Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The game is fun, but it had the potential to be amazing, and fell short. Originally I said to wait before buying, but the bugs have been ironed out, and now it's a good time, specially at the discounted prices.
Things to know:
- Requires Games For Windows Live (GFWL) account
- Steam installation and account required
- No base building (departs from traditional RTS)
=== SUMMARY ===
I just realized the review has gotten pretty long as I've added other information, so I wanted to write something for those people who want a quick overview:
If you don't mind few units, Steam, Games For Windows Live and lack of base building, you will enjoy the game a lot. The loot/items, unique characters, combat right from the start, persistent troops throughout the single player campaign, and an engaging and different 4 races make this game a great departure from traditional RTS. All wrapped up with great graphics, sound and animation to boot. The single player campaign does become very very repetitive after mission 30 or so. (there are probably 80 plus missions - I'm on 75 and counting)=== THE BAD STUFF ===
- Steam (more details below)
- You need to be connected to the internet to play the single player campaign.
- You need to be logged in to Windows Live to play the game... ugh...
- [[EDIT February 27: While the game crashed quite a bit when I first got it, it has been very stable with the last 2 patches, improving things dramatically. I only have 1 BSOD right after a February 23 major patch. So it looks like the crashing issues have been ironed out. But it was a serious issue at first]]
- Single player campaign ONLY for marines... This is just plainly a bad decision. There are 4 fun and distinct races, with multiple heroes each, and they just do 1 (albeit quite long) campaign with only 1 faction, involving just 1 hero. Very disappointed. I hope they add more campaigns for cheap, like 9.99 for a long campaign for the Eldar or Tyranids.
- Can't restart a mission. Got distracted and lost your units? Too bad, you can't restart it to get that reward you wanted. The game goes on even if you fail, which means you have to always be careful of what you're doing.
- [[Edit: My wireless internet connection dropped while I was playing, and the game didn't stopped, just a little pop-up came up for a second letting me know the connection to GFWL was dropped - this is just a sigh of relief, as I didn't really know what would happen]]
== Steam (why I don't like it) ==
1. No resale value. Period. The software is attached to your steam account upon installation, and you cannot transfer the software or your steam account per the agreement you need to accept. (Kills the second game market - also a word of warning: Do not buy this game used - if someone is selling you one, it either won't work, or it's somehow a cracked version.)
2. You have to log in to Steam to play the game. (offline mode is there but pointless for the game, since you need to log in to windows live anyhow, still needs to run steam though, even in offline mode).
3. SLOW. Opening a game takes forever, since it first has to load up steam, then it needs to connect to steam online, then it starts launching the game. (At least 5 times as long as non-steam games.)
4. You can't play your games if the server is busy (unless you do the walk around every boot up to set it to offline mode). This was a most unpleasant surprise, I did not know Steam would actually go that far, and honestly I cannot think of a worse thing, not even DRM is that annoying. I click on my game, then after about 30 seconds trying to connect to steam, it just tells you something like: "Our servers are busy, try again later"... I could go on and on about how dumb this decision is, but I digress. How hard can it be for them to do implement the logic: "If server is busy, launch the game in offline mode". Note, this wasn't for a minute, I couldn't play it for about half an hour of trying to connect to their servers. Also, if there is a patch, you cannot run your game. My internet connection is not blazing fast so a 150MB patch also leaves you without playing until that's done.... This is unacceptable, period. It is a single player game installed in my local computer, I don't want your server to tell me when I can play it or not.
Note: Steam is not securom or a rootkit or malware like some reviewers are suggesting. It's just an extra software layer, some people love it (you can buy games online, it keeps track of your friends, so you can see who is online and play with them, etc. So there is stuff to like about Steam.
=== THE GOOD STUFF ===
- Co-op single player campaign. You can progress through the campaign online with a friend.
- Graphics are really good, animation is great.
- Loot. (there are white, green and purple 'drops' to powerup the crews from the campaign. So you can customize your characters with new weapons.
- Leveling. You level up both in the single player and the multiplayer games. In the campaign you even get to enhance your stats by spreading those points around. In multiplayer it just increases your attributes, making a veteran squad much more powerful than a new one.
- Tactics are all about combat. (Even though I like base building, it was nice to depart from it - more info below).
- Smaller number of units - (you cannot just outnumber your opponent to victory, you need to plan and use your units accordingly)
- 3 levels of cover (standing behind rocks makes you harder to hit/damage at a maximum level, while standing behind say, a fence gives you only a medium level of cover protection.
- Destructible environment
- The 4 races play very differently, making the game more unique.
- Even though I am disappointed the campaign is only for the Marines, I have to commend the developers, because it's actually a long campaign. I haven't finished it yet, and played through at least 35 missions, if not more. Granted you have the option of finishing it sooner, but I am doing all the optional missions too.
=== NO BASE BUILDING ===
Since these 3 items are new for RTS games, I wanted to expand on Relic's implementation as far as the single player campaign goes:
- I have come to really, really enjoy not having a base. It works superbly along with the small number of units. In typical RTS I found myself building a well defended base, while "teching" so I could unload lots of powerful units and overwhelm the enemy. So basically, it took a while to complete a mission, and most of the time was spent building defenses and teching up, while the actual battle took very little, since the enemy was outmatched. In this game, you start fighting right away.
=== SMALL NUMBER OF UNITS ===
Most of the time you control 4 squads (in single player, multiplayer is 100 units per race, which depending on the unit type can be 12-15 squads)
What I like about it:
- You learn to care more about your units. (you cannot afford to lose squads in an important battle) You get to experience each squad's personality through their leader, and they are always with you - they are with you through the entire campaign.
- War tactics become most important. Using cover wisely, using the special items wisely (like a grenade to quickly clear units inside a structure)
- And what I like the most: I know my squads 1 - 4 hot keyed, so I can call upon each squad when I need them. I am not managing 100 units where I just select all and click attack - in order to be successful, you need to plan out your attack, heal your quads when needed, and basically be able to quickly call upon any squad when the need arises. (My sniper squad is being attacked by stronger melee units, I need to quickly hit the hot key of my jump squad to jump there and save them)
=== LEVELING ===
Commenting only on the single player campaign.
Do I want my hero to be melee based, or do I want him to be a range damage type? (through the levels and experience points you can choose a path). Do I want my all purpose squad to be stronger in melee? Or do I want to make it into a range squad? Do I want my sniper team for this mission, or should I go with my melee team?
=== BOSS FIGHTS ===
They are fun, and a lot of them really hard. They can quickly wipe out your squad if you are not careful. They drop powerful items some times, which you can then use to bolster your squad. I think they did this very well, since bosses have special abilities, all the boss fights (so far) have been different from each other.
=== LOOT ===
I like having to make decisions as to how to equip the squad, which squad should get which powerups, which armor is better suited for x, y or z. However, it also suffers the same problems of most loot systems:
- An item will drop that I can't use for 2 more levels (which could take about 4 missions to do at the latter stages).
- Right now I have 6 extra pretty good armor drops level 6-9 green drops (sit unused, or switched in for some missions). While my commander has a level 0 gun, and a level 4 sword (there just haven't been good weapon drops for me). My supression squad meanwhile has like 4-5 great guns to choose from. Basically, it is what it is with random drops. I just wish my hero had better weapons at this point, my sniper team is also pretty weak in the weapons department, as is my all-purpose squad.
- The reward items for completing missions stink at first (white items, and the random drops from the mission are better). In the latter stages the reward items become very powerful. On a side note, a lot of blue drops seem worse than green drops...
- One annoyance is changing the...Read more›

