Dark Age Of Camelot: Gold (Large Box) Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't get me wrong, DaoC is a great game and I have two accounts and 14 toons to attest to this fact. The good news, at least for those just entering the game, is that you'll have an easy time immersing yourself in the game, at all levels. The bad, for long-term gamers, is that Mythic has made all of those levels, Master Levels and achievements that took you months and months of work MUCH easier for noobs to achieve, without actually giving you anything in return (you DO get the nice title of "Elder" if you've player for four years or more). Given the ridiculously exaggerated prices for artifacts and scrolls achieved through Atlantis (now available for free download along with the basic DaoC software and Shrouded Isles expansion at Mythic's site), Mythic has made scroll drops vastly easier, and dramatically increased the cost of repairing artifacts (in addition to adding Epic Armor in Catacombs that comes close to approximating artifact quality, and which anyone can, and almost has to, get as part of general class quests).
It's genuinely sad that Mythic, rather than responding to its long time, loyal customer base, has chosen to pander the game to potential new subscribers. It wouldn't be such an issue if something were done to balance this, like giving long-time players some advantages in crafting (getting an LGM "has never been easier"), or benefits for toons leveled prior to the Task Dungeons of Catacombs (where "leveling has never been easier"). Sadly, this is not the case, and new subscribers continue to join, which is, in some ways, great news. What should concern them, however, is one day they'll be veterans, like the rest of us, and will find out first hand how deaf Mythic can be to that group.


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Dragonshard Review

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(More customer reviews)The goal of the developers was to make a RTS with RPG elements and they definately accomplished it.
When the game begins you can start out with either the Order of the Flame (Basically the human/elves/dwarves) or the Lizardfolk. Each race has a hefty amount of units to choose from beyond the standard warrior/rogue/healer archtypes. You have about ten types of Captains, four heroes and one Juggernaut character to use. Each has their own special abilities in standing with the Dungeon and Dragon's universe. For example, Clerics will get cure light wounds/hold/ressurection type abilities. Addtionally, there is a skirmish mode where you can launch and play up to seven other teams on a map as well as multiplayer.
The tutorial on how to play the game was pretty good although the Narrator voice tended to draw his words out and made the tutorial very slow and a lot of stuff in there you really didn't need (I think all gamers can see the glaring difference between what a green checkmark and a red X signifies)
For building construction, you have a preset number of building squares. For example, in a main Nexus base you have a total of 16 squares on which to build with your structures. So depending on what structures you place will relate to the capabilities of your army. Each unit has a primary attack element and resistances. This is a major factor in the game because if your unit uses a primary attack of lightning and the unit it is attacking is 95 percent resistant to lightning it's not going to do hardly any damage so there is some skill and thought involved. There are other elements to the strategy of fighting as well, but that is the key element in the battles you will fight.
Personally, I didn't like the RTS elements of the game so much as I did the RPG elements of Dragonshard. I liked taking my little guys down in the Underground and doing the little quests and exploring. However, they blend fairly well together. Your units will go down to explore and quest and pop back up outside to build your bases and collect resources. Now, everything happens in real-time but the RPG underground elements are paced out so you won't be in the predicament of disarming traps, etc. For example, one of the missions has you against the Lizard folk but they aren't attacking and holding a river pass while building their troops up so you can explore the underdark without having to defend against his armies. I was skeptical buying the game on how they would pull it off, but they developed it quite nicely creating a really fun expierience.
Speaking of resources there are three types. EXP which is gained from monsters or scrolls, Gold and Dragonshards. EXP and gold are practical in that you get both from killing monsters and questing underground. The dragonshards are kind of a pain. They are scattered across the above-ground map and respawn when the world gets dark and they fall from the sky and make little craters where you have to send a unit to go pick the stuff up. Gold and Dragonshards are the two resources required to build anything and exp is just used to upgrade your units.
The bad part is that you cannot set a unit to auto pick-up dragonshards all over the map so if you are running low you need to take one of your guys and go click around on the shard droppings. It's not TOO bad mainly because you don't need a ludicrous amount of shards and gold to keep armies in the field and if you play well you shouldn't have too many "wipes" with your units until the later missions.
In later missions your armies will become quite large and give little system burps mainly due to the massive amount of units on the field. Each captain you build can also have soldiers attached to them depending on the level, so you can have upwards to 60+ individual little fellas on your side alone on the screen. It's difficult in later stages when you have sooo many units on the screen it can become overwhelming to manage them all. You can assign hotkeys to specific groups but it's still a little overwhelming. If you are a pro at Warcraft/Starcraft type games then you should have zero problem with the RTS elements of Dragonshard, however.
As far as bugs I've only had a few so far and that was a glich with Save/Loading which only happened once and a few minor crashes. There is an auto-update button upon launch which makes getting patches pretty easy.
Multiplayer. I have not tried the multiplayer out yet, but I can see it being a good expierience mainly because the unit types are varied and unit balance is excellent where no one unit except for the Juggernauts and Heroes are the end all and be all. Even the Heroes and Juggernauts are balanced because you can only have one on the map and they take a lot to build. Unsupported they will fall quickly to a group of regular captains.
Summary of Pros and Cons:
Pros
- Resistances add a lot of strategy to unit mix in armies
- Graphics were well done.
- Sound was good and voice characterization
- Excellent unit balance
- Replayability and length of game will give you a lot of game time for your money.
- SUPERB storyline.
Cons
- Tutorial too dummified and long.
- Dragonshard collection is not very user-friendly.
- Large battles turn into a massive slugfest and will probably lag out low-end computers.
- Few bugs.
Overall I enjoyed the game. The developers succeeded in creating exactly what they said - RTS with RPG flare.

