete and polished, and is a great indication of what’s to come. The maps are well thought-out, the music oozes of atmosphere, the voices add a great deal of character to the overall feel, and the gameplay can only be described with a chef’s kiss. The devs are currently working on Episode 2, with plans of releasing a map editor before the next episode drops, which will give Early Access players something to fiddle with in the mean time. There will be three episodes in total.
And all these details are shared with another Early Access FPS game, that one being Selaco, developed on the GZDoom Engine. Selaco is… how do I put this? Ridiculously well made, with the production value going through the roof. Again, there seems to be echo in here, because I’ll just be repeating what I said about Fallen Aces. The maps are intricately designed, and the music adds a lot to the overall feel of the game, even paying tribute to Selaco’s inspirations, and the sound design, oh, the sound design, is just brilliant. The gameplay is a mix of Doom, Quake II, and Half-Life. The devs have completed Episode 1, with Episode 2 coming out in 2025, and Episode 3 in 2026. Episode 1 is about 5-6 hours long, which is usually the length of games like the Call of Duty franchise, so getting the game on Early Access is not that bad for the current price.
However, this is where the echoing stops, since Project Zomboid isn’t an FPS, and we’re entering sandbox territory. Project Zomboid has been in Early Access since 2013, and has since become its own thing. It’s a survival game, with added gameplay mechanics such as crafting, farming (build 42), and whatever else needed for surviving the zombie apocalypse. The devs are still working on polishing the game with a better UI (it currently uses a lot of windows and menus), better aiming, and occasionally reworking some balancing parts. And yet, people have been playing it as it is for quite a few years, and there are quite a large number of mods for it. It’s better enjoyed with friends, but playing it solo is also a lot of fun. The final release will include a campaign, as well as all the scenarios and the sandbox mode that are already available in the current builds.
Yet, one game that is really close to release is Manor Lords. Yes, I saved my favorite for last. A friend gifted me this game before a weekend, and I ended up spending 15 hours on it in two days. Think of Anno 1404, but with slightly different gameplay mechanics (and better battles), upgraded graphics, and developed by not-Ubisoft, but by Slavic Magic. It’s a city-builder/management/RTS hybrid, with some 4X elements thrown in for good measure, and is set in medieval Europe. The gameplay is intuitive, the music suits the atmosphere quite well, and the game is overall annoyingly addictive. The developer is quite active on the Manor Lords Discord server, posting polls and taking in input from players quite often. Hopefully, the game will see a version 1.0 in 2025, according to the dev, and it sure looks like it. What may be added down the line are naval battles, as well as cavalry for land battles.
Even though these are the only four Early Access titles I’ve actually tried and spent time on, there are another two I’ve been keeping an eye on, but have only watched a few gameplay videos, and have been following their development for some time; and these two are Monomyth, a highly interactive, Ultima Underworld-inspired type of dungeon crawler, borrowing heavily from Looking Glass Studios’ cookbook (you can even stack crates on top of each other. Oh joy!), and Xenonauts 2, which seems to be a 3D upgrade of the excellent Xenonauts, with a few improvements in the gameplay department. Xenonauts is a series thoroughly inspired by the early X-COM games from the ‘90s. However, I haven’t played these games, and I will probably wait until they’re finally released before trying them out.
I’m sure there are other Early Access titles worth supporting in one way or another, but the above four are the ones I’ve had an interest in for quite some time, and the only ones I ended up getting and playing.
And here’s where I wrap her up.
Thank you for reading.
See you in the next one.
Also posted on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelSupernova/comments/1i2dvdl/newsletter_2_early_access_corner/