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II transports players into Games Workshop's vast Warhammer 40,000 universe, where an intergalactic war between ancient races has raged on for countless millennia. Featuring vicious front-line combat, destructible environments, a fully cooperative multiplayer mode, four unique playable races and an epic single-player campaign, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II delivers the ultimate sci-fi fantasy Real-Time Strategy (RTS) experience.
The Story Continues It is the distant future and the Imperium of Man has spread across the entire galaxy. But our days of expansion are long past. Once, when the Emperor of Man led us in battle, we were unstoppable, but no longer. The Emperor has withdrawn to Earth to rule from his Golden Throne, leaving us to fight a thousand wars of attrition in his name where our defenders die by the billions. We have little hope for support from Earth and we are losing the battle for human survival. Our only chance lies with the Space Marines, genetically modified warriors of superhuman ability and the pinnacle of human potential. But the Space Marines are few, the galaxy is large and our enemies are countless. The situation is most dire in Sub-Sector Aurelia. It is from this cluster of worlds on the very edge of the Imperium that came the Blood Ravens, a chapter of the Emperor's own Space Marines. Now savage aliens seek to overrun the sector, and break the Blood Ravens once and for all. Captain Davian Thule and a handful of Space Marines lead the raw recruits defending these worlds. Yet, another Space Marine prepares to join this desperate battle, a newly promoted Commander, ready to lead in our darkest hour. You are this Space Marine.

Playable Factions

Key Game Features:

Simplified Entry Point - Whether you're new to the genre or a seasoned veteran, Dawn of War II gets you into the action quickly and easily. Learn the game at your own pace and get ready to save the galaxy.
Brutal Frontline Action & Tactics - Get straight into the action and experience intense melee & devastating ranged combat. Use vicious melee sync-kills to obliterate your enemies. Outsmart your opponents - using dynamic and destructible environments to suppress, flank and destroy your foes.
Epic Single Player Campaign - Command an elite strike force, developing the skills and abilities of your squads and commander as you progress through the game.
Persistent Long-Term Goals - Customize your Space Marines with persistent leveling and unlockable special abilities. Equip them with the hundreds of unique weapons and items you earn through mission rewards and battlefield drops.
Co-Op Multiplayer - Play through the entire single player campaign co-operatively with a friend, at any point in the game, anytime.
Next Generation RTS Engine - Utilizing Relic's proprietary Essence Engine 2.0 to deliver cinematic visuals, detailed graphics & special effects.
Gameplay Dawn of War II is split between campaign-based gameplay playable as a Space Marine, supporting singleplayer and co-op action, and skirmish gameplay in which players can play as any of the four playable factions in singleplayer or multiplayer battles. In the case of these multiplayer conflicts, gameplay and matchmaking is supported via the Games for Windows LIVE gaming service. In addition, unlike previous Dawn of War games or expansions, Dawn of War II features an increased and more realistic acknowledgment of the importance of cover. To that end players will notice that some environments in-game are now fully or partly destructible by certain units in their arsenal, adding to the battlefield carnage and the need for players to plan their strategy and choose their playable units and battlefields wisely.


System Requirements:

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Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)From the makers of the ever popular HALF LIFE, here is a nice commando shoot-em-up role-playing game. People who have played HALF LIFE will find the gameplay similar insofar as weapons control / toggling & movement. This is a good thing as I always found HL to be one of the most straightforward games in that regard.
Instead of Marine Recon & aliens, in this game you are matched up against an array of terrorists. You are also not alone this time around; each scenario gives you the chance to be on an anti-terrorism bomb squad or hostage rescue team.
You get a set amount of $$ for each encounter, depending on how well you do. This money serves as the funding for your unit, and with it you can acquire team members, weapons and equipment. The better you perform, the better personnel & toys you're able to buy.
A nice feature of the game is that you're also able to custom make your own game. Want to have a virtual army of commandos go up against an army of terrorists? No problem! Want to be a terrorist instead of one of the good guys? No problem! Just be careful: if you get "caught" by yourself in one of these scenarios you will be taken out like a torch in a tropical storm.
While the game is fun, it does get a bit redundant after awhile. There are two basic missions: find and defuse a bomb (or kill the terrorists before they can plant it) or rescue hostages (or kill all the terrorists). While the maps change, your primary missions do not. People expecting an endless montage of missions similar to HALF LIFE might be disappointed.
Also, I do have a few minor critiques of the game. For one, your team dresses differently. Some dress like Navy SEALS while others are European anti-terrorism personnel. Not only is this unrealistic, but it's also distracting. Sometimes you can't tell your own men from the terrorists.
Secondly, the voices are the same whether you play a terrorist or a commando on the custom game. Somehow I can't imagine a terrorist saying "Yes Sir" or "Lead the way, sir" through a radio. Perhaps I'm being overly-picky here.
The single best feature of the game is what is known as DELETED SCENES. I didn't know what it was at first and almost didn't download it. I'm glad I did! It is a separate set of 10 or so missions. These are much closer to the HALF LIFE feel as you have a LOT of hit-points and you also work alone (for the most part) in the majority of the scenarios. These missions are very cool, not redundant & they're worth the price of this game all by themselves!
All in all this is worth picking up if you like role-playing shoot-em-ups. While it can't really compare to HL (except for DELETED SCENES) it's still worth picking up. For beginners I would recommend starting out with sniper rifles as you can pick off terrorists from afar without getting shot-up yourself. The range of the remainder of the weapons leave you very exposed to incoming bullets.

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COUNTER-STRIKE is the #1 online action game in the world. After a one-year public Beta, Counter-Strike was commercially released in Fall 2000. It has gone on to sell over 1.5 million copies worldwide, been named Game of the Year by several gaming publications, and is the headliner at competitive gaming tournaments around the world.
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero advances this award-winning series by introducing objective based single-player action, the official CS bot, and special enhancements for online play. CS:CZ is a tactical action game that challenges you to compete with and against cunning computerized opponents in a Tour of Duty across the globe.
As a squad leader in an elite counter-terrorist operative, use new intel and weapon skills to complete an incredible collection of single-player missions. Lead your team in increasingly challenging scenarios -- from harsh jungle environments to severe arctic terrains, unforgiving deserts to dangerous international city streets. Rescue hostages. Escort VIPs to safety. Locate and defuse bombs. A collection of entirely new objectives challenge your ability to think quickly and strategically.
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero introduces new game technologies including highly-detailed locations; atmospheric enhancements, such as snow and rain; and more dynamic special effects -- taking the #1 online action game into new territory. Also, play your favorite classic CS maps, now visually upgraded.
Condition Zero contains never-before-seen elements to the game series, such as the official CS bot, which allows for both offline and online multiplayer simulations. In addition, CS:CZ includes an arsenal of advanced weaponry and equipment, including upgraded firepower, bulletproof riot shields, and more.
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a co-production by Valve and Turtle Rock Studios. In the collaborative spirit of CS, Valve and Turtle Rock have tapped the creative talents of mapmakers and technology designers in the CS community. And several of the tools and technologies created in the making of CS:CZ will be released to the MOD community after launch.

