The idea of a ROTT update is terrific, but there are many things that keep this from being great. First, enemy physics is all over the place. Shoot someone with the pistol and he may literally launch hundreds of feet toward you then rubberband back again. Second, there appears to be no splashback from higher powered weapons. Shoot a rocket launcher at the feet of a baddie, and he'll keep coming, uninjured. Third, what is up with the incredible amounts of unnecessary profanity?? Doug drops the MF bomb when getting God mode...really? Where's my option to turn it OFF?? Also, ROTT:DW had a robust, zoomable map...where is it here? And, ans been mentioned many times already, the game freezes at inopportune times, even on low settings. It's not all bad: Level design is creative, and fans of the original game will definitely recognize the layouts; a ton of work has been put into its design. The soundtrack is a stellar update of ROTT:DW (if a bit more repetitive than its predecessor). It's obvious the devs have love and respect for ROTT:DW, so why release it in this state? As it currently stands, this is a 2.5 to 3 stars, max. If it had been optimized before released this would have been an easy 4. Let's hope for a patch, and soon. It's currently just a little too frustrating to be the frantic fun that the original was.
I had planned to come here and give this a high rating, as DLC is now included and the game has been patched. However, there are still some basic flaws with the game that make it a mediocre experience (even for the $5 I paid). Your earnings don't carry over from one "chapter" to the next (as your operation increases around the city). What's the point, then? In combat, if you have a knife you can stand directly next to someone and still be "too far away." Yet, I can stab someone through a wall. Huh? Conversely, you can have a gun, stand right next to someone, and only have a 64% chance of hitting them. Again...huh? The lack of ability to move the camera directly overhead can make movement options difficult to see in combat segments. Is it the worst game ever? Not even close. However, these remaining flaws make it a less than average experience. It's too bad: The premise is original, the music is good, and the graphics are decent. This has so much potential to be great that it saddens me that the devs don't care about fixing it.
Pandemonium 2 offers two characters to choose from: ultravixen, scantily-clad Nikki, and Fargus, an insane, dim-witted jester who has his own talking stick named Sid (for you Juff Dunham fans, think Jose Jalepeno On A Stick, but with the personality of Walter) that he can throw at enemies. The plot is to get to the Comet of Infinite Possibilities (each character has their own reasons for doing so). Gameplay is pretty simple. You're on a linear track, similar in style to the Crash Bandicoot games, but from a side perspective. Instead of fruit for extra lives, you're collecting coins ("treasure"). Levels are multi-tiered, in that there will often be many places above and/or below you to explore. Enemies may be bounced upon, Mario-style and, as expected, power-ups are present. The colors are vibrant, and the levels are creative and pretty large and offer variety, as do their bosses, which often involve utilizing new techniques to beat. Many times in my first run-through I thought I had explored everywhere possible, only to find I had a less than %50 treasure found ratio! As the gameplay is standard for the genre, so are the problems: awkward camera angles, blind jumps, and a few confusing pathways. However, these don't occur too often, and don't take away from what is a pretty underrated and enjoyable game. It's worth the asking price if you're into good, old-school 3D platformers; all else should definitely consider picking it up when it's on sale.
The plot is thin, the voice acting is fair to horrible, the plot is strictly on rails, the music is forgettable, and the online servers have been taken down; yet, I cannot pull myself away from Etherlords 2, and find myself chanting "just...one...more...battle" like a mantra. Please check out my full review at the GoG Etherlords 2 forum as it's too long to post here (c'mon GoG; if you're going to restrict the length, then at least let me link to the damned review. We do these out of the goodness of our hearts!) The bottom line, though, is this: EL2 is a solid Trading Card Game (TCG) that doesn't really feel like a TCG. As such, it should appeal to a much broader variety of players, including TCG fans. If you have someone with which to battle over LAN, this is a five star game. If you're only playing solo, then bump it down to four stars, as there is little replayability here. That said, you've got a lot of hours worth of turn-based fun for less than the cost of a movie ticket. For fans of TBS, TCGs, or RPGs, this is a must own.
Ah, 1994: Games released the previous year (such as Doom and Blake Stone) had proven that the FPS genre could be lucrative. The result was the golden age of FPS, with several solid (and successful) releases as Heretic, Corridor 7, System Shock, Spear of Destiny, Alien Vs Predator, Doom II. There were also about 25 other games released, most of which were less than great. The problem was that many of these games licensed outdated technology; in simply a single year's time one can see the leaps that these engines made (compare Doom I to Doom II, for example). Rise of the Triad (just barely released in time for Christmas '94) eschewed diagonal walls for some nifty advances of its own. Some things could be expected in the genre, such as stellar gore for the day (what Apogee lovingly called "Ludicrous Gibs" mode), and destructible objects (Duke 3D would make such things famous, but they started here, folks). However, RoTT took the FPS and flipped it on its head, adding some pretty creative touches. For example, jump pads scattered throughout the levels catapult both the player and the enemy high into the air, Super Mario style. These not only make combat more strategic and interesting, but they can also be used to access hidden areas (or otherwise inaccessible areas), leap past enemies, or collect life items (spinning ankhs that appear on the ground, ledges, or can hang in the air). Other oddities include bizarre powerup modes such as the expected God mode, and the not-so-expected Dog mode. RoTT also tried hard to improve upon the FPS by tweaking previously existing elements. It was the first game to provide an adjustable violence level (players could kick it all the way up to the aforementioned “ludicrous gibs” or remove the blood and gore altogether). It also was among the first to provide the player with multiple characters to choose from (and, I believe, the first to make some of those choices women). It featured an automap. It also took LAN / network games to an amazing level, providing unique areas and completely customizable games. The designers were some real geeks too, and this always played to my heart. Adding the ability to carry two guns “Woo” style in a time when most Americans had not even heard of John Woo was pretty killer. Changing the load screen during holidays (for example, having the H.U.N.T. Team wear Christmas hats on December 25) was another whimsical touch. And then, there's the “Shroom” mode! Yes, Doom II was scary as hell, but RoTT was just plain fun, and easily one of the most influential games of our time. Grab a copy, throw on the enhanced graphics packs, don't think too hard, and have a blast.
