Recent reviews by Madhouse

4.5 Stars - A brutal 2D dungeon crawler with beautifully dark ascetic and quirky strategies.

This single player dungeon crawler uses turn based combat to dive into the gothic it has created. Permadeath and punishing monsters make it all feel like it counts.

DLC Crimson Court is also a winner and worth taking a look at.

Pros
Artwork
Character Builds

Cons
Can be punishing

4Stars - Turn based strategy done in the 40k universe,

This game takes a unique approach to the turn-based tactical shooter. A well designed customisation approach and resource management system keeps it sharp and interesting.

Similarly the overall game clock blends with the mission timers, creating both a sense where the player must keep the speed up in missions, as well enhancing the risk reward choices in missions.

Overall, this is has been an engaging take on the tactical turn based genre. While the individual combats are not as epic as XCom or similar, the customisation and overall mission timer keep the player engaged and all choices important.

Pros
Turn based combat
Character Customisation
Timer & Resource mechanics

Cons
Smaller room based combats
Progression trees not balanced

4 Stars - A Co-op swarm mining where you play as space dwarves.

This game has taken a lot of the the successful aspects of co-op shooters and blended them nicely into something new. This is a game that we have played a lot of this year (2018) and enjoyed throughly.

The game does have a larger exploration and loot gathering (mining) focus than similar games and depending of the difficulty most of the fighting is done in swarm waves that are regularly triggered as you explore.

Overall, its early access status leaves it in need of a bit more polish, but the gameplay is bang on and its a great and unique take on the co-op shooter.

Pros
Gameplay
Mining dynamics
Character classes/skills/gadgets

Cons
Lack of polish on graphics
Procedurally generated maps can be overly convaluted in 10% of maps when set on complex

3.5 Stars - An solid variation on the space strategy genre

An increasing fan of 'endless' games I enjoyed endless space. However it didnt stand out ahead of games in its genre.

Good fundamantels, a few good variations BUT in larger empires details became tedious and combat lacked depth

Pros
Space Strategy
Tech & Ideas
Endless Galaxy

Cons
Battles take a card based approach which doesnt pan out
Details which should customise an empire become uninteresting once scope kicks in.

4.5 Stars - A Grand Space strategy game - Well played out space opera

Stellaris has done a few things differently and it has paid off. At heart, is a space strategy game, and it plays this well.

Still showing signs of development, there are a number of things worthi investigating in this game, and you will find very definable start middle and end game sections.

Pros
Immersion
Strategy focus

Cons
MidGame can slow game play
Expansions can ruin saves

3 Stars - Not quite Heroes of Old

This game has been a quilty secret of mine for sometime. Regardless of its shortfalls, I have still enjoyed palying through the games campaigns.

The game is very pretty and its still a Heroes game, but technical issues and woeful AI shows that graphics and ambience were the only real focus in its developments

Pros
Graphics
Tactical Elements

Cons
Buggy
AI is broken
Level design and difficulty is poorly coordinated.

4 Stars - Fun - Good Co-Op - Ridiculous

I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed this.

Kill stuff, have a good time, you won't be sorry.

Pros -
Gameplay
Concept

Cons -
Nothing that gets in the way of the fun.

3 Stars Team based RPG

This was worth a go. A little bit different from other games I've played, I enjoyed playing this through.

You do need the patience to get into it, as battles are consistantly tough and none of them are simple enough to elet your guard down.

Pros -
Immersion / Visuals
RPG Elements

Cons -
Story world was good, but plotline seemed to drop of the edge of something somewhere towards the end.
Some battles felt like a grind
Late game riddles were unnecessary

3.5 Stars - A solid shooter

In the same vein as CSGO, this is a solid shooter with good map design and a stable engine.

With over 2500 on a slow day 4 years after release, its worth a go.

Pros -
Gameplay
Map Design

Cons -
Not remarkably different from mainstream multiplayer shooters with larger player bases

3.5 Stars - Something a bit different

A solid platformer with interesting plot lines and good replayability.

Double fine deliver an enjoyable story/platformer

Pros -
Gameplay
Story
Replayability

Cons -
A bit short