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Cities XL 2011 Review

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(More customer reviews)*This is from my review of the downloadable version*
* I haven't encountered any crashing bugs so far. I went through the forums and looked at what some are having trouble with. So I'm reviewing and informing at the same time.
*** Just a Reminder*** If you have the original Cities XL ('09) you can get CXL '11 for half the price. All you need is your serial number. Go to Citiesxl.com. ***
**Update** There is a patch now available**So after a year since CXL was released by Monte Cristo, Focus Interactive releases Cities XL 2011. They promised some changes and a transit system complete with buses and trains (subway and elevated). The next generation city simulator gets a makeover with these much needed features. I liked CXL and was annoyed that Monte Cristo went bankrupt before it could implement its new ideas ie. G.E.M.'s Transit expansion, and a host of others. When Focus Interactive took over CXL, it seemed like a breath of fresh air and a new chapter for the city building genre.
Unfortunately, some (and for others, many) bugs from the original CXL and some new ones have marred it to the point where the forums are lit up by frustrated people. Focus has been quiet although they did fix a bug for steam users. I recently saw a post that Focus has no patches in place because they are working on releasing CXL '11 for other languages. It could be a while before we get any type of patch. They are also very quiet concerning CXL '11 and it's future. From my point of view, it seems like they are going to crunch numbers and see if it's viable to continue. Hopefully, they will. There has been no attempt at creating a city-building game after Simcity Societies (not including CXL). Simcity Societies was dreadful.
If you are familiar with Cities XL, buying the game online has your serial number emailed to you; and online activation. The download was pretty fast but bare in mind, I am using FIOS. Previously, Monte Cristo told me that I can load CXL on as many computers as I like, no limits. Focus doesn't mention it. I heard that Starforce DRM is on it but I didn't see it while going through installation. I've had Starforce before and it usually says, "loading Starforce." If anyone who has this, had seen, it, I'll change this sentence, but like I said, I didn't see it. I went through the files as well. For people who had CXL, you have the opportunity to buy CXL 2011 for half the price if you have your serial number for CXL. If you forgot it or lost it, emailing Focus Interactive Tech support is the way to go..You have to provide your username, password and email you used to sign up CXL.
There is no online aspect of the game. Previously in CXL, you had the planet mode. online mode is completely left out in CXL 2011. You can trade with each of YOUR cities or Don Madoff of Omnicorp, but no one else. It's fairly simple. Like a point and click. You have a "earth" screen that will show where the trades are going but it doesn't show your road network like Simcity 4. In the earth screen, you can also see the available areas to build a city. It doesn't truly represent what you will see when you pick that spot unlike in Simcity 4, you see what land you are getting; including all the physical features. A wishlist here would be when you are searching for an area to create your city, it would be nice to get a feel of what you are getting. You cannot change the land. You can terraform AFTER you pick your spot and name your city. Terraforming is very expensive and a little frustrating. Simcity 4 was much easier when it came to terraforming.
The same premise is back. You can build a city on the CXL "planet," picking a spot with different physical features ie. peninsula, volcano, lakes on a plain, fertile plains, tropical island, and more. Also, keep in mind what type of resources that each "plot" has ie. oil, water, holiday, water, farm. You give your city a name and go through a quick tutorial of where to place your first road, city hall, and early power/garbage zone. The tutorials at the very beginning (before you pick where you want your city) are good enough to give you the know-how of the basics. Again, you cannot terraform the land after you pick it and name it. I found one bug. I chose a peninsula and I was creating my city when I saved and closed it. When I came back to it, all of a sudden, my city became a island with peninsula qualities.
Many people are having problems installing the game, starting it, and playing it. Steam was the worst but I think a patch, fixed that. I haven't had this trouble at all. Also, people have been reporting slow frame rates early in the game. Usually the frame rates decrease when you have a sizable city. This is true. I loaded my city that I exported from CXL and yes, it was slow. Not too terrible though. It was like your large city in Simcity 4. You would think in 2010, almost 2011, the multi-core support and increased framerates for a city-building genre would be there.
The graphics are gorgeous. The people in CXL '11 are just like the original; not very realistic but better than others. There is no comparison concerning graphics between Simcity 4, CXL '11, and Simcity Societies. This one is by far better!
One thing new, you can tax different types of zones. In Industry, you can tax separately; heavy industry, office buildings, high tech etc. In CXL '11 you have industry, commercial, and residential zones. Building have been added as well as packs ie: coastal homes on stilts, Asian style homes, European....
One of the best things done in CXL is the idea of allowing us to create our own bus lines; up to 20 lines. The maps show your worst traffic and how your lines are being utilized. You can;t go crazy or else you will go bankrupt quickly. The best thing is that the bus stops are placed along your roads; they don't take up a tile as in Simcity 4. Perfect, since every bit of real estate is needed. The Metro (train) works the same way as the buses except, the station needs to be placed near a road. you can create many lines depending on the size of your depot (just like the buses; small or large). What is great, concerning the Metro, you can run your lines along side or under your lines placed already. The belief in the CXL universe is that the tracks go under the track already placed. A roundabout was added in the roads section however, it really has no use at this time. Expressways are now highways. One bug that had carried over from the earlier CXL is the way traffic moves. On a multiple lane road, cars in the left lane turn right and cars in the right lane turn left (besides going straight). The traffic lights, again are not animated. These 2 things too me are glowing issues especially since we are in 2010 and this game pushes city building realism. I'm also a realism nut :) The way cars and trucks turn is unnatural. People waiting at the bus stop looks nice, however, when the bus arrives, they mysteriously get out of the bus and get on. The windows on the bus look like the windows on the buildings. I wish we were able to change the physical features of the land we choose to put our city, otherwise, it's very expensive to terraform.
For those looking to buy Cities XL 2011, just be on the lookout concerning the bugs; there seems to be more in this one that the previous one. In the previous Cities Xl, Ive only experienced one lockup but in this one, none. Like I said, I haven't come across the crashing and error messages that others have gotten. Most people reporting the issues have decent systems. Check the forum. You need a decent video card because this one will wake up your video card. But again, the bigger the city, the game lags. Not terrible, but it's noticeable as in Simcity 4. The game was rumored to have multi-core support but it doesn't.
Besides all the bugs being reported, what makes me nervous is the way the developer is very quiet. Contacting them gets a very slow response. Sometimes, it seems like you get a generic response also. For those who remember, Cities XL '09, Monte Cristo was quick to respond and always had their news updated. Even when nothing new was reported, they seem to update their website. When emailing tech support, they responded quickly and seemed more personable. They even took the time to let you know that they've logged your issue and will send it to the development team. In other words, at least they responded. When I couldn't find my serial number from CXL '09, it took more than a few days for Focus Interactive to email me back and even their response was kind of cryptic. You had to read it a few times to realize what they were asking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Focus Interactive. I'm happy that they've added some things to CXL 2011 and cleaned up the resource trade screen. It just would be nice if they kept us, those who bought the game in the loop ie a patch will be coming, updates will be coming soon. It's like pulling teeth! Not good customer service. I feel bad for those who are looking to buy this game or have it on their wish lists but are afraid to take a chance because they might feel, "what if I get those bugs and/or crashes."
All and all, what is surprising is the amount of bugs being reported. If you don't experience the bugs, you will enjoy this game. It really requires you to thin what type of city you want to build, where, and how big. You have to keep an eye on your finances. In Simcity 4, it was easy to zone and expand quickly without any problems. In CXL '11, you can't expand quickly. When things become available, sometimes it's best not to immediately place them because it will put you in the red quickly. The passage of time in CXL '11 is by cycle, not month/day/year like in Simcity. I happen to like CXL way of passage of time. By default, the...Read more›

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With Cities XL 2011, build and develop gigantic cities on realistic 3D maps, thanks to an incredible collection counting more than 700 buildings and unique structures. You are the virtual mayor and as such, you will need to find the right balance between economic development for your city, public transportation, housing, social services, leisure activities and even special events in town. Realism has been pushed a little bit deeper with larger cities, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before!

