I played The Longest Journey literally the day before buying this on Steam, a grand experience fresh on my mind, expecting more of the same goodness in a more 'modern' dress. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Everything that makes The Longest Journey great... is not in this game. The quirky, somewhat dated (but still surprisingly vibrant) 2.5D backdrops and characters were replaced with lifeless 3D environments, the interesting cast almost entirely replaced by boring or mind-numbingly stupid stand-ins, the story approached and re-opened in strange, unsatisfying ways - without addressing what plotholes the first part left - and the voice acting is at the lower end of the "Bad" scale without ever reaching the point where it's "So bad it's good". Gameplay-wise, somebody tried to shoehorn a terrible combat system into this and decided that, with all the extra fighting, there would be no need for the cool and sometimes challenging puzzles of the first adventure. My advice? Don't buy this. At all. Spare yourself the disappointment. ... But if you absolutely have to play this before you touch Dreamfall Chapters, play this first, then play The Longest Journey - that might give you enough incentive to make it through this. Actually, only pl
I'm not new to video games, so I know how dangerous hype and high expectations can be but I thought that my expectations were fairly realistic for "Smugglers V". I held off buying it for a long time because, as most of you will know, it was really goddamn expensive. When I finally saw that the price had dropped to a reasonable level, I thought I'd give it a go. As the title of the 'review' suggests, it wasn't as good as I hoped. Don't get me wrong, it does what it says on the tin - You get a sort-of free-roaming space adventure where you start with a tiny ship, try to get bigger and better ships, earn money through trade and missions for different factions, support a faction of choice (or multiple ones) in an interstellar war and do so mainly through turn-based combat much like you'll encounter in "Sunless Sea" and boarding operations (which work in a somewhat similar fashion). You can rise in rank (and will have to do so), there is a level-up and perk/skill system and you can raise your own flag and start conquering your own pirate empire. But, you see, that is just the thing: It does what it says on the tin, no more, no less. It is free-roaming and there is no overarching story. You do trade or missions but whichever you choose, it all gets very repetetive very quickly. Same goes for the combat - The same enemy ships act and react in the same way most of the time, so once you know what you're up against, losing a fight is pretty hard and using different tactics is just asking for trouble. The skill tree is short and basic, not built for long games of conquering the galaxy. And creating your own empire is not as in-depth as you'd hope. If what it says on the tin is enough, by all means give it a shot. But if you like games that understate what they have to offer and then surprise you by going the extra mile to make a good experience a great one, then you should probably skip this one. "Smugglers V" is not a bad game. It's just not a exceptional one either.
Archimedean Dynasty... What a game. A somewhat linear Privateer, set in an underwater sci-fi world, back in a time when developers weren't afraid to try new things and build franchises (and even genres) from scratch. This game, Aquanox, came along, continuing the story of the original, innovating here, simplifying there, for better and for worse. Graphically, it was stunning and still looks damn fine to this day, thanks to the KrassEngine's fantastic underwater effects. Gameplay-wise, I feel that the reliance on the mouse hurts the game but it is still fluid, combat and missions are fun and challenging at times (and downright ballcrushingly hard at others). While less open than the original (which, to be fair, wasn't exactly Fallout), Aquanox has an interesting story and a surprisingly touching way of presenting it from the perspective of an anti-hero, set in a whacky, crazed cyberpunk-esque world under the sea ("Under the Sea!"). Pity that there NEVER was a sequel (and don't you dare call the travesty that was "Aquanox 2" a sequel), although there are rumors of one being in development as of Autumn 2013. Either way, I highly recommend that you let this game take you on a journey under the sea ("Under the Sea!"), that you listen to the pumping beats while blowing up submarines and underwater tanks and let a charming story sweep you off your feet. It may not be perfect but it's absolutely worth your attention!
