Batman: Arkham Shadow Review

I know what you’re wondering: does the VR Batman game make me feel like Batman? Well, the answer is no. Never once in Batman: Arkham Shadow’s long playtime did I feel like I had a billion dollars, and without that the simulation will never be complete. That said, it did do a remarkably good job of making me feel like I was playing an actual Arkham game by including all of the signature elements of Rocksteady’s legendary series: literally punchy combat, intricate metroidvania-style level design that unlocks more and more as you gain new abilities, and some genuinely tricky optional puzzles. It’s a little clumsy and buggy at times, but enough of it translates well to VR that it’s more like a real game than a gimmick – and the mystery story pays off well without retreading too many of the Arkham series’ plots. And sure, while grabbing at your sides and raising your arms to glide around on your cape may look absolutely absurd to anyone who happens to be in the room with you as you play, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t pretty fun.

This sequel to a prequel is wedged into the space between Arkham Origins (and Arkham Origins: Blackgate) and Arkham Asylum – a time period where a younger Batman is bluntly but capably voiced by Roger Craig Smith rather than the late, great Kevin Conroy. After a brief intro sequence in Gotham’s sewers and rubbing elbows with Jim Gordon and a young, one-faced Harvey Dent, we go undercover into Blackgate Prison, where Batman first encounters the likes of Doctors Harlene Quinzel and Jonathan Crane, Arnold Wesker (The Ventriloquist), Barbra Gordon, and a few more. Naturally the developers at Camouflaj can’t help retread things we’ve seen done to death: It wouldn’t really be an Arkham game without a Scarecrow hallucination sequence, for instance – and, of course, we’re treated to yet another reenactment of Crime Alley. However, the new mystery villain known as The Rat King and his populist cult, paired with the over-the-top sadist prison warden Bolton, give Arkham Shadow enough of its own material to work with that it doesn’t feel too derivative.

Another novel approach is to have Bruce Wayne visit his makeshift Batcave under Blackgate (like the one under Arkham Asylum) to swap between two costumes. He wears his full Batman regalia by night, but when the Batsuit’s back on the rack he slaps on a Mission: Impossible mask of a two-bit thug named Matches Malone, who’s been thrown in with Gotham’s worst for petty arson. There’s some gadget-less prison yard brawling to be done as Malone, but these sections are much more about ingratiating yourself to incarcerated mob boss Carmine Falcone and the other prisoners, and getting the lay of the maze-like prison yard as the days tick down to The Rat King’s grand plan. I won’t say I wasn’t eager to put the cape and cowl back on by the end of each session as Matches, but the change of pace and perspective isn’t unwelcome considering that there’s only so much variety one can find within the walls and absurdly high-tech doors of a prison, and the dark caverns below.

On that note, despite this running on a tiny machine that’s strapped to your face, Arkham Shadow is easily on par with Arkham Asylum as it looked on the Xbox 360 in terms of its character models and textures (and obviously running at a much higher resolution and frame rate), if not quite up to that level of art direction or the scale of its open areas. Of course, that’s an extremely high bar, to be fair. It’s certainly the best-looking Quest-exclusive game I’ve played, likely because it’s exclusive to the Quest 3/3S and doesn’t have to compromise for compatibility with older models. Glimpsing my bat-eared shadow as I walked down a hall or glided around with a light behind me was always a treat. Those heavy doors do often take a while to open, though, since they’re masking a lot of loading of the new area you’re traveling to. And be ready to recharge your Quest 3 four or five times to get through Arkham Shadow’s story, which can run 10 hours if you’re not stopping to smell the many Rat puzzles along the way. (It’s probably good to come up for air after a couple of hours in VR, anyway.)

The fact that you’re usually being circled by several other thugs means you have to work fast to put an enemy down.

