Silent Storm Gold Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Combining the over-the-top fiction found in some World War 2 based comics and a combat system similar to that of the Fallout games, Silent Storm succeeds in being a very enjoyable experience with a few questionable gameplay decisions.
Silent Storm starts out by letting you customize the central character of your team, in other words your avatar. You can choose to be any of the classes available in the game: Scout, Soldier, Medic, Engineer or Grenadier and what side of the conflict to be in. All classes can partake in combat or perform any of the actions available but only those specialized in a certain area may increase their skills in said area substantially. Skills are raised through use during missions along with the opportunity to earn medals for your actions.
The graphics in Silent Storm are decent, while there isn't much that will impress they are very adequate for an RPG/Strategy hybrid. The missions are varied enough in scenery to keep things from getting monotonous. The sound never stood out much to me, but the effects that are available also feel adequate. The voice acting can at times seem amateurish but the exaggerated accents fit in nicely with the theme. The musical score is the typical military selection that you can expect from any game with such a theme. From pounding drums to solemn melodies, they can all be found among the soundtrack.
The weapons available to you range from guns, knives and explosives to laser weapons available in later missions. This brings me to another aspect of combat, your main source of new armament for you squad will be found during the game's missions. While you can stock up on some basic weapons shortly after your first mission in Silent Storm, you will find that the more advanced weapons are used by the enemy and can be picked up once they are dead or disarmed. During Sentinels things change a bit as you can purchase an ever increasing variety of weapons as you progress.
The expansion to Silent Storm, Sentinels, is included in this package and worth a look. The game takes place after World War 2 and you are now a mercenary that gets an opportunity to work for a peace-keeping organization called The Sentinels. The combat and much of the gameplay remain the same as in the original, but you will not be able to continue using the same character you developed in the previous storyline.
"Sentinels" does introduce some gameplay changes that make sense within the context of the story. No longer will your only opportunity to increase a skill be on the battlefield, now you can train them up for a price while at headquarters. This is not the only major gameplay change introduced in the expansion as now to add additional members to your squad you will have to hire them at an increased cost for the more experienced sentinels available.
One of the questionable gameplay decisions happens to be the addition of Panzerkleins later on in both storylines. The shift in the action is so abrupt that it changes the mechanics of the game in a big way. From having to think ahead and plan out your assault, as well as having plenty of opportunity to use all of your squad's varied skills during a mission, it becomes an exercise in brute force. As soon as you obtain Panzerkleins for some of your squad you can blast your way through any level, the only thing keeping you from blasting through the enemy ranks unchallenged are the opposing Panzerkleins. Another questionable decision was that of making most of the terrain destructible. While in theory a very sound choice given the setting and subject matter, in practice it can become a bit of a hindrance if by chance you happen to blow away certain parts of the terrain and cut off access to the rest of the level for your Panzerkleins, which proceeding without in some cases can be near impossible due to enemy Panzerkleins.
As with most games translated to English there are some typos to be found. I would be willing to forgive these minor oversights if I did not feel that the game was already a quality product developed with some scrutiny, something which is not reflected in the sloppy translation. These minor complaints have become pet peeves for some fans of the game but in no way should keep you from giving it a try. As of this writing the "Gold Edition" is a bargain and its contents are well worth the money.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Silent Storm Gold

Single and Multiplayer modes

Click here for more information about Silent Storm Gold

Read More...

Ageod's American Civil War 1861-1865 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've seen varying reivews about this game from various sources, and I can see both sides of the argument. Personally, as a long standing fan of strategy games this is right down my street. A word of warning to start with, however. The game is extremely high in memory use and once you load the game onto your PC you don't need the CD in to play, which explains the high useage. PCs with lowish memory and graphics cards not entirely suitable will crash out.
The 'board' map is huge, covering from the west the Indian / Kansas territories and going east to the Atlantic, and south from the Gulf of Mexico to virtually the Canadian border. It takes time to scroll across and lagging can be frustrating unless you got a high-spec machine that works out PI in 3 seconds.
Those concerns aside the game is great. If you're into shoot-em-up or battles, forget it. Battles are done by the PC and all you get are the results. Basically, you're the guy who moves the units, assign generals and armies, ships and boats. Its a grand strategy game with at its heart the Ledger. Its here you determine the economy, resources, diplomatic and army building course of your side. Its close to the scenario of real life so that the South can win even if they appear to be losing. The North has to keep on conquering to keep the 'War' party in power and not lose the election of 1864.
Generals appear only when they are supposed to, so that the North starts with McDowell and McClellan and the South with Beauregard and A.S. Johnson. Those of you who like the 'building' aspect of strategy games, such as planning long term industry and reinforcements, will take to this part of the game. The manual is helpful but what you also need to do to begin with is use one of the inbuilt 'tuition' scenarios. Attention must be given to building armies, corps and divisions in order to avoid severe battle penalties.
Its about time someone came up with a big strategy game for this war and if you can bear the problems inherent with high memory useage then I recommend this one.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ageod's American Civil War 1861-1865

Click here for more information about Ageod's American Civil War 1861-1865

Read More...

