Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics

Also: P-3 Orion, my beloved. It's nice to see you getting some love...

This is 'Silent Hunter 3'

I always felt that their previous missile-age sim, 'Cold Waters', frustratingly hinted at complex systems happening above the water, and you never really got to see them as you were stuck with the limited information your submarine had access to. 'Sea Power' feels like a unveiling of those systems.

What that means is that you can dive into it without having to read a 200 page manual like you did with the old
Sonalysts sims from the mid-2000s. It's still punishingly difficult in places, but it feels like that because of you making mistakes rather than battling the controls or camera.

This may have been triggered by me picking up the early access release of 'Sea Power', which I am loving so far. It's a real love letter to ships, and it hits the right balance of complexity in its simulation but with a fairly intuitive interface and good tutorials, something the genre often lacks.

Yeah, the basic mechancs are clearly System Shock inspired, although it's actually more of an adventure game than it's surface aesthetics would lead you to believe.

They did begin development on a First Contact game using the same engine (I think), but it never released.

Counterpoint: ships!

Of all the wargaming to be into it is the coolest, so there's that...

Sorry not sorry

Sorry to report that I'm back on my naval wargames bullshit, so look forward to that...

'Star Trek Generations' - 1997

'Total War: Rome II' - 2013

My first thought was "why have they made it look like 'Invisible War'?"

'Blade Runner' - 1997

Yeah, some bizarre aesthetic choices.

Like, I agree, but also there is precedent for gog versions disappearing in face of a remaster, so I think I still recommend people pick it up.

It's even on sale right now...

Not to be paranoid, but now's probably the time to buy the original version now if you don't have it. You know... just in case.

Christ this looks grim...

'Quantum Break' - 2016

For the record, you have no idea how excited I was when 'Alan Wake II' dedicated a significant chunk of its DLC to appeasing me and my fellow 'Quantum Break' sickos...

Also just a great storytelling beat. Like, this could so easily have been a cutscene, the game isn't afraid of those, but making it (lightly) interactive just gives it so much more impact.

Almost a decade on and this effect still slaps.

'Midtown Madness 2' - 2000

You'll crumble to dust in the far future of 2027, when the game is set...

Don't let the cultural vandals win...