I played the original Homeworld shortly after it came out. Then played Homeworld: Cataclysm (Emergence), then Homeworld 2. Loved them all. Years later this game came out. A prequel to the original Homeworld, ground based on Kharak??? I was very skeptical. I still have the original Homeworld paper manual, and it describes the expedition to find the Khar-Toba/Guidestone/Hyperspace Core while the Kushan were still stuck on Kharak. I asked one basic question: How the h@ll do they make this work??!! Well,..... they did. If you played any previous Homeworld Games, the game play and interface is very quick to pick up. They have small fast units, medium units and slower heavy units. Resourcers that function near identical to the other games. There are aircraft: small strike craft and bombers which I felt they made work very well in the game. The carrier (the Kapisi) of course serves the same function as the motherships: support and produce smaller vehicles. Just like the previous games, technology progresses as time passes. The Kapisi also obtains various upgrades, including missiles! The storyline is excellent and engaging. It has ups & downs and flows very well. It starts quite bleak, which is good. You gain in strength and abilities just like the older games. The main antagonists and how they gain so much power is believable. The planetary map was good as well. The challenge level was appropriate. As long as you have a basic understanding of tactics you should be fine. The various maps where you fight were nicely done as well. Very creative. In the end It was great. I was very pleased with my purchase, and it is a nice addition to the Homeworld series. Like I said I was very skeptical of this game when it came out and am glad, I was wrong. Nice job Gearbox and Blackbird Interactive! Thanks GOG!!!
I grew up with the old tabletop BattleTech published by FASA. Loved it. Loved the Mech's, the vehicles , the ability to customize individual units, and we all know about how well fleshed out the BattleTech universe in regard to its utterly vast lore. Initially, I could not get into this game when I started the first mission and went to a different game. Eventually, I went back to it... and got hooked. Yes, I know its not exactly cannon. Yes, I know the way Mech's are built and equipped are not exactly par with the original game. Yes, I know that the plain vanilla version of this game has a crappy/tiny galaxy map (the BattleTech Extended Mod fixes this, used this on the second play through). None the less, I loved it. The storyline is not bad. The combat maps are very good, the city scape was may favorite. The variety of Mech's available are very good, including my favorites like the Grasshopper and the Griffin. I also felt many of the scenarios were sufficiently challenging. The use of cover, concealment and movement was vital for success. I also felt the heat management was pretty well done. My only real complaint was the tiny star/navigation map. I bought this on sale from GOG of course. Nice work GOG!!! HareBrained Schemes, make a sequel and they will buy.
I remember in the 1980s when Fasa first produced table-top BattleTech. We got all of the technical readouts, read the novels, etc. Is this perfectly cannon? No. Is the map small? Yes. Is there some stuff that does not make great sense? Sure. Is it still an awesome game? H@LL YES!!! I loved the campaign. Lots of folks don't. More power to them. Even though in real old school table-top in the 3025-ish era you really could not (or were supposed to not be able to, in my recollection) travel to a specific world and have a chance of purchasing a Gauss Rifle or other piece of Star League Tech. Also, in tabletop there was no pluses (+) on weapons. That being said, I thought it was a nice touch. No complaints. It is just as unforgiving as tabletop as well. My main character was running a fully tricked out Highlander in a city and a Victor jumped into firing range. It scored a critical hit and put my main character in the med bay for a few months. Brutal! I loved it. Even with this setback I was still able to pull a victory out of the mission. I am sure when the main character came out of his medically induced coma, he was pleased. Crits are hell. The various environments are very well done. Jungle, Tundra, Lunar, Desert and my favorite, I think, the City-Scape. It really makes you feel like you are there. The City-Scape was wonderfully rendered. I remember going into this for the first time with a bunch of medium mechs (Griffins and Phoenix Hawks as I recall) and having no issue until a 70 ton Grasshopper (one of my favorites) showed up. What a great fight! We go a part of a GHR but had a TON of damage to repair. In conclusion all I have to say is two thumbs up+++.
