Falcon Age and Stranger's Wrath: animals go to war Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Falcon Age and Stranger's Wrath: animals go to war The thing with feathers. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 19 Apr 2019 4 comments Magician, writer, historian and actor: Ricky Jay, lately gone and much missed, once wrote a book titled Cards as Weapons. The book was as good as its word. Jay was famous for, amongst other things, being able to throw playing cards with such force and accuracy that they could pierce the pachydermous hide of "her majesty the watermelon". I have seen the book but never read it. It is a glossy paperback affair that goes, as many Jay books go, for silly money on Amazon. The reason I mention it is because cards are weapons. They can be weapons. Lots of things can be weapons. In Falcon Age, which I have been playing this week, your pet falcon is a weapon. Weapon is probably not quite the right word, and pet is very definitely the wrong word, because in this lovingly imagined culture, by far the best element of this wonderful game, falcons are revered. They are not pets, and they are not quite tools. They are equals. It is a privilege, you come to feel, to have one to hand. This fundamental respect for the bird, this desire to do right by it despite the fact you can unlock a doodad that allows it to juggle, stops your falcon from ever becoming a mere weapon, or worse, a button press with a cooldown. Falcon Age is a compact open-world affair in which you stick it to awful robotic colonialist/industrialists one act of sabotage and rebellion at a time. You head out with a neat whip-baton thing in one hand and your bird on your other, and you send the bird to attack things, collect things, yank things about and hold them up while you give them a shoeing. It's transporting: just having the bird there on your fist makes you think about it on a very emotional level. Pulling spikes out of it after a fight makes you want to do better next time. Seeing it hungry makes you want to learn the rudiments of the cooking system. This is a game about nurturing, about a culture in which nurturing is at the centre of things. I'm still early on in Falcon Age, but it's already reminding me of Stranger's Wrath, another wonderful game with a brilliant, timely, timeless message. And another game in which you run into battle with animals as your weapons. Nothing quite as stately and noble as a falcon for Oddworld. Instead, you have a gaggle of critters and hamsters and gerbils and spiders and bats sat on the end of your crossbow. They all have various effects - the spider wraps people in webbing, if I remember correctly, and a late-game thingy draws enemies together before blowing them apart - but they're also just a joy to hang out with, a characterful piece of business that adds to the overall lovability of the game and doesn't even leave you with any residual guilt - because these guys so clearly love their weaponised lot. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 14 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store