Brawling works surprisingly well and, after things ramped up a bit to introduce enemies with armor, stun batons, shields, knives, and guns, most requiring different takedown moves, I was working up a sweat throwing physical punches that do more damage if you swing like you mean it. Here it’s less about timing punches and more about pausing for a split second after the first smack – which can send you lunging about 10 feet toward a target – to see which sequence randomly opens up: sometimes you’ll do a right, a left, or a gut-punch, others you’ll have three spots to jab at, or sometimes you’ll grab a leg and be prompted to snap it like a twig. It occasionally interprets a swing from the side as a straight-on punch or vice versa, but otherwise it’s pretty satisfying. That’s enough to keep it from being mindless flailing, but the fact that you’re usually being circled by several other thugs means you have to work fast to put an enemy down before you see an incoming attack icon in your peripheral vision and have to detour to block it with a Michael Keaton-esque no-look punch to the side, which pulls you to a different target, so the pressure is on.

Certain enemies need to be staggered before you can beat on them, so you’ll have to use abilities like confusing them with a cape swing, or flipping over them with a forward flick of the right stick and punching them from behind. It’s easy enough to do this in the most straightforward way possible, but the opportunity to run up the score with unbroken combos and mixing in multiple gadgets like batarangs and explosive charges brings in a very stylish element of challenge beyond simply staying alive. You also have to dodge unblockable attacks with the thumbsticks and physically duck under knife attacks. There’s certainly plenty going on – with more regularly opening up as you unlock new gadgets by progressing the story – to keep these fights and the optional standalone challenges interesting (and repeatable!).

Predator battles work almost identically to the way they do in traditional Arkham games.

The stealthy Predator battles, on the other hand, work almost identically to the way they do in traditional Arkham games in that you’re staying hidden as you take down gun-toting enemies who can quickly kill you if they spot you, but they’re a little more frustrating because the controls lack the precision needed to consistently avoid detection. The number of times I snuck up behind an enemy, and reached out to grab and silently choke him out, but accidentally punched him in the head and alerted his friends instead was, to be frank, too high by a lot. I eventually learned to do this extremely carefully – with emergency escape smoke bombs at the ready – to avoid taking a lead shower, but that felt like working around a problem rather than learning a system. Even so, it’s never anything less than gleeful to drop down from a gargoyle perch, grab a thug, and leave him helplessly dangling like a pinata for his friends to find.

We also get a handful of boss fights – mostly against the obvious opponents – and although these are a nice change of pace while they last, only one late-game one is all that memorable and none of them are especially interesting on a mechanical level.

Without the Riddler around to stash question marks everywhere, the Rat cultists have picked up puzzle duty in Blackgate, and their work ranges from trivially easy to respectably tricky and rewarding to solve. Reaching smashable rat statues and radios spreading the King’s propaganda is often a matter of turning left where the obvious path goes right, but frequently involves unlocking doors, crawling through vents, climbing pipes, and more to get the right angle – or deciphering patterns to work out codes to door locks by switching in and out of Detective mode by tapping your temple. Most of Detective mode is pretty straightforward, though – there’s none of the more ambitious crime scene reconstruction stuff from Arkham Knight. Most of it, especially the crime-scene investigation sequences, is basically just doling out plot information one piece at a time.

There are plenty of Easter eggs to find around Blackgate.

Exploration is, of course, a big part of any Arkham game, and there are plenty of Easter eggs to find around Blackgate. Much of it comes in the form of phone numbers that can be dialed at the prison pay phone to hear recorded messages from various characters. References to Batman lore in chatter from other prisoners and scattered around the environment didn’t appear quite as thick as they are in Rocksteady’s games – which is honestly another off-the-charts standard to hold any game to, especially when the best material has already been thoroughly mined – but it’s not in short supply.

One thing that’s a little too easy to find at this point, though, are bugs. I’m told there’s a patch in the works to address at least some of this, but even after launch this review was delayed by about a day because I wasn’t able to complete the story thanks to a repeated crash while trying to disarm a bomb, due to the fact I’d done things in an order other than what was precisely intended. That was after multiple crashes before that point, and I also had to reload saves because I fell through the world multiple times and got stuck on level geometry. I had plenty of audio stuttering, saw long load times when returning from the map screen, lost the ability to use my batarang during a boss fight that required it, and had a couple of puzzles made much more difficult than they should’ve been because key items didn’t highlight in Detective mode.