Sid Meier's Civilization V Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The working relationship between a game designer and his publisher is never a simple one. So I would not know where exactly to place the blame, Sid Meyer or 2K GAMES. But in the end, it does not matter. Because it is simply sad to see a great gaming franchise came to this.
THIS IS NOT A CIVILIZATION GAME
A great number of major features of this beloved series have been simply removed. A fellow gamer called this "Civilization For Dummies" and he is absolutely right.
There is no trading maps or technologies. There is no claiming resources outside your borders by building a colony. There is no need for transport ships as units apparently are now all..amphibious (and they need 15-20 turns to cross an ocean!). There are no city-growth milestone requirements (granary, aqueduct, refrigeration). There is no culturally conquering an enemy city (detonating a "culture bomb" by consuming a Great Artist will only get you extra territory tiles but no cities). There are no spies nor health/pollution balance. And there are no armies (please read on).
ARMY CASTRATION
Someone please tell me what was so wrong with armies that had to be yanked out? Napoleon almost conquered Europe with one army. Germany almost conquered the eastern hemisphere with three and the US still holds a two-and-a-half armies doctrine. How can a turn-based game be called Civilization unless one can emulate, well, a real civilization? Building an army, seasoning it on minor conflicts and then going for the enemy's capital was one of the most fun parts of any Civilization game. Why Sid, why?
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LAUNCH INTO SPACE YET CANNOT CLIMB MOUNTAINS?!
Movement should be hindered by rough terrain. Units that have 3 or 4 moves on the plains should not be expected to do more than 1 or 2 on a mountain, right? Well, no. Mountains seem to be those magical places no unit can climb or pass through (not even ...helicopters of jet fighters!). And I cannot see how this makes for more complicated strategic decisions than timing your movements, claiming the high ground and having a bonus for elevated artillery?
UNIT STAMPEDE
A major issue for me, this was what really ruined the game. For some unfathomable reason units cannot be stacked. A worker can coexist with a military unit but that's it. Artillery and shock-cavalry are very vulnerable to attacks and (with the new hexagon layout) one would need ...six defensive units to protect a single artillery battery.
As a result, units keep getting on each other's way (especially when ordered to move for distances that require more than a turn), they refuse to even pass through friendly units (!) and the "tactical" considerations that result from this are trivial. And whenever besieging an enemy city, one has to endlessly maneuver his units around it (while exposed to its bombardment) whereas wounded units are never easy to withdraw.
You cannot even garrison more than a single unit within a city. Not that it would make a difference, since the garrisoned unit is not automatically awaken to fight back when the city is under attack(!), the city is left to defend itself.
CAN YOU REALLY COMMAND WITHOUT A...CENTRAL COMMAND?
The economy is nose-diving into the red and you want to reduce the percentage going into research for a while to avoid having units of yours deleted one by one? The fickle people of your civilization are unhappy and you want to placate them by increasing their entertainment allocation? You have discovered conscription and you want to upgrade all your musketeers into recruits? Well, TOUGH LUCK! There is not central command screen to do so. Only advisers that you have to thank for annoying you.
You have zero control of both your cities resource distribution and your national economy. And units have to be hunted down and upgraded one by one.
Speaking of the economy, when are going to see a Civilization game where one can run and manage a national debt?
NO FREE EYE-CANDY IN THIS UNIVERSE. NOT EVEN A STALE ONE.
The game does look new and polished and the units are well designed but not cutting edge and not without a steep hardware price. If you expect anything comparable to STARCRAFT II crispiness you will be disappointed - at my 1280x1024 resolution it is not easy to discern roads from railroads.
The system I am running my copy was top of the line about a year ago and still I had to tweak the video settings with a mix of high and medium to get it running. Even then, whenever I scroll to a different location of the map, I can see the image fleshing out, just like zooming in a Google-Earth map.
So one can only wonder: why should one need a...Cray to run a Civilization game at full?
STEAM OF WAR
The game requires OnLine Activation (and rumored perpetual reactivation every few days) and has to be tied to a STEAM account. Effectively this means that the game is a piece of rentware the buyer never really owns and yet it is sold at full price. I realize that to some people this may not be a serious issue so, in case you are wondering, I deducted a single star from my overall rating of the game because of its DRM scheme. To every other gamer however, you can now make an informed decision.This was a major disappointment. I never though I'd say this but I while playing the latest Civilization game I caught myself wondering if they would ever make...CALL TO POWER III.
New gamers, steer clear of this mess, this is NOT what a Civilization game plays like.
Seasoned gamers, we know better than to call this a Civilization game.
Sorry Sid, EPIC FAIL.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sid Meier's Civilization V


Sid Meier's Civilization V is the fifth offering in the multi-award winning Civilization turn-based PC strategy game series. As with earlier installments in the series, Civilization V features the famous "just one more turn" addictive gameplay that has made it one of the greatest game series of all time. In addition to this it also features improved diplomacy, unprecedented modding tools and functionality, new ranged combat over a hex oriented board rather than squares, an in-game community hub facilitating improved online play and more. This collectable Special Edition also contains exclusive content and items. See the complete contents list below.

Click here for more information about Sid Meier's Civilization V

Read More...

Defense Grid Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This year indie groups seem to be the ones keeping PC gaming alive. After the brilliant World of Goo and the innovative iFLUID and CRAYON PHYSICS, DEFENSE GRID comes along and reminds me how much fun an intelligent PC game can be!
The basic idea is simple enough: you have a power supply with a limited number of cores. Aliens will try to walk (and some fly) in and out with one or more of them. Your job is to place defensive towers to kill them off before they reach the exit. The more aliens you kill the more credits to spend on towers you get. Wave after wave even more aliens will come - so you better choose wisely where to place your towers. It seems simplistic but I assure you it is not.
Different aliens require different types of defenses. From projectile and field to short and long range (and numerous upgrades), there is no short supply of defense towers. And since their deployment and upgrades are not instantaneous, you need to plan ahead (there is a tactical screen on top that foretells what kind of aliens are incoming).
As the game progresses there is more freedom in where to place your towers and, subsequently, reroute the aliens' influx. That is really fun! Make them serpentine around your more powerful towers (and delay them with the Temporal Distortion ones) to wipe them out before they even reach your power cores.
The graphics are very well done, with full zooming capabilities. The camera gets a bit jumpy when fast zooming in, a feature I particularly liked because it reminded me of the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA external shots. The environments are beautifully designed with attention to detail and (contrary to full-priced releases such as SPACE SIEGE) never get boring.
I really liked this game. If you decide to bite the bullet too, be prepared to get really hooked. This is the most ADDICTIVE game ever since Civilization II!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Defense Grid

Get 40% OFF

Click here for more information about Defense Grid

Read More...

Transport Giant Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Transport Giant really has a good idea behind it. It is certainly more realistic than that of Chris Sawyer's Locomotion. but it isn't necessarily more fun. The game seriously lacks in terrain. The towns are excellent and grow realistically, but the terrain is lacking. As in: there is none. The only "variations" in terrain are images of cliffs that make track and road building impossible, but you can go around them. Anyone who has played a game like this knows that path and route finding is often severely limited by terrain, which makes the absence thereof in this game very noticeable.
Also, routing is very difficult. The trackbuilding elements all but require you to master routing of trains, and then they won't pick different platforms, which makes mainline services almost impossible, and the simplest of routes are complicated by the incompatibility of tracks to be manipulated like they can in Locomotion.
A huge plus is that passengers actually have destinations! What a novel idea! Just hope your new bus doesn't get stuck behind one of your old horse teams, because vehicles *will not* pass each other on a road.
It is a good game, but you'll probably get so aggravated trying to play it that it will probably sit on your shelf for some time before you attempt it again. At least, that's what happened to me. Solid game, poorly implemented.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Transport Giant

Click here for more information about Transport Giant

Read More...

Emperor: Battle for Dune Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)All right, I've heard all the complaints I ever want to about how Westwood never does anything new with its C&C franchise. But hey, it works, doesn't it? Time and again, experiments have shown that changing a tried-and-true formula usually ends in disaster. Just look at Force Commander if you don't believe me. Additionally, with Emperor, they really have done something new.
Obvious things first- the graphics. You'll immediately notice this, unless you are blind. They are more than impressive, but utterly astonishing in detail and workmanship. You can zoom, pan, and rotate to see the different vehicle models, all done in gorgeous 3-D. Aside from the structures and units, combat looks fantastic. I was almost tempted to blast my own base after missions, just to see the fireworks.
The single player campaigns are far more interesting, since you can ally yourself with any of five different sub-houses, each offering tempting units. You can also attack and defend at will, and when you defend, your old bases will be reactivated. It's an interesting touch, and one that makes the campaigns much more fun than any previous Dune or C&C-type game. You'll also get various secondary objectives, some of which can be pretty fun to carry out.
The balance is excellent. Each house has its strengths and weaknesses, as do the sub-houses. I don't think the debate will ever end as to which combination works best, since it's really just a matter of favorites.
Of course, no game is without it's problems, and Emperor is no exception. I found that defending in the campaigns is laughably easy if you just attack your intruder right away. You'll also probably know the map, so you can exploit its advantages to better destroy them.
Path-finding can be a pain at times. Although it does work, it seems they tried to make units have realistic 'space' to take up, which means they don't bump into each other. This is cool to a certain extent, and that limit is when you can't move something from point A to point B.
The acting is a bit forced. I'm not one to complain too much about cinematics and actors, since they're only there to augment the game, but at times it was really quite bad. The Atreides mentat in particular struck me as an evil person, which just doesn't fit the House.
The plot is weird. I can't really explain it otherwise, other than to recommend you read the books (they're great, anyway). I know the folks at Westwood are leaning more towards the movie version of Dune, not the novel. However, the way they have taken the story seems an amalgamation of elements from God Emperor of Dune, the movie, and... well... something. For example, they never really explained how the Atreides recovered from being handily slaughtered by the Harkonnen and Sardaukar. This will probably be of concern only to a Dune purist, though, and should not deter you from playing the game.
All in all, Emperor was a pretty riveting experience. If you were disappointed by Dune 2000 (basically just a remake of Dune 2), then you will want to check this one out. It surely won't disappoint.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Emperor: Battle for Dune

