Dungeon Keeper is a mixture between a real-time strategy and a god game à la Black & White (which, by the way, comes from the same developers). In the role of a powerful, god-like entity, your task will be to attract evil creatures into your fortified dungeon, feed them, train them and finally unleash them against any wandering hero party or rival keeper. You don't control directly your units; instead you'll have to assign them tasks as they go about their business. Keep in mind however that not all creatures like or are well versed into an activity: you'll have to consider their attitudes before assigning any to a particular job. Flies and spiders, for instance, do not get along and will fight to death if close; warlocks are great researchers but refuse to step into a workshop, unlike trolls who, in turn, can't hold a book but crave manufacturing doors and traps. Pick up creatures and drop them around the enemies in order to defeat them. Then, you'll be able to have the poor victims imprisoned and tortured (the same treatment may be reserved to your own creatures should the situation requires) or left to decompose in a cemetery - provided that you have one - where there's a chance they'll return to life as vampires. You also have spells: these are extremely varied and allow the player to turn enemies into chickens, spread diseases among the enemy ranks, strike the foes with lightning bolts, possess his own creatures and explore the dungeon through their eyes and so on. Re-playability is very high because each map can be completed in a virtually infinite number of ways. Rest assured, you won't get bored. The story line is somewhat sketchy but you probably won't notice; instead, you're likely to giggle at the bleak humour that permeates the game. The unofficial mod "Keeper FX" adds many new campaigns and fixes the bugs left, making this game more than worth your money. Buy it now and see for yourself that, as the slogan says, it's good to be bad!
Deus Ex is a first-person shooter with a major role-playing game component. It's an absolute masterpiece from start to finish; one of those games that grabs you and will have you wondering why wasn't a movie made about it yet. Set in a bleak future where a deadly virus has spread, DE draws from several conspiracy theories and wisely amalgamates them, creating an intricate, solid and intriguing plot which I won't reveal any part of - such is it's beauty, that it would be a felony to do so. Getting used to game controls is fairly easy and, after making some basic decisions about your character's skills, name and appearance, you'll be immediately thrown into action. You'll have a lot of choices to make: will you sneak silently past the enemy guards or shoot your way in? Negotiate with terrorists in order to keep casualties at a minimum or terminate any sign of resistance by force? Listen to civilian junkies in need for help or blatantly ignore them? It's entirely up to you: just remember that every choice will ultimately have its consequence in this non-linear universe. Graphics look good even by today's standards (and there are mods that enhance visuals anyway), sounds and voice acting is more than convincing and the music deserves praise as well. The arsenal at your disposal includes several kinds of weapons, ranging from knives, crowbars and pistols up to sniper rifles, rocket launchers and flamethrowers. Playing as a nano-augmented agent, you'll be also able to enhance your survival chances by implanting capsules into your body: these'll grant you new skills like health self-regeneration, silent running, higher jumping, improved muscular force, ability to see in dark and much more. There's a ton more that could be said about DE but a review will never be able to do it justice or to encapsulate its depth. So listen to my words: buy this gem of a game and enjoy one of the most beautiful creation in videogame history.
I could talk about this game for hours as I've been playing it since its release. Operation Flashpoint (or "Arma: Cold War Assault" as it's now called due to copyright issues between the developer and the publisher) is a mix between a first-person shooter and a real time strategy game. It pays homage to the military doctrine and focuses heavily on psychological realism: you'll be an ordinary grunt who has to stick close to his squad mates and listen to his commander in order to survive. Attack an enemy platoon guns ablaze and you'll be dead in seconds. Tactics and concentration are required in order to survive the unforgiving damage system and the realistic situations you'll have to deal with. The amount of freedom given to players is amazing: not only there are several ways to complete a mission but, besides fighting on foot, you'll also be able to drive a huge array of vehicles, such as APCs, tanks, fixed machine guns, boats, helicopters and planes. The game features an intuitive mission editor that'll allow you to craft complex missions. There are also official (and unofficial) tools to create your own units, provided that you're willing to invest some time figuring out how they work. Tutorials written by community members are plentiful however and with some dedication you'll manage to recreate any scenario your mind can think of. While the fan community shrank over the years, it's still alive and most of the countless mods grant hours of fun. Some of these change certain game aspects (graphics, sounds), some other alter the AI, add effects and innovate the main config (ECP is the pinnacle of this category) but there's total conversions too; they encompass all the aspects of the game and transpose it to alternative settings like WWII, Vietnam war, Falklands conflict and so on. They usually contain a whole lot of new units, campaign and missions. I can't recommend this game enough! Grab it and make sure to get its expansion "Red Hammer" too. Thank me later. ;)