It wasn’t as smooth a ride as I’d have liked, but I did see the ending and was pleased with it. I won’t say much about how it turned out other than that, while I did see one big reveal coming a mile away, there was more to it that caught me off guard in a way that made me smile. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that the Rat King does not turn out to be The Joker, and in fact Camouflaj is admirably restrained in its use of Batman’s nemesis. After the big, eye-rolling reveal of Arkham Origins, and the enormous posthumous role he played in Arkham Knight, leaning on that crutch once again would’ve annoyed me to no end; I breathed a sigh of relief when other characters got some time in the spotlight.

On the whole it’s a very well done Batman story, and the dialogue is generally strong except for a few very on-the-nose lines where Batman bluntly declares “I will find the Rat King; I will stop his night of wrath!” or when Barbara Gordon acts like an annoying tween fangirl. There’s also a very conspicuous loose end left dangling at the end of the story that concerned me until I was told it’s intentional, so we’ll just have to see where that goes.

Video: Sonic X Shadow Generations Graphics Comparison (Switch, Xbox 360, PS5)

Switch resolution and frame rate seemingly revealed.

If you’re eager to know more about the Switch version of Sonic X Shadow Generations ahead of its arrival later this week, read on…

YouTube channel ‘ElAnalistaDeBits’ has shared a comparison video of the Nintendo release alongside the original Xbox 360 version and the PlayStation 5 version of the game.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Fantasian Neo Dimension Physical Switch Release Seemingly Cancelled In Select Locations

Sorry, Australia and New Zealand.

Ahead of the release of FANTASIAN Neo Dimension release this December, there’s a new story about the physical Switch release skipping select locations.

Australian and New Zealand retailers have apparently removed their physical listings last weekend. Aussie website Vooks reached out to Bandai Namco Australia, who distributes a lot of Square Enix releases locally, and it seems the game is “no longer” getting a physical release in these countries.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Pick Up a Pair of Rechargeable Batteries for Your Xbox Controller for Under $13

If you’re tired of swapping out AA batteries from your Xbox wireless controller, here’s a super inexpensive alternative. Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members a two-pack of aftermarket rechargeable batteries for your Xbox controller for a mere $12.79 after you apply a $7.20 off coupon code “30ZYF6UF“. That’s only $6.40 per battery pack. As a comparison, the official Play & Charge Kit will run you $25, and that is for a single battery pack.

Two Xbox Controller Battery Packs for $12.79

These rechargeable battery packs from “6amLifestyle” are compatible with both the current generation Xbox Series X|S controllers and the older Xbox One controllers. The rechargeable battery itself is a universal fit, however the Xbox One and Xbox Series X have different style battery doors. Fortunately, both door covers are included in the package (the one labeled #1 is for Xbox One, and the one labeled #2 is for Xbox Series X|S). Note that unlike the Play & Charge Kit which has a USB-C port, this pack uses a Micro USB port. We would have liked to see this pack equipped with a USB-C port as well, but at this price we’re not complaining. Besides, a Micro USB cable is included.

6amLifestyle states that each battery pack can last up to 40 hours of continuous playtime and can charge from empty to full in about four hours. That’s pretty similar to the Play & Charge Kit’s claim of 30 hours of playtime and four-hour charge time, which makes sense since both packs have the same 1,400mAh capacity. There’s also a little LED indicator that changes from red to green when it’s fully recharged. Having two batteries also means you can immediately swap over to another pack when the first one is depleted, thus minimizing your downtime. At this price, you can’t go wrong.

Looking for more Xbox deals? Check out all of the best Xbox deals today.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Team Disbanded After Critically Lauded Platformer Fails to Meet Expectations – Report

The team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has been disbanded, according to a report from French media outlet Origami.

In a video posted today in French (for which IGN has independently verified a translation posted on ResetEra), Origami reports that the team behind The Lost Crown was disbanded despite seemingly positive reports from developers on their experiences working on the game.