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Trainz Simulator 2010: Engineers Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased Trainz 2010 in August. I have enjoyed the game very much, but I'll leave it to someone else to review the actual game. My purpose for this review is to warn purchasers that this is not the N3V/Auran version of the game as suggested by Amazon above. It is actually third-party software distributed by "Steam/Valve". This is significant, because I have learned that it is not possible to update this version of the game with the latest patches put out by the original game developer (Auran).
The version I downloaded from Amazon was Build #43361. Auran has recently issued patches to update the game to Build 43434 and now Build 44088, to address various problems and bugs that have been identified within the game. Build 43361 was left out of these update patches, and I have learned from the Trainz community that Auran and Steam don't seem to cooperate together when it comes to authorizing updates, so this version of the game may never be able to be updated beyond it's current build.
Although I enjoy the game, I'm disappointed that I will miss out on future improvements and fixes made to the game. Therefore, I recommend purchasing the game directly from Auran instead.

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ArcaniA: Gothic 4 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Several years ago I wrote my first review of a pc game here on Amazon. It was a review of Gothic 3, which I declared to be the worst game I had ever played. I now have to retract that claim. Gothic 3 may have been so buggy it was nigh on unplayable, but at least there was a somewhat enjoyable game buried under all those bugs. This game, however, is not enjoyable in any way. There is no chance that future bug fixes will ever make this a decent game. Unlike my experience with Gothic 3, this time around I wasn't expecting anything great. I would have settled for mediocre. I thought surely it couldn't be worse than Gothic 3. I was wrong. There are many, many reasons why this is not only unworthy to carry the name "Gothic," but also why it is a terrible game in its own right. Here is a very brief list.
1. First and foremost, it is the most linear RPG I have ever played. Even admittedly linear RPGs like KOTOR at least let you select the order in which you complete some of the areas. This game is a straight line, and there is nothing you can do that will change anything that happens in the game world. There is literally not a single choice your character can make that has any noticeable effect on the game world. Every time you play the game everything will happen exactly the same way. I have never seen a game with less replay value. Gone are the guilds/factions from previous Gothic games. Gone is any actual role playing element in the game. You can't even attack any NPCs for crying out loud! If you blatantly steal their belongings from right under their noses, they don't even care. You literally have no effect on the world outside of the narrow, pre-scripted route the game designers wrote for you. You move from one little enclosed area to the next, and are prevented from moving on to the next area until you complete the five or six quests in the current area, after which there is no reason to ever go back to earlier areas.
2. There is no exploration allowed in this game. The main selling point of Gothic, at least in my opinion, was the combination of the open-ended RPG elements and the ability to explore the huge game world and find new things each time you played. This game literally punishes you for exploring. They took away the ability to climb, and the developers placed slopes, rocks, and cliffs all along the paths across the island to prevent you from leaving the narrow strip of land bordering the paths. The world looks large, but you're only actually allowed to use a small portion of it. If you try to go anywhere off the paths that has the slightest bit of slope (keep in mind that this entire game takes place on a mountainous island) you lose control (as in you literally have no control over him) of your character while he skates along the ground being pulled back and forth by some invisible force until he gets back to level ground. His feet don't move during this odd phenomenon (which happens quite frequently), and he looks like he's ice skating. He constantly gets stuck while doing this, and you have to load a previous save. If you try to explore somewhere near water, you just die (literally, you fall down dead).And if, by some miracle, you actually manage to get somewhere off the beaten path and find a cave, you can't get in it, because they're locked and you can't get in them until the point in the game the developers decided it would be appropriate for you to be able to go in them. The game is filled with quest-specific areas that you can't enter until you get the right quest, so exploration is a complete waste of time. Did I mention the invisible walls they placed everywhere? There are tons of them. They really, really don't want you to go off of their scripted path.
3. The leveling system is so dumbed down it is almost non-existent. Gone is your ability to place your skill points into strength, dexterity, etc. All you get to do is use their new skill "tree," though it's more like eight straight lines than a tree. Nothing branches into new options. You simply get a choice of putting points into your power attack, flurry attack, precision, bow skill, sneaking, a fire spell, an ice spell, or shock spell. That's right, the game has a grand total of three learnable spells. They just get a little better every time you put more points into them. None of the combat skills are even necessary, since the combat in the game is so worthless that you can defeat any enemy right from the start. Which brings me to the next point.
4. It is beyond easy. There are four difficulty settings. Easy, normal, hard , and Gothic. Yes, that's right. Their game is so dumbed down from the previous Gothic games that they called their extreme difficulty setting the "Gothic" setting. Even on the Gothic setting it is way, way too easy. They put in this new roll move, and you're expected to just roll all around during combat. The problem with this (besides looking stupid) is that it's very overpowered. You just roll out of the way every time the enemy is going to hit you (which you can see in advance because for some reason they exude red or green smoke when they're about to hit you), and you never take any damage. All you do the whole game is attack a few times, roll away, attack a few times, roll away, etc. It's extremely boring and repetitive. And once you get a shock spell, it gets even easier. Then you just shoot a spell at them and it stuns them for a few seconds, during which you hit them a few times, then you cast the spell again and repeat. By that point you don't even need the overpowered roll anymore. I only died in combat three times during the entire game. On the hardest difficulty setting. Without ever drinking a potion, using a shield, or buying a single thing from the various vendors during the entire game. There was simply no need. It doesn't even get any harder as the game goes on, because the enemies you fight are scaled to your ability. The enemies themselves aren't scaled, but they only place enemies of certain levels in each area. Since the game is so linear that they know exactly what level you'll be in each area, the difficulty stays the same during the whole game because the enemies are always the same level as yourself, though the increase in enemies with ranged attacks later in the game would probably make it slightly more difficult if you were playing as a straight melee fighter. The ridiculously stupid AI doesn't help either. They always do their power attacks, which take about four or five seconds to charge up. They attack wherever you were when they started charging their attack, and by the time they actually get around to attacking that spot, you're standing behind them hitting them in the back. If I'm making it sound like you just breeze through, you don't. You never die, but it still takes forever to defeat everything. You just click and click and click and click and click...
5. The NPCs are atrocious. There are actually only a few different NPC designs, but each one has about thirty clones dressed in different clothes and with different hair spread throughout the game. On top of that, the voice acting and dialogue are both terrible. The scripted dialogue is insultingly stupid, and most of the very little dialogue in the game is just filler. And when they try to move the plot (which is an extremely blatant rip-off of the Théoden storyline in Peter Jackson's version of the Lord of the Rings) along, it's like reading a badly scripted soap opera. I'm pretty sure it was written either by or for Jr. High students who had just watched The Two Towers. The voice acting for these dialogue lines is mostly bad. Some are decent, but many are so bad it's painful. The voices range from understandably uninterested to outrageously hammy, and all of it is set to some of the worst lip syncing I've seen since the 90s. On top of that, the game goes into a cutscene every time you talk to someone. Every single time. Apparently they can't talk anywhere but the exact spot the conversation was scripted to take place in, so every time you try to talk to someone it always goes to a cutscene of you talking at that scripted spot, teleporting you there to do it. It becomes even more ridiculous than usual when you have a conversation involving more than one NPC, because it has to shift to a new cutscene for each character's line.
6. It has a lot of technical issues. Not nearly as many as Gothic 3, but enough to be really, really annoying. To start with, it lags. A lot. I have a pretty nice gaming pc, and can play any other game on the highest settings, but I can't even play this one on low without getting lag. They acknowledged that the game doesn't perform well, and released a hotfix to improve performance, but that still didn't fix it. It's not too bad in most places, but in any cities it slows to a crawl and borders on unplayable. The slight bit of lag you get even in outdoor areas makes any ranged weapons useless, as you can't aim well enough because of the lag. Thankfully their hit detection is terrible for spells, so as long as you get your spell in the general vicinity of an enemy it will hit it. Unfortunately the same goes for enemies attacking you. There are lots of annoying little gameplay issues like your screen turning red when you get down to half your health (is that really necessary? Couldn't it be like other games and only do it when you're just down to a few hitpoints instead of half your heath?), the camera you can't control that likes to zoom way out during combat so you can't see what you're doing, the huge red exclamation points that appear over anyone that is related to or can give you a quest, the useless map, the appalling lockpicking minigame (which consists of clicking at the right time while watching a slideshow of lock...Read more›