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A Dungeon and Dragons Real-Time Strategy Experience!Product InformationEnter a world of natural magic and ancient races...war-torn Eberron theacclaimed new Dungeons and Dragons realm home to an artifact to supreme powercoveted by all. Commanding your troops is only part of the war. Deepbeneath the conflict you will send leaders to an RPG-based underworld of beastsand bounty. Be shrewd: experience gained underground affect your RTSpowers above.Deliver the world into light...or bury it forever in darkness.Product FeaturesReign over the land with armies of legendPlunge warriors underground for vital RPG battlesMaster unique "village grid system" building strategiesThree desperate races will converge in a struggleLead your warriors underground to thrilling RPG-style dungeon campaignsControl armies of haunting powerThree playable warring factions: the human-based Order Of The SilverFlame the evil power-hungry Umbragen and primal beings of unstoppable rageWindows RequirementsWindows 2000 XPPentium 4 2.0 GHz or AMD Athlon 2.0 GHz processor1 GB of RAM2.5 GB free Hard Disk space8X CD-ROM drive or faster64 MB Hardware T&L compatible Video Card - Hardware T&L VideoCards that do not support shaders such as the GeForce 4 MX or Intel ExtremeGraphics family are not supportedDirectX 9.0c compatible Sound CardDirectX 9.0c (included) or higherInternet play requires Internet connection 56 Kbps or faster (Cable of DSLconnection recommended)

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Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Review

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(More customer reviews)Its graphics may be a bit dated (they were even when the game came out) but if you can look beyond that, this is one seriously awesome collection. Baldur's Gate 2 has incredible RPG depth, a strong tactical aspect, and great replay value. The expansion is bigger than most, and adds significant epic-level capabilities for your characters.
The game picks up several years after the events in Baldur's Gate, and continues the plot. If you didn't play that first game (a shame- go get it) there are a few quick recaps of the key points. You can play in single play mode, in which case you make your one main character (or import from Baldur's Gate); multiplay with just you, in which you can make your whole party; or multiplay with friends, in which everyone can make and control one or more characters. In any case, your party has up to six people at a time, and you can dismiss or add characters at will.
Add to this a whole lot of classes, including special 'kits' that are akin to 3rd edition prestige classes (save that you can take them immediately) and you have a whole lot of room for party customization. There's a host of NPCs that can join your party, some better than others, but all very interesting and with unique (sometimes very extensive) side quests. You can have romantic relationships with some of these potential party members, and some will even have romances with other NPCs.
Almost all of the dialogue in the game is spoken, and although there's not much full motion video, when there is it's well done. The plot advances through chapters, and there are numerous side quests that take you to many varied game world locations. The rewards for some of these quests are awesome, and some of the monsters you'll run into are equally so. This is where the tactics come in- your party composition is crucial for winning these big fights. For example, dealing with that red dragon is going to be exceedingly difficult without some protection from fire and fear effects. There are also many ways to solve the various problems you run into. For example, a thief laying some traps in a doorway can turn a tough band of charging enemies into so much cannon fodder. Then again, if you don't have a thief or aren't a very subtle type, you can just fireball the lot of them and clean up what's left with a good old-fashioned sword charge.
I mentioned earlier that the graphics are dated. This is true, but it doesn't really detract from the play. The area backgrounds are actually very nice, though also largely static. Spell effects look decent, if less flashy than newer games like Neverwinter Nights. The music and voice acting are also top-notch, and don't get old even after many times through the game (which is likely to happen once you get hooked). The latter in particular really lends character to the people you meet. It's a testament to the developer's success in this regard that you'll have strongly varied feelings toward nearly all of the NPCs- just as you would expect of real people.
As for the story, it is superb. The scope is truly epic, and the side quests actually interesting. This is more than can be said about much of Neverwinter Nights, for all of the polish and vaunted expandability of that title. Though generally linear, the campaign doesn't seem to be linear. When replaying, though you'll be going to the same places and doing the same things, the different characters you have along will make it seem like a different game. There's also a ton of secrets and hidden areas- you might just find something you didn't see before.
That said, it's worth mentioning that although there are no official tools for editing the game, there are unofficial ones. These have been put to good effect, and there's a host of mods and add-ons available for free download. There's even a mod that converts the interface to Icewind Dale's more attractive look (though you must have that game for it to work) and thus significantly improves the graphics and changes the somewhat clunky 2nd edition rules to 3rd edition.
I think the value of this title can be summed up by the fact that I played it through at least 5 times, which is something I've only done for two or three other games (the original Baldur's Gate being one of them). Even if you're not into D&D, don't particularly care for RPGs, and don't give a hoot about Forgotten Realms, this game comes highly recommended.