I remember when this came out. Dark humor and bleak. Absolutely classic. The one that started it all. Yes, the interface is janky. Yes, the graphics are old as h@ll. Yes, its old school. The storyline is the BOMB. Life is tough enough in the wasteland, raiders, mutant animals, dehydration, starvation, ghouls, radiation, etc. Now ready for the bad news? The level of work that went into this game is astounding. Great characters, great enemies, great quests. The background music is great in its bleakness. The world building and lore in this game are exceptional, particularly for the time-period. Combat is unforgiving, but this is part of Fallout's (FO) charm. You can get the criticals on the bad guys and they can crit you as well. Make sure you save. The inventory/purchasing system is a pain. It was improved a bit in Fallout 2. That being said, most things weigh something, so when you prep for a quest, you have to think and decide what you want to bring. Mostly in the area of what weapons and ammo to bring. From melee weapons, and conventional firearms to the hi-tech small arms, the variety is pretty good. Armor is ok as well. The power armor (T-51b) is of course the bomb. The dark humor is awesome. Loved the Soylent Green reference. The effects of certain weapons killing their targets is hilarious as well, in a dark sort of way of course. Once you get past the first bit of this game things pick up and it draws you in. So be patient. The best is yet to come. As the game approaches the end it just gets better and better. The main antagonist is of course the Master, and his background story and end goals are well done. So, in conclusion, this game is old and may not be for everyone, but once you finish it, you (probably) cannot deny that it was a great story and a good ride. Thanks GOG for keeping this one in stock!
Loved all previous Fallouts. Fallout 4 (FO) could have been better. Thus only 4 out of 5 stars. Still, it was good. The main storyline could have been better. As far as the factions, the Brotherhood of Steel (BOS) was great, the Minutemen were ok, the Railroad was weak (figuratively and literally) and the Institute could have been a much better bad guy. In my experience this game was buggier than FO3 and FNV combined. Save a lot. Just saying. The map is huge with lots of side content. Very nice feature indeed. Good work here. Thankfully, gone is the constant need to repair firearms and regular armor like in Fallout 3 (FO3) and to a lesser extent Fallout New Vegas (FNV) though they could have included more conventional weapons like FNV did (.45-1911-A1, 9mm-Browning Hi-=power, etc.). Power Armor is rendered beautifully. Thought the use of fusion cores is not consistent with the previous games the need to maintain Power Armor is realistic and well done. I also liked the variety of power armor and the upgrades/mods/paintjobs that can be applied. Nice work here. The companions provided to you are pretty darn good. Dogmeat is awesome and you can give him doggie armor! Piper and Nick Valentine are cool and Paladine Danse is solid. FO4 is solid in this area. The DLCs were very good. Loved Nuka World and Far Harbor. So, is it worth it? Yes. A lot of work went into this game. My advice to Bethesda: 1) Swallow your pride, 2) Contract out Obsidian to use the new engine to make a new Falllout, 3) Rake in the bucks. Thanks GOG!
I remember the original Fallout (FO) and Fallout 2 (FO2) form 1997 and 1998. Old school Isometric RPGs. Loved them both. So, I was very skeptical. Loved Fallout 3 (FO3). Huge open world. DC and the wasteland were rendered excellently. Good story line which seemed to flow well. The way the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave had a natural enmity was well done in my opinion. Lots of side quests with many different locations to explore and NPCs to interact with. Most of the ones you receive from Moria were great/hilarious. All of these side quests really help out to flesh out this world and its lore. Excellent crafting system. Loved the Shishkebab and the Railway Rifle. Lots of equipment/weapons to find/take off of corpses, like the 5mm Minigun, the Gatling Laser and others from the original games and new items as well. Having "named" or unique items was an excellent touch as well. Power Armor was done well. It is certainly nice to have and use but does not make you invincible. Very good balance. And you have to have power armor training to use it as well. Wise move Bethesda. (Hint: do Operation Anchorage as early as you can. I did it at level 7-ish). The DLCs were great. The Broken Steel DLC added an excellent ending as well. My only complaint was the constant need to repair weapons and armor. Yeah, I get it, most weapons and armor you are picking up are around 200+ years old but it got onerous when you had to repair even your Named/Unique weapons after what I felt were a relatively small amount of using them. (Thank heavens for the bugged Winterized T-51B Power Armor). In conclusion, I set my standards low and was VERY happily surprised. Nice work Bethesda. And thank you GOG, I got this along with Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 on sale.
