U2Z (alphabetised game news)

U is for Undeserved neglect. Sometimes I’m so busy searching out the obscure and quirky, I fail to give the megafauna of the sim and wargame fields the attention it deserves. SCS Software, the studio that almost singlehandedly created the truck sim genre, is in the process of sidestepping into two adjacent genres. The following vids suggest both Road Trip – a new car-based exploration mode for American Truck Simulator unlocked through purchase of add-ons like this one– and Coaches – a self-explanatory ETS2 DLC – are going to be unmissable.

Read MoreU2Z (alphabetised game news)
Cold War Battles leaves its laager later this week

La Forge du Code doesn’t seem to have profited greatly from a week-long advertising stint on the Corner (After an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign the French dev behind the unusually foggy Kriegsspiel ~ 7 Years’ War is now considering his options). Hopefully, the site’s latest advertiser, Kudos Games, will see some benefits. The $20 Cold War Battles launches on Thursday, and, like Kriegsspiel, has numerous endearing qualities.

Read MoreCold War Battles leaves its laager later this week
Scarce scares and wall-to-wall wins (Thoughts on Korea IL-2’s career mode)

Yesterday evening command of the Sabre-rattling 12th FBS squadron passed to Major Furnace Amberwick after Major Terence Torrance, my alter aero for much of the past week, failed to return from a bomber interception mission near Old Baldy. The fact that Torrance wasn’t killed by MiGs or flak (he perished in a mid-air collision) is significant. Right now a number of factors conspire to make career-mode sorties in the eminently likeable, exceptionally handsome Korea IL-2 less dangerous and less exciting than they could be.

Read MoreScarce scares and wall-to-wall wins (Thoughts on Korea IL-2’s career mode)
Missing mates and myopic Mexicans (Dagger Directive’s minor defects)

I’ve enjoyed Arcane Alpacas’ £13 (until Aug 27) homage to Delta Force from the outset, but I’m enjoying it even more since leaving Alaska. The venues in the Nukes in the North campaign were often gloomy and grassy, making spotting foes surprisingly tricky. As vegetation tends to be sparse and skies cloudless in Drug Disruption’s Mexican levels, there’s less chance of blundering into trouble.

Read MoreMissing mates and myopic Mexicans (Dagger Directive’s minor defects)
Shiny warbirds, rusty dogfighter (Preliminary thoughts on Korea IL-2)

According to Steam I’ve spent sixteen hours with Korea IL-2 so far. During that time I believe I’ve downed just three swept-wing interceptors. This meagre tally of MiG-15s and F-86s is partly a consequence of play choices (Much of my time has been spent flying the history-smothered Mustang and Shooting Star-focused ‘Home by Christmas’ scripted campaign) and partly down to a lack of practice (it’s a while since I last combat flightsimmed in earnest), but it also reflects just how difficult it is to kill small, swift, nimble jets using nothing but nose-mounted MGs and autocannons.

Read MoreShiny warbirds, rusty dogfighter (Preliminary thoughts on Korea IL-2)
More front than Blackpool (These two hex wargame demos show considerable promise)

Two of itch.io’s latest TBT tasters prove that hex wargames don’t need exotic themes or unorthodox mechanics in order to entertain and evoke. The two-scenario Broken Front alpha demo recreates the kind of small-scale post-D-Day clashes that most of us will have orchestrated thousands of times before. And yet, somehow, chaperoning the game’s predictable cast of Shermans, infantry squads, mortars, and AT guns, still manages to be engrossing.

Read MoreMore front than Blackpool (These two hex wargame demos show considerable promise)
Iron Nest vs. Bamboo Curtain

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 Nieuwoudt’s dieselpunk artillery sim that came out on top.

Read MoreIron Nest vs. Bamboo Curtain