Using the same game engine than Baldur's Gates, the game is another sequel in this astonishing serie of games. While BG balances fight and story, while Planescape Torment is a role/adventure game that focus on story, Icewind Dale is the exact opposite : an endless fight from the first to the last screen. The story is strictly run-on-the mill heroic fantasy, without much to say about. The few dialogues are here only to add some flavor. Regardless of what you say or read, you'll have to fight anyway. The game's progression is strictly linear. Finally, there is no NPC that you can hire, so no banter and characters interactions in your team (though you can find mods that add such things to the game). I can hear now die-hard RPG gamers fleeing. I'm one of them and, frankly, reading my first paragraph, I would walk away myself. I'd be wrong because what it does, Icewind Dale does it extremely well. You will fight all the time, but the fights are just great. Most of the Forgotten Realms franchise bestiary is here. You will walk through a lot of strange places, splendidly painted with the great 2D engine, and face hordes of exotic, as well as familiar, creatures. The character creation follows the ADD 2 edition rules, that force specialization of characters and synergy. Building your team is therefore a pleasure, especially since portraits have a great RPG flavor. They are, in my opinion, much better than in BG. Anyway, you can import portraits easily. The sound packs, that cover all basic personalities and actions, are nothing to write home about, but do the job they're supposed to do. The wide number of weapons, items and spells provide another source of interest for the RPG addict. Unlike some other RPG, the items aren't randomized, and many of them have their own personal description. Following the BG engine, the fights themselves are in real time, with an active pause that you can change parameters of. The game provides automated scripts that cover some basic actions but, most of time, you are better doing things yourself. It may sound difficult with 6 characters but, with some practice, it becomes as easy as 1-2-3, and allows many team tactics that will rejoice the RPG experts as well as the more casual gamers. So, alright, it's all about fighting. But these fights have that special "Forgotten Realms" epic flavor, fleshed out by the splendid Infinity Engine and, last but not least, enlightned by a musical opening title that will make you feel really heroic. Pompompom, pom pom pom pom... PS : I'll leave the 5 stars to Icewind Dale 2, which is the same, but even greater and better.
In spite of its age, Master of Magic is, without doubt, still occupying a small space on many hard drives. The game is, in short, a clone of Civilization set in a typical heroic fantasy setting. However, the combat aspect of Civivilization has been greatly enhanced in this game : when stacks of enemy units meet, the game turns into a small tactical screen where you can direct them in a turn-based combat. Master of Magic also includes enough elements of role-playing game to interest RPG gamers. Ordinary units gain experience with time, and you can hire heroes representing the usual heroic fantasy classes. You can also create their own weapons to suit their powers. Your own personnage, the main magician, also obeys some RPG codes, with traits, abilities and magical specializations that can lead him, or her, to master dozains and dozains of spells of all types. The number of different units and races that exist in the game is astonishing. Everything is here, from all kind of invoqued beasts and undeads to the whole range of heroic fantasy units, belonging to 15 different races. Note that your realm will be multi-racial anyway. You choose a starting race but, while you expand, you'll conquer others and will access to their respective units. Finally, the map is randomized like in Civ, except that the game world is actually flat, with two different faces (a bright one and a dark one) that you can access through portals. This adds another welcome level of strategy. Sometimes, you wonder why there is no add-on and no Master of Magic II. The answer to that question is simple : because it's pretty near perfect. There is nothing you could add to this game to make it better.
Oh my god. The GOG catalogue is starting to rock big time. Tropico 1 is, simply said, the best political sim you will find anywhere. Let me stress that it is a political simulation, and not a "sim city" type game. That is, if you start building things without caring about what your citizens think of you, you won't last long. Basically, you're the ruler of a small island in the Caribbean sea in the '50 era. From here, choices and strategies are endless : the game let you do everything you want to do, from sheer evil fascist (or communist) regimes to open-minded, social democracies. Each of your citizen has his, or her, own political stances, demands, competences and professional abilities, that will evolve with time like in a RPG. There are six political parties in the game : - capitalists want a thriving economy (industry, tourism, banking... it's your choice). - communists want a "fair," egalitarian regime. - environmentalists want a clean island (which is compatible with tourism, but not industry) - the theocratic party wants churches. - the militaristic party wants a strong, manly regime (either fascist or commie) - the intellectuals want a fair democracy. At the beginning of game, you decide the background of your leader (that's you) as a combination of various ideologies -- here again 100% freedom. And then, you try to stay in charge, avoiding military coups, bankruptcies, food shortages, partisan activity, US invasion, Soviet invasion, and many other issues including an opponent beating you at the next election. Election that you can, by the way, decide to cheat or to refuse, if you think you have enough power to face the consequences. The strategic possibilities are endless, the factors that you must deal with manifold. Keep an eye on your generals : the guy probably thinks he will be a better leader than your are. Build all kinds of buildings. Ensure that your people are happy -- or rule them by fear. Welcome tourist dollars or try to avoid foreign powers meddling with your affairs. Welcome migrants or refuse them. Allow your citizens to leave the island or close the door. Allow fair elections and convince you're the best candidate, or put your opponent in jail under false pretext. Or bribe him. Or ask to Pope to excommunicate him, if the religious party likes you enough. Govern a green paradise or a steamy, polluted, tropical North Korea. And so on, and so on. Everything is up to you. Here again (very important for beginners), in this game, the buildings are nothing without the manpower to make them run. You must focus on people, not buildings. If you forget that, the game will be very difficult to play. Once you know how to put people at work -- accepting their demands, paying them better or/and proding them with AK47s -- things will run smoothly... ... or not, if Professor Sanchez, the intellectual candidate, happens to gain some popular notoriety. Maybe it's time to explain to Professor Sanchez how things work in the real world, no ? A little time in a cell will cure him of his idealism. PS : I'm far less impressed by Tropico 2, which is a mediocre game. The sequel isn't as good as the first one. But then, you have them all for 10 bucks, so who cares ?
