SPAZ is ... 2-D top-down space pirate simulator, with procedurally generated galaxy and random events. While the story is pretty much static and thin, the game may look fantastic to some - and dull to other. It all comes down to a thing, if you like: a) upgrades, ships, asteroids and zombies b) fantasy real-time space battles with lasers and shields c) futuristic ambient space then you will fall in love with it, as me!! It reminds me of TYRIAN, with a touch of strategy and a "go anywhere" style. The game is definitely not a space simulator however, so don't seek for any realism - for that you want to check Kerbal Space Program - another masterpiece. There are also few mods around, most notably BigFightforBEEF, which will massively enhance amount of the upgrades and change the direction into higher tec - better. In contrast, the vanilla game upgrades give more varienty rather than power, meaning bigger hulls gives bigger slot which gives bigger firepower. There is probably just one thing I dislike with vanilla game, the size of hangars. Friendly AI is pretty much useless and giving them smaller ship robs you more than brings any benefit. Also, whilst the game is somewhat easy to modify, its not open and devs don't help mod makers much, so at current state the game is already asking for rewrite as Free Software because it misses online potential! Overall its one of the games I have really enjoyed playing in 2015, its very stylish and easy on grey cells. There is very little place for the math and all the freedom to fire lasers. =)
BUY this. This is a full-blown *realistic* aerospace simulator AND rocket/aircraft constructor. You will learn to assemble rockets, satellites and shuttles of your own design from numerous parts, fly them off planet and get back, orbit planet, do EVA, travel between planets, do inter-planetary save-and-rescue. The stupid green men are just to not confuse you, should they be killed in action. This game is to Buzz Aldrin Race into Space, like what Quake is to Wolfenstein 3d. Worth the money!!
Chess is purely strategical game, and hence absolutely deprived of anything outside of strategy - because its a strategy game. While this is understandable, it is also the reason majority (yes, majority) of people get bored with it and dislike it. Those who write negative reviews here are either people fond of competition, perfectionists or those who are strongly motivated to play it for reasons that lie outside what is typically sensible - the "drive" that typical geniuses had. They just are capable to sense what other people can't, so the classic chess is their piece of cake. So, this is why I absolutely love Battlechess 4000 (which is part of this collection) and consider it very unique. When I was 14, Battlechess 4000 got me interested in chess, because how it added realistic feedback and responsibility for own actions. Suddenly I felt responsible and started to value the strategy. It attached "life" to the completely "sterile" strategy game. This is like SimCity series or Capitalism series. Seeing the negative comments and accusations of this game makes me laugh, because its like criticizing a personal computer for complexity, high cost, electricity requirement; by people who glorify a typewriter! So this is NOT regular chess you are buying here and this series should NOT be reviewed based on sole adhesion to strict rules of classic chess games. If you are looking for classic chess and put priority on more challenging CPU, while you find graphics "distracting" - its NOT your game. If you, however, are BORED by chess or want to teach chess to your children - GRAB IT! Of course, you can move to classic chess anytime. And Battlechess 4000 also has a classic 2d mode by the way.
I am going to compare this, to a good zombie shooter (implemented in Flash) - "SAS: Zombie Assault 2" series, which is FREE. 5 is max - good or no problems, 1 means minimum - bad or a lot of problems. ---------------SAS Zombie Assault - Zombie Shooter Visuals: 3 - 5 SFX: 4 - 3 Weapon balance: 4 - 2 Weapon varieties: 5 - 3 Level size: 3 - 5 Glitches of shots: 5 - 1 Glitches of movement: 5 - 1 AI: 5 - 1 Hardware performance: 5 - 1 Overall, this game is very boring with same background track, with AI moving the same pattern as player regardless of distance, some monsters have weapon deadzone - standing in front of them causes them to deal no damage to player, with A LOT of weapon misfiring and shot glitches, with very bad optimization - it uses both cores of my Samsung R60 notebook CPU while still having about 15 -25 fps. I regret purchase A LOT. How is this a "Good" game?!!
