I only played the single player component so no comment/opinion on the multiplayer MP. While AvP 2 came close, I still think this game, the original, is the best Aliens experience, as well as the best AvP game. Fast paced, minimal hand-holding, and very atmospheric. I wound up applying a "cheat" to get unlimited saves, which honestly helped me get through the game faster than I deserved but I personally don't think it took away from the experience as there are some particular parts of each campaign that will have you playing the same ~20 minutes of game more than a few times.... The "cheat" can easily be found via an Internet search if interested.
Haven't played Archimedean Dynasty yet but compared to AquaNox (which is still a good game), I think AquaNox 2 is the better game. The way the story is told is a bit more immersive and the game feels deeper as far as inventory management and game play. Similar to the first, there's still one or two missions that require close attention to radio messages to accomplish (such as taking out snipers BEFORE the enemies directly in front of you) but this was not much of an issue compared to AquaNox 1. It's a little difficult to get running in Wine, but I found running Wine in windowed mode with captured mouse did the trick for me. For the price, TOTALLY RECOMMEND!
I tried so hard to like this game and was able to get past the first two or three missions but when I got stuck where they introduced armor (a BMP if I recall), it was all over for me. Not sure if it's a bug and I was suppose to spawn somewhere else or if I should already have AT gear but after a dozen attempts on this section without a sliver of hope, I gave up. Graphics and concept are okay, and the less challenging sections are alright. I think the game might even be enjoyable with cheats like invincibility or something (not sure if they even exist), but the game play is just totally unbalanced and broken IMHO. Hey, at least it installed and ran fine, sssooo, there's that :D
Loved this game. Started playing it thinking it was a 3rd-person shooter but turns out this game is one-of-a-kind and the game play, game world, and story all drew me into it's super long 40+ hours of game time. Started getting a little "tired" of it by the end but that's probably just my gaming endurance. It reminded me of Deus Ex at times but it's definitely it's own beast. SEMI-SPOILER below (warning about the final battle) Make sure you're leveling up ALL your characters, and good. I focused on maxing out my three favorites at the expense of the others, which made the end "boss" VERY difficult!
I had a blast playing through the game from start to finish. WHAT I LIKED: Experience a landmark of tactical shooters. It's the diet-coke of tactical, casual enough to overcome it's age but still lets you employ some basic tactics. Examples such as hit-and-run(changing enemy's orientation) and terrain navigation (it's not always best to climb to the highest hill and snipe, sometimes following low ground to a more narrow and safer lane of fire prevented me from having to replay mission after failure using "king of the hill" style tactics). WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Mostly minor technical issues. Graphics did impact game play occasionally as it can be hard to tell between terrain, dead guy, an active enemy. Using scope to look outside from buildings/barriers would sometimes cause the game to hang. A few random hangs also forced me to replay a mission or two. The overall game play became a little repetative after 30 or so missions. Lastly, some minor bugs with events not being triggered or enemy's falling waist or shoulder deep through the map but this last point was actually a little endearing to me, bringing back memories of how many games played back then. FINAL THOUGHT: Even though it got a tad repetitive, I enjoyed playing through all 40 missions. Worth playing if you can appreciate the game for what it was in 1998!
PROS: - Fun!!! - 6 degree freedom gameplay - Unique store any enviornment - Forgiving inventory store (no penalty for buying/selling, so you can experiment freely!) - Looks great but still reminds me of the "Golden era of PC gaming" CONS: - No mid-mission saves - A few mission failures due to unclear tactics/mechanics* or unlucky circumstances CONCLUSION: I HIGHLY suggest you give the manual a read before/during play. Besides clarifying the story, there are a few mechanics and ship/weapon specs that will help you get through the game. Even with a few frustrating failures, AquaNox was more than worth the time! *The "dipol" (if not activated automatically) can be activated via Escape key and is REQUIRED to manually perform for a couple missions. To turn off your engines (semi-required for at least one mission), double tab the assigned reverse key
