It's funny how the top reviews, which all call the game a classic, are themselves 15 years old now. A lot has happened in that time, and many fantastic games have come out which were inspired by this game or at least inspired by its legacy, and many have managed to do everything this game does but simply much better. Including the 2022 remake of this game. So I think it's necessary to say, especially among all the reviews still praising this game to high heaven, that there is truly no reason to play this one today, and that it has aged quite poorly. The game takes like 30 turns before you can even get a large enough army to fight your first battle, the sound effects feel like they'll break your speakers, and the graphics are... interpretive. Back in its day it was a good game, and very impactful, but unlike games like Age of Wonders 1, or the early Civilization or RTS games, there is genuinely nothing you're gonna get out of playing this one today, other than some hearing damage.
Thick gold rims on everyone's armor, random gems put everywhere to make things look shiny, the portraits suffer from that new fantasy aesthetic we've had since the 2010s, it looks like something from modern World of Warcraft. Unfortunately they do not have the detail that the rest of the game had in the 90s. Yes they are drawn by, as the description states, "THE Mike Sass", unfortunately Mike Sass has been drawing for Hearthstone for years by now, and so he has lost the art style he had in the 90s
An exceptionally well written, atmospheric and content rich roguelike sailing game. It filters the usual suspects, people too dumb to read, too impatient to explore, too distracted to plan ahead, etc. if you don't consider yourself these things don't take advice from those who are these things. That is, every negative review. What this game sets out to do it does masterfully. Whatever expectations I set going into this game have gotten exceeded again and again. Every time I tell me myself "well surely NOW I've heard about everything in the game" I then stumble on some new rabbit hole showing me hours more of potential gameplay. To put it in context, in 50 hours I have not gotten a single ending or finished a single "ambition" yet, of which there is like a dozen. If I did get one ending it would take me roughly the same amount of time to get to the others. Since you need a new character. So there are easily hundreds of hours of exploration and reading to be had here together with the DLC. The stories are fantastic, the setting is incredibly deep, and the gameplay is simple but adequate. If this game seems like something you would enjoy don't miss it.
Today we have Rogue Trader, Darktide, and this game's sequel, Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters. The 1990s had Chaos Gate, and they were lucky to, it's great even today. This was the most ambitious and successful attempt at bringing the 40k setting to life at the time. Fully rendered and voice acted cutscenes, customizable Space Marine squads with bolters, flamers, plasma guns, etc. controllable Dreadnoughts, Rhinos, Predators, all lovingly animated in an XCOM-like tactical strategy game. The heavy footsteps of the Terminators, the beautiful chanting soundtrack, the passionate yelling about purging heresy whenever your marines shoot, this game was clearly made with passion for the IP, and all that only 12 years after the IP was first published. After the first mission you quickly start controlling multiple squads at once, which starts to feel like an entire army. You start getting Techmarines, Librarians with Psyker powers, and choose between melee and ranged squads. You throw grenades, set traps and explode environmental hazards. You can feel this is a quality strategy game right off the bat. So I 100% recommend it, in the 90s, today, and in the future too.
Deceiving first appearances. Because you're thrown, without any ceremony whatsoever, into the main town after you pick your class. You weren't told anything at all about the plot, or the world. You don't know your character's background, or their story. You don't even know where you are. You talk to the first NPC and unless you've been playing a lot of Resident Evil recently you get greeted with the worst voice acting you've heard in years. I think the only reason early players weren't led to believe this was cheap shovelware and quit on the spot is the absolutely brilliant music playing in the background. But like a brave dungeon explorer you delve deeper into what must by all appearances be a below average game and THEN it hits you, or rather you hit it, the first mob, and it all makes sense. Because even after all these years, the real-time combat, a complete novelty at the time, is simply very fun. Walk, hit, kill, loot. Even if you can't exactly see what you're hitting because of the walls in the way, even if you can't walk straight because of the character's pathing or see items on the ground, even after all that you still just want to keep doing it for hours. Get stronger, and do it faster. It's rough around the edges and rough around the sides, but it's ultimately a great classic with enduring gameplay, an insane soundtrack and well crafted atmosphere and theme that's totally worth playing today.
This is a really solid old horror FPS that fully succeeds in what it's going for. A classic gothic vampire story in the style of the actual Nosferatu movie. A lot of the vampires are textured in such a way that they look like they came straight out of the movie, with grim ashen faces dimly lit to express their features. It's not an adaptation or anything, but rather it's inspired by all vampiric horror themes. Giant bats, ghouls, gargoyles, ghosts, there are no weird subversions of the setting here. But that's not to say the game wasn't innovative. It goes for a "constant horror/tension" approach in its pacing and enemy design. Basically, every time you walk through one of the doors in the castle, there is a chance an enemy will spawn somewhere in the room. Where? Behind you, in-front of you, above you? You won't know, but you'll hear it. A growl or screech from somewhere, and an eerie orchestral piece getting louder as the creature gets closer and leaps at you. It's brilliant. It's on the shorter side, being around 5 hours long, but every hour is packed with tension as you're on a time limit to save your kidnapped family members. The time limit is not super unforgiving but you won't be able to ignore it. All 5 hours are great gameplay though. Its well worth playing today.