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Arcania is a Fantasy Action game set in a rich world that invites the player to explore all of its innumerable attractions and details. Different climate zones, abundant flora and fauna, subterranean vaults, and cities and castles with unique architecture await the adventurous player. Clouds darken the skies, weather effects such as wind and heavy rain influence the game world which remains endlessly fascinating with its amazing graphics, day and night cycles, and a stunning display of light and shadow. Wonderfully atmospheric music and top-of-the-line sound effects create a truly immersive playing environment. A multitude of entertaining and challenging quests, challenging combat, mysterious NPC characters and a sophisticated plot guarantee many hours of highly entertaining gameplay.

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Magicka Review

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(More customer reviews)This game is worth $9.99. It's sort of like Diablo/Nox/Torchlight, but with a combinatorial magic system.
I just spent the past five hours playing this game through single-player with my friend and we could not stop laughing at how ridiculous this game is (while having tons of fun!). It does not take itself seriously at all. A hilarious storyline with multiple references to movies, games, and pop culture that grows more and more absurd as the game progresses.
There's no leveling in the single player mode and no real inventory system. You do get different wands/staffs and swords in the game. They have their own properties that help supplement the magic system mentioned below. If you're playing co-op and you die, you drop all of your equipment. Your friends can revive you with a spell, but they probably won't until they take your nice shiny equipment!
The magic system is beautifully done. You're given eight selectable elements (fire, water, cold, arcane, earth, lightning, shield, life) that can combine with each other, unless they're opposite of each other -- they cancel each other out. You're able to combine up to six of any element to create a spell (some element combos create new elements!) and they all have various forms. You get a different form from casting it on yourself, your sword, on an area, or just aiming it for a ranged attack. This leads to a lot of different combinations and possibilities with the magic system.
It also leads to a lot of WHOOPS I JUST KILLED MYSELF BY SUMMONING A FIREY METEOR BUT I JUST WANTED TO HEAL MYSELF moments. This is awesome when it is your friend who does this. It is also awesome to freeze your friend and kill him because he just picked up that wicked staff that deflects ranged attacks. There will be a lot of random hilarious moments because of the wacky magic system.
I did experience some bugs in playing this game. I received a few crash to desktops when I started the game, but none while playing through the single-player mode. We also experienced some weird parts like being able to skip several sections of a level because we accidentally blew each other up onto other areas. I'm not sure if that was intended by the developers. It looks like the developers are patching every day currently, but I haven't touched online multiplayer yet so I'm assuming that's where most of the bugs exist.

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Empire: Total War Review

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(More customer reviews)(For the most recent comments see the updates)
Let me begin by pointing out that I am a HUGE fan of the Total War series. I started with Rome, continued with the Barbarian Invasion, segueyed into Medieval II and the subsequent Kingdoms expansion. Needless to say, I was eagerly anticipating this game. I even bought a top of the line Mach V rig with all the bells and whistles and a 30in monitor to take in the beauty of it all. My machine has no problem handing the graphics settings on Ultra and I can tell you that visually, this game has the potential to be stunning (provided your computer is up to the task).
Now the negative. The game comes with Steam software which introduces its own complications to the process of enjoying ones game. Granted that the auto-patching feature is pretty sweet, but almost everything else about this system is not (See other reviews here for more details). But thats not even the meat of my beef.
Creative Assembly (CA) released this much anticipated game KNOWING that it was a beta version. After reading countless posts on various message boards, it is more than apparent that this game was not ready for release but for some reason they went ahead with it anyway. This in effect made everyone who bought it an unwitting beta tester (with all the frustrations and none of the salary). As I see it, Creative Assembly has spent all of its credibility capital from the prior installments on this piss-poor shell of a game. Thats not fair, it is 90% of a game but that missing 10% makes it unplayable (frequent crashes to desktop, white screens of death, and corrupted save files are the major issues with a few minor issues sprinkled in for good measure).
This will be the last time I purchase a game from Creative Assembly within the first six months of launch and I would advise others to do the same. Not to send a message to CA (though they deserve a swift kick to the junk for this scam), but to save yourself the money and the frustration.
5/21/09 UPDATE: Two and a half months after release, CA is still frantically attempting to patch this game to make it playable. However with every step forward, it seems like they are taking two steps back. The Battlefield AI has gone from acceptably bad to unacceptably bad. Lingering issues related to crashes still persist though the White screen of death and save corruptions seem to have been resolved. The economy system has been tweaked to make the game more difficult, some prefer the change, some do not. Modders are doing their best to put a polish on this game but some fundamentals still remain broken. My original advice to wait for fixes before purchasing still stands, this game is still in post-market Beta testing but should be fun once its completed (probably 3 months from now).
7/01/09 UPDATE: A week after the 1.3 patch, it is time for an update. Personally, the game works much better now than before. This is subjective since some people have had new CTD issues with the latest patch that were not there before. CA released a hotfix tonight to address the CTDs introduced with their latest patch. While the game is generally more fun and playable now, there are still some elements of the game that will likely require an expansion pack-sized update to address (these issues include siege battles being totally broken and unrealistic still, no cross-theater naval invasions, crap diplomacy, and Campaign AI that never retreats EVER even when outnumbered 10 to 1, just to name a few). Adding to my concern is that patch 1.4 will seek to introduce a multi-player campaign (which, if you were paying attention, was supposed to come with the game 4 months ago). That's like building a house on a unfinished foundation, bound for more Failure. Additionally, CA has decided to tweak naval units so that the biggest/tallest ships with the biggest guns and best crews will have a shorter range, lower accuracy, and slower reload times than the smallest/shortest ships with the smallest guns, despite the overwhelmingly negative response from the hardcore community that would like at least some adherence to the laws of physics. CA hears but does not listen to its most dedicated fans.
Despite all of this (which is really just most of the negative points), If you cannot wait any longer, I think its worth the current price.
If I had to rate this game again, I would give it 4 stars for fun, and three stars overall. Too bad it took four months to achieve mediocrity. Oh well, new engine, new problems, I bet future installments will have much smoother releases. Still, I advocate hesitation when it comes to purchasing future CA/SEGA collaborations.
My next update will come a week after the release of patch 1.4.

