Posted on: September 16, 2025
bs27
Игр: 362 Отзывов: 30
A Case Study in Aging Badly
Man, I remember waaaay back when this game had just came out, & I was feeling kind of blown away by those "MUH GRAFIX LOOK AT MAH GRAFIKS!" fully 3D rotating graphics & gameplay. Welp. I had just tried booting this game somewhat recently but my God did this thing age poorly, I felt similarly about Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, except that VtMR actually did have an epic soundtrack and good atmosphere; Dark Reign 2 does not. Soundtrack is entirely forgettable, as is the story & much else. Why compare this to an RPG you ask, because both released at the same time committing nearly every same sin, which is exactly what separates a truly great nostalgia game that even a kid today can play & equally feel blown away, vs. a glorified tech demo that's deservedly forgotten; this is why people still talk about Planescape & VTMB to this very day despite their (now) bad graphics, whereas I bet most yall never heard of VtM:R, & probly only ppl who'll see this review is old people like me who remembers when DR2 came out. The AI & pathing is atrocious. Bad enough I was shocked playing as a now adult that hadn't remembered it's this bad. I guess most games of that era had subpar AI & pathing but still. The main things I remembered from teenage years was how it looked great, not an epic journey like Homeworld or Planescape, no haunting melodies or classic soundtrack like Starcraft or Dawn of War--fittingly forgettable which is better than irritatingly repetitive. Kids, mark my words you're going to be able to separate chaff from future goodoldgames easily by asking if it made the same mistakes DR2 & VTMR did, being a tech demo distracting you with soulless shiny new grafix thatll age badly anyway, no soul, no epic soundtrack or story, just mindblowing grafix--for 2000. Fun meh, so why waste your time? DR2's selling points was 3D camera/gfx; aged badly in a way Starcraft didn't. Mechanics, atmosphere, soundtrack, storytelling, programming, lore > being a digital showpiece
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