The thing that strikes me most about this game is the art direction. A lot of research must have gone into 1930s Art Deco, which is the visual style of this game. It’s everywhere, from the buildings and signs to small details like the content of posters, taps in the toilets. Everything has been lovingly and authentically created and comes together as an design experience, and is perfectly complimented by a tasteful selection of soundtracks from 40s and 50s epitomized by Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea (La Mer)” echoing.

The sound is used very cleverly to create atmosphere. The music is in 3D, which means it has a source, and we often hear it emanating, with some distortion, from some distant room which generates an eerie atmosphere that reminds me of how the same technique was used in the movie “The Shining” where we hear the haunting strains of Al Bowly’s “Midnight and the Stars & You”. The sophisticated music constrasts starkly with the dystopian state of the society and half-ruined locations

Sound effects are also well implemented. As we wander through Rapture, we hear footsteps, muffled voices that and other inexplicable sounds close by…

Lighting and shadows are technically spot on, but go one step further in that they are also used to further increase the atmosphere and suspense of the game, such as when we see the shadow of something waiting for us round a corner…

“Water, water, everywhere. And not a drop to drink”. Well, not exactly…the underwater city is leaking and flooding, and you won’t see better water effects in any other game - I promise. It’s quite amazing. I read somewhere that the developers hired a programmer just to work on the water effects. He did an excellent job and set a new standard for these kind of effects in computer games.

If you’ve read other reviews, you will hear a lot about narrative. For me the unfolding story of the game, which you get to know by finding tape recorders strategically place around each level, puts a nice frame around the FPS experience, making it more like an interactive movie. In this sense it reminds me of that most excellent game of a few years ago “Mafia”. However, like Mafia, it is an FPS. And although we have a wide range of weapons and abilities to find, master and use, and a few puzzles to solve, the bones of the gameplay is to shoot your way through each level through waves of enemies. Personally, I get a bit bored with this, and this game had enough going for it to offer something slightly different.

Oddly, like “Mafia” of a few years ago, there is no multiplayer, which is a shame since it has a nice physics engine that allows you to toss objects and bodies around, as in “Half-Life 2″. Mulitplayer would have ensured its longevity, and it would have been great to play with a map editor!!!

Like “Mafia”, when “BioShock” is over, you’ll feel a bit of a come down, like you might feel if you’ve been to see a really good film at the cinema. And then you’ll find yourself wishing you hadn’t played it, so that you could play it all over again for the first time!!

Definitely a significant game in the history of PC games, and deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

Pump out units you don’t care about, never get attached to, and send them at the enemy as fast and as often as you can. This is pretty much the formula they’ve followed since, well, forever.

The only bug exception I know of was the original Age of Empires. Those were the good old days of RTS gaming–when a ‘defensive’ strategy also worked. You could build walls and be safe behind them. You could plot and plan. There was time to think, and I love thinking.

Wow, was I ever excited about the game Supreme Commander. Those overhead shots of red vs blue units in tactical array really had me. Or should I say, tricked me. For all it’s hype ingenuity, the S in RTS was still the same: Click click click to pump out the units, overwhelm with numbers, zerg. To me, at least, this game was an utter disappointment. It got great ratings though, so obviously it was great for others…but not for me. I wanted more. I wanted…deeper.

If you like strategy games and you’ve never played Galactic Civilizations 2, you’re missing out. Stardock, the publisher of ‘Sins of a Solar Empire’ created a masterpiece with that game, catering to a niche of fans eager to relive the glory days of Master of Orion 2. But Stardock outdid themselves, and GalCiv 2 has surpassed it’s 4X strategy forefathers (including Civilization) and in a few months time, when it’s next expansion arrives, will get even better.

Point is: They make great games, and more importantly, are committed to improving and enhancing those games in light of the desires expressed by the players who buy them.

Sins of a Solar Empire is deep, immersible, customizable. It is made for a gamer who loves to think and plot and plan, who likes their games saturated with lore and steeped in tactical balance. Yeah, games last long. This, to the strategy gamer, is a good thing. It means one mistake won’t cost you anything. It means a struggle that promises rich fulfillment at the end. It means, in a word, ‘Epicness’.