As stated in a previous review, I played the original Fallout and Fallout 2 and was skeptical of Fallout 3 (FO3) when I started it. Well, I loved FO3. What do I have to say about Fallout New Vegas (FNV)? In my humble opinion It IS the best thus far of the Fallout Series. Note: at the time of me writing this review, I am roughly halfway through Fallout 4 (FO4). It has a good start that draws you in. Its zany and twisting main storyline is all Fallout. The side-quests are great. The map is huge with interesting locations. The NPCs and factions are well done and varied. The companions you get are solid. Boone and ED-E were my favorites. The weapons are superb. The 9mm pistol/Maria are of course a personal favorite (the Browning Hi Power). The .45 is of course the 1911-A1. The Assault Carbine/All American/Service Rifle all AR-15 variants. Well done! Loved the Ranger/Riot Armor. I like Power Armor and you can use it in FNV but the quality medium armor was a nice touch. The negatives: Like FO3 you have to constantly repair weapons and armor. Not quite as much as FO3 though and they added the perk Jury Rigging so it is not horrible. This is one aspect, of few, that FO4 does well (only power armor needs repairs). The city of New Vegas itself was not nearly as well done as DC was in FO3. Yes, I know Vegas is way smaller than DC. I preferred FO3's crafting system as well. The DLCs? Other than Honest Hearts (which was the best FO DLC ever!) I though FO3's were better. Still, they were not bad, just not as good as FO3's. It makes sense it feels like Fallout as Obsidian had many of the original Fallout developers working there. There is even some of the background music from Fallout and FO3 going on. Do yourself a big fat favor: buy it today! Bethesda, contract out Obsidian...AGAIN!
What I am about to say some may consider blasphemy. I liked Fallout 2 better than the original. 1) The storyline and main enemy were nearly as good as the original. 2) The world was much bigger with more to do. 3) Better user interface in regard to purchasing/selling items and inventory. 4) Better companion interface. 5) More weapons and armor. Like Advanced Power Armor and the M 72 Gauss Rifle. Fallout 2 did an excellent job building on the original, both in the storyline and using/improving upon the same game-engine. The only real down-side to FO2 was it starts off slow, real SLOW. However, once you are over that it gets good, really quick. Also, there was less voice acting, but big deal. They had limited time in development from what I understand. On a side note, FO2 has more humor and is less bleak than the original, in my opinion at least. The world seems to be coming slowly back to life and there are more settlements, which is only logical as 80 years have past. Whether this is good or not depends on your point of view. I personally liked these aspects. FO2 also was a tad more forgiving in regard to ammunition management. I believe the merchants restocked more often. And.......you get a car.......which is really great! In conclusion, if you like the original you should like FO2 as well. Nothing is perfect but I really enjoyed both games. Thanks GOG!
An excellent RPG, particularly for its time. Nealry on par with Bauldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Yes! The inventory system sucks! The way you buy stuff from merchants sucks! The combat system..... Its an old-school isolinear RPG from 1997. What do you expect? The bleakness! The dread! The Storyline! All Awesome! I remember my brother buying this back in 1997 and going through it. Yes. It is not for all, particlularly the youger folk, but dang the story sucks you in and keeps you going. An excellent purchase indeed. Brought me back to my youth. Thank you GOG!
I played the original two Fallouts and went into Fallout 3 very skeptical. Needless to say, I loved it. Fallout New Vegas? Even better than Fallout 3. More Zany. Armor and Weapons last longer (more reasonable than FO3). The Jerry Rigging perk was a great idea. Really good storyline. I love how they worked the faction system and you have separate standing with each group. Sooooo many ways to end the game. Also loved how if you wore one factions's garb it could get you shot at by another faction. Loved the weapons, like the Gobi Sniper Rifle, Maria (Engraved Browning Hi Power) and the All American. The Desert Ranger/Riot Armor was my favorite. I love Power Armor but I ended up using these instead and for the most part kept the Power Armors in a locker. Honest Hearts DLC was the bomb! Best DLC ever. If you like Fallout 3, you will love New Vegas. I was suprised Bethesda did not make another/contract out another Fallout on the TES engine. I would have bought it.
