This is an all-time get for GOG for me. And for $8.99 on sale?? What an absolute delight if you are a fan of the books. Even if you aren't, it's a great FPS with fantasy elements.
Really, it's not even that little. This is kind of a massive world given it's one guy making on game with the only assests he could likely afford. Ignore the graphics and even the controls (both of which are pretty bad). The game itself is really well fleshed out. People compare it to Diablo, but that is a really surface level comparison. It's more like a pocket MMO, and when I say that, I mean of the Everquest variety. Where you have to farm gold and EXP from the starting area on just to be able to survive the first two dungeons. Do not walk into this like your typical ARPG, thinking you are gonna just plow through mobs of enemies. One enemy your level is a pushover. Two you can handle. Three things get hairy. Four and you're dead. All in all, this is a game for people who like to grind. But I'm really impressed with the gear and beastiary the developer has created here.
This game is fine. It plays good. It's a fun little stealth romp. Is it anywhere near the quality of The Dark Project and Metal Age?? No, but then, few games ever made are.
I don't say this lightly, but the fact is the "Dusk" is the best example of what we would consider a classic FPS that has ever been released. It's masterful. The kinetic action from moment to moment is flawless. The soundtrack is out of this world. The level design is peerless. This genre has had alot of games we all treasure. Doom, Hexen, Quake, Blood.....we could go on and on. Dusk is an amalgamantion of all of them in the same way that Shovel Knight captures everything and more that is great about 8-bit platformers. I've rarely been so impressed with a game. There are a score of games in this genre that have been released the past year, and they are all worth your time. But "Dusk" is a true classic, a game that can proudly stand among the best ever made.
Bioshock Infinite is a game that desperately, desperately wants to believe it is saying something important. It seems to have been designed from the outset as a something that aspired to be greater and more meaningful than "just a game". And there are MOMENTS where it achieves this goal. This game has some of the greatest set pieces in gaming history, and some of the stuff you will SEE in the first-person happening around you in Columbia are draw-dropping, and couldn't be achived in any other medium. There is grand spectacle on display here. But as a game?? As a narrative?? As something that is trying to make some kind of profound statement. No, to all of these. From a narrative perspective, it's contrived time travel/alternate universe nonsense. From a gameplay persepctive, it's a below average shooter with bullet-sponge enemies. And from the perspective of confronting important subject matter, it appears to want to make a statement about a racist society, yet in the end does nothing but draw false equivelance between the oppressors and those who were oppressed, because it doesn't want to take a "side". Do I recommend playing Bioshock Infinite?? Without question (especially if it's on sale). There are awe-inspiring visual moments here, and more than a few genuinely disturbing ones. But this game is not the masterpiece it was made out to be. This is a game that is VERY high on it's own supply, but without alot of justification for it's own inflated ego.
As crazy as it seems in retrospect, Star Wars Episode I: Racer is not only one of the best racing games of it's time, but, aside from the two KOTOR games (and the SNES trilogy), it is also just flat-out the best Star Wars game period. You can look at the pod racing sequence from The Phantom Menace as both a tribute to Ben-Hut and that movie's Mos Eisley Cantina scene, where the variety of aliens on display was most eclectic. What this game does is take those characters and puts them into an Intergalactic pod racing circuit that spans multiple planets, each with a more hazardous enviroment than the last. The controls are tight, you actually feel like you are flying around at 600 mph, and best of all, this game IS mappable on modern controllers and can be played in 1080p. This game could have been an absolute joke of a cash in like so many Star Wars tie-ins were at the time, but instead, even 20 years later, is an amazing example of what you can do with a off-the-wall concept.
You'll notice that every single negative review on this site (and others) masks itself by saying the game is buggy and has horrible writing (one of which is true and one of which could be argued). But then they get to their main issue. The fact that "social justice" is being jammed down their throats due to the sole inclusion of ONE minor NPC who is transgender, which they apparently view as akin to being forced to marry someone of the same sex in real life. The Gamergate crowd has taken this one up as their personal crusade, and the amount of nearly copy and paste zero or one star reviews on this site and others is proof positive of a campaign to sink the game based on a single LGBT NPC. Read the reviews on this site and other places you usually visit and you tell me if you think everyone posting these reviews has ACTUALLY played the game enough to give it the absolute worst rating possible.
Many of us hold the classic Infinity Engine games close to our hearts. Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and the peerless Planescape: Torment are justly considered some of the most engrossing CRPGs of all-time, in regards to immersion and gameplay. Pillars of Eternity is the monumental attempt to try to take that lofty legacy into a new era. It succeeds by leaps and bounds. First off, the game is gorgeous. Nothing flashy or gaudy, just beautiful hand-crafted art. The mood is set in the first chapter that will instantly remind you in many ways of the flight from Candlekeep. Yet it would be criminal to write Pillars off as a rip-off. The folks at Obsidian have obviously poured their heart and soul into creating a original fantasy world, and it pays off in spades. Rich dialogue options, cut-scenes with choose-your-own adventure type choices affected by your character stats. And a story and set of characters worthy of all the fuss. This is a world that could be around for years to come. But ultimately, a game in this genre comes down to character creation, abilities and combat. All hit the mark. The character selection screen alone may take up your first hour of play time. The spells/ abilities are a fantastic medium between the Infinity Engine and the recent triumph of Divinity: Original Sin. And (most importantly) the real-time, pause heavy combat is fluid and graceful, and is instantly familiar. We are lucky to be experiencing a golden renaissance for the CRPG genre. The Legend of Grimrock games lived up to the legacy of the great tile-based dungeon crawls. Divinity: Original Sin masterfully merged turn-based combat with anUltima VII level of immersion. And Shadowrun has given us a tactical steampunk sugar jolt. But even taking all those great games into account, Pillars of Eternity stands above them all. The best thing you can say about it is that it attempts to live up to some of the best games the genre has ever produced, and is able to proudly stand among them.
First of all, let's get one fact out of the way. KOTOR 1 and 2 are the crown jewel of the crowded Star Wars gaming universe. It wisely ignores (except as a template for a world) the movies and the expanded universe and creates it's own mythology. Second of all, the game is definitely a RPG (based loosely on D&D 3 rules) but it is also highly beginner friendly. The combat system isn't perfect but it becomes second nature very quickly. The loot is good but not overwhelming. You have great diversity in who runs with you in your party. Lastly, the visceral experience of playing the game is like starring in your own Star Wars movie. That isn't just hyperbole. When you whip out your lightsaber or light things up with your blaster it FEELS good. Every swing animation hits you perfectly. The choices you make push you to the light and dark side (as would be expected). There are multiple solutions and outcomes to most quests. Ultimately, Star Wars was always the closest Sci-fi ever got to being pure fantasy, and KOTOR and it's sequel stands proud among the giants of the genre. It's not perfect, and some may say it's water-down and too simple, but don't listen. This is not only a all-time great game, but a perfect stepping stone into a myriad of wonderful worlds in the CRPG universe.
I would suggest to anyone to cut off the core Ultima series after the brilliant "Serpent Isle", because "Ultima 8" is the perfect example of a big-name corporation coming in a destroying something it had no hand in creating. This game is some sort of horrendous blend of Ultima 7, point and click adventures, and a platformer. The controls are atrocious, the gameplay tedious and pointless. It's only redeeming grace is that it isn't "Ultima 9", but that's just saying it isn't one of the worst games ever made. I have no problem respecting and enjoying flawed games (as most are) but this is not one of those games. Avoid.