No, that’s not a real word. But you get the idea, I hope.

My favorite game(and I feel far and away the most universally strategic game of all time) is Rome/Medieval 2 Total War. I’m not here to argue the point, but I don’t think anything comes close to the grand scale and immense tactical decision-making present in those games. Time will tell how Sins of a Solar Empire stacks up, but what it is now is close, and what it will likely be in a years time may surpass anything I could hope to imagine.

My review? This game is incredible. You can read about the gameplay mechanics elsewhere. I’m here to tell you that if you like your strategy games long and complex, but exciting and vastly challenging as well, sit on the fence no longer. Hop into the yard and jump in the pool, my friend.

Epic space strategy on a colossal scale is here. And it’s equipped with three banks of laser cannons, front and rear missile bays, roving fighter squadrons and a Gauss cannon.

I’ve wasted enough time trying to convince you. Time to play.Â

 

 

Well I won’t bore you with constant flames about POTBS. The thing that stands out most to me is there seems to be zero end game content. You can reach lvl 50 without ever doing a single quest yet when you hit 50 the question is what do I do now. PvP is not something people do much of yet the game is about 90% pvp based. There is no benefit currently to doing pvp and the changes coming to promote pvp will not do so. This is the main reason I am cancelling my account. I think over time the game will pick up and things will improve but right now there is no justification of paying $15 bucks a month for the content. There are too many alternatives to this game and ones that by far will keep you entertained.

Gameplay:
The combat is unique and fun when you are fighting with ships but hand to hand is something I could compare to a nintendo game from 15 years ago. As for the economy it is totally player driven and only time will tell if this will be a good thing. The quest tracking and overall quest system needs alot of work. The game could also use a better waypoint system, it is about near impossible to set a waypoint and keep it locked on.

You also have to pick 1 of 4 nations. You can then create alts on the server but they all must be from the same nation. The current system doesn’t recommend servers therefore there are 3 servers with adequate populations and the rest are ghost towns. There are too many servers and not enough players. The should combine the servers to create more player interaction. There also should be a reason to play a nation, ie better resources, ships, etc. As it is now the French are so underplayed on most servers you wont see 20 people online at a given time on most servers. This is a very game breaking problem and needs to be addressed quickly.

Story:
The story line is set in the 1700’s of the Carribean. It was a time where sheer brutality was very common and the game would benefit more from showing this. I personally have lived on the coast of North Carolina and the lore of Pirates and their impact on the state is still seen today. And since Blackbeard was a North Carolina Pirate and the stereotype of all pirates are based on his image I think this game hits the mark.

Graphics:
The open sea and ship details are amazing as well as the avatar customization. The hand to hand fighting is very generic.

Final thoughts:
The game shows potential and is a great break from traditional MMORPG’s but for now the game has far too much wrong with it to justify the high monthly fee. Lower the cost to 9.99 or less a month and subscriptions would jump. There is little justification to keep the account with the current content and long term I don’t see this game as a major contender in the ever growing MMO world. Originality can get people to try a game but its the content that keeps them coming back. My advice is to wait a few months to see if they can fix the issues that currently plague the game and to see if end game picks up.

• Birth of Shadows on Out of Eight.
• The Club on bit-tech.net and Strategy Informer.
• Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance on Gas Bandit Gaming.

Dark, foreboding world that looks, sounds, and feels lived in. Fantastic story populated by realistic NPCs with realistic problems. Innovative new combat mechanics add depth in place of mindless clicking. Cinematic visuals and a superb soundtrack.

