I really wish I could describe game in other words but that's just what it is. :) If you remember anything from this era, this game will give you quite a dose of nostalgia. Gameplay reminds me heavily of Quake, same with some enemies. Despite this, it is not just a copy. Game has its own unique atmosphere and plays really great. Even gave few jumpscares... (But then again, so did to me Age of Empires 2). Sounds and music set a great mood and frankly, thats all I need in a game like this.
Let me start by saying that for me, Arcanum is in the TOP 5 list, if it is not THE most favourite game of my life. Despite this I will try to make this review fair. Let's start with things that were not as great. First thing was relatively low resolution for it's time and interface taking up large portion of the screen. For Fallout veterans not much of a problem, plus some of the unofficial patches can add higher resolution, but still... With this is connected another feature not so well made - waypoint system and pathfinding. If you've gotten to a larger location, camera restriction did not allow you to wander too far from your character, so you've had to use waypoints on area map your character then followed. Or did not... Sometimes he would get stuck which was getting rather frustrating, especially in Tarant. Combat system was sufficiently mastered for me, but I could see how others would gond confusin (in realtime mode) or slow and not as complex as it could be (turn based). You have option to choose to aim for head or limbs, but I wouldn't mind seeing more complexity there. But despite it's flaws, Arcanum found a soft spot in my heart and claimed it. Why? One of the reasons is music. Nowhere did I hear as perfect and atmospheric steampunk music as I did here. Each melody will stay in my memory and I'll be humming them whenever I'm in a mood. I have always thought that good music is important for a proper game atmosphere, and this proves me right. And the main reason to play this game is storyline and world that it's set in. This us probably the best portrait of Fantasy world being changed by industrial revolution. You can run around in tuxedo with magic sword in one hand and electric light in the other. Immersing yoursel into the world of Arcanum is absolutely worth of overcoming that few flaws this game has. Listen do Dwarf life philosophy, see the Ancient Elven forest cut for wood to feed technological progress and choose your own inclination...
First Kyrandia is on my top 10 list for several reasons. First is obviously its nostalgic value. (This Good old Games after all) It was one of the first adventure game we played as a kids together, trying to solve puzzles and drawing maps etc. Second is beautiful graphic and music, that gives it nice and almost zen-like atmosphere. Puzzles are probably not that great, granted and some of the Lucas Arts or Sierra games were much better at this. But they somehow fit with rest of the game. All in all, this is very decent adventure game that is worth playing even today.
This game game is like timetravel back to the times when I was just a kid. After few minutes of playing my acne is back and I'm sure as hell not going to school tomorrow! I'll just pretend I'm sick and when parents are gone to work... boomtime! Yeah, unfortunately, I am the parent now. But I will play this a lot in coming days, as this game is pergect. PS: Stop ruining this game by review bombing. No censorship is coming, and even if it was.. So what? It's just a few jokes...
Imperium Galactica 2 is great game that has special place in my collection. The game as such offers campaign for three main races (Humans, Kra'Hen, Shinari = average guys, warriors, sly spies) plus in skirmish you can play for more. You can build up your colonies, design your ships and tanks by choosing their equipment... Everything you would expect from 4x game. There are some flaws, for expample excessive number of hospitals your colony will need. I even think I heard someone calling this game hospital building simulator. But despite all this, game still plays great and it will be one of those gems that I will keep playing for rest of my life. Only drawback is that this is bascially version that was released as android port, which has its drawbacks. Mainly I am talking about audio, which is a bit more blunt than I remember from PC version. After some updates, it is much better and very close to PC version, but the feeling remains. I suspect that most of the cutscenes have been re-dubbed, with music now not being so loud. All in all, I can still recomend this game to all 4x fans.