Emperor returns gamers to Dune, land of sand, home of the spice and the first real-time strategy title. This all-new game presents the Dune universe in full 3-D. As in the classic Dune 2, players can command three unique political houses: noble Attreides, evil Harkonnen, and insidious Ordos. Five powerful subgroups add to the volatile political climate. There are four game worlds to battle on, and players can choose large-scale strategic advances or ground-level tactics. Gamers can wage war online both head-to-head and cooperatively.

Click here for more information about Emperor: Battle for Dune

Read More...

Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms Expansion Pack Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Okay, first off about the multi-player hotseat thingie..don't really know about it and not my cup of tea so in this review I won't touch on it because quite frankly this is a game I really wouldn't want to play with anyone else. It's a "me" game.
With that being said, this is a nice addition to the Total War franchise. Sure, there are mods you can pick up to tweak it, but nobody makes a mod better than the folks that actually designed the game. In each of the campaigns you have cool triggers that add a dynamic flavour such as Richard and Philip II reinforcing the crusades in the Holy Lands and the Baron's Alliance in the Brittania campaign.
I had some preconceived notions about Kingoms, in that I fully expected some dinky little maps and about 5 hours playtime per campaign. Ohhhhhh no sir, these are full fledged campaigns with lots of territories and tons of time to eat up. They are all quite large, but the Americas campaign map is vast and was extremly fun playing the Apachean tribes. Nothing says "yippie" when your apache dog soldiers are charging and doing that Indian war cry you've heard in every John Wayne movie.
There is no big upgrade over Total War II...ergo, there is no major graphic or engine overhaul, it's simply more campaigns to play - a lot more. One of the nicest things I liked on the new campaigns is that you get a few of the top end units to start so you don't have to wait years to see how that Greek Fire Thrower works or get the uberest Templar Cavalry.
I have had no technical problems on Vista 32-bit with Dual core 2.13ghz, 2gb RAM and NVIDIA 7600 video card.
Not much more to say that hasn't been showcased in previews and you can read from the description up top (which is accurate except the multi-player thingie which I really don't care about) other than if you liked Total War 2 then you are going to really love Kingdoms.
Pros:
- Same good looking graphics as Total War 2
- Sound is amazing with new songs for each of the factions and campaigns
- Tons more units
- Very big campaign maps
Cons:
- Ummm...perhaps the multi-player capability which apparently isn't that great.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms Expansion Pack

Get 63% OFF

Click here for more information about Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms Expansion Pack

Read More...

Tropico 3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Every regime turns old and stale. Every banana-republic runs out of national resources to sell-out for kickbacks. And every dictator can hide only so many populist aces up his sleeve. So in the end he calls for ...degenerate capitalist image-makers to reinvent his persona and make the beard hip again. It's the same old story.
Power corrupts - and absolute power corrupts absolutely. True - but aren't you tempted? Not even a little?
The original Tropico and its expansions were of those rare RTS games that manage to blend absurd stereotypes with classic gaming genres and reinvent them with humor. From the old Dungeon Keeper to the unsurpassed Evil Genius most of these games are hard to fail. And how could they - what is there not to like?
The economy must be tended to: from agriculture, fisheries and tourism, to oil and mining, you must decide on how to keep your regime solvent and well into the black. On the other hand, neglect the well-being of your citizens at your own risk. Both superpowers as well as brewing guerrillas are always at your heels, ready to dispose of you and install their puppet in your boots.
So make sure to strut around and let your subjects take a good hard look at their leader. If that is not enough to discourage dissidents, making a long-winded populist speech surely will. Push come to shove, you can always rig the elections of course...
This installment's sin is that it offers little new besides improved graphics and minor gameplay touch-ups. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
If new to the series, buy all means buy it! Not only will you greatly enjoy the gameplay but you will also experience it in its best incarnation. If you already have experienced the previous installments of TROPICO, I know you have to see what the original game looks and feel like in 3D and Shader Model 3 graphics.
The game comes free for any intrusive DRM nonsense. Neither online activation nor any limit on installations, just a serial key. What you know, even ruthless tyrants have more sense than game publishing executives...
Thwart those insolent revolutionaries before they gain traction!
Send them for cultural re-education to the banana fields.
RECOMMENDED!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Tropico 3

Story and Gameplay In Tropico 3 players take on the role of "El Presidente," the leader of a millitary coup that has recently taken power over the Banana Republic island nation of Tropico. Simulation aspects of the game play out in a heavy emphasis on civic, residential, millitary and institution building across the island, as well as resource management, with the player given the choice as to how to economically facilitate this growth. Regardless whether you turn Tropico into a vacation paradise, a police state or a modern industrial nation - you will always have to defend your actions before your people. Players wander through Tropico as El Presidente in order to intimidate political opponents, hold populist speeches or just to enjoy your country's own Caribbean flair. The strategy angle of the game requires players to keep a sharp eye on the dangers and side-effects of your absolute power. Built on the precedant of your own coup, danger lurks on every corner, be it militant revolutionaries plotting to supplant you, or the machinations of the superpowers USA and the Soviet Union, both of whom would like to see a more amenable ruler in strategically important Tropico. Within the game's 15 missions history takes its course with events such as the Cuba crisis, papal visits and other actual decisive historical events. The choice of the means of governing, and persuasion is entirely yours, and the only question is whether or not your vision of Tropico will survive to play a role in history. Key Game Features
Comprehensive campaign with 15 different missions.
A variety of business sectors: Tourism, petroleum, mining, agriculture, etc.
A timeline editor allows you to create your own fictive historical events or enter real ones.
Avatar functionality allowing players to wander the island as El Presidente and change the course of play.
Political speeches, edicts and "other" means of influence.
A wide range of editing and modification functions.
Mission generator for random map creation.
The cinematic, highly detailed graphics perfectly reflect.
A variety of online-functions such as high scores or visiting islands belonging to other players.
Latin music soundtrack.

System Requirements:

Get 67% OFF

Click here for more information about Tropico 3

Read More...

Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Platinum Edition lumps the original game with several add-on packages.
Let's start off with a few things:
Yes, this is an old game. And, yes, you can probably pick it up for $20 (or less). And, yes, there is a newer version of RailRoad Tycoon out.
But I personally don't find the newer version to be as much fun as this one.
The graphics aren't striking. There's no whiz-bang 3-D animation. There's only strategy.
The scenarios seem easy enough:
"Create a railroad company, and lay track from Baltimore to Washington DC. Make 10 journeys with a train full of people in 10 years and win this scenario."
Or
"Connect New York to Chicago, carry 10 trainloads of passengers between these cities and have a company book value of $10 million. You have 20 years."
Okay, these may not be the exact scenarios, but they're close.
This game isn't just laying track and putting trains on them. You've got to create trains to do specific tasks. Start at a Iron mine with 2 cars full or iron, run to a Coal mine and pick up 2 additional cars, run to a steel mill and wait for the steel to be made, then off to a Tool and Die company for goods, now deliver those goods to a city and start it over again.
The scenarios are challenging, and fun. Sometimes it's not about running trains, but how well you run a company--or how well you play the stock market.
In RRT2 you get:
===North America===
The Iron Seed: Mid-Atlantic states
Handle on The Breadbasket: Eastern USA
Bridging a Nation: Western USA
Silver Booms and the Market Busts: Southwestern USA
Whistle Stop and Promises: Northwestern USA
Crossing the Great Divide: Canada
===Europe===
Birth of the Iron Horse: Britain
Excess on the Orient Express: Europe
Knitting with Iron: Germany
Next Stop the 20th Century: France
Through The Brenner Pass: Alps
When Walls Come Down: Eastern Europe
===World===
Croissants vs Crumpets: India
Which Way to the Coast?: Australia
The Samurai Rides an Iron Horse: Japan
The People's Train: China
Dilemma Down Under: Australia
Cape to Cairo: Africa
as well as the Second Century Expansion pack which takes you into the 20th century with new challenges and newer trains.
Including getting supplies to ports in America to be delivered to Europe for World War 2, running trains in the Eastern Block and Moscow during the Cold War, running commuter trains in the Northwest and a few science-fiction 'future' scenarios centering around a geo-thermal plant in Spain. I found this game very addictive, fun and still enjoyable years after my initial purchase.
Well worth the money. And you can find online guides to help you if you get stuck.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition

Click here for more information about Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition

Read More...

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Supreme Commander (SC) was an exceptional game, and highly engrossing for myself and others who grew up with Total Annihilation. SC had its flaws, though nothing I'd consider game-breaking.
Forged Alliance (FA) is the "kinda" expansion to SC. It does, indeed, stand alone as a game, however many of the options are locked out unless you own SC. This could easily be a bit of a disappointment to those picking it up and not knowing the half-truth.
With that out of the way, should you own SC and FA, you are in for a treat. FA fixes many of the issues experienced with SC. Many of these issues come down to balance. The new faction is a nice addition to LAN games, and the extra units helps the distinction between the existing factions. One thing you'll notice, though, it the new faction's units are less numerous than the old faction's bolstered ranks. Perhaps not being a story-mode available faction was the reason, but it's rather silly. It makes the new faction, already functionally generic, even less identifiable to tactics and strategy.
Regardless of one faction's unit count, the other features of the game are an exciting addition, though players of SC may find the new interface a tad bit odd at first. It quickly becomes apparent the new interface is vastly superior.
If you own SC, I can easily recommend picking up FA. If you don't own SC and are an RTS fan, I highly recommend picking up both.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Get 62% OFF

Click here for more information about Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Read More...