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Call the shots in epic battles all over the world and expand your realm of influence throughout the tumultuous eighteenth century with Empire: Total War for your PC. Set against the bold intellectual landscape of the Enlightenment, this extension of the Total War franchise brings you out of the middle ages and into a realm where guns, gunpowder, and naval warfare have a dramatic influence on the face of combat.
Historic Factions, Expanded Horizons, and an Updated Campaign Map Total War's detailed, turn-based battle system has received some serious upgrades that will have an impact on both seasoned commanders and newly minted combatants. The UI has been streamlined, and the systems for handling trade and diplomacy have been updated. You have improved advisors at your disposal, and realistic espionage techniques can be carried out using agents.
Empire puts a variety of major political factions into your hands, including France, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, the United Provinces in northern Europe, Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia. Detailed strategic elements come into play, whether you're fighting in the heart of Europe, warding off Mamluk horsemen in the middle east, or working to capture the wealth of India. Beyond all this, for the first time in Total War history, the continent of North America is an open field of play that portrays the unique strategic problems encountered by the founding fathers during the revolutionary war.
Dynamic 3D Naval Battles and Forces of Nature Total War's signature 3D battle scenes are paired with a new graphics engine and improved technology, allowing war and conquest to take on an even more realistic feel. Advanced landscape and flora systems add both realism and depth to the world stage, while dynamic weather consistently threatens to throw a wrench in your attack plans.
Whether you're coordinating platoon firing or supporting a defensive square formation, the musket and the cannon take center stage as newly developed implements of war. And they're not just for use on land. Real-time naval battle set on dramatic seascapes help shape the balance of power and determine the scope of your Empire, and they're rendered in the same impressive 3D as battles on land. You may find yourself directing a vast fleet through intricate maneuvers, controlling the helm of a single tall ship, or grappling to the enemy's boat and dictating the course of hand-to-hand combat on deck.
New Multiplayer Action Additional updates to the Total War model include a multiplayer component that provides player rankings for competitive commanders, leagues and ladders, and a selection of entirely new modes of game play.

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Sid Meier's Civilization V Review

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(More customer reviews)Just to give this review some perspective, I've been playing the various iterations of Civ for a very, very long time. I remember playing the original like it was yesterday. Beavis and Butthead on the TV, Nirvana on the radio, and me on my Packard Bell. I spent hours in my mom's basement, wasting away from rickets while the normal kids were soaking up the sunlight, going out on dates, playing sports, and leading generally normal, productive lives. Civ 1 really messed up my life...but in a completely awesome way.
I mean, I couldn't get enough. Doubly so with Civ 2. The things you could do with that game. It had...personality. I remember little stuff, like the different architectural styles, that gave the game such an immersive quality. I remember how every time I played, the world had its own story, and how things would seem to take on a life of their own. The endless war with the Mongols, my alliance with the Germans, butting heads with Caesar. I learned more about history there than I ever did in school. It was fantastic. I didn't even play to win most of the time. I was a fifteen year-old kid in a sandbox.
I got older, and Civ grew with me. I spend endless hours on 3 and 4, balancing game commitments and my real life. When Civ 5 was announced, I didn't hesitate. I bought it immediately.
In short, it didn't take me long before I realized that this new Civ was nothing like the Civ of old. I've never played Revolutions, but I've heard there is a lot of overlap. I don't know. What I do know is that this game is boring. Really, really boring. Never have I clicked the "next turn" button like I have here. Maybe it's because it takes forever to build anything...so long, in fact, that it's easier just to hoard gold and buy things. Maybe it's because expansion and/or conquest isn't really encouraged. The seemingly massive happiness hit just makes it unreasonable. So I sit there, just watching the world slowly go by.
And how slow it is...the loading screen between turns has become my nemesis. I've turned the "superb" graphics down to their lowest setting, just to speed things up, and to keep things from jumping from one side of the world to the other every time I scroll my mouse. Just to be clear, I have a computer that can run all the latest shooters, yet cannot run a turn-based strategy game aimed at a mass audience.
The AI is dumb and unfinished. If my dog had fingers, he could win on prince at least. I don't consider myself the smartest strategist, but I have never lost a war in Civ 5. Ever. I started on warlord, then prince, then king. Onward and upward I went, until I quickly realized that the AI wasn't getting smarter. It was just cheating. This was acceptable 15 years ago, not now.
Why is Gandhi determined to kill me? After 2000 years of good relations, he wants to kill me. Not a biggie, mind you, because all he does is park archers next to my swordsmen, where I can promptly slaughter them. After I defeat his army (without taking any cities), he offers me all of his resources, all of his gold, and all of his cities (except for his capital, of course). He just gives up. I take him up on his offer, because I am obviously smarter than him. But that means my happiness tanks, my production stops, and my steady income stream is now in the red. Whatever. I still have 3 swordsmen and 2 archers. I can conquer the world with that. Screw culture.
Did I mention the music? Man, it's boring. No more period specific soundtrack, tribal or classical. Just the turn-based equivalent of elevator music. I'm sure the graphics are the bees-knees, but with me playing on the lowest graphics setting, I will never know. City-states, which were made out to be a big deal, are not. They ask for stuff, you give it to them (or not). They give you stuff (or not). That is the extent of the city-state strategy. Boring.
Actually, the city-state thing reminds me of a problem I have that extends beyond the poor quality of this game. Professional reviews. Why did every professional game review outlet give Civ 5 high marks. 9/10. A+. Really? Every review I've seen has been the same. "It has hexes!" "It has city-states!" "One unit per tile!" "Ranged combat!" "Beautiful graphics!" I even saw reviews gushing over how cool the opening sequence was (you know, the one you can't skip).
For one, I am tired of seeing the old man in the hut every time I load up. I find it oddly fishy that no "professional" reviewer has brought up the bugginess; the fact that you need an internet connection; the fact that you need Steam; the fact that the AI stinks; etc, etc, etc. Just hexes and city-states. Either they were told to write a good review by the "powers that be," or they spent a total of 3 hours playing before writing their reviews. Either way, I will never trust a professional review source ever again.
I gave this game 2 stars, because I believe it still has the potential to be good. After a few expansions, some mods, a Rhys and Fall, a Fall From Heaven. Yeah, it could be good. I've played around 60 hours, and still see a spark of genius here. But it will take an awful lot of work. Right now, it's like watching paint dry.

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Sid Meier's Civilization V is the fifth offering in the multi-award winning Civilization turn-based PC strategy game series. As with earlier installments in the series, Civilization V features the famous "just one more turn" addictive gameplay that has made it one of the greatest game series of all time. In addition to this it also features improved diplomacy, unprecedented modding tools and functionality, new ranged combat over a hex oriented board rather than squares, an in-game community hub facilitating improved online play and more.

