After having played Diablo I and II and gone the linear path of "do everything here, then go there" through 16 dungeon levels and 5 acts respectively in three difficulties, I decided to give this game a spin. I will admit that while the game has its shining points, there are also some things I found to be desired. As a result, I come to this section of my thoughts on the game and its features: Good points: -Randomization of quests and scenarios for replay value -Quests that actually challenged me to think and reason, instead of just mash buttons and kill stuff all the time, like other games do (like that puzzle with the statuettes). -Sticky situations that most action RPGs didn't really make use of (cursed items that actually do hurt a lot if you equip them). -Ability to export your characters and customize them in different ways from what the manual recommends (ie a wizard taking a sword and shield to battle due to higher than normal strength) -Somewhat decent soundtrack, with the one for the town and the first northern wilderness region shining brightest from all of those I've listened to so far Could be better (notice the wording): -Very boring loot system (nothing out of the ordinary, aside from just usual magic items. I have yet to see a single equivalent of a unique or set item from Diablo drop anywhere in the game) -Poor choices for text color of magic/normal/etc items (couldn't tell them apart just by looking at the text) -Graphics (not a big deal considering this was made in 1999, though). -Lacks subtitles for audio dialog, outside of the game's recap system (this is a big deal for me, since I'm used to the subtitle automatically being generated in Diablo I and II) Summary: Darkstone is not necessarily in my top 5 best titles, but its still a very decent title to check out, if you're into ARPGs that have an element of puzzle and strategy to them. I've never played Co-op multiplayer, but if you're lucky enough to know another person who owns a copy, give that a go and let the rest of us know how it works out for you.
Forget that most recent installment created recently: this game is what defines Duke above all the others. I remember some students at a local college playing this title when father was taking up studies there in the 90s, and it was then that my curiosity with the title had been rekindled in the 2000s when I finally became mature enough to play the title. Duke actually making statements at various parts of the game, I felt actually helped remind me the person carrying the guns in the First-Person view has a mind of his own, instead of being merely silent like the protagonists of the Doom games. It's always a nice touch to have a protagonist with personality, no matter where I would see it. About the only qualm I have with this game is the fact that I had to kill all those women in the alien pods in order to "save them", instead of finding a way to free them that doesn't involve killing them. Seriously, as much as I really like all other elements of the game, I personally felt myself squirm every time I shot and killed one of them just to summon their angry lizard captors and maximize my level score (plus, it seems a tad contradictory to the goal of saving humanity from the clutches of the lizard people, if it involved killing the women instead of simply releasing them. Personally, I would have found the latter more satisfying than the former, but then again, that's just 3dRealms, so what can I do?). In short, a well-made game in so many regards, but possibly not your cup of tea if you would cringe at sexist themes or humor you'll likely see throughout it (like the cruelty to women I mentioned above). P.S. If you do choose to obtain Duke 3d Atomic, I would recommend the Eduke source port, the best and brightest of the regularly-updated ones. It uses an updated OpenGL renderer for the game, along with enhanced resolution support, vertex/pixel shader support via the polymer rendering engine, and custom map and full game replacement support. Just follow the installation instructions and you should be good to go!