To understand why Russians are so confused, you need to copy few things: 1. If you were American (or if you are), how would you react, if the game were about Perl Harbor and someone would replace US flags and soldiers - with Soviet flag and conscripts. Its not only confusing, its also to some degree - disrespectful and, to some degree, attempt to rewrite the history. Well, its actually more attempt to increase sales, yet still. Hullaballo or not? 2. The "Russians" thing. Quick refresher, in 1939 it was not "Russia" - but USSR. It were not "Russians", but USSR citizens. A Jewish Lenin formed it, a Georgian Stalin carried it on. In USSR, nations were equal - but not mixed. Take it or leave it. So why do you keep using "Russian" word?! Because recently - its the USA, who started spreading its "concerns" about role of each "nation" in WW2 - using the modern(!) geopolitical map in argumentation, in a very clear attempt to play each of the ascendants of USSR and Eastern Europe against each other, fragment and alienate them. The (what today are) citizens of Russian Federation (which are not only "Russians", over 100 nations live in RF), correctly understand, why and for what purpose this is done. Imagine Russia doing same against African Americans, Native Americans, Canadians; making them believe that they were forced to fight on US side, because they had no other choice; ask them why they tolerate such dictatorship even today; pour few billions of rubles for "voices of freedom" here and there. Its like digging up the graves, disrespectful and disgusting - because in WW2 people united to fight against annihilation and physical enslavement. 3. The "Ukrainian" thing. The three countries paying the highest death toll in WW2 were: Poland, USSR and (what later become) Israel. Nurnburg Trial documents state clear as of what kind of "freedom" the (west)"Ukrainians" under leadership of Bandera spread. Were Islamists also "fighting for freedom" in 9/11, hm? Huballoo or not?
I am probably the guy, who spent more time playing DOS MK1 than anyone, or at least almost anyone on this planet :) Finished the game on very hard with every character (except Sonya, she is... pathetic, ahem, unbalanced in MK1, sorry). There are two DOS versions of MK1, difference being separate MK.exe and SETUP.exe - or just one MK.exe, with F10 taking you to setup. The first version is older (earlier year) and has a cheating AI - but lacks Reptile. Second is far more convenient. So, the actual criticism I have, is about MK2 and MK3. Given that something like "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" exists, there is little point of not including it into the game, as it essentially unites all characters into one huge game with all arenas (with MK3 mechanics, that is) and offers network play. Why this is not included... is beyond my understanding. =) This is crime! =)
Despite being more primitive than later version, the game still keeps strategy elements. Its runs in DOSBox, so if you are looking for a HoMM to execute on non-x86 architecture (smartphone, tablet etc), this game is not demanding and runs pretty smooth. I bought this game out of historical interest, saw it, but my 486sx was too weak to run it. Well, for the times, the game was pretty nice. It still is.
Having played quite a lot, here is the quick sum up. - Wildfire 5 was initial release and differs quite minimal from JA2 1.12. That is the release when publisher refused to pay money. Its freely available for download, but hardly worth attention. - Wildfire 6 (this one), is much heavily modified and is in fact something of its own. There are 6.04 and 6.08 patches with latest one hardening the game even further. Basically WF6 is a integrated MODIFICATION for Ja2 1.12, that is sold as dedicated product. Now how do 1.12 and WF6 compare: - JA2 1.12 is the base for extensive amount of modifications by player community, including Arulco revisited + which INCLUDES support for big maps found in Wildfire 6 and v.1.13. You can mod Jagged Alliance 2 1.12 You can't mod WF6 (this one). - in JA 1.13 a lot of things can be modded and adjusted. In WF6 - not. Here is the list of what bothered me by a lot: -- enemy drop sanitizer is active and not tuneable. That means in WF6 enemies will shoot you with SVDs and leave pistols on the ground. You can try to GRAB the weapon from their hand, but this is extremely hard. -- built-in weapon shop (Bobby Rays) is not adjustable. Means, you can say so-long to any stealth or hi-explosive tactics. BR will sell very few items and also mostly useless compared to your current progress. -- camouflage plays nearly no role. Enemies will still detect you. Since you will mostly encounter 3-5 silenced weapons past your WHOLE teamplay, who needs this, right? -- enemy ammo drop is very minimal. You will not be firing in bursts, that is. Forget LMGs. -- two top mercs were replaced by german versions for really no reason. -- loot was extremely reduced in 6.08. + they changed Ira's face. Thats one of the rebels you can join. Yes, this is actually big improvement really, but... she is optional. Needless to say that mods this everything plus a lot more. And that comes only as addition to 1.12. You are stuck with this one.
