Prime Gaming - February 2022

I hate February, whoever made it snuck an extra R in their just to annoy dyslexics. Anyway, Prime Gaming is marching on with another month of games that are good, questionable, and a little ugly. Nonetheless, mentioning the current batch of in-game “loot,” you can pick more NFT/cosmetic tripe from Blankos Block Party, a skin from the newly free-to-play PUBG: Battlegrounds, and plenty from Ubisoft’s live service games, alongside GTA and Red Dead Online and lots more throughout February. Meanwhile, Lost Art will release with nonsense available for that also on the 11th of February.

We’ll start with something I’ve actually played because Goblinz Publishing sent over a key, long enough ago. As Far as The Eye is a story-focused turn-based rogue-like(ish) city-builder, and people wonder why I don’t review some games so much, it is best summarized as a bit of a mess when it comes to gameplay ideas. It has a truly wonderful art style, pulling me right into the otherwise fantasy world. As Far As The Eye is a highlight of the month though is an acquired taste to get into its slower-paced strategy. It is worth picking up and giving a try, though don’t expect to have your socks blown clean off by its gameplay.

Next up, the almost monochromatic survival game, one whose artist doesn’t understand the contrast settings of their monitor, is last year’s Ashwalkers: A Survival Journey. Now, don’t let your eyes glaze over with the post-apocalyptic survival indie game that tells you that it has multiple choices and endings. There are people that go as stiff an artic breeze when you tell them there is a survival game with 34 possible endings, I’m not one of them. This is perfect for the friend who likes hoarding tins of beans by the hundreds, but if you aren’t into it already, you might want to skip over Ashwalkers: A Survival Journey this month.

Then we have a 2020 rhythm action shoot ’em up bullet hell with an unhealthy love of the 80s and the ridiculous. Double Kick Heroes is a strange one to write a whole paragraph about. The entire first sentence gets about 99% of the premise across and this second one notes that there is a track editor/”edit your partition” mode where I think you can import your own music, covering the final 1%. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, or in my case a toffee nut latte, but it has a niche little idea that could spark someone’s interest.

Gooooaaallllll! (Goal) Always believe in your soul. Next up is a very colorful and arcade-y game that I swear is aiming right at your Sensible Soccer memories, Golazo! Football League is colorful, fun, and the key art has a Brazillian man with a blonde mullet, is there anything more you could want? I love the art-style, I love the lack of “realism,” and I’ve suddenly got a bit of a hankering to play a football game again. Is anyone else getting this same curious feeling?

Of course, that’s only four, so we need a man-of-the-match (that’s where my football knowledge ends). The last game is Stellaris. A sci-fi 4X space-sim… Yeah, I think you can tell why I left this one to last, I’d have gotten bored and walked off before getting to anything else. If you haven’t heard already, Stellaris is a premier of modern grand strategy, something argued by nerds (myself included) to possibly be as good as Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, Supreme Commander, and Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War. It is a little simple here and there, and a touch off-putting in the slog of mid-game, but overall has more 4X fun in space.

Before it is suggested, I’m not missing anything that wasn’t in my notes. At the time of writing, I’ve not been handed information on what is next for this month’s possible Origin or Epic Games Store inclusions, and I don’t think I’ll be handed that until after we publish this article. That is if they continue at all. Until the 1st, Total War: Warhammer is available on Epic, until the 2nd, Jedi: Fallen Order is available on Origin, and until the 7th of February, World War Z: Aftermath is also still available.