Cities XL 2011 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)*This is from my review of the downloadable version*
* I haven't encountered any crashing bugs so far. I went through the forums and looked at what some are having trouble with. So I'm reviewing and informing at the same time.
*** Just a Reminder*** If you have the original Cities XL ('09) you can get CXL '11 for half the price. All you need is your serial number. Go to Citiesxl.com. ***
**Update** There is a patch now available**So after a year since CXL was released by Monte Cristo, Focus Interactive releases Cities XL 2011. They promised some changes and a transit system complete with buses and trains (subway and elevated). The next generation city simulator gets a makeover with these much needed features. I liked CXL and was annoyed that Monte Cristo went bankrupt before it could implement its new ideas ie. G.E.M.'s Transit expansion, and a host of others. When Focus Interactive took over CXL, it seemed like a breath of fresh air and a new chapter for the city building genre.
Unfortunately, some (and for others, many) bugs from the original CXL and some new ones have marred it to the point where the forums are lit up by frustrated people. Focus has been quiet although they did fix a bug for steam users. I recently saw a post that Focus has no patches in place because they are working on releasing CXL '11 for other languages. It could be a while before we get any type of patch. They are also very quiet concerning CXL '11 and it's future. From my point of view, it seems like they are going to crunch numbers and see if it's viable to continue. Hopefully, they will. There has been no attempt at creating a city-building game after Simcity Societies (not including CXL). Simcity Societies was dreadful.
If you are familiar with Cities XL, buying the game online has your serial number emailed to you; and online activation. The download was pretty fast but bare in mind, I am using FIOS. Previously, Monte Cristo told me that I can load CXL on as many computers as I like, no limits. Focus doesn't mention it. I heard that Starforce DRM is on it but I didn't see it while going through installation. I've had Starforce before and it usually says, "loading Starforce." If anyone who has this, had seen, it, I'll change this sentence, but like I said, I didn't see it. I went through the files as well. For people who had CXL, you have the opportunity to buy CXL 2011 for half the price if you have your serial number for CXL. If you forgot it or lost it, emailing Focus Interactive Tech support is the way to go..You have to provide your username, password and email you used to sign up CXL.
There is no online aspect of the game. Previously in CXL, you had the planet mode. online mode is completely left out in CXL 2011. You can trade with each of YOUR cities or Don Madoff of Omnicorp, but no one else. It's fairly simple. Like a point and click. You have a "earth" screen that will show where the trades are going but it doesn't show your road network like Simcity 4. In the earth screen, you can also see the available areas to build a city. It doesn't truly represent what you will see when you pick that spot unlike in Simcity 4, you see what land you are getting; including all the physical features. A wishlist here would be when you are searching for an area to create your city, it would be nice to get a feel of what you are getting. You cannot change the land. You can terraform AFTER you pick your spot and name your city. Terraforming is very expensive and a little frustrating. Simcity 4 was much easier when it came to terraforming.
The same premise is back. You can build a city on the CXL "planet," picking a spot with different physical features ie. peninsula, volcano, lakes on a plain, fertile plains, tropical island, and more. Also, keep in mind what type of resources that each "plot" has ie. oil, water, holiday, water, farm. You give your city a name and go through a quick tutorial of where to place your first road, city hall, and early power/garbage zone. The tutorials at the very beginning (before you pick where you want your city) are good enough to give you the know-how of the basics. Again, you cannot terraform the land after you pick it and name it. I found one bug. I chose a peninsula and I was creating my city when I saved and closed it. When I came back to it, all of a sudden, my city became a island with peninsula qualities.
Many people are having problems installing the game, starting it, and playing it. Steam was the worst but I think a patch, fixed that. I haven't had this trouble at all. Also, people have been reporting slow frame rates early in the game. Usually the frame rates decrease when you have a sizable city. This is true. I loaded my city that I exported from CXL and yes, it was slow. Not too terrible though. It was like your large city in Simcity 4. You would think in 2010, almost 2011, the multi-core support and increased framerates for a city-building genre would be there.
The graphics are gorgeous. The people in CXL '11 are just like the original; not very realistic but better than others. There is no comparison concerning graphics between Simcity 4, CXL '11, and Simcity Societies. This one is by far better!
One thing new, you can tax different types of zones. In Industry, you can tax separately; heavy industry, office buildings, high tech etc. In CXL '11 you have industry, commercial, and residential zones. Building have been added as well as packs ie: coastal homes on stilts, Asian style homes, European....
One of the best things done in CXL is the idea of allowing us to create our own bus lines; up to 20 lines. The maps show your worst traffic and how your lines are being utilized. You can;t go crazy or else you will go bankrupt quickly. The best thing is that the bus stops are placed along your roads; they don't take up a tile as in Simcity 4. Perfect, since every bit of real estate is needed. The Metro (train) works the same way as the buses except, the station needs to be placed near a road. you can create many lines depending on the size of your depot (just like the buses; small or large). What is great, concerning the Metro, you can run your lines along side or under your lines placed already. The belief in the CXL universe is that the tracks go under the track already placed. A roundabout was added in the roads section however, it really has no use at this time. Expressways are now highways. One bug that had carried over from the earlier CXL is the way traffic moves. On a multiple lane road, cars in the left lane turn right and cars in the right lane turn left (besides going straight). The traffic lights, again are not animated. These 2 things too me are glowing issues especially since we are in 2010 and this game pushes city building realism. I'm also a realism nut :) The way cars and trucks turn is unnatural. People waiting at the bus stop looks nice, however, when the bus arrives, they mysteriously get out of the bus and get on. The windows on the bus look like the windows on the buildings. I wish we were able to change the physical features of the land we choose to put our city, otherwise, it's very expensive to terraform.
For those looking to buy Cities XL 2011, just be on the lookout concerning the bugs; there seems to be more in this one that the previous one. In the previous Cities Xl, Ive only experienced one lockup but in this one, none. Like I said, I haven't come across the crashing and error messages that others have gotten. Most people reporting the issues have decent systems. Check the forum. You need a decent video card because this one will wake up your video card. But again, the bigger the city, the game lags. Not terrible, but it's noticeable as in Simcity 4. The game was rumored to have multi-core support but it doesn't.
Besides all the bugs being reported, what makes me nervous is the way the developer is very quiet. Contacting them gets a very slow response. Sometimes, it seems like you get a generic response also. For those who remember, Cities XL '09, Monte Cristo was quick to respond and always had their news updated. Even when nothing new was reported, they seem to update their website. When emailing tech support, they responded quickly and seemed more personable. They even took the time to let you know that they've logged your issue and will send it to the development team. In other words, at least they responded. When I couldn't find my serial number from CXL '09, it took more than a few days for Focus Interactive to email me back and even their response was kind of cryptic. You had to read it a few times to realize what they were asking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Focus Interactive. I'm happy that they've added some things to CXL 2011 and cleaned up the resource trade screen. It just would be nice if they kept us, those who bought the game in the loop ie a patch will be coming, updates will be coming soon. It's like pulling teeth! Not good customer service. I feel bad for those who are looking to buy this game or have it on their wish lists but are afraid to take a chance because they might feel, "what if I get those bugs and/or crashes."
All and all, what is surprising is the amount of bugs being reported. If you don't experience the bugs, you will enjoy this game. It really requires you to thin what type of city you want to build, where, and how big. You have to keep an eye on your finances. In Simcity 4, it was easy to zone and expand quickly without any problems. In CXL '11, you can't expand quickly. When things become available, sometimes it's best not to immediately place them because it will put you in the red quickly. The passage of time in CXL '11 is by cycle, not month/day/year like in Simcity. I happen to like CXL way of passage of time. By default, the...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cities XL 2011

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about Cities XL 2011

Read More...

Homeworld 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This game was a must-buy for me since I also owned the original Homeworld. The story of HW2 is a lot less compelling than the story of the original Homeworld, but still not bad. The gameplay is however better.
If you are unfamiliar with the Homeworld series, it's based on fighting your way through levels, where you bring your resources and space fleet from the previous mission (level) to the next. They are all interconnected, and if you do poorly in one, chances are you'll be at a disadvantage in the next one.
You command the mighty mothership in your quest to save the galaxy by retrieving an old hyperspace gate. The mothership is able to build ships, including carriers that in turn can build most types of ships. You will be tasked with developing technology, building a viable fleet, mining for resources, completing mission objectives, and fending off the enemy - all in a nice concoction of organized chaos. The pace can be pretty high at times, and although the battlefields are nicely laid out and the navigation relatively simple, it's still a mess to get through some of the missions. Chances are you'll play each mission somewhere between 2 and 20 times before you succeed.
PROS:
* Excellent concept and gameplay
* Beautiful graphics and sound
* Hours and hours of fun and challenging gameplay
* Multiplayer option, and option to play against the computer
* Large fleet of different ships - friends, allies and foes
* A lot of improvement to make to your fleet through research
* Nice storyline to follow
CONS:
* Extremely hard - only one difficulty level. It's a good idea to either read online strategy guides and walkthroughs, or simply buy the official strategy guide.
* Hours and hours of challenging gameplay - It can get a bit tedious and frustrating to play the same mission over and over again.
* Not a game for relaxing in front of the computer.
I highly recommend this game, and it's sure to give you days and days, probably weeks and weeks of active gameplay. I was considered giving this game a 5, but since there's quite a bit of room for improvement, and the difficulty level is a bit on the high side, I give it a still very enjoyable 4 STARS!!!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Homeworld 2

You reclaimed your home.Now reclaim your destiny. Long go you returned from exile, but now fate will not be so kind. Your struggle has only just begun. The saga continues in the sequel!

Get 48% OFF

Click here for more information about Homeworld 2

Read More...

