Stranger review for the PC

Stranger is a real-time strategy game that has more than a feel of the RPG about it - as well as the fantasy universe of magic and monsters that will have RPG fans feeling right at home, the way you kit out and manage your troops are straight from the RPG format. So does it work, this hybrid of the two genres? Stranger is certainly a different take on both RTS and RPG games, but it falls short in many ways and is confusing to boot. Find out more about this novel approach to the fantasy genre in our Stranger review in this issue of PCGZine.
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Stranger review for the PC
‘Stranger' is the polite way of putting it, frankly. ‘Crazed', ‘oppressively odd' or ‘was someone hepped up on goofballs when they made this?' are all arguably more accurate descriptions. Another of those strategy/roleplaying hybrids European developers seem so fixated on making, this one's bloodymindedness extends to wilfully ignoring most of the traditions of either genre. Even the tutorial feels like it's trying to teach you how to ride a unicycle with one hand strapped behind your back and a panda sat on your head.

It's a stranger-in-a-strange-land fantasy tale, replete with all the monsters, goblins and inexplicably aggressive insect-life to be expected from such a setting. Unfortunately, despite the several minutes of exposition - told as a sequence of crudely-drawn and hideously voiceovered still images - between each mission, it's remarkably hard to tune into what's going on. So, you never perform your tasks with any sense of purpose – you just trudge over to all the little arrows on the minimap until the level ends.