In fact, no, in my opinion this game becomes nearly unplayable after 3-4 levels. Never got past them, the earthquakes were just a total, frequent nightmare and the hospital was hard to rebuild after them; even after a medical device burned out due to old age, you still didn't know what to do with the remains. Still, probably worth a look if you're absolutely bored and don't know what to play, but only if on sale. There are probably better, newer games in the genre that are worth checking out first.
I tried SimCity 4, and didn't really like it. That one feels needlessly complicated and offers no substantial benefits to prefer it over this one, which is simpler, has a more distinct personality and does not have any graphical "bells and whistles" that so much distract from the essence of the game. But this is just my opinion. Overall, I think games like these only work well in 2D, and this is the best chapter in the series before 3D games started coming out.
I think this is one of the best games ever made, however, it is only best played as a Light Side character. A very good romance option (and perhaps the only one) is also plagued by a bug if you play as a Dark Side character (it's the Bastila bug, I've had it when I played this game on Steam but it's not game-breaking). I think the bug is easily corrected by messing with a text or html file; however, playing as a Dark Side character only makes you appear as a common bully, and not the skilled, subtle manipulator the second game makes you out to be; again, just as someone said, there might be a reason for it, but it is hard to believe after all the cool stuff that you hear about the character in the sequel. Generally, this is a common problem among the games of the period this was released in. Also, a heads up: on my laptop with Intel graphics, this version won't even start, while a CD version worked just fine, especially after getting "upgraded" to a no-CD version, which is something I wouldn't recommend. But the Steam version does work on my laptop, so something is wrong here. Any potential buyer should be aware that this version might or might not work on their system. I seriously hope this gets fixed and all the KOTOR games and versions thereof start working properly on all systems, not just some.
This is a game that is even better and deeper than its predecessor. And I mean much deeper, and certainly worthy of a Hollywood movie, it's so well written. While the first KOTOR game is certainly a masterpiece and still quite a joy to play, this in my opinion is even better. I generally hate Star Wars, but this has made me reconsider some aspects of the movies as well; if you liked Episode I or III, this is a game you must get, even if it has nothing to do with the movies, if only to enjoy a similar atmosphere. Nothing I could write would do it justice. I joined GOG just for this and a handful of other games. A heads up: this does not play well with integrated Intel graphics; this version certainly does not work on my old laptop, where it crashes, even if you manage to get to the menu screen. Paradoxically, I think I was able to launch this game through Wine while on an older version of Ubuntu, and its Steam version, however slightly buggy, ran OK even if it would sometimes run into an audio bug that made it skip the in-game dialogues. A CD version with a no-CD "upgrade" was able to run though (not something I would recommend). I might mess with my old laptop's drivers again to see if it runs after a few minor tweaks, but anyone purchasing it today should be aware that it might not.
The game feels pretty bland (it's some generic fantasy world one couldn't care less about, and the same could be said about the characters that will accompany you) and its difficulty is all over the place. There are battles that will force you to use half of your healing potions, and some that will just annoy the hell out of you. The king's heir is wearing his armor, but a random mercenary captain can easily kill him if you're not careful...seriously? Also, until a healer joins your party (somewhere halfway through the game, depending on how you play), even on 'Easy', the game can be pretty difficult and quite often frustrating, but that's when the battles start to become annoying and pretty much "filler material". To then become quite difficult again, towards the end of the game. The Fade: aka the infamous, tedious mission that will force you to do a lot of backtracking. Since you don't have any of your companions with you, it is difficult and frustrating as hell, given that you will quickly run out of poultices, and once that happens, you're fucked. There is even a mod called "Skip The Fade", get it, that's how I completed the game; I was seriously about to give up. Without the mod, I would have given DAO a 2-star review. The Landsmeet: from what I understand, it's the kind of "switcher puzzle" already seen in Jade Empire in the Outlander mission, with the huge difference that is not central to the game's plot and therefore a lot more charming; which is lame, since there is no in-depth discussion of all of the arguments and counter-arguments that you are presented with; give the wrong answer, and if the majority of the characters is not on your side, you're screwed and get brutally humiliated. Seriously? This is frustrating beyond belief, because if what you're saying is true, then you do have a much stronger case than one of the villains, but no chance to prove otherwise; it should have been a longer verbal confrontation divided into stages. Disappointing.
Even today, the graphics look pretty good, but personally, having played Far Cry Instincts on the original Xbox, I think that game was much better in terms of plot and overall atmosphere. Sure, this is not a game you might want to play for the plot, and even the Xbox version is quite cliché plot-wise, but still. The PC version might be much more impressive from a technical POV, but I feel that it definitely does not have a soul. The stages sometimes feel like a hodgepodge without anything to actually unite them, and the enemies you will encounter during the final levels of the game feel too out of place. Yep, it does have sandbox elements, but I feel like this aspect of the game is hugely overrated, since you still have to complete objectives in a certain order, and given that the game uses a checkpoint system, you will be using them as much as possible since you'll have no desire whatsoever to lose your progress, considering how challenging some portions of the game can be even when played on easy (some of the enemies will kill you in just one or two hits during the final phases of the game). Is it overall still a good game? Yes, sure, it is still quite fun, but frankly, I feel like it's slightly overrated. The antagonists feel pretty generic, with the main villain being the standard tough guy in a cowboy hat, whereas the one found in the Xbox version was menacing or downright scary. I know you'll be wondering why I even gave this game 4 stars, but I do believe this game is definitely worth it, especially if bought at a discounted price.