 

 

This game is the one of the top two RPGS I’ve ever played .The other being Oblivion. Okay about game .Firstly its mature adult theme is something I really appreciated .Constantly during the game you have to make moral decisions and actually consider what the consequences will be .Gone is the standard RPG world of ” kill the dragon and save the princess ” .Now you have to consider introspectively …” if I kill the dragon the princess may actually turn out to be the evil sorceress who enslaves the villagers ” .Its a brilliant concept .Then the combat …this is absolutely revolutionary .This game has turned the whole world of RPG combat on it’s head .When you progress in levels you really need to decide what style of combat you want to utilize .Also in battles you have to think constantly against difficult opponents on what skills and what combination of skills to use . I hope this changes the standard RPG combat mode which ultimately evolves to just ” right clicking many times and using healing potions “.The story is also really captivating .The plot nuances and the people you meet have compelling quests and information that keep you thinking about future chapters and ” who that person could be ..And why are they doing it “. The graphics are superlative…The whole world is beautifully done, the monsters fearsome and the women beautiful and seductive .The only thing that doesn’t make this game better than Oblivion is the admiration I have for the huge world of Oblivion where you can go anywhere and do anything at your convenience .The Witcher is a chapter driven game and once certain chapters are finished you can’t go back to some areas. Finally the stability of the game .I loaded the latest patch and had only about 15 crashes in the 80 hours of the game…so that is more than acceptable in my view. I recommend this game to all lovers of Fantasy RPG…it’s a must buy.You wont be disappointed.

• Satisfying gameplay in story mode  
• Very addictive online offering  
• Really stellar graphics from both a technical and an artistic standpoint  
• Fully-featured level editor included.

I was initially surprised to see what GOW had to offer..As it offered tooo much excitement too quickly and was not able to keep up to the initial excitement, as after a few hours the gameplay gets a tag repetative, but not sooo repetative that u will get bugged.. Mainly as even though the gameplay is repetative it just provides too much fun,too much gore and too much blood.. Who wouldn like to see the enemies get torn to pieces or blood all over ur screen when u draw the chain saw dow ur enemies spine.. Its just awesome.. It is mainly due to these awesome moments that GOW will not get on ur nerves cos of its repetativeness and you will want to finish the game.. Apart from all the blood and gore the other cool concept of GOW is the cover mechanics.. The cover mechanics keeps things very realistic as without taking cover it is nearly impossible to take down ur enemy as in real life.. There are some really cool weapons in GOW.. Using a gun is really satisfying..

 

 

The graphics of GOW is just breathtaking.. Especially the cutscenes,they look stunning.. Even the blood splashing on the screen looks gr8.. The character models are top notch.. The enemy designs are just superb and also sometimes scary.. Could have done a better job on the texture i guess.. But make no mistake GOW is right up there with CRYSIS,BIOSHOCK,COD4 as far as graphics are concerned..

The voice acting is superb and u can feel the nature of every cahracter from the voice.. The music is cool and fits the game well.. The weapons too sounds gr8.. And the best part is when a chainsaw goes deep down your enemy’s spine.. Wow it just sounds as cool as it looks.. Even better..

The story is pretty stright forwarrd..But its engaging nevertheless.. The game is on the difficult side.. Even on the easiest difficulty u may die quite a few times.. U can also change ur difficulty anytime during the game.. The story as a whole is short but considering the difficulty u will be spending somewhere around 15 hrs with this game..The game is not soo difficult that u will start plucking hair out of ur head out frustration, once u get a hang of it u will surely enjoy it.. I was never a fan of the checkpoint system.. But this game proves that even if bad things are done right , then it can turn out ot be good.. The game has a really cool checkpoint system keeping in mind that u don end up repeating the scenarios over and over…

Another prob with GOW is that there is not much of exploration in the game.. And this also adds the repetative gameplay mentioned earlier.. Make one thing clear if u r into games where u just gun down enemies then this is surely not ur cup of tea.. But if u r a gamer who enjoys a bit of challenge and loves to see realistic action then this surely is ur game.. I would suggest this game to gamers who love to see violence as GOW is violence blood and gore to the fullest.

• Empire Earth III on The Armchair Empire.
• Pirates Of the Burning Sea on GamingHeaven.
• Shadowgrounds Survivor on Adrenaline Vault.