My plan for this week was to play enough Broken Roads to get a feel for the game and (at least) set down the beginning of a comprehensive review... What I did instead, though, was while away time on a second Rogue Trader play-through (curse you for being so enticing, game, curse youuuuu!).

The downside, of course, is that — beyond a general impression of cheerfulness (which seems odd, given its post-apocalyptic nature) – I don't have much to say about Broken Roads...

The upside, though, is I finally tried out Rogue Trader's "hire a mercenary" mechanic and got myself a custom (if mum) companion for my second Koronus outing. I called her Ursa and – judging by the portrait – you get the feeling that, even if she were capable of speaking at length, she probably wouldn't deign to. A woman of action, Ursa is. Shoot first, let others pontificate...

The last time I saw the "custom party" mechanic was in Icewind Dale, where it was used for your entire party (which I wasn't a fan of, because it precluded inter-party banter, outside of your own head). Here, though, the option to add an extra character of your own, who can (perhaps) make use of all the extra gear you'd otherwise consign to cargo is kind of neat. I already have an idea for another two-character play-through I want to try... But I promise I'll get Broken Roads outta the way, first: it looks like a charming little game...

...for, y'know, the end of the world down-under and all.

It will not die

Another thing I spent time on, this week, was finishing the "last" Endless Sky plot. Kinda.

"Kinda" because it's not really finished: just taken as far as its writer had gotten (because Endless Sky is a community effort and most plots are written by different people the progress is uneven and somewhat sporadic).

And "last" because there is one more (secret) plot I can undertake: finding an ancient warship by the name of Emerald Sword (which resembles Mass Effect's Normandy, if the Normandy stopped going to the gym). Because I like to get the most out of the games I play, I will probably get around to it at some point. Warily. The list of starting conditions reads like a novella entitled "chore."

One other thing I'll say about Endless Sky's late-game is the battles get annoyingly big. There are so many units on screen, knowing which one you've targeted gets tricky and the rudimentary commands you can issue to your fleet stop being enough to get by.

What this means, in essence, is that not losing ships (which – for me, at least – take a long time to set up just the way I want) becomes a matter of chance rather than skill. I managed to keep a decent-sized fleet alive throughout my entire play-through until the last few Wanderer missions. There – despite my best efforts – I lost about two-thirds...

Then again, everything else about Endless Sky (including it's impossible-to-beat price) was ideal, so overlooking a single design flaw – while, possibly, unprofessional – doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

Onwards

There you have it: short and sweet, this week.

I'll be sitting down to Broken Roads next. Expect the review in a bit.

Pig — out.