Elven Legacy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Please see my review of the prequel of this game, Fantasy Wars, for a nearly identical review (both games share the same game engine, graphics, sound, gameplay, overlapping storyline and characters to some extent).
First the basics:
Video - 4.5; Positives include generally crisp resolution in higher settings, excellent terrain. Negatives are include character models, which are less convincing as well as some cinematics. Based on the somewhat scantily clad Elven women, one has to wonder what is wrong with the Elven males that their race is dwindling...
Sound - 5; excellent sound and musical score. Music was appealing and seemed broadly "period correct" - whatever that is for a fantasy game!
Gameplay - 4.5; Positives include ease of play and user interface, which is very intutive, as well as in-game battle sequences and sounds (though you have to get close to the action to really hear the sounds, which is realistic, I suppose). Spells effects are decent, overall, though most of the actual impact on troops is marginal. With a couple of noted exceptions, the magic takes definite second stage to the battle elements. Unlike Fantasy Wars, the elves have more magic, and there are two kick-butt spells that are the fantasy equivalent of tactical nukes which they can employ - devastating to most troops when they are concentrated together, and decent visual and sound for the spell effect. No mushroom cloud, though.
Atmosphere - 4; I found the maps and story line to be engaging and immersive, within the limits of a turn-based wargame (v. a first person game). Landscapes and buildings were overall well done and evoked the right reactions.
Replayability - 3 (5); Not much, unless you want to play it again at a differnt difficulty level or try some different units or tactics since the overall storyline is the same.
Commentary: Overall, I found the game one of the more enjoyable and engaging fantasy wargames I have played in some time. I admit I strongly prefer turn-based wargames that are NOT RTS (Real Time Strategy - but actually have little strategy and are mostly just "gather resources/build structures/produce troops" efforts with little or no real military tactics or strategy). Elven Legacy is - refreshingly - NOT an RTS, but a thoughtful turn-based strategy/tactics game with NO resource gathering, NO structure building, and troops are purchased/recruited rather than produced in structures. The only resource is gold (money), which you get for accomplishing missions or taking ground in cities.
So if you like turn-based wargames, and a fantasy theme is up your alley, this is a great game (as is Fantasy Wars, the prequel to this game and using the same game engine). On the other hand, if you really like the RTS "gather/build/produce" games, Elven Legacy probably won't be what you are looking for.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Elven Legacy

Get 79% OFF

Click here for more information about Elven Legacy

Read More...

Cities XL 2011 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)* I haven't encountered any bugs so far. I went through the forums and looked at what some are having trouble with. So I'm reviewing and informing at the same time.
So after a year since CXL was released by Monte Cristo, Focus Interactive releases Cities XL 2011. They promised some changes and a transit system complete with buses and trains (subway and elevated). The next generation city simulator gets a makeover with these much needed features. I liked CXL and was annoyed that Monte Cristo went bankrupt before it could implement its new ideas ie. G.E.M.'s Transit expansion, and a host of others. When Focus Interactive took over CXL, it seemed like a breath of fresh air and a new chapter for the city building genre.
Unfortunately, some (and for others, many) bugs from the original CXL and some new ones have marred it to the point where the forums are lit up by frustrated people. Focus has been quiet although they did fix a bug for steam users. I recently saw a post that Focus has no patches in place because they are working on releasing CXL '11 for other languages. It could be a while before we get any type of patch. They are also very quiet concerning CXL '11 and it's future. From my point of view, it seems like they are going to crunch numbers and see if it's viable to continue. Hopefully, they will. There has been no attempt at creating a city-building game after Simcity Societies (not including CXL). Simcity Societies was dreadful.
If you are familiar with Cities XL, buying the game online has your serial number emailed to you; and online activation. The download was pretty fast but bare in mind, I am using FIOS. Previously, Monte Cristo told me that I can load CXL on as many computers as I like, no limits. Focus doesn't mention it. I heard that Starforce DRM is on it but I didn't see it while going through installation. I've had Starforce before and it usually says, "loading Starforce." If anyone who has this, had seen, it, I'll change this sentence, but like I said, I didn't see it. I went through the files as well. For people who had CXL, you have the opportunity to buy CXL 2011 for half the price if you have your serial number for CXL. If you forgot it or lost it, emailing Focus Interactive Tech support is the way to go..You have to provide your username, password and email you used to sign up CXL.
There is no online aspect of the game. Previously in CXL, you had the planet mode. online mode is completely left out in CXL 2011. You can trade with each of YOUR cities or Don Madoff of Omnicorp, but no one else. It's fairly simple. Like a point and click. You have a "earth" screen that will show where the trades are going but it doesn't show your road network like Simcity 4. In the earth screen, you can also see the available areas to build a city. It doesn't truly represent what you will see when you pick that spot unlike in Simcity 4, you see what land you are getting; including all the physical features. A wishlist here would be when you are searching for an area to create your city, it would be nice to get a feel of what you are getting. You cannot change the land. You can terraform AFTER you pick your spot and name your city. Terraforming is very expensive and a little frustrating. Simcity 4 was much easier when it came to terraforming.
The same premise is back. You can build a city on the CXL "planet," picking a spot with different physical features ie. peninsula, volcano, lakes on a plain, fertile plains, tropical island, and more. Also, keep in mind what type of resources that each "plot" has ie. oil, water, holiday, water, farm. You give your city a name and go through a quick tutorial of where to place your first road, city hall, and early power/garbage zone. The tutorials at the very beginning (before you pick where you want your city) are good enough to give you the know-how of the basics. Again, you cannot terraform the land after you pick it and name it. I found one bug. I chose a peninsula and I was creating my city when I saved and closed it. When I came back to it, all of a sudden, my city became a island with peninsula qualities.
Many people are having problems installing the game, starting it, and playing it. Steam was the worst but I think a patch, fixed that. I haven't had this trouble at all. Also, people have been reporting slow frame rates early in the game. Usually the frame rates decrease when you have a sizable city. This is true. I loaded my city that I exported from CXL and yes, it was slow. Not too terrible though. It was like your large city in Simcity 4. You would think in 2010, almost 2011, the multi-core support and increased framerates for a city-building genre would be there.
The graphics are gorgeous. The people in CXL '11 are just like the original; not very realistic but better than others. There is no comparison concerning graphics between Simcity 4, CXL '11, and Simcity Societies. This one is by far better!
One thing new, you can tax different types of zones. In Industry, you can tax separately; heavy industry, office buildings, high tech etc. In CXL '11 you have industry, commercial, and residential zones. Building have been added as well as packs ie: coastal homes on stilts, Asian style homes, European....
One of the best things done in CXL is the idea of allowing us to create our own bus lines; up to 20 lines. The maps show your worst traffic and how your lines are being utilized. You can;t go crazy or else you will go bankrupt quickly. The best thing is that the bus stops are placed along your roads; they don't take up a tile as in Simcity 4. Perfect, since every bit of real estate is needed. The Metro (train) works the same way as the buses except, the station needs to be placed near a road. you can create many lines depending on the size of your depot (just like the buses; small or large). What is great, concerning the Metro, you can run your lines along side or under your lines placed already. The belief in the CXL universe is that the tracks go under the track already placed. A roundabout was added in the roads section however, it really has no use at this time. Expressways are now highways. One bug that had carried over from the earlier CXL is the way traffic moves. On a multiple lane road, cars in the left lane turn right and cars in the right lane turn left (besides going straight). The traffic lights, again are not animated. These 2 things too me are glowing issues especially since we are in 2010 and this game pushes city building realism. I'm also a realism nut :) The way cars and trucks turn is unnatural. People waiting at the bus stop looks nice, however, when the bus arrives, they mysteriously get out of the bus and get on. The windows on the bus look like the windows on the buildings.
For those looking to buy Cities XL 2011, just be on the lookout concerning the bugs; there seems to be more in this one that the previous one. In the previous Cities Xl, Ive only experienced one lockup but in this one, none. Like I said, I haven't come across the crashing and error messages that others have gotten. Most people reporting the issues have decent systems. Check the forum. You need a decent video card because this one will wake up your video card. The game was rumored to have multi-core support but it doesn't.
Besides all the bugs being reported, what makes me nervous is the way the developer is very quiet. Contacting them gets a very slow response. Sometimes, it seems like you get a generic response also. For those who remember, Cities XL '09, Monte Cristo was quick to respond and always had their news updated. Even when nothing new was reported, they seem to update their website. When emailing tech support, they responded quickly and seemed more personable. They even took the time to let you know that they've logged your issue and will send it to the development team. In other words, at least they responded. When I couldn't find my serial number from CXL '09, it took more than a few days for Focus Interactive to email me back and even their response was kind of cryptic. You had to read it a few times to realize what they were asking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Focus Interactive. I'm happy that they've added some things to CXL 2011 and cleaned up the resource trade screen. It just would be nice if they kept us, those who bought the game in the loop ie a patch will be coming, updates will be coming soon. It's like pulling teeth! Not good customer service. I feel bad for those who are looking to buy this game or have it on their wish lists but are afraid to take a chance because they might feel, "what if I get those bugs and/or crashes."
All and all, what is surprising is the amount of bugs being reported. If you don't experience the bugs, you will enjoy this game. It really requires you to thin what type of city you want to build, where, and how big. You have to keep an eye on your finances. In Simcity 4, it was easy to zone and expand quickly without any problems. In CXL '11, you can't expand quickly. When things become available, sometimes it's best not to immediately place them because it will put you in the red quickly. The passage of time in CXL '11 is by cycle, not month/day/year like in Simcity. I happen to like CXL way of passage of time. By default, the day/night cycle is turned off, but you can change it. The city looks nice as night as well as the moon and sun during the day. The water graphic is spectacular. I will be adding to this review the more I play it. I've been playing it since it was released last week. You can read this review and my CXL (original) review to get a sense of this game. There is only one edition of this game unlike the previous one which had the original and limited editions. I have this game a score of just under 4, I would give this one about 3.9...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cities XL 2011

