It's my first go at a Star Trek RTS. I must say it's been pleasant, for the most part. But honestly, ST Armada is not in the same league as Warcraft or Starcraft. Suffice to say that SC and WC belong in Premiership, and ST Armada in the Championship. Too bad Activion couldn't learn from Blizzard back in 2000. I have no qualms about sound and voice effects, Patrick Stewart (Picard), J.G. Hertzler (Martok), the Borg 'chorus' and most notably Denise Crosby (Sela) sound splendidly. Music scores provide and excellent background, especially the ones for the Romulans and the Borg. Oh and the sound of the Romulan cloacking device makes me grin before I load off a salvo of photon torpedoes from my D'deridex Warbirds. Yes, guilty - I've been a Trekkie since 1987. Now, I have a small issue with graphics, particularly the cut-scenes Worf is in. It's as if Activision's art department couldn't animate Worf's head right. His Klingon forehead is edgy and pixelated. Meanwhile Sela's and Picards'/Lucutus's animantions are done roughly OK. Ship models are OK, maps are simply gorgeous, shields, torpedo and phaser effects just like in Star Trek TNG-era. Story and mission desing are really good. It's a shame we don't get to utilise the neutral powers in the conflict too much. This is mainly possible in Borg's arc because Borg cubes make it easy to assimilate virtually any ship or building including 'neutral' powers (ie. the Breen, Ferengi, Dominion). Too bad we don't get to use the more. Also some units are underpowered like Escort class (Defiant) or Nebulas class. Klingon ships also seem to be a bit underpowered. The old D'deridex Warbird can easily take down a Negh'Var warship. I say the game needs some balancing. Game difficulty is about right. My main issue with the game is it's stability. Roughly 1/10-1/15 times I reload a save the game crashes. The same goes for minimilising the game using alt + tab. So remember to save often. Despite my Trekkie heart I can't give it 5 stars.
I don't understand the initial negativity towards the game. It really lets you roleplay it. Tons of interractions, each can play out differently depending on YOUR choices. Your choices alter your relationships with your party members and the game's factions. This is RPG in its purest form. So far I'm fresh in act II, having sunk 26 hours already. Some will say 'what a slow pace'. But it's just because I'm savoring every bit of the game. I try out different variants of how to handle every dialogue and judge the best course of action for me. It's fun to see how little details can lead to drastic changes. Plus I can bad as I want to be and still get away with it, because I don't break Kyros's law. Dropping a defeated enemy off a high tower? Yes, I've done it and I enjoyed every moment of it. Making people to confess their trespasses during a court hearing and then sentence them to death, all in the name of the law? Why sould I resist? Selling out all of my comrades so that I might shape the world as I will? I won't even blink an eye. Make my own hands stained by blood of my enemies? Sure - I'll gladly leave corpses in my wake. Long ago Michael Jackson sang "Because I' bad, I'm dad (...) And the whole world has to answer right now just to tell you once again, who's bad " The gameplay feels like a modyfied BG fighting style, but it's modern, more dynamic. The game runs on a 3D engine that feels like a reincarnation of Infinity Engine. After all Obsidian was founded by former Black Isles employees, so it adds that BG nostalgia. Even the interface seems as clunkly as in the original Baldur's Gate. Still Tyranny is not BG remastered - it has it's own mythology, it's own spell building system and it's network of little choices that determine your path. That, if Will you be the voice of reason, source of chaos, the sigil of law and order or a revolutionary, depends completely on the choices you make. And while doing so, you can be good at being very bad, and take fun in it.
I picked this up for free on PS4 recently (second half of April) and I must say I'm quite happy with the game. The gameplay is reminiscent of God of War from 2018: you spend ability points to unlock abilities grouped into four different branches (stealth kills, damage enchancements, resource management, travel and machine repair). Granted, standard melee fight is repetative and somewhat tedious, as some reviewers have pointed out However stealth kill opportunities do help to break that monotomy. Nevertheless, it's bow arts that shine and are the primary combat strategy. So, in GOW melee was king, and in H:ZD projectiles rule. I found the story quite compelling and relatively fresh. Yes, Earth has been destroyed numerous times in multiple movies and games, but I can't recall another game that has a robot-infested quasi postnuclear Earth and humans that devolved back to say I-X centuries AD. While I do agree that most subquests are based on "Fedex principle" (go to point X, fetch object Y), there are some that like that refreshing breeze (anyone climbed those majestic giraffe-like Tallnecks?). The main plot is told well enough to keep one interested. Mix in some "as you please world roaming", a great tool like a Focus with numerous properties, a few good weapons and armours that you can customize, an expansion that prolongs the fun and adds extra content, and you get a pretty good game. Had I H:ZD on PC I would give it 5 stars with a clear conscience. But, since I own it only on PS4 and I have seen reviews that point out some technical issues while playing H:Zd on PC, I will give that game solid 4 stars. Regardless of the overall score, I sincerely recommend the game. Hell, H:ZD may not be en par with GOW, but its' a "A-list" aRPG
D3 is all an excellent sequel should be: 1. retain the best of predecessors; 2. add great new things; 3. be just as fun. I say D3 meets those demands. Most of beloved weapons from D1 and D2 are back, so is the Guidebot that has been made more functional. The gameplay is much the same as previous two games: navigate the maze, clear out the enemies, take out your target, go out alive. There are also secret levels. New elements: playing outside - no, it's not just tight corridoors anymore, story-driven narrative and missions - no, it's not your average 'take-out-that-mine-reactor' anymore, some puzzles that add flavour. Good graphics, great music, some in-game subtle nods to D1 and D2. Then comes the Mercenary expansion athat adds extra story-telling in connection to base game story. Overall D3 is a well executed product. But more importantly, if you're a fan of the prequels (D1, one of my first PC games), D3 delivers on your expectations
Though the graphics is dated (it's almost 26 years old now), the climate of the game still stays true. Those dark, tight corridoors, where Medium or Heavy Lifters lurk. Their Tungsten claws clawing at my ship's shields and a Large Hulk with Homing Missiles right around the corner along with other aggressive robots. Even though I'm not a kid anymore, it still makes an impression (those blasted claws >.
