Warcraft has hints of what would be improved and expanded upon in the later games, and was probably quite good when it was released. However, by today's standards it falls flat. The music is unmemorable, the voices are extremely limited (they're literally all done by one guy, even the one female character in the game, and all the characters sound alike), there are only a few buildings, units and upgrades, which are almost identical no matter which side you're playing, and the plot is dreary, simplistic "destroy this base to win" missions with almost all the story contained in the manual instead of the game. Worst of all are two factors- the controls, which have no right-click option and force you to manually select "move" to get anywhere (at least there's a keyboard shortcut), and the fact that you can only select four units at one time, which is absolutely crippling. Fighting a battle with a couple dozen foes while trying to frantically shuttle your own forces over four at a time using the "move" key is challenging, but it's sure not fun. The pathfinding is also fairly bad, with units only going to the vague general area you target, which only complicates things more. It might be worth a play just to see the early, barely-recognizable history of Warcraft and where it all began, but if you're looking for deep lore or a smooth gameplay experience, there's not much to find here.
I'm not very familiar with this series, but a friend introduced me to this one and it was love at first sight. Everything about this game is just appealing and fun... the gameplay is challenging but easy to learn, the combat isn't too complicated but has a lot of room for strategy, it's great fun to explore the map and uncover the dozens of different locations and encounters, there are a wide variety of factions, all with different buildings and units which are incredibly satisfying to build and upgrade, and the graphics and music do their job well. I also love how it's unapologetically high fantasy and doesn't try to be dark and gritty- it's the sort of game where you'll run around capturing leprechauns to extort piles of colorful gems from them so you can build a magic gate in the clouds and summon angels to fight for you. It doesn't attempt to be realistic or edgy, it just delivers a sincerely vibrant and enjoyable fantasy world and lets you run around exploring and conquering. Good times!
Full Throttle has a unique atmosphere and is very different from Lucasarts' other adventure games, both in theme and gameplay. It's enjoyable and well worth buying, but it remains kind of a black sheep compared to their more popular and better-known titles. The most obvious flaw is the short length- I finished it in about 5 hours, and that was being very thorough, examining everything, and listening to the audio commentary. They threw a lot of money into the original game, were a bit overambitious, and could only do so much with the time and funds they had. Whether the controls and gameplay are a problem is arguable. The puzzles are very different, less reliant on inventory items than most adventure games, and range from surprising and clever to annoying or frustrating trial-and-error stuff- personally, I'm impressed with how often they managed to create a decent challenge when the player had so few possible actions to take and items to use. The clunky skull-shaped interface doesn't take up any extra screen space, but is a bit awkward to use compared to other games. The click-to-hit combat system is nothing special and actually kind of annoying. The remaster is extremely faithful to the original, and the improved graphics really allow the great art design to finally shine through- the original was too blocky and indistinct to do justice to what they were going for, and now the game is much more immersive and enjoyable. The characters are memorable and very well voice-acted, the soundtrack fits the game perfectly, the humor will definitely get a smile out of you, and the world they've built is imaginative and cool and makes you wish you could explore it in more depth. A bit of concept art and audio commentary are always a nice bonus, as is the option to seamlessly switch back and forth between the original and updated versions. If you liked the original, you'll like this. If you've never played it, it's a fun (if short and imperfect) ride, and worth getting.
Visually, CSH is pretty good. The graphics and general gameplay are like a slightly low-budget version of Chrono Trigger, and look pretty appealing, if a bit generic. There are some obvious homages to Chrono Trigger and other RPGs of that era, but they're done well and are nice to notice, rather than distracting. The combat system is a creative change from the typical formula, with a variety of different attacks and items you can switch out, some of which are only usable once per battle or once before being recharged (by blocking for a turn), some of which can be reused. Each character has very different skillsets, and there's tons of room for strategy... indeed, on the hardest difficulty setting, the game almost becomes a puzzle where you have to use the exact right skills in the right combinations to survive. During battle you build up a meter that you can use to unleash extra-powerful attacks, making timing important. Meanwhile, all characters level up at the same rate regardless of who is in your party and the party heals fully after each combat, eliminating tedious busywork. Where it all falls apart is the writing and pacing. In this case the game is more like Chrono Cross- way too many characters and not enough development. Even though some characters have unique side missions, you'll learn very little about who they are, how they relate to each other and what their motivation is... even the main character is hardly filled out beyond "elite spy commando". The plot is uninspired and predictable from the moment you finish the first mission, and does little to keep you engaged- I was more interested in winning games at the festival than advancing the plot, and in fact couldn't force myself to finish the game because it just didn't hold my interest. Classics like FF6 or Chrono Trigger were great not just because of the graphics or gameplay, but because they made you feel for the characters and become immersed in the world. CSH seems to have forgotten that.