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Fallout New Vegas Review

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(More customer reviews)A little background and disclaimer before we begin: I am a longtime fan of the Fallout series, having played the originals many times. I was one of the doubters, the nay-sayers of Fallout 3. This review is written from the perspective of a role player who places emphasis on quality world building, dialogue and voice acting. If the reader feels that other aspects of a game are more important when determining its quality, perhaps they should take the following with a grain of salt.
As always, my reviews are spoiler free.
GAMEPLAY
For players completely unfamiliar with Fallout 3 or New Vegas, the engine is very close to other games that Bethesda (its creator) has crafted. In a nutshell, this means that after the introductory sequence, the player is placed onto a large, 3D over-world map. The player immediately has the power to go wherever they please, if they can survive. Hundreds of points of interest populate the map, ranging in scope from a little hole in the wall gas station years beyond use, to the ruins of a factory, or even a populated, rebuilt remnant of the Las Vegas Strip.
Combat in this game is primarily focused on projectile weapons, though for this release Obsidian endeavored to make unarmed a viable combat option. They succeeded, by the way; it is a force to be reckoned with. However, most players will likely choose either Guns or Energy Weapons as their primary combat skill. This plays out as a typical 1st or 3rd person shooter (by preference) during combat. Players new to the FPS/RPG hybrid genre will likely complain that their shots are not aligned with the crosshairs, that they seem to fly about uncontrollably. This is intentional! In an RPG, the beginning character has a low combat skill that will improve as he or she gains experience, modeled after reality. If you don't like your weapons skill represented realistically, then use a cheat or pump up the skill as fast as possible. It doesn't need to ruin the experience.
If a player wishes to avoid combat, they can always run, or they can engage in the other primary facet of the role playing game: Talking! Speech is a powerful skill in this game, and can take the place of a primary combat skill for the advanced user. There are many ways to advance quest lines and plots sin violence in New Vegas, though if the player aims to get the most bang for their buck their first time through, they better sling a rifle over their shoulder and prepare to draw some blood.
One of the other alternatives to the standard FPS gameplay is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS). This allows the player to pause combat and assign shots to various targets and body parts. As a side note, unfortunately the eyes and groin did not return as targets from Fallout 2. VATS shots take up action points which slowly regenerate in real time. This system allows the player to fire in VATS, where the action is in a bullet-time like state, and then return to real time. Upon which they can either choose to let their AP regenerate again before firing, or to unload a fresh clip into the raider's face. Most players will choose the latter. Because of the balance issues that such a powerful tool creates, VATS has been significantly nerfed in New Vegas. It still functions normally at ranges of less than about 30 feet, but anywhere beyond that will yield dramatic drops in the players to hit percentage.
If you're familiar with the Fallout 3 engine, you will immediately be comfortable with New Vegas. This has its ups and downs. On the plus side, Obsidian was able to address many qualms that players had with the original engine. For instance, the companion interface is no longer solely dialogue based. When interacting with your companion, you will first see the Companion Wheel. This gives many helpful and oft used options for healing your character, inventory and tactics management, and dialogue initiation. If you prefer, the old dialogue menus are still easily accessible underneath the wheel, but they seem tired and clunky in comparison.
Obsidian also made an absolutely massive improvement in the way that the armor and damage systems work. Though simple, this completely changes much of the gameplay and improves the quality ten-fold. Without going into the mechanics of it all, a character with a very high armor rating, or "Damage Threshold," will not be damaged by a weapon without enough power to punch through the armor. No longer can one attack a giant scorpion's hardened carapace with a piddley 9mm spitball shooter and expect results. This allows power armor to be the power house it was meant to be. When you're wearing it you are a walking tank, not a house of cards.
Another major change concerns ammunition. If a weapon doesn't have enough oomph to get past the target's Damage Threshold (DT), the player has the option of using armor piercing rounds instead of stock ammo. These pierce through a targets armor but do slightly less damage overall. On the other end of the spectrum, hollow point rounds bounce off of stronger armor like petite peas, but punch inch wide holes in a target that isn't properly protected.
More on the negative side, the game's crafting system allows the player to take advantage of all the junk in this post apocalyptic world. You can craft food at a campfire, ammo at a munitions bench and other items at a work bench. This sounds like a very cool idea, but its execution was clumsy and uninteresting. Occasionally I converted ammo from one type to another, or I cooked up a nice wasteland omelet at the fireside, but more often than not the items that I could craft were available for purchase. When faced with the choice of hauling around junk across the desert (which can weigh a lot if you've got enough of it!) or keeping my weightless caps at the ready to purchase what I need, it was an easy choice. The only item that I relentlessly crafted as much as possible was the weapon repair kit. While I purchased as many as I could as well, there were just not enough to go around. The major advantage of the repair kit is that with one or two of them, you can increase the worth of a higher end weapon from around 30 caps at its lowest useable durability to potentially several thousand. This is a great money maker for the frugal traveler. However, even the mighty usefulness of this item wasn't enough to interest the reviewer to spelunk further into the dark reaches of what turned out to be an annoying and fairly useless system.
Finally, in a glorious stroke of brilliance, Obsidian created Hardcore Mode. This mode is separate from the normal difficulty settings of easy, normal, hard and so forth. Instead, this option changes fundamental gameplay aspects to make the game more realistic and challenging. The changes made by activating Hardcore Mode are: Stimpaks and RadAway heal over time instead of instantly. Ammunition has weight. Companions die permanently, they are not knocked out. In order to heal a crippled limb you must use a doctor's bag instead of a stimpak. And last but certainly not least, the player must eat, drink and sleep or suffer serious penalties and death! While this certainly sounds hardcore, the mode was quite a bit easier than expected. Upon reflection, this turns out to be a blessing, as it's not fun to be constantly scrounging around for water when you could be questing. Obsidian found a pleasant balance between forcing players to survive in a realistic desert and letting the player play the game.
Overall, New Vegas was fun to play, and that's what it really comes down to. I simply ignored the aspects of the game that I didn't feel were fun, and I didn't feel any sort of crafting shaped holes in my heart from doing so. 8/10
VISUALS
The graphics for this game are in the genre of stylized realism. They are not photorealistic, nor do they try to be. They present the game world in a realistic way with a slight artistic flair. Considering this, the graphics are dated, Obsidian barely touched them. This was likely a purposeful choice intended to allow more time for world building and writing. I could bore you with technicalities, or try to describe some of the landscape, but that wouldn't really replace the effect of looking at a few screenshots now would it? 6/10
ACOUSTICS
The soundtrack to this game is very good. With a highly atmospheric and ambient feel, the musical stylings of Inon Zur compliment the mood of the game quite well. The opening theme is a little generic in my opinion. Also, many of the locations in this game have music from the original Fallout and Fallout 2! This was a welcome surprise to say the least. In several areas I was moved by memories and feelings of the older games' atmosphere in ways that made me more deeply appreciate this new venture into the franchise.
Sound effects in this game were fairly standard. There were some minute complaints that arose as I played: Shouldn't such a large sniper rifle have a heartier boom? Why don't my enemies scream in agony as I tear them in half with a chainsaw? Is that really the sound a walking tank would make running on a steel floor? However, most of the sound was well done. A player shouldn't notice good sound effects; they should take them for granted because that's how a real world would function. That's exactly how it was in New Vegas.
The voice acting here was far above the caliber traditionally seen in partnerships or ventures by Bethesda. It was not quite up to the Bioware standard, but then, what is? There were only two instances where the voice acting threw me for a loop, and both of these were instances where a character switched to a different voice actor for a line and then switched back. One of these was in the final 4 minutes of the game. While...Read more›

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Welcome to Vegas. New Vegas. It's the kind of town where you dig your own grave prior to being shot in the head and left for dead...and that's before things really get ugly. It's a town of dreamers and desperados being torn apart by warring factions vying for complete control of this desert oasis. It's a place where the right kind of person with the right kind of weaponry can really make a name for themselves, and make more than an enemy or two along the way.As you battle your way across the heat-blasted Mojave Wasteland, the colossal Hoover Dam, and the neon drenched Vegas Strip, you'll be introduced to a colorful cast of characters, power-hungry factions, special weapons, mutated creatures and much more. Choose sides in the upcoming war or declare "winner takes all" and crown yourself the King of New Vegas in this follow-up to the 2008 videogame of the year, Fallout 3.Enjoy your stay.