Now, despite setting everything to Ultra (I play on Intel HD4000), the textures look just plain f*cking horrible. Seriously, they look even worse than those found in Quake 2, which graphically was more than OK for its times. And where is the config file? I heard the Steam release had the possibility to solve this issue by editing a config file; but here, it is nowhere to be found. Seriously, I've almost completed the game, and only now do I get to know that there could be a fix? This is f*cked up beyond belief. So I've tortured myself for like 8 hours without even realizing it, which, to me, makes giving this game 2 stars totally justified. Let's talk about the game itself: the most annoying thing is that most of the game is comprised of dark corridors which force you to use a flashlight. And the only two weapons that allow you to use it is the machine gun and a crappy blaster similar to the pistol used in Q2, in that it has infinite ammo, but is weak af. This is lame beyond belief. So basically, this means you are restricted to using two weak-ass weapons while exploring the levels. And the worse thing is that towards the end of the game, where I am now, the enemies you'll have to face are stronger and will gang up on you, and this means, to quote the AVGN, you'll be getting buttf*cked up the d*ck all the time! And I'd say the levels themselves are pretty average, and there is not much variety. Well, what a shame. Had the devs fixed the broken textures thing, this would be a 6,5 out of 10 game: solid in some regards, but ultimately, just a mediocre shooter you should not bother with more than two days in a row during your weekend.
This is the best game of the Elder Scrolls series, period. You won't find fast travel here and the crappy journal system found in Skyrim; instead, the journal is chronological and offers a lot of context. Something which Skyrim does not, so even if a lot of quests are bland and repetitive, you will always know who gave them to you and whether you're helping the bad guys or the good ones, which more than makes up for it. The way this is implemented in Morrowind is somewhat basic, sure, but for a game made in 2002, this is more than acceptable; Skyrim utterly fails in this regard. The game itself is addictive and its buying and selling minigame (if you can call it that) hugely contributes to this. The items you find in the game offer a lot more variety as well as personality and you will always know if the item you've found is a legendary artifact or just an average weapon. Skyrim lacks that feeling of epicness. It's also been said the game is quite difficult and does not really take you by the hand...well, that's not really true: first, you can adjust the difficulty level whenever you want, and second, if you adequately prepare for a mission in the early stages of the game and bring a lot of restore health potions with you, which you can drink while the game is paused, you usually won't have any trouble at all. The game does have a couple of almost critical bugs, but if you tread with caution, and don't kill anyone from one of the great nomadic tribes, and don't save the pilgrim found near Ald Velothi before the quest is assigned to you by the Legion, you'll be fine; and I recommend you travel around there only after joining the Legion anyway. Also, while traveling near Ald Velothi, get the Amulet of Shadows ("a lady in distress") and never sell it to anybody. It will make you a master thief, and will spare you a few bounties as well as help you complete the Gnisis Imperial Legion questline without getting kicked out. And remember: Skyrim sucks utter balls!
The first time I tried this game on PC, I just couldn't get myself to finish it. The game becomes so boring so soon you keep wondering why you're still playing it, and there is one, specific reason why this is the case: no real, satisfying response from the enemies you kill. All of the enemies you shall ever encounter are "bullet sponges", shooting at a body part makes no difference at all, whether you're trying to kill your enemy via headshot or simply aiming at his feet; sure, it is reflected in the bonuses and power-ups you receive from killing enemies, but the enemies react in pretty much the same way: they either stay alive or they die. Rarely, if at all, does shooting your enemies in the head vs. shooting at their arms make any difference; they still need a specific amount of bullets to drop dead. And this is way more serious than might seem at first, and giving your character bonuses based on how you dispatch your enemies is a poor excuse for the lack of a sensible damage system or whatever. And I still can get to finish it. I mean, sure, I will try, but playing games should not be a chore. I get the crude, cliché, almost racist humour, I get poor, unappealing graphics, but this is the single worst flaw that kills any kind of enjoyment. And the missions suck too, it's always the same thing, go there, shoot a bunch of miscreants that will start popping out of nowhere, and when you're done, collect your reward.
So after playing the game for 16h 31m (if GOG is to be believed), I can only say that this game: - has the same, awful journal system Fallout 3 had; - has the useless, sometimes less than self-explanatory Karma system, just like the third game (no numerical score for your deeds and vague, generic categorizations, like "Paragon" or "Saint"); - has a courier that gets ambushed as its protagonist, who needs to investigate the ambush, get one of the items back...seriously? This is even weaker plot-wise than Fallout 3, where at least you cared, because you needed to get your dad back. I mean, why do I need to investigate something if, for all I know, this could be down to simple bad luck? Might as well "sit this one out". - places a Vault jumpsuit in your inventory, with a PipBoy given to you later. However, it is never explained what those things have to do with you, and this (and its implications) does not make sense on many levels whatsoever; - has that (optional) mission with the Deathclaws, which are just incredibly overpowered and you can do nothing about them even at lvl 8 or 10, unless you want to get a shit ton of mines and set up a trap. Even then, one of them can kill you in just one hit. No thanks, not gonna waste other 10 or 16 hours to get it done. - has some quests can get easily broken (either by you or the bugs themselves) and the game soon starts making no sense partly because of those. I guess the standard answer a Fallout fan will give me is: "install a few mods", but no. Wrong answer. I don't see why I should mess with a game if it does not stand on its own merits; I am reviewing the game sold here. The devs had one job... - the hardcore mode is...promising and looks incredibly good, even if it only brings a few modifications; that's the level of realism I would have included in a hypothetical game made by me by default, and that's how just a few details might ruin or elevate a game. Sure, those 16 hrs were OK, but just OK. Don't waste your money.