If you enjoyed Myst or its sequels, you'll most likely enjoy Obduction. It brings back that same sense of open exploration and wonder, of piecing together what's happening from observation and notes, and manipulating and reactivating beautifully complex pieces of machinery to open up new areas. Despite having no direct links to the world of Myst, it shares a lot of the same themes, such as the aforementioned machinery, different ages that are linked together, well-designed puzzles, and gorgeous environments. The puzzles are perfect- not so hard that you need a guide, but not so easy that you won't get stuck at least once or twice. It really does feel like playing a Myst game in the best possible way. There are some differences- instead of the unique architectural style of the Myst games, the environments have a more post-apocalyptic, sci-fi look, consisting of alien technology or jury-rigged machines built from clever combinations of scrap. Though you're still wandering a mostly-empty world, it finally feels like this is more for reasons of plot than because of limitations in the game engine, and you'll even encounter some characters in person a handful of times. The entire tone is also warmer and more human than the cold, ancient feel of the D'ni ruins and ages of Myst. The only flaws I noticed were a few obvious references to Cyan and Myst (one or two would have been okay, but there seem to be an awful lot considering how few objects from Earth are present) which broke immersion a little... and definitely worst of all, the long loading times. These are tolerable most of the time, but when you get to a puzzle that requires rapidly switching between worlds a couple dozen times, it quickly becomes very frustrating and makes you wonder what they could possibly have been thinking to design it this way. Even so, I greatly enjoyed Obduction and I feel like the good points more than made up for the bad. It brought a fresh look to a beloved genre of old.
This is my first time playing this, so no nostalgia here (that's all for Fate of Atlantis... this one was just before my time). This is a fun adventure with some really great puzzles, but it does have some flaws. The puzzles vary quite a bit. Some are fun and breezy, some are tricky but clever, and some are frustrating or confusing in a way that later games would wisely avoid. In particular, two of the three trials at the end do not translate to an adventure game interface at all, leaving you simply guessing as to what to do with no real hints. However, this is balanced out by most puzzles in the game having multiple solutions... though sometimes you have to save and reload to realistically find those solutions, and if you miss some and get stuck in too many fistfights, you're pretty much sunk. The graphics are classic Lucasarts pixel goodness, though FoA would improve on them immensely. The music could use some work, though, as many areas are dead silent, even though areas like the catacombs show that they COULD have a constant soundtrack. The music that does exist is great, I just wish there was more of it. The plot doesn't make a ton of sense if you haven't seen the movie, unfortunately. It also has some Monkey Island-style silliness in the writing, which can be either good or bad, but personally I preferred it when Fate of Atlantis played it straight. Considering what they had to work with, I feel like they got very creative with expanding and altering the movie to the adventure game format, and did a reasonably decent job. All in all, a solid and fun game, but one that's a bit hurt by its being based on a movie and on early Lucasarts still working out a few kinks in their game design process. But for the time, pretty damn good!