Get 20% OFF

Click here for more information about Cities XL 2011

Read More...

Pharaoh Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Where, oh where to begin? I dug Caesar III to the point where it caused me to lose sleep and affect my health. Being a huge fan of Egyptian history, I was salivating for months while Impressions developed Pharaoh.
I was not disappointed. The graphics, while not your latest 3D-Accelerated Zing-Boom flavor, are slick and very nice to look at. The gameplay is all we remember from the Citybuilding series, plus a bunch of new surprises. There are many differences in the way you build a Roman city vs. an Egyptian city, and it's refreshing to see that Pharaoh goes for accuracy in the little details. This is a detail-oriented game, after all. Floodplain farming, the lack of groundwater in the desert and monument building are some of the interesting differences between Pharaoh and Caesar III. Management of religion is improved somewhat, though I still find myself constructing "temple row" somewhere out of the way just to make sure all the gods are equally appeased.
The biggest stumbling block, ironically, is also Pharaoh's greatest triumph: the accurate and detailed process it takes to build monuments. You don't just say "Oh, I wanna build a pyramid" and plunk it down. No, first you must build the infrastructure; guilds must cut and lay stone, peasants must prepare the build site and haul stone. Carpenters must build ramps, etc etc. The process of building a pyramid is excellent, and most fun to watch... when it goes as planned.
Unfortunately, the damn things take FOREVER to build! You may have met all your victory requirements for a given mission four hours previous, but you're stuck waiting for that Pyramid to build. Sometimes carpenters just don't come build the ramps, and your stone haulers are left stacked up waiting to deposit their loads (that stuff gets heavy after a few months!).
Game lengths aside, Pharaoh is as fun and addicting as any strategy game I've played, and the city-building style is always a refreshing change from the "Gather>Build Units>Destroy Enemy" formula that most RTS games employ. In Pharaoh, if you don't make your city work, or plan, or listen to your people, you'll be one unhappy city manager.
This game rocks

Click Here to see more reviews about: Pharaoh

This software is BRAND NEW. Packaging may differ slightly from the stock photo above. Please click on our logo above to see over 15,000 titles in stock.

Get 63% OFF

Click here for more information about Pharaoh

Read More...

Supreme Commander 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)WARNING: It has come to my attention that there is an organized campaign to manipulate the review scores for this game, with posters on the official forums attempting to recruit others to create multiple accounts and write 5 star reviews. Obviously it hasn't been very effective, but be aware that the review scores have been slightly increased by this shilling. I highly encourage you to download the demo and find out the truth.
Supreme Commander 2 is the latest game in a disturbing trend gripping the gaming industry: more and more developers simply have no regard at all for the fans who put them on the map. If you enjoyed Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance for everything that made them unique, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. It is complete and utter rubbish, in essence a parody of the masterful original. The game has been dumbed down to be almost unrecognizable, although some of the good elements like extreme map zooming and a good unit patrol interface remain. Those who prefer more micro-heavy games like Command and Conquer may still get some enjoyment out of it, but if you want a small scale RTS there are many of them better than Supreme Commander 2.
The problems start with Tiers. In Supreme Commander 1, there were three tiers of units, plus experimental units. The first tier units were like little ants, useful for little other than early game harassment but incapable of dealing any real damage. Second tier units were capable fighters, and third tier units were pretty powerful. By the end of the game, you could have hundreds upon hundreds of units out, yet it was still possible for a single experimental unit to slice through your entire army and kill your commander. It was thrilling to devote your entire economy for a protracted period of time just to get that experimental out, and you would cheer for it as it completely shifted the battle. Supreme Commander 2 throws all of that away. The units now fall roughly along the lines of the dozens of C&C style RTS games, with experimental units being roughly as powerful as Mammoth Tanks. I saw an experimental unit get taken down by five gunships. FIVE. Now there is no longer any strategy in deciding what to build. Whereas before, you would need to make hard choices about whether to devote significant resources to tech up and devote a large portion of your economy to build single units or structures, now you can pump out experimental units in under 5 minutes from the start of a game. In other words, Supreme Commander 2 is now just your standard RTS, but with units far more generic than most. The macro has been scaled back dramatically, yet most units are still one-dimensional so there is little need for micromanagement since you won't affect the outcome of a skirmish.
As for resources, the great system where you used mass to build things and power to, well, power them is gone. Structures and units no longer use up power by being in play. Instead, power is just like mass. When you build something, power is deducted from your cache and that's it. In other words, you can build shield generators and artillery all over the place with no consequence since it costs nothing to support them. This means even more incentive to turtle since a surgical strike on any one area of your base isn't going to damage anything you can't easily replace. In Supreme Commander 1, it was at least a possibility that your generators would be taken out, rendering you defenseless as the shields and turrets shut down. To make matters worse, the old system where resources were deducted as units and structures were built is GONE. Now resources are deducted immediately when you queue up unit production or structures, which means you can no longer queue up a massive base and then let an engineer do his thing. This was one of the two or three most important aspects of Supreme Commander and it is completely ruined.
Now there is a third resource: research. Points are produced by buildings and can be spent in one of five overly convoluted tech trees. This is a terrible system that replaces the tiers from Supreme Commander. Unlocking the best units is too easy, and the pace of the game is killed by having to constantly open up the tech menu to unlock things. It also discourages adapting your tactics to the situation because there are so many minor upgrades that you'll need to choose between specializing in ground, air,or naval units since it will take a very long match to power up all three. It was just flat out stupid to have a menu-based system instead of tying upgrades to buildings. Some games like Battle for Middle Earth make it work because they don't have as many upgrades and don't require constantly accessing the menu, but it doesn't work here.
Normally a sequel is supposed to be bigger, badder, and better in every way. Supreme Commander 2 takes a step back in almost every aspect. The graphics are scaled back. There are far less unit types and the unit cap is far lower. The maps are much smaller. They aren't small just in comparison to the original, they're actually some of the smallest maps I've seen in a RTS. The campaign is very short, with 18 missions that take around 10-30 minutes each. Normally a RTS with such a low mission number will at least have 1-2 hour missions. And as for the much vaunted "story" and "cinematic experience" that was supposedly added? It's terrible. The CG is just video of the normal in-game assets, so it actually looks worse than the gameplay if you have a decent computer. The characters are insufferable, the dialogue terrible, and the story paper thin. The only positive thing I can say is that the art design of the maps is improved.
There is very little to recommend Supreme Commander 2. If you like the original, you're better off playing that, and if you didn't, there are many better RTS to spend your time and money on. To add insult to injury though, once you own this terrible game, you OWN it. That's right, Steam is required for this game, and it will be tied to your account forever. I look at this as a shrewd and cynical move by a developer that knows the market would otherwise be flooded with used copies because most who buy this game will not want to keep it.
-------
Addendum: If I could revise my score down to 0 stars after what I've seen of the online play after writing the original review, I would. Matches end one of two ways almost every time. In a 2 v 2 or larger match, multiple players will rush with their commanders at the start and kill one of the enemy commanders 2 on 1. Then repeat with the other players. Total match time is around 5 minutes. Otherwise, the match will end in a swarm of gunships due to the weak anti air options. There is no reason to build anything else because there aren't any units or structures in the game that, for the same resource cost, can kill a swarm of gunships faster than they can kill a commander. Also, to clarify something I said earlier, in SINGLE player it is very easy to unlock the best experimental units and pump them out in mass quantities. In online play however, they barely play any role at all. Anyone who tries to build them will probably lose because they are not as effective as normal units, dollar for dollar. There is no point in trying different strategies. Online play is ruled by basic units and whoever has the bigger blob of them wins.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Supreme Commander 2

