Two new releases vied for my attention over the weekend. Korea: IL-2 had me reaching for my screenshot key every few minutes, but when it came to seeding smiles and producing the good kind of forehead corrugations, it was Nick…
O is for On War: Stalingrad. I like the sound of Tomislav Čipčić’s next operational offering. The Croatian dev behind the elegant Attack at Dawn: North Africa believes he can deliver a deep Eastern Front wargame that is also “readable,…
To qualify for a Dusty But Trusty article, a game must be old enough to vote in Nicaragua, buy tobacco in Djibouti, and make the beast with two backs in Nepal. More importantly, it must be demonstrably super, smashing, great,…
Although the stiff throttles annoyed, and the mooring tutorial tied itself in knots after I accidentally skipped a stage, the time I spent with the Professional Ship Simulator demo yesterday passed pleasantly enough.
Two tram sim tasters have appeared on Steam during the past week. Both The Tram and Elektronka: Bratislava centre trundlers produced by Czech firm ČKD Tatra. If you’ve ever visited a city in Eastern Europe there’s a good chance you’ve…
It’s an exciting time to be a bedroom bush pilot. Troubled Deadstick seems to have weathered its developmental difficulties and be maturing nicely, and Lakehopper, a boat-bellied rival, has, since entering Early Access in March, been quietly garnering praise and…
Deservedly popular WW2 FPS Easy Red 2 plummeted in price last week and gained a new front. Until July 29 the sizeable base game is a piffling £4. An additional fiver buys you Blood on the Danube, a rich, late-war…
A few telling moments from my fourteen-hours-and-counting BULT odyssey. Moment #1. It’s roughly three hours since I first set foot on the sim’s soggy Yakutian map. Yet to slay a single duck, I chance upon a promising pond in the…
“Train Sim World, Train Simulator Classic, Diesel Railcar Simulator, Derail Valley, Railroader, SimRail… when it comes to rail sims, my polystyrene Travellers Fare cup already runneth over. Do I really need another one of the blessed things?”. This heretical thought…
J is for June no-show? Tally4: Operation Mary, a Hawaii-based “military aviation thriller” promising simmy FMs, sizeable dogfights, and constantly evolving AI pilots (“The more people play, the smarter and more unpredictable the opponents become.”) was meant to enter Early…
E is for Errors are always punished in Strategic Surge. I’m really not sure what to make of one of the latest hex wargames to hit Steam. Currently available in two-scenario playtest form only, Strategic Surge looks to be inspired…
A is for Abiding memory. Watching the latest Korea IL-2 trailer (see below) reminds me of the Airfix F-86 model that dangled from the ceiling of my boyhood bedroom for many years. The can of silver spray paint that gave…