I found the game a little aimless- the humor is lackluster and mostly just commentary on how stupid/boorish your character is (though he actually seems pretty clever, given what he has to pull off), the characters seem a bit random and are only there for a scene or two each, the nudity and adult themes are present but only a handful of times, and even though the plot relies on the Gender-Bender gimmick, it's actually not used very much and doesn't have anything relevant to say about gender issues... though at the same time, it's nice that they didn't wheel out dozens of tired men vs. women jokes and left that stuff mostly in the background. It's a quirky and fun game, just a bit disconnected and not all that funny. The classic pixel art graphics are very good, on par with Lucasarts games, and the design of the locations is coherent and impressive, if sometimes a bit silly. The puzzles are the real draw, as most of them are quite good... the game really makes you think, and I even got stuck a couple times, though the solutions seemed obvious once I finally figured them out. There are some red herrings that can be a bit frustrating, and lots of unfair deaths that you have no way of knowing how to avoid the first time, but since the game starts you right back before your fatal move, it's more humiliating than annoying. There does appear to be one section where you can get stuck forever if you don't have the right item or use it in the wrong way, but this is very late in the game and right after a point where most people would create a backup save anyway- for the most part, the game is forgiving in this regard. Lastly, the supposed four different endings are actually the real ending and three game overs that have a little extra text and animation- it's a bit of false advertising that makes the game sound deeper and more replayable than it really is. That said, if you're looking for a light-hearted sci-fi adventure with solid puzzles, definitely pick this up.
This game was a good introduction to the world of Vampire: The Masquerade. Even reading the manual was pretty enjoyable, and the love of story, character development and roleplaying is obvious in the writing and voicework. It feels like a very developed world, despite the dated graphics. Whenever the game involves characters interacting, it's highly enjoyable. Unfortunately, the majority of the game is tedious combat with high difficulty and poor controls, fighting the same two or three enemies per area and making frequent trips back to town to sell your loot. The levels seem to be designed for one person, and your party of up to four at once will literally get jammed into doorways and stairwells, or followers will get stuck on boxes and have to be micromanaged just to keep them from falling behind. Some levels are very atmospheric and fun, if rather repetitive, but others are dull and lifeless and can't end soon enough. So much of the game seems like padding, from the two different kinds of shops on opposite ends of town, to the lack of any kind of fast-travel system, to the countless rooms and corridors that become disorienting in their similarity, to the frequent backtracking to places you've just been. The different kinds of vampires are well-defined, at least, and do feel like distinct clans or species with different abilities and customs... it just gets boring fighting dozens and dozens of the same ones in a row. I ended up cheating a bit just to advance the story as quickly as possible and skip the endless combat and looting, and got some enjoyment out of the character interactions and plot. I'm hoping Bloodlines has better gameplay, because I really do enjoy the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, but this seemed like a pretty flawed way of making it into a PC game.
There are so many positives that it's hard to list them all. Historically, the game was a big step up from its inspiration, DOOM, adding a third dimension- the ability to jump, duck, climb stairs, use elevators, and even some very early 3D polygon objects. Add to that a wide variety of weapons, some with secondary fire, an original story that's not just scenes from the movies, an automap, decent voice acting, varied and extremely well-designed levels, some nice cutscenes, the amazing iMuse system and an exciting soundtrack that fits perfectly into the Star Wars universe while creating brand new, memorable themes, and you have a sure-fire winning game. In its heyday this game was incredible, and spawned a large modding community with custom missions that expanded and improved on it even more. Today it still holds up very well, but its age does carry some drawbacks- most of all, the graphics, which are now very blocky and primitive. Anything more than 20 feet in front of you becomes a blurry pixel clump, and I could see this becoming frustrating for anyone who doesn't know the game by heart and is trying to navigate it fresh. Some levels can also be a little maze-like and confusing, with elevators that aren't obviously elevators and obscure switches and passages, but the automap mitigates this in most cases. The pre-WASD controls are also just plain awful, and I highly recommend seeking out a fix, such as Dark Forces Plus, from the community forum on GOG. Kyle Katarn would eventually go on to learn the ways of the Jedi, but I like that the early Lucasarts games treated Jedi as very rare and special and didn't try to make everything revolve around them- you were just a pilot, or in this case, a sarcastic merc, and it was still awesome and fun just living in the Star Wars universe for a few hours, exploring, fighting the Empire and going beyond the limitations of the (at the time) three films. The experience still feels exciting after all these years.
