As many in the reviews have pointed out, this game is the unfitting end to a legendary series that culminated with Ultima 7 as the highpoint before everything went downhill from there. The newer audience might not be bothered so much if they've never played the earlier games, but there's a very good reason why Ultima 9 was not well-received when it first came out in 1999, and to this day. Spoony's Ultima 9 retrospective tells you everything you need to know: https://youtu.be/mQUVfo_kBMU
My childhood friend whom I played video games with nearly everyday after school told me about this really cool game one day and asked me to come over and check it out. We both sat down in front of his computer, a common thing of the time before the advent of the Internet, and he booted up this unusual brand new kind of game that I had ever seen before. I watched him choose the starting location for his base, build facilities, set up research, equip the troop transport and arm the interceptor. Then we waited. After a few moments, a small UFO was detected. He sent an interceptor after it and shot it down, then the troop transport followed. The game then switched to the soldier arming screen, and my friend commented about how the auto-cannon can shoot explosive rounds and "destroy cover and stuff". The mission area was the farm map around dusk, with crop fields, wooden fences and a barn. We sent our soldiers to dispatch the surviving Sectoids in the area and inside the downed UFO itself which had a gaping hole and several dead aliens inside. We ended our turn and thought we'd taken out the last of the aliens survivors, but the mission didn't end. The alien's turn finished almost instantly, and we didn't see any movement during the turn. Then my friend had an idea. He pulled all the soldiers away from the barn and put them on overwatch. Then he ordered the soldiers armed with auto-cannons loaded with high explosive ammo to do full-auto repeatedly on the barn. The rounds not only took out the walls of the barn, but most of the second floor along with the staircase as well, and exposed the last Sectoid hiding up there in a corner. Alas, our auto-cannon guys ran out of time units and we decided to end our turn. The Sectoid panicked and tried to run away, but got caught in a hail of reaction fire from rifle soldiers. A round struck its soft tissue and it dropped dead. The mission was a success, and the soldier that killed the last Sectoid got promoted.
Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition is the modern rendition of the legendary Space Hulk games from the 1990s. You and up to three Terminators cleanse and burn your way through the dark, dank and claustrophobic corridors, caves, abandoned temples and factories of Olethros. All that stands between you and certain death are your weapons of choice, your teammates, and the mercy of the multiplayer system that, for the most part, does fairly well. But when it decides to go belly up due to disconnection or the host leaving, you lose all progress, XP and all, and are booted back to the lobby. It would be hard to paint a picture of the gameplay in words that would do it justice, so I leave here a link to a video I made of a multiplayer session so you can see it as it really is: https://youtu.be/esqVId8sAhQ
I'm giving Distant Worlds: Universe a 5 out of 5, not just because it is the best 4X game since Master of Orion 2 in my opinion, but one that lives up to the name of 'living and breathing world', not merely marketed as such like so many games do these days. I could easily write a whale of a review for this gem of a game, but if a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video a million. I have put together a video which will hopefully give you a good idea of why I love this game for the two reasons mentioned above. Check the video description if you want to check out the mod I featured, or if you're having trouble getting past the launcher window. https://youtu.be/aNe3_Gb61Ao
I've been a huge fan of MOO2 since the good old days when legendary games like this were being made, and before I heard of the new Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars I would still fire up MOO2 every now and then, because it was that good. I bought the new MOO recently when it was on sale, after reading the many negative reviews on GOG about how mediocre and CIV-like it was. I actually went and read the patch notes in the months after the game's release, the latest one being version 55.1.2.1.40421, and decided to see if it was as bad as the reviews say. I was pleasantly surprised. After playing through one whole game (all the way until I had my butt handed to me, I will go into this in more detail later), I personally think that this is MOO 2.5 as it felt like I was playing MOO2, except with AAA graphics, refined mechanics and most importantly, that same experience faithfully preserved. Now, onto my game session that left me gawking, not to mention embarrassed. I played as the Humans as I just wanted to jump right into the game without spending all that time fiddling around with the custom race creation. For the first 400 turns, things appeared to be going fine for my ten or so colonies spread out across six star systems, though the other four AI opponents were waging war against each other. I set the population growth rate to Normal, which made for a longer drawn-out game. The Meklar Combine was out-producing every other race, had better technology and wiped out the Darlok and Bulrathi races. I had two fully-upgraded titans that I had planned on taking to the Orion system so I can try and defeat the Guardian and get the Death Ray weapon. Once my titans left for uncharted space, the Meklar declared war on me and took out two of my colonies with dozens of cruisers, frigates and destroyers. I then ordered my titans back home, but they too got wiped out by the same invading fleet. The End. Best MOO game ever since classic MOO2. Damn you, Meklar Combine. Damn you!!
Ultima VI was the very first Ultima game I had ever played, it introduced me to the franchise and at the time I thought this was the most immersive and best-looking game (given how primitive computers were back 20 or so years ago). The game didn't force you to go from objective to objective; it simply lets you do your own thing, explore the world at your leisure, learn things at your own pace, and that in itself was the best part about Ultima VI, for me at least. You really felt you were exploring a world as an independent character, not so much playing a game. I think Ultima VI was the epitome of defunct Origin Systems Inc's slogan back then - "We Create Worlds". I would buy this trilogy just for part VI, and relive my childhood memories.
We all have games that we grew up with and defined our childhood, and the QFG series was one of them for me. I played QFG1 VGA over and over as a kid back in the early 90's, and it was a magical experience unlike no other. This is a game that is not only an adventure and RPG, but an early implementation of what we call the sandbox. If you use the 'pick up' icon on the grass, your character will pick up a few small pebbles which you can then use for different purposes. You could use it to knock something out of a tree, knock the hermit's door up on a cliff or, if you dare, throw it at the rogue that occasionally hangs out in front of the gates to Spielberg (though you'll die a quick death as a result). You could find work sweeping the king's stable, get paid some coin and be permitted to sleep overnight if you're exhausted and need a place to rest. Those empty flasks that used to hold healing potions that saved your hero in moments of need can now be used to collect clear spring water at the nearby lake. Feeling hungry? Pick the fruit from the tree at Erana's Peace (one of the few real safe places in the game where nothing will harm you). You will need to eat and sleep in this game, so venturing out without food rations will lead to death through starvation, and depriving your hero of sleep will cause him to collapse in exhaustion and die (presumbly to monsters). These are things you won't see in today's games, which is why I love this game so much. It gave you freedom to explore and rewarded you for your ingenuity and creativity. There's none of that aim-and-shoot anything that moves or boring "kill ten rats" quests, but an intricate and complex quest that will see you travel to distant lands and rely on clues, objects in your inventory and your imagination to solve the mystery. There's a load of humour that will make you laugh if you have the know-how to discover it. All in all, this is the best game series that the now defunct Sierra has ever made, in my opinion. This game deserves to be played by any gamer who enjoys a mix of adventure, RPG and sandbox elements all in a beautifully-realised world where the characters, problem-solving and planning ahead matters more than simply having good graphics and sound.