Per a tweet by Gauthier Andres: “I’ve heard and read ‘It was the best game production in my entire life’ three or four times in a single weekend while getting information on the game’s development. One after the other I was told it was seen as a beacon of hope to create a safe space for people that were burnt out by Beyond Good & Evil 2. The team has been disbanded by Ubisoft.”

The video also states that the game’s fate was effectively decided just a few weeks after its release. The core game development team reportedly fought to get a sequel or at least more expansions beyond the single “Mask of Darkness” expansion, but Ubisoft allegedly needed more help on other projects that had better sales potential. Per the report, The Lost Crown did not meet Ubisoft’s sales expectations, and executives expressed concerns that a sequel would cannibalize long-term sales of the first game.

It is unclear from the report exactly what the status of the members of the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team is at this time. The game was developed at Ubisoft Montpellier, which employs hundreds of individuals and was last known to be working on the infinitely-in-limbo Beyond Good and Evil 2. It’s likely that team members were, as was suggested by the report, moved onto other projects such as that, but IGN has reached out to Ubisoft for further clarity.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s reported fate, if true, is a tragic one given how excellent the game is. We gave it an 8/10 in our review, saying it “captures not only what made games such as The Sands of Time so good, but it irons out a lot of the little issues that plagued the 3D games in this series by opting for a 2D perspective – and owning it.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed (Switch) – Pleasingly Ambitious But Bloated

Secret of the Snooze.

It has been a little over a year since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrived in cinemas, and a lot has changed for the heroes in a half-shell. Shredder’s Revenge has welcomed not one, but two DLC packs, THQ Nordic has announced a Last Ronin adaptation and, in 2024 alone, the Switch has already landed a pair of new TMNT releases. In short, when Outright Games and developer A Heartful of Games announced they were working on a tie-in to the 2023 movie, our reaction was something along the lines of, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

One year on, and we are quite frankly impressed at how ambitious that tie-in turned out to be. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed packs an entire follow-up story into its 15-hour runtime with wonderful voice acting and far more Persona (yes!) influence than we ever would have expected. It’s very much not without its flaws — the combat is repetitive, the plot feels bloated, and the performance on Switch regularly moves at a snail’s (or should that be turtle’s?) pace — but it does aim for something slightly different, and that deserves praise.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

A chat with the Developer of Speedollama, Launching October 22 on Xbox

Summary

  • Unleash the Alpaca-lypse: Speedollama Launches next week on Xbox.
  • Influences and inspirations for the creation of the Llamaverse.
  • Developer Nicola Piovesan talks process.
Speedollama developer in llama mask
Nicola Piovesan, Speedollama developer, getting into character

After working on the pixel art for Speedollama, I now have the chance to sit down with Nicola Piovesan, the game’s designer, to ask him a few questions about the project. As part of the team, it’s interesting to hear more about his creative process, the challenges we faced, and what went into making this fast and quirky game.

Let’s start from the beginning. Where did the idea for Speedollama come from?

Nicola (N): Speedollama is my fourth game (fifth if you count an unfinished one), and with each new project, I aim to experiment. My previous games were mostly point-and-click adventures set in a dark, cyberpunk universe, but with this platformer, I explore something entirely different—bright, chaotic, and fun. It’s like my creative yin and yang. After working on something dramatic, I felt the need to dive into humor and vibrancy. Speedollama came from this need to create something colorful and fast-paced. And what could be more bizarre and fun than a war between llamas and alpacas?

What are the game’s standout features?

N: The retro-arcade feel is the first thing that hits you—from the pixel art graphics to the gameplay mechanics. But what really stands out is the speed. Speedollama is designed to be one of the fastest in its genre, especially in later stages when players unlock speed upgrades. It’s intense.

Some people have compared it to Metal Slug. Does that bother you?

