I don't even know where to begin. I think just about everyone already knows what civilization is, so I'm just going to highlight some of the notable positives and negatives compared to the other civs. Pros: + Wonder videos! Each and every wonder you build has an awesome video clip. The first and last civlization to do so :( + For the first time, famous people as ingame units (Isaac Newton, Beethoven, Napolean etc) which can be used to boost wonders, culture, or military forces. + Many different unit promotions to truly specialize your units. + Corporations! Just like in the real world you can spread your country's corporations all over the world for some massive bonuses. This was taken out in Civ 5 :( + AI provides a worthy challenge. + Marathon mode for an extra long game! + Hands down the best Civ menu! Cons: - Stacks of doom still present, but at least with artillery units you can damage multiple units in a stack at once. - City view and palace building is gone :( Though each city upgrade can be seen in the city when zoomed in close enough. Wonders especially are hard to miss. And finally, one more massive plus. With all the expansions included there are many scenarios to choose from. I used to raise my nose at them, that is, until I tried one. If anything a good scenario can be as good or better than a stone age > modern age custom game. The reason being that it feels more authentic. A turn isn't several years but, depending on the scenario, a day or a week. And the map is not the entire world, but instead a region. So in a custom earth game, the Alps might be 5 mountain tiles, but in a Europe scenario it could be 30 or more, and really feel far more like an actual mountain range that has serious strategic implications. And the scenarios cover everything, from setting up trade routes in historic Africa, to raiding England as the vikings, to defending/sacking Rome, to the WW2 European theatre, to cyborg battles far in the future. And as always, just one more turn...
What sets Crysis apart from most other FPS titles is the sheer freedom you have in its levels. Overall the levels are linear, but so incredibly large that you can approach almost any mission objective in several different and interesting ways. And unlike other sandbox FPS's, the overall linear progression means that you keep moving into totally new areas. Add to this your powered nanosuit with different abilities and the possibilities will seem endless. In one level you have to make your way to a dock, about 1km away. You can decide to ambush an enemy jeep, you can swim along the coast, or you can swim into the bay and capture a boat. And then the dock itself is massive with several entry points. You could use your suit's armour mode to shoot your way in, strength mode to jump over an exterior wall, or cloaking mode to sneak inside. The remaining speed mode can be used to quickly reach safe/flanking positions when fighting inevitably breaks out. This open level design is however only for the first two thirds or so of the game, with the final stretch being far more constricted and action packed. It undoubtedly contains the weaker parts of the game overall, but it's still a blast to play through. As far as FPS single player campaigns go, Crysis is lengthy, especially since you'll want to replay most sections to try different things: "perhaps I should go in guns blazing this time", "perhaps I should try to hijack that truck" or "perhaps I should try to use stealth to kill all the guards". Unfortunately I never did get to try the multiplayer :( On the technical side the game is phenomenal. Moving, sneaking and engaging soldiers feel great. The AI always provide a worthy challenge. The graphics and sound effects are still outstanding. The physics engine still impresses when you level a shack by throwing a soldier through a wall. And there is a lot of graphics options to tweak for optimal performance. Anyone who's ever enjoyed an FPS will most likely love this game.
Epistory is kind of like a hack-n-slash rpg in a lush and beautiful world, except you don't hack at enemies to kill them, but instead type the words that appear above their heads. The enemies are all kinds of weird monsters. Some incredibly fast, but with short 3-letter words like 'fox', some slow and lumbering but with longer words (and/or simply more words above their head), and some even qualifying as boss enemies with a very long word above their heads. Like any rpg you have special attacks, which in Epistory are elemental attacks discovered during the game. For example if you type the word above a monster's head with your lightening power enabled, then a word above an adjacent monster's head gets zapped. It can be incredibly satisfying to avoid typing 'photosynthesis' by typing 'hand' at the right time with your lightening power! The killing of enemies in general is extremely satisfying, with very well done animations and sound effects. Like any rpg there is also experience earned towards upgrading your various powers, like having lightening zap more than just once, or to upgrade your character's running speed. Epistory has an adaptive difficulty which adjusts itself according to your ingame performance. Though unlike Typing of the Dead, and as hinted at above, it's not just about typing speed: a good strategical mind will make the game massively easier if you use your elemental powers wisely. And in some cases those powers are absolutely necessary to prevent you from getting swamped. Expect the game to keep you busy a few days to finish. It's a bit too repetitive to finish in one sitting, but the novelty of it all will keep luring you back for more until you've finished the game. There's even a story of some sort, but I don't really understand it at all :P And if nothing else, it's a remarkable fun way to give your typing speed a small boost. Perhaps you'll even do some online exercises to boost your arena scores :)