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Just Cause 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Just Cause 2 is about the most fun that I have had with a PC game in a while. The graphics are absolutely amazing, view distance, dynamic environments. The look of this game is everything of Far Cry 2, with even more gasps of awesome.
You play the part of Rico Rodriguez, a CIA agent who is about the most physics breaking mass of testosterone I have ever seen. You are dropped into a large, open country to drop an evil dictator out of power by working with several different factions. To do this you have mass amounts of vehicles at your disposal, a multitude of guns and explosives and most importantly, a grappling hook and parachute.
This last part is the best part of the game. Using the hook, you can climb objects, access flying vehicles from the ground, pull people out of air and even tie object together. Tie someone to a barrel and blast the thing into space to see some real fun.
Initially, the game did not impress me. The story and mission parts of the game reminded me of Far Cry 2. Lots of repetition and little development. Then I hit a point where I slammed my car into another car and flew them both off a cliff. Seeing myself falling I decided to use my grappling hook to escape, but only managed to snare another bystander. In the end I opened a parachute and glided to safety all while watching one of the most insane wrecks ever. The game is full of stuff like this. Tie a motorcycle to a car and use it as a wrecking ball. Rope a plane and ride it around just because you can. So many times I found myself asking "Man wouldn't it be cool if I could to this?" Moments later, I did.
At this point I found that the point of the plot and game is actually secondary to the extreme sandbox fun in there. At points of my new found enjoyment, my wife actually thought I lost my mind due to the non-stop laughter and childlike joy radiating out of me. The fun factor of this game is higher than anything I can imagine playing lately. Honestly, this game is pure sandbox first, and an actual game third. Also, your destructive acts are rewarded with guns and vehicles. How many games honestly reward your childlike explosive needs?
As for the lack of XP support, well we saw this coming. Not many people cried that Halo didn't work on windows 3.1, so we really just need to move on here. DirectX 10 will simply not work on XP, and the look and feel of this game is something so amazing that you just need the best to make it happen.
If you are on the fence about getting yet another FPS in a time where they are roaming the earth, get off on this side now. This is not yet another modern day shooter remake, nor are you wandering yet another WW2 battlefield, this is something truly special.

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Just Cause 2 is a stunning technological leap from the original - Designed with 2nd generation software technology for a true high definition gaming experience. New level of action gameplay in open environments - Only Just Cause 2 delivers action in the air, on the land, and under the water, plus multi-point, real-time vehicle movement and grapple-action that allows players to grab nearly anything within 200 feet. Three times as many missions as the original - All-new abilities and stunts. The best open-world action on the market!.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Want to know the word that sums this game up in a nutshell? I'll give it to you: Stutter.
I have a fairly midrange system consisting of an AMD X2 7750BE, Radeon 4850, and 4 gigs of RAM. Since my PC exceeds the recommended system requirements, one would assume that I would be able to run the game. Not a chance. Both the singleplayer and multiplayer aspects of the game are COMPLETELY DOMINATED by stutter, regardless of the fact that I've either turned down or turned off every imaginable graphics setting to alleviate the problem.
Confused about what stutter is? Imagine watching a movie and having it freeze for a half second every three seconds. The movie plays as smooth as silk; it just freezes a little every three seconds. Would be frustrating, wouldn't it? You'd probably get a headache around five minutes; maybe leave the movie after ten, wouldn't you? Well, imagine purchasing this game and playing it. That's what's gonna happen to you. Constant, constant stuttering to the point you want to wring the neck of whoever was in charge of QA at Treyarch.
Really, it's obvious that the team at Treyarch does not care about the PC demographic, because I find it hard to believe that such a fundamental problem would get past quality control. Maybe they don't even have quality control for their PC ports.
Think it's just me and every other idiot writing a 1-star review? Google "black ops stutter". You'll stand corrected.
I already bought the game, and now I'm...meh, "paying" for it. Don't be an idiot like me. Be an informed and smart consumer; do not purchase this game unless you enjoy playing half-baked, stutter-strewn videogames that don't deserve to be put on the market.
EDIT ON 11/14/2010
OK, I've bumped this game up to three stars from one because, as other people have noted both in comments and other reviews, Treyarch released a patch on Thursday that DID fix the stuttering problem.
And because the stuttering was fixed, I have had the opportunity to play through both multilplayer and singleplayer and can safely say that there is a phenomenal game that is buried underneath a myriad of technical problems (more, unfortunately, on that later). I don't want to dedicate a large portion of this edit to a review of everything the game has gotten right simply because such reviews already exist. I will say this though: This game has either met or exceeded the standards set by past shining entries of the Call of Duty franchise from a cinematic, gameplay, and narrative perspective.
However, from a technical standpoint, the game is still an utter failure. While playing through singleplayer, I made it a point to enable a value in my configuration file that allowed me to measure the amount of Frames Per Second (fps) my computer was rendering. For the people that don't know what fps is, fps is a measurement of how smoothly the game is running (laymen's explanation). A low fps means that the game will run more choppy, whereas a high fps means that the game will run more smoother. Anything below 30 is considered unplayable, anything around 30 is considered barely playable, and anything near or above to 60 is considered quite smooth.
With those definitions in mind, throughout the entire singleplayer campaign, my fps never exceeded 60, and it often dropped below 30, particularly when it mattered most: in firefights and heavy action sequences. If I were to give a range, it would be about 25-45.
It was very frustrating. I found myself aiming from the hip because I couldn't track targets correctly aimed down the sight, and hanging back rather than rushing into the action. There were times where there was a really cool cinematic event that was flat-out ruined by the fact that the game was running like a slideshow. And as with the stuttering problem, I encountered low fps regardless of my graphical settings. I tested on three levels what I'm about to say: There was no discernible gain or loss of fps between two sets of settings of 16x AA, 16x AF, and a 1920x1080 resolution, and 0x AA, 0x AF, and an 800x600 resolution. This is on a PC that can run any other Call of Duty game at over 100 fps.
These fps problems carry into multiplayer as well, the part of the game where its absolutely vital to have over 60fps. Since this part of the review is, I must confess, absolutely heartbreaking for me (I played cod4 professionally), permit me to sum it up with one statement: Unless you have a high-range machine, you'll always be playing at around 30-40 fps. For me, at least, that is unacceptable.
Amazon defines a 3 star review of a product as one that is simply "OK".Nearly everything about the game is fantastic; the intriguing narrative, the cinematic feel, the tight feeling of the controls, and the improved multilayer, among other things. Yet, despite all of the awesome elements of this game, the problems with low fps served to consistently shatter the fantasy, turning a heart-racing, breathtaking global trot into a walk that was simply OK.

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Putting Out the Hotspots of the Cold War Follow-up to 2009's blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops breaks new ground in the Call of Duty series and the video game industry at large by delving into the not-so cold conflicts of the Cold War.

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