N: I’ve seen Speedollama described as “Metal Slug with llamas,” and while that’s flattering, it’s also a bit frustrating when people imply I copied it. Sure, there are similarities—any retro, run-and-gun game will have them—but Speedollama does its own thing. It’s not just a horizontal side-scroller; it develops vertically, making it more of a platformer. Plus, it has procedurally generated levels and a “collectathon” element where players race against the clock to gather items. So, while the comparisons are inevitable, I think we’ve crafted a unique experience.

Isn’t it risky to release this game an indie market saturated with so many pixelated platformers?

N: Absolutely, it’s a risk. I’ll admit, I’m not great at market research or developing games with a specific audience in mind. I tend to go with my gut—if I like an idea, I’ll run with it. That said, I do listen to feedback. We released a demo about a year ago, and I took a lot of player suggestions to improve the game. Yes, the market is crowded, and pixel-art platformers are everywhere, which might make Speedollama hard to notice at first. But I believe that once people pick up a controller and feel the speed and fun, they’ll see it’s something special.

How large was the team behind Speedollama?

N: This is an interesting question because people often wonder if Speedollama was a solo project. The answer is both yes and no. If you define a solo project as one person doing absolutely everything, then no—it wasn’t just me. You, for instance, were the lead pixel artist, and we had a couple more pixel artists, two animators, a music composer, voice actors, and a small team of beta testers. In total, around eight or nine people contributed to the game. However, if by “solo project” you mean one person handling most of the development—coding, writing, level design, enemy AI, UI, sound, and even marketing—then yes, it was largely my work. I did everything except create the art and music, which was handled by you and other talented folks. But their contributions were crucial, especially in bringing the game’s unique, quirky visual style to life.

The indie game market is a tough space, no doubt. There are tons of platformers coming out every month, and standing out is a challenge. But I’m confident that Speedollama brings something fresh to the table—it’s fast, eccentric, and a lot of fun to play. I can’t wait to see how players respond to this wild, goofy adventure.

Wishlist Speedollama today, and pick it up on Xbox when it launches October 22.

Speedollama

Chaosmonger Studio


$8.99

$8.09

Speedollama is a fast platformer shooter that sets a new benchmark for speed in the genre. Bursting with quirky humor and vibrant pixelated carnage, this game is not for the faint of heart. Are you ready to embrace the chaos and prove your skills?

Packed with hilarious splatter elements, fast-paced action, a variety of upgrades and weapons, and loads of humor, Speedollama promises to entertain gamers of all ages.

The game’s visuals feature pixel art to capture a retro-arcade aesthetic, reminiscent of late 80s and early 90s games. Drawing inspiration from classic titles like Metal Slug and Turrican, as well as modern hits like Broforce, Mercenary Kings, and Pizza Tower, Speedollama delivers a nostalgic yet fresh gaming experience.

STORYLINE
A wise old llama has enlisted a group of elite mercenaries for an almost impossible mission: to destroy the alpaca army that has waged a brutal war to exterminate the llamas and seize world domination. Equipped with a powerful tunneling machine, the llamas embark on a bizarre journey, burrowing through the earth, collecting funky substances, and battling the relentless alpaca forces along with their beastly allies.

The post A chat with the Developer of Speedollama, Launching October 22 on Xbox appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered – first look at bosses, new Map details

We’re deeply grateful for your enthusiastic support following our announcement of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered. Your passion and dedication have been instrumental in revitalizing this beloved series, so today we wanted to share some new information on the game, with a first look at the game’s bosses in their remastered glory, as well as more details on the game’s brand-new map system which is a collaboration between us, the original creators and the community.


Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered – first look at bosses, new Map details

Remastered Boss updates and reveals

Each boss encounter in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is designed to challenge the player’s mastery of Raziel’s abilities. Our goal with the character models was to improve the textures as much as we could while ensuring that they blend in with the apocalyptic world. 

Melchiah received a full texture overhaul with darkened skin and a slimier body-feel. The bones and skeletal mapping are now more realistic and gory and his eye color was adjusted to match the original look.

Melchiah–The first of Kain’s lieutenants Raziel must defeat. This battle takes place in the Necropolis where Melchiah chases Raziel down while phasing through gates, making the spectral realm no longer safe. Strategically use the environment to expose Melchiah’s vulnerabilities and use his own devices against him.

