Whether you were plotting cultural world domination, turning Tokyo into termite soup with rocket launchers, or flinging swords while flopping across fluorescent arenas, July 18 has always delivered a memorable mix of mental, mechanical and melee mayhem.
Today I tip my hat to three very different gaming classics that dropped into Aussie hands on this date: the brainy and brutal Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, the schlocky and satisfying Earth Defense Force 2025, and the stylish-yet-silly Nidhogg 2. Each title embodies a different genre and generation, yet all share a core DNA: they’re unapologetically themselves and unforgettable once they get their hooks into you.
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (PC) 2007
At A Glance
The most substantial expansion to Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, Beyond the Sword doesn’t just extend the endgame. It transforms it into a brutally competitive, intricately balanced wargame for the patient and power-hungry. Think of it as your high school civics teacher sneaking into your RTS folder with a textbook and a flamethrower. Where the original game shone in early growth and midgame exploration, this beefy add-on dared to ask: what if the real challenge came after the gunpowder age?
Gameplay Gist
This is still the beloved turn-based grand strategy experience where you build a fledgling tribe into a globe-spanning superpower. But Beyond the Sword throws in more than a dozen new civs and leaders, plus espionage mechanics, enhanced random events, corporations that function like religions, and game-altering scenarios. It shifts the tempo and stakes, rewarding long-term planning and punishing short-term greed. Want to win by culture? Good luck dodging spies. Planning a late-game military push? Enjoy watching your aluminium mines mysteriously explode. Every decision in the post-Renaissance era feels like walking a tightrope over a pit of nukes.
Connoisseur Cheat Sheet
This expansion introduced Corporations, a parallel to religion that generates resources at the cost of others, and refined the Espionage system into a proper cloak-and-dagger power play. Random events, previously rare and mild, became impactful enough to swing the tide of entire matches. In many ways, Beyond the Sword is to Civ IV what Brood War was to StarCraft: not just more content, but a rebalancing that reshaped multiplayer metas and prolonged the game’s lifespan.
Behind the Scenes Trivia
Firaxis tapped several key modders from the Civ community to build some of the new scenarios included here, including the highly praised Final Frontier (a full space-age rework) and Next War (a glimpse at future combat). It was one of the first major strategy titles to openly champion community collaboration as a development asset rather than a side hobby.
Kinda Similar
Europa Universalis IV (2013), Alpha Centauri (1999), Total War: Rome II (2013)
Where to Play It Today
You can grab Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword on Steam or GOG.
Or Get It On eBay
Earth Defense Force 2025 (PC) 2016
At A Glance
Earth’s under siege again, and the solution is once more “throw thousands of bullets at the problem and hope for the best.” Earth Defense Force 2025 is the series at its most pure. You, a lone but heavily armed soldier, stand between humanity and an army of house-sized ants, acid-spitting spiders, and skyscraper-smashing robots. It’s dumb. It’s loud. And it’s absolutely brilliant in co-op, where the chaos becomes a kind of beautiful bug ballet.
Gameplay Gist
EDF 2025 is a third-person shooter where subtlety goes to die. You pick from four classes, each wildly different: the jetpacking Wing Diver, the tank-like Fencer, the rapid-response Ranger, or the support-focused Air Raider. Then you dive headlong into missions that usually end in either triumph or you being body-surfed by insects. The real hook is the sheer scale of it all. Hundreds of enemies on-screen, fully destructible cities, and a gear-grind loop that keeps you chasing the next ridiculous rocket launcher that fires flaming frogs or some such nonsense.
Connoisseur Cheat Sheet
EDF 2025 refined the class systems introduced in EDF 2017 and Insect Armageddon, delivering more verticality, smarter enemy AI, and the return of vehicle deployment for certain classes. Its loot loop of weapon collection and armour farming rewards replay, especially on higher difficulties. The Wing Diver, in particular, became a cult favourite for her aerial mobility and sheer DPS potential in skilled hands.
Behind the Scenes Trivia
Developed by Sandlot, a Tokyo studio founded by ex-Human Entertainment staff (the folks behind Clock Tower), EDF’s B-movie vibes and practical effects aesthetic are a deliberate homage to old-school kaiju cinema. The voice acting, still gloriously over the top, is actually scaled back from previous entries. Believe it or not, that was the toned-down version.
Kinda Similar
Helldivers (2015), Lost Planet 2 (2010), Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain (2019)
Where to Play It Today
Available on Steam via its upgraded re-release title EDF 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
Or Get It On eBay
Nidhogg 2 (XO) 2018
At A Glance
A sequel that took everyone by surprise, Nidhogg 2 threw out the minimalist pixel aesthetic of its predecessor and replaced it with a grotesque, squishy, animated look straight out of a fever dream. Underneath that wild visual makeover, however, beat the same brutally fast-paced heart: a fencing game where every duel is a deadly ballet of dodges, parries, and occasional panic javelin throws. And when all’s said and stabbed, the ultimate prize is still the same. You get eaten by a giant worm.
Gameplay Gist
Nidhogg 2 plays like a deranged tug-of-war. Two players spawn at the centre of a 2D map and try to kill one another to push the screen in their direction. Kill your opponent and you get to advance. Die and you respawn, ready to make your stand again. It’s tense, hilarious, and deeply competitive. The sequel expanded the original’s fencing-only loadout with a rotating arsenal: knives, bows, heavy swords and more. Each weapon demands a different timing and strategy, and the addition of parrying, stomping, and divekicks made every bout feel like a cartoon gladiator match with Monty Python physics.
Connoisseur Cheat Sheet
The weapon wheel and customisable match settings were major upgrades, letting players curate weapon pools, adjust speed, and even enable throwing-only modes. The game also added local and online tournament structures, encouraging the growing competitive scene around it. Nidhogg 2 also toyed with Smash Bros-style item awareness and positioning, since each kill could change your gear and pace the next encounter differently.
Behind the Scenes Trivia
Messhof, the developer, chose the radically different art style to avoid being seen as “just a re-skin” of the original game. Artist Toby Dixon was brought in to deliver something deliberately grotesque and memorable. The musical score includes work from Daedelus and Doseone, whose chaotic, genre-hopping contributions match the aesthetic shift beat for beat.
Kinda Similar
Samurai Gunn (2013), TowerFall Ascension (2014), Divekick (2013)
Where to Play It Today
Available on Xbox Store, Steam and PlayStation Store AU
Or Get It On eBay
