Rage always had good hand to action games, shooters or other genre games (but focused on fast action); both Incoming's, Mobile Forces, and what we are now interested most, Expendable. Story, well, is almost non-existing. Another alien invasion and savior of the universe, bla bla bla... but I don't consider it as disadvantage. If this kind arcade shooter is enjoyable (Expandable is, very!) I simply don't care about story. I wan't explosions, many aliens to smash on walls and lot's of guns and ammo! Main game objective in all missions is to walk through levels and kill anything what is moving, well almost. Sometimes you need to rescue some survivors. There is plenty weapons to collect, if you gather wapons of same type you get more ammo and weapon became more powerfull. Goood way to kill bosses faster, which are at end of level. As you walk many funny things can happen like crashing plane, pillars falling over road etc. Sounds are done very nicelly, explosions, gun noises or alien's sound, all on good level. Techno-style background music fits well to game also. Controls are easy to learn and easy to master. Nice future in game is cooperative with 2 players on same screen. When you play game you fell like on your own home arcade mashine!
Lords of The Realm is very addictive and suprisingly pleyable game. It first I had few doubts about this 'historical simulations' but soon realized that I was wrong... Maybe game isn't on top of my favourite classic strategies list butit's quite high. Basicly we can say that game is ancestor to later 'Total War' series and simillar to titles like "Defender of The Crown". Story takes place in medieval England. Your aim is to be the “lord of the realm” by vanquishing your five competitors: Knight, Countess, Baron, Bishop and Earl. The game is turn based and each turn consist of one season in which you can raise armies, manage your regions, trade, build a castle or a myriad of other things. You get a small report each season which will tell you what the weather is like or any other unusual occurrences like wolves becoming a pest or a high birth rate. Your job is to allocate workers to a series of tasks like farming, tending sheep or cattle or gathering resources. Your regions also need to be kept happy, health, fed and well guarded against the opposition. If any traders are in your region you can also find out some rumors and trade with them. Once you are satisfied with the way things are looking you end your turn and wait for your opponents to make their moves. The most intense part of the game is the battles where you can take control of armies and wage war against your enemies. You can also lay siege to castles and while all of the combat in the game can be left to the computer you'll be missing out on a big part of the action if you do so. The battles look rather cool with hordes of little guys killing each other but it's still not what you'd call state of the art. The game definitely looks more functional than impressive. The audio fares slightly better with some appropriate tunes and plenty of nice sound effects. Everything is controlled via the mouse and after a few hours of playing you'll know your way around the multitude of game screens. I'm quite sure you won't regret any of those 6 bucks spent for game. If you like little more 'realistic' kingdom sims this game is 'a must have'! See you on the battlefield...