Zephon was too desaturated, so we’ve completely repainted his face.

Zephon–Fought in a dilapidated cathedral, Zephon has evolved into an insect-like creature, fusing with this towering structure. You’ll need to ascend to the highest chambers and become willingly ensnared to be able to confront him. Search the room for any elemental advantages which could aid you in this endeavor.

Rahab’s head has been remodeled, so the eyes now have a reddish glow which gives him a menacing look. We’ve also altered the fangs to look more vampiric and made his skin color a little more gray.

Rahab–This battle occurs in a flooded abbey. Rahab is fully immune to water, which is lethal to Raziel. Use Raziel’s agility to avoid Rahab’s deadly close-range and long-range attacks by jumping and make use of your newly gained Telekinetic projectile ability to exploit Rahab’s extreme vulnerability to sunlight.

Dumah’s armor is now a lot dirtier and has patches of mold and blood all over it (considering he was impaled for centuries).

Dumah–In a desolated fortress, Dumah awaits reanimation. Just like his other brethren, Dumah is invulnerable to any attacks, so Raziel has to be cunning and lure him to a flame powerful enough to melt even the hardest metal, all while avoiding tremendous earthquakes caused by Dumah’s incredible strength.

The models for Kain in both Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2 needed to be completely re-designed to mitigate textural issues. With the increased polygon count we felt it was important to bring his look a lot closer to the Kain we got to see in the original FMVs, which was a lot more detailed and showed more-or-less what the original intent was for the character. The original model in SR1 was especially limited so now both games have a Kain that looks consistent between the two titles.

Kain–Raziel first confronts Kain at the Pillars where he must be swift and strike Kain three times to gain the Soul Reaver. The second encounter takes place in the Chronoplast, where the tiered arena makes evasion even more challenging. Track your target’s movements closely and make haste to strike him with the Soul Reaver. If you cannot reach him in time, use your Telekinetic projectile to stop Kain from using his powerful lightning attack. The encounter is intense and dramatic, but we won’t spoil how it concludes. Pre-order to find out!

Map & Compass details & gameplay

In the original versions of the games, players often found themselves wandering the vast, twisting landscapes of Nosgoth, relying heavily on memory and environmental cues to navigate. 

The introduction of the Map and Compass marks a thoughtful enhancement that blends modern gameplay conveniences with the preservation of the explorative experience the original titles were known for. The Compass gently nudges the player in the right direction without giving away specific details of where to go or what to do next and the Map is more of a reference tool than a guide.

We also included a collection tracker for any Health and Energy power-ups so that you know if you’ve gotten all of the collectibles within each area. All of the major Nosgoth features are present and accurately condensed based on the setting and gameplay. 

For fans who might feel that these additions are a major departure from the original games, we’ve made sure to incorporate a toggle-off function for the compass. 

In addition to its gameplay utility, the map is also a wonderful art piece that was created in collaboration with our development team, community advisors, artists, and designers at Crystal Dynamics. We knew accuracy was paramount, so we worked hard to pull from the original source art, design documents, and clues from game lore. We also incorporated community reviews to ensure nothing had been missed.

Thanks to these efforts, the map is accurate enough to feature in the new lore reader bonus menu – identifying the location of each lore entry. 

For design direction, Crystal Dynamics designers used a heavily inked approach that sits beautifully with the existing art, creating a stunning new way to visualize the world of Nosgoth. 

The Map and Compass are there to serve as welcome tools for exploration, ensuring that the remastered versions remain both a tribute to the classics and a modernized, more player-friendly experience.

The Aspyr Team looks forward to sharing more information before the launch of Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered on December 10, 2024!