Set 25 years after the events of the original game, Supreme Commander 2 begins with the assassination of the newly elected president of the Colonial Defense Coalition. The CDC members - the United Earth Federation, the Order of the Illuminate, and the Cybran Nation - deny involvement, blame each other, and a galactic war ensues!Experience brutal battles on a massive scale! Players will wage war by creating enormous customizable armies and experimental war machines that can change the balance of power at any given moment. Take the role of one of the three enigmatic commanders, each representing a unique faction with a rich story that brings a new level of emotional connection to the RTS genre, or fight the battle online. Where do your loyalties lie?

Get 60% OFF

Click here for more information about Supreme Commander 2

Read More...

Railroad Tycoon 3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After anxiously waiting for a Mac release of Railroad Tycoon 3, I find that it's a much-needed upgrade of Railroad Tycoon 2. However, that's really all it is -- I'd be tempted to call it Railroad Tycoon 2.5 rather than 3. There are probably enough changes to track building and industries to warrant a new version number, but other than that and a few interface changes, RT3 is essentially the same game as RT2.
The most obvious difference is in the graphics. The new 3-D engine is fantastic. You can actually watch the side rods of most of the steam engines go round and round. Tracks are a bit high off the ground, which is a little distracting at first, but overall the graphics are a huge improvement.
Track laying is substantially improved from the previous version of the game, as well. Most significant is the return of tunnels, one of the most maligned omissions in RT2. You can also build a bridge over another railroad or duck under an existing bridge, a feature fans of this game series have long wished for.
Gone is the grid with its limitations of tracks at only eight angles. You can now create smooth, sweeping curves at any angle you please. That said, the gradients could use some tweaking. Particularly annoying are the ramps leading to bridges. It's silly to have a 3% grade just because you're crossing a river. Likewise, I found it very difficult to create a railroad in even slightly hilly terrain that didn't resemble a roller coaster. And don't think this is a model layout design aid, either. It's impossible to force tracks to go where you want them.
Maintenance shops and service towers are now separate elements. You can't place a service tower at a depot and have a locomotive serviced while it's making its station stop. This hurts the game's realism a bit and can be annoying if, like me, you're used to the old style station expansions. The good news is that such facilities can be placed anywhere, even where there's no station, and you can demolish them to save money when they are no longer useful.
The construction and demolition tools aren't all that intuitive. To bulldoze a building, for example, you have to enter the track building interface and select the bulldozer. And industry construction is done from the station building interface. No doubt this was done to minimize the number of tool buttons in the main interface, but it feels klunky -- especially if you're used to the old RT2 interface.
While access to the controls has changed somewhat, most of the core game controls will look extremely familiar to anyone who's played RT2. Building and changing train consists works essentially the same way as in RT2, with a few excellent additions. One major change is the "auto manage" option which autmatically sets the train's consist depending on what loads are available at the station. You can select the minimum and maximum number of cars on each train, and select whether the train will carry any kind of car, just freight cargoes, or just express cargoes. You can also manually control the trains' consists. For more realism it would be nice if passenger cars were always placed together in the consist, but I'll admit that's picking a very small nit.
A couple of very handy shortcuts have also been added to train building, including the ability to copy trains. Mac users will find this process rather klunky and very un-Mac-like, but at least it's there and works. One new feature I really like is the ability to replace locomotives based on their class or age. This comes in very handy for keeping your locomotive fleet current. There's also a checkbox which will make the consist the same at all stations in the train's route. Beware, though -- the change happens as soon as you check the box and isn't undoable by unchecking the box!
The economy and stock market works essentially the same as it did in RT2. You can buy and sell shares of your railroad or your competitors, set your company's dividend, sell bonds, and sell stock. Selling stock is just as useless for raising money as it was in the previous version, even though you're now allowed two sales of stock per year instead of just one. You also still have to have a good credit rating to sell a bond.
I haven't gotten into the map editor yet, but from reading the manual, RT3 seems to have the one limitation I was afraid it would have -- you can't use maps from RT2. With the huge number of user-built maps from RT2, this is probably the biggest disappointment in the entire game. It's understandable, however, given the number of changes made to the industries and track building. Still, some sort of conversion utility would be nice for map developers so we don't have to start from scratch.
All in all, this is a fair upgrade over the previous version of the game. I'm not all that sure that this version was worth either the wait for the Mac port or the $45 price tag, but now that I have it I certainly won't be getting rid of it!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Railroad Tycoon 3

Click here for more information about Railroad Tycoon 3

Read More...