Infested Planet keeps drawing me back. ‘I’m not ready to write about it. I need to play it more before I decide what I think.’ Then the same thing happens as every other time. I play a mission, and it’s not hard exactly, but it is a slog. It’s a battle of attrition, territory claimed inch by inch against a skittering mass of Starship Troopers-inspired bug aliens. There’s thousands of them, and clearing them away feels like fighting a rising tide with a leaky bucket. I’m sick of it. I’m bored of it. I don’t want or need to play anymore.

Right as I’m about to give up, the tide turns. My five soldiers gain a foothold in the war for the map’s capture points, and I claim enough resources to defend my turf against counter-attacks using turrets. From there, I begin to rapidly advance, pummeling my enemy into submission with helicopter bombardments and rocket blasts. My troops mow down thousands, and it feels immensely satisfying to win a hard-fought battle against overwhelming odds. I’m thrilled by it. I’m confused by it. I need to play more.

This is wot I think. … [visit site to read more]

John, Craig and I used to meet mulitple times a week in front of a projector screen to watch good films, bad films, action films. Of everything that we watched – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Hercules in New York and The Villain included – no one provided us with more entertainment than Paul Verhoeven. His films were good, bad and action all at once>.

That’s why I look at Infested Planet and get a little thrill from its Starship Trooperisms. It’s a top-down strategy-lite in which a small squad of soldiers can mow down thousands of chitinous alien bugs. It looks slightly less satirically fascist, but from up here, I can pretend every single soldier is Casper Van Dien.

It’s been in Early Access for a while, but is super-available to ultra-buy come its full-release on March 6th. New trailer below. … [visit site to read more]