One of the big problems with this game that it came out after Operation Flashpion, which took open world shooting to a whole new level. Before OF it could have been an average open world shooter in the semirealistic way of Delta Force, after OF all the issues that plagued this genre was more evident. Bad AI, bad hitboxes, constant sniping, useless team mates. The graphics are OK, mostly on the level of OF, and it has huge open levels unlike Undying and Red Faction which were more beautiful, but more limited. I suggest to play Ghost Recon or Operation Flashpoint instead from the same year or Hidden and Dangerous from 1999 if you want to get a similar but much much better experience.
This is a very entertaining game, a lighthearted take on hospital management full of crazy diseases. It is challenging and it has a lots of variety, and I think it is a must play for everyone who loves managerial games. It looked good in 1997 and it looks good in 2017 as well. The only thing that somewhat breaks the game are 3 things: 1. Earthquakes can destroy your equipment 2. Damaged equipement can explode 3. Rooms after explosion cannot be cleaned up. The first is annoying because it is present on every level. The second makes the game too micro managed. The third breaks it really, because combined with the above 2 it sucks out the fun of the game on later levels. This functionality is completely unnecessary, with this the game does not get more difficult, but more annoying. Aside from this, it is a great game and I suggest everyone to play it.
I think the creators played a lot of God of War before creating the sequel for one of the best RPGs of the mid 2000s. I loved the first Witcher, and the second game is wonderful in a lot of ways. However, the gameplay can be often a let down. Even the intro chapter is full of situation, when the authors try to improve opun the old adage with QTEs. The dragon chase in the tower is simply govern by a fleshing mouse icon. This is insulting for any person with a half brain. The combat system is borderline good, border line frustrating. For example: in the very beginning there is a fight scene in a tower: there is a small room with 3 enemies behind a door. The designer probably thought that how cool it is that in DMC or GoW, the doors are locked during fights, even if it makes no sense. I step through the doors and there is no way out. The inventory was clearly made for the X360, it is more difficult to navigate it than the old one. Another nice stupidity is the camera dependent controls. Again, beginning of the game, dragon fight: there is a corridor, player goes forward, there is a cinema, then lame QTE, then the camera is on the opposite side, so now player should push down to go forward. If player is not fast enough to recognize this, its instadeath. All-in-all, I am sure the creaters wanted to make the game more popular, and they were try to incorporate many things from the then succesful console games, but there are many additions that are just simply poorly implemented, and break the flow of the games. QTEs don't make a cinematic experience, QTEs can offend anyone with a little brain. Later on when the gameworld opens, the quality improves, the dialogues are good, the world is grate, it is just too bad there are some very bog step backs from the Witcher 1. I would like to give it a 4 starbecause it is a really good game, but at this point, with all the frustration in my heart, I think there are some very big flaws in this game compared to the Witcher 1.
I wish I could give more stars, but in an age of awesome wargames it is so hard. Back in 2004, when the game was originally released this had fascinating campaign and very detailed graphics, and these qualities are still true today. I It is an arcade strategy game, even more arcade than Company of Heroes, in many ways it is very similar to the developers previous game Swine. It tries to add some realism through ammo management and through a call towing mechanism, but it is still "tanks shooting each other at point blank range" type of traditional RTS. + Detailed graphics + Destructible environments + Good campaign + Good vehicle selection + Ammo management + Towing: people can be assigned to artillery, and the whole peace can be towed by trucks, It is implemented nicely - Unrealistic gameplay leads to lack of depth - Tanks are bullet sponges - Most fights are at point blank range, - Subpar AI - Navigation issues - Camera is zoomed in too much
The atmosphere is there, but there are design elements which break the gameplay. It is possible to get stuck without notice and situations where it is impossible to get out of. This combined with the lack of saves during the level can mean lots of restarts. Some surprising aspect with controls, like I was unable to go against the stream in one level, but If I toggled between fullscreen, suddenly everything started to work. These all take away from a really enjoyable experence.
Worse than the first game, and the level and mission design is very near atrocious. As with many XBOX originals the levels are very small, and very empty, mostly a corridor and a few rooms. A city means or a planet means that there are 3 levels in a similar fashion. The mission design is too often goes to the territory that speak with person A, go across to the next loading screen, sometimes just across the street, do a very mundane task(investigate some garbage, kill/threaten/convince someone) and return. The challenge is not there most of the time, go into room, kill 3-5 gooks, and repeat. The worst offender is on some corridor planet, where the monsters are placed by by one in a distance that you slay one, you make two steps, and autopause, and slay another one. And you do this 5-7 times in one corridor of this "jungle". There are good things, even if the story goes into jedi moral bs category sometimes, there is plenty of choice, and plenty of interactivity. There are some characters I think are wholly unnecessary to the party, but maybe some would disagree with me on this one. The pacing is not too good, the creators tried to make the intro levels thrilling, but the engine is not up to the task, and the level got too long, longer then 2-3 of the planets that needs to be investigated afterward.
It tries to retain some connection to the Settlers series, there are quite a number of resources and there is quite a number of buildings, but while the original series was fun, this is dull and boring. Everything happens slowly and part of the enjoyment of the old games was to see how the agents interact with their environment. The workers still visit their homes and they go to eat, but resources are collected without transportation. The economy is not fun, and the map is very crowded, very difficult to build a good looking city, the zoom is too much. The graphics are good, and the maps are big enough, but because of the terrain features and because every building is so huge, it is very difficult to build a good looking city. And when that's done, it still lacks the liveliness of the previous titles.
Surprisingly good and challenging, too bad the sailing and sea battles are lackluster. The Sea Dog's games showed first how a modern sailing action game could be done, and Assassin's Creed 3 showed how it can be enjoyed by casuals. I assume it was part nostalgia that the developers kept the over-the-top view, but I would much better enjoy this with a proper 3D over the shoulder view. Nonetheless, the game is challenging and well done. There are plenty of things to do, and especially in the early 1600s with the Dutch it is exciting to survive at all, not just to find the scare trade routes as a heretic(the spanish won't trade with you, and the towns are few and small)