Star Wars Unlimited TCG’s Twilight of the Republic Decks Spotlight Ahsoka and General Grievous

The upcoming Star Wars Unlimited TCG set, Twilight of the Republic, is almost here with the release slated for November 8. This is the third installment since the game premiered back in March. It’s still quite young, but there are already so many different types of decks that one can make. In fact, a two-player starter comes with every new set for anyone interested in jumping into SWU for the first time. The Twilight of the Republic starter includes a deck themed around the aggressive and heroic Ahsoka Tano and the Republic’s Clone Trooper army, as well as a deck led by the cunning and villainous General Grievous alongside the Separatist Droid army. With both decks in one package, it’s an easy way to kickstart a player’s venture into a new card game like Star Wars Unlimited with a friend.

When a card game is based on an existing series, we usually see game designers attempt to match what’s on the card with how the character or object is portrayed in their respective medium. It guides the playstyle and creation of other cards in the set, and we see some of that in both SWU starter decks. For instance, the Ahsoka Tano deck includes characters from the 501st Legion that she’s a part of, like General Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex. The Jedi alongside the Clone army are known for skilled and organized combat, which brings us to one of the new mechanics in this set, Coordinate. This keyword or ability activates when a player controls three or more units on their side of the field. When its requirement is fulfilled, the player can then reap the reward of the newly activated action associated with the card’s Coordinate ability. In Ahsoka Tano’s case, she can command a unit to attack with a +1 power buff as long as her side of the field has at least three units. So if you’re playing with the Ahsoka deck, part of your goal is going wide on the board with units so you can always have more than enough to fulfill the Coordinate ability across all your cards that have that special keyword. That means your opponent will try to dwindle your numbers to prevent that from happening. Thankfully, the deck does include supporting cards to reflect the need to bolster an army like Batch Brothers or Jedi Master Shaak Ti, which can create clone trooper tokens to add to the unit count.

On the villainous side of this starter pack, we have General Grievou,s who leads the Separatist droid armies in their quest for dominance. Similar to the Ahsoka deck, the General Grievous deck has options to bolster the unit count as well with the help of Battle Droid tokens. Instead of the Coordinate ability, though, the Separatists rely on another new mechanic to the Star Wars card game: Exploit. Unlike Coordinate, Exploit does not buff or support the units already in battle. Instead, this new ability sacrifices units to play more powerful cards for a cheaper cost. For instance, if someone wants to play the Admiral Trench card, that player can defeat up to 1 unit they already control on the field to reduce his cost. Usually, this isn’t such a great trade, since you’re losing one of your units in the process, but cards like the Confederate Courier or Battle Droid Escort have a benefit from being defeated. If you combo the right cards, General Grievous can easily be joined by heavy hitters like the Separatist Super Tank or Hailfire Tank without losing too many units in the process. Of course, using the Exploit ability to its full effect means having units to sacrifice, so in a similar fashion, the General Grievous deck tries to go wide with units just like Ahsoka, but for a different purpose. Meanwhile, cards like Poggle the Lesser and Droid Deployment are a couple of notable options that can help the Separatist army stay in the fight.

Overall, both decks do a pretty good job of representing the two main factions of the hotly contested Clone Wars. Both rely on large armies, and you can see how different each deck plays with the lore in mind. For a dual starter deck package, it really showcases the new mechanics well, and they both seem pretty balanced right out of the box. In the end, these are starter decks and ultimately they are a jumping-off point to making unique and stronger decks with other cards in the new set, Twilight of the Republic. For more Star Wars Unlimited, check out both our review of the base set, Spark of Rebellion as well as a quick preview below of the Prerelease Box that will be available at your local game stores leading up to release.

The Star Wars Unlimited Two-Player Starter deck comes with:

  • Rules
  • Tokens
  • Two playmats
  • Two deck boxes

Ahsoka Tano and General Grievous pre-constructed decks lists:

Former Skyrim developer’s heavy metal open world hunting sim releases on Steam

Did you have a fine old time in Blackreach, the mazy, Dwemer-built underside of Skyrim’s sprawling mountain map? Do you like murdering Ents in slow motion? Do you want to see smells? You might be interested in The Axis Unseen, which has just launched on Steam – it’s the work of former Bethesda developer Nate Purkeypile, one of the big brains behind Blackreach.

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