Now that takes me back to my final primary school years. Hard to believe this is almost 25 y.o. But hell, it was marvelous back in the days, and still is. Like many have said, I' also one that the first game influenced the most. I played some later games, but this one still is #1 for me. I played for 3 hours today and the fun tastes just the same it did 25 years ago. Those who know this title will agree that it's pure old school and sentiment at its finest. Up to a maximum of four players (people and/or A.I.) using one, yes, one computer, keyboard and mouse. Show me any modern game that will service up to four people like the Original Worms. This game has so many neat features: the banana bomb, the mole bomb, the sheep bomb, kamikaze, ninja rope, bungee rope, the drill and so much much more. Plus so many things that can be modified in the options menu. Just make your own settings, ask a few firends and go on a total rampage blowing up and shooting hapless pink worms. Plus those adorable animated movies that played just before a match. It's something one can play casually or hardcore. I don't need to recommend this to anyone who played it. But I do challenge you younglings, who have never seen it to try some old school fun.
Tough one of my least favourite entries in MK franchise, MK 4 still delivers quite a lot of good stuff. The fight are just like in any MK title, but here they are quite intense and fast-paced. So there's no risk of going back to the sluggish MK1 tempo. Yet MK4 is more true to MK1 than to MK2 or MK3: you have basic moves, special moves and fatalities. Yes, no friendships, mercy, and other distractions. For the first time your surrounding does matter: stones, skulls make for great projectiles that hit hard, as do the weapons fighters can brandish. But then, these make-shift projectiles are easy to avoid, so it's not that easy to cheap shot your way to victory. Though it is possible with good timing. Of course then there's the main difference - the game is 3d, so there are two additional buttons "step in" and "step out", which allow to avoid projectiles quite well. My one objection would be that one must go trough all those tedious steps to unlock Meat, Noob and Goro.
For me this is going back to my secondary school times. God knows how I played this for 6-10 years, even after D2 came out, just to hit that maximum of lvl 50. I still remember how happy I was when that Dragon's ring of zodiac dropped. Those of you who played the game know the feeling. But if you haven't played the game then you need to be prepared for a few issues. Graphics is archaic by today's standards: there's no 3d, just isometric view. Character movement and attacking is limited to 8 directions. Save for one character-specific abiity, all other abilities are spells that all classes can learn and utilise. Character development is determined by set maximum values of Strength Dexterity Magic and Vitality. However, you do get to choose when and where to spend atrribute points. Make no mistake: this is not D3 where you can hit all 70 character levels in one evening. Here you have to grind, grind, grind to level up to maximum - after lvl 40 it gets way more difficult to gain new levels. Good loot doesn't drop like crazy, contrary to D3. In D1 there are no set items, no legendary items, just gamic items and uniques. Game is limitted to just one town and a total of 20 levels (16 main levels plus Tomb of King Leoric, Chamber of Bone Poisoned Water Supply, Unholy Altar. Still, despite limited technology Blizzard created a heavy gothic-like atmosphere thanks to memorable bosses and side-quest locations. And of course then there's Battlenet and other multiplayer options. Classic hack 'n'slaning foes with a party of 3 friends online? Definately yes, please.
Descent: Freespace the Great Conflict or Descent Frespace for short was a milestone for space simulators. At the time Wing Commander saga and Privateer were the pinnacle of the genre. D:FS took that and added a few ideas native to the Descent series and typical combat craft simulators that ultimately led to Freespace francise. The first game isn't so huge in terms of the feeling how vast space is, but it gave a well told, mission-driven story about the fight against Vasudans and later Shivans. Game progression gave access to better units and weapons, which gave a natural feeling of how technology developped as the war and research went on. New technologies were neatly introduced in Command briefings and mission briefings. Moreover D:FS taught peole NOT to skip briefings like in Wing Commander for it was a sure way to fail a mission. Of course there were a few bugs as well but it hardly impeded gameplay. Fred editor gave rise to numerous campaings and high demand for the game spawned the sequel FS2, the greatest game of the old space sim era.
