Gaming

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Stellar Phenomena Review

Nathan Dack

I’ll be honest when I picked up Sins of a Solar Empire in August in a Steam sale my expectations were low for a game from 2008, damn was I wrong.


A beautiful solar RTS which has its focus well split between empire building and maintaining a fleet to darken the skies of planets.
This latest DLC comes five years after the release of the initial Sins of a Solar Empire and adds a nice amount of new features to the galaxy in Sins.
Stellar Phenomena adds more mystery to the realms of deep space, adding in 11 new random events and nine anomalies which can ravage your worlds or boost them.
Stars are now deadlier than they were before, launching storms of gases to shut down orbital defences at random
Stars have also received new bonuses with certain types of star being able to damage your ships which fly within its gravity well and slow down their ability to phase jump away from the deadly ball of gas.
In terms of new content the DLC adds plenty of extra phenomena to spice up the already exciting task of exploring into deep space, of course this is not without its dangers.
You can’t know fear until you hear from your scientists that a coronal mass injection is about to slam into your planet and you have no defence against it. The galaxy is truly terrifying piece.

Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part I Review

Nathan Dack

Rapture was always in my mind when I was playing Bioshock Infinite. My thoughts from the lighthouse ascension to the first sip of a vigor tonic I was waiting for a reference to Rapture to show itself to me.

 

The sky city of Columbia held many secrets but not one I could say was a direct reference to Rapture. But my wait was long rewarded as Rapture wasn’t referenced in the game, it WAS in the game.
Rapture was presented as a late game jewel, shimmering at the bottom of the ocean, which was a beautiful teaser at this Burial at Sea DLC.
At the start of the game you’re presented with a new version of Booker DeWitt, apparently going through the same motions as the Booker from 1912. Booker is a gambler with no luck and his prospects are rapidly sinking.
This changes when Elizabeth returns, much darker than her previous incarnation, for another adventure with this Booker. She tells him she wants to help him find Sally, a little girl he was caring for but was taken from him.
The gameplay remains strong as nothing is really changed from Bioshock Infinite. Elizabeth still provides health, ammo and salts for use in combat and Elizabeth is still capable of looking after herself when trouble approaches.
Rapture is initially presented in 1958, in its prime. Bright lights shine throughout the city and people being very much alive and unspliced.
Some lovely lore is thrown in with NPCs discussing the current state of politics with Andrew Ryan and the presence of Little Sisters is shown in fleeting moments.
It’s when the setting moves to Fontaines old stores and industrial locations that the game begins to resemble the first Bioshock game. This is kind of disappointing considering the pace of things in Bioshock Infinite where Columbia rapidly deteriorates. Having the game go from perfect paradise to sinking city in the flash of a light is a bit of a let down but it was still nice to return to Rapture.
I won’t spoil any of the story here but suffice it to say it’ll need a second look to take in everything and continues to deepen the already deep timeline. Some continuity issues do present itself but this is only the first part so we can hope that the second part will resolve all this.
Be sure to check our website for any updates on Burial At Sea Part 2.