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Enter a World of Intrigue, Adventure, and FierceCombatProduct InformationExplore unseen lands as an epic conflict wreaksdevastation on a scale never before seen in the Forgotten Realms campaign. Face foes and an uncertain future in this adventure filled collection that includes two full version titles.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal


Baldur's Gate II: Shadow's of AmnWelcometo a world of intrigue,adventure and fierce combat. Every world has conflict.Good and evil. Friend and foe. Safety and danger. In Baldur's Gate II: Shadowsof AmnT, you'll find yourself between these factions. This epic sequel willimmerse you in a world of intrigue,adventure and fierce combat where yourability to discern the difference between these sides - with the assistance ofsteel and spell - determines your fate. In Baldur's Gate I, you defeated yourevil half-brother Sarevok and prevented your fatherBhaal, the dead Lord ofMurder, from returning to the Forgotten Realms. Now, in Baldur's Gate II:Shadows of AmnT, the stakes have become much higher. Will you resist the evilwithin you, and forge a legend of heroic proportions? Or will you embraceyourmonstrous inner nature, and carve a swath of destruction across the Realms?Your story begins anew in the exotic southern kingdom of Amn, amidst theopulence of the sinister capital city of Athkatla. Journey through the fierce,unforgivingwilderness of Amn, and through the treacherous caverns of theUnderdark, in your quest for artifacts of awesome power and treasure ofinestimable wealth.. even challenge dragons, if you dare. Such is the life of alegend.

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Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all, it should be noted that this is a compilation of modules created by Bioware for their digital distribution system. Atari, as the published of the original Neverwinter Nights, has the right to distribute these also, and has apparently opted to do so. You can buy Kingmaker, or a bundle of Shadowguard and Witch's Wake, at Bioware's online store, probably for less money, and just download them. The Bioware store versions have an irritating copy protection mechanism which requires that you have an active internet connection when you start the game, and each time you load a saved game, in order to verify the legitimacy of the module. The word on the Bioware Forums from Derek French, Bioware's Live Team Producer, is that this boxed version will not require a live internet connection to play. With those details out of the way, I have to say: Kingmaker is a fantastic module. It has an excellent story line, good voice acting, interesting characters, new content, new art, new music, and is fun to play. The drawback is the short length. Bioware rates Kingmaker as 5-8 hours of gameplay; I'm inclined to agree. I'd say it has some replayability: I think you could certainly replay it at least one extra time and have it be novel, as the module does provide a lot of mutually exclusive choices. Kingmaker is basically all you'd expect from a great module, except that it is short. Witch's Wake is a remake. It has a handful of new goodies, but it is essentially a repackaging of a free module. You can download the original, free Witch's Wake. It lacks the music track and the subrace system, but the core of the game is the same. Shadowguard I'm going to have to be extremely critical of. I would recommend anyone interested in Bioware modules avoid it. The module itself is excellent, but it plays like the first chapter of an epic book. The second chapter is not for sale, nor has there been any indication that it will be. As such, when you complete the module, your almost certain reaction will be: what happens next?! It is well done, with memorable PCs and good production values, and that makes it all the more painful when the story ends abruptly just as the conflicts created are escalating. In conclusion, if you want Kingmaker, and the Internet-connection requirement is not a deterrant for you, go buy it from the Bioware store. If you can't download it or despise the copy protection mechanism, then only buy Kingmaker if you are a rabid NWN fan... the short length will likely be a disappointment to anyone else buying it on CD.

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Legacy Of Wolves: The Inquisitives, Book 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not typically a fan of D&D-related fiction. Most of what I've picked up is sub-par in terms of writing.
Marsheila Rockwell knows what she's doing. This book is tightly (and effectively) plotted, the characters are strong, the pacing is swift, and the tone captures the world of Eberron nicely.
Whether you're a fan of the Eberron world, or just like a good fantasy/mystery, I highly recommend this novel. Hopefully it is the first of more to come from Rockwell.

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Explore the dark under-belly of Eberron with it's version of the private detective - The Inquisitives!A series of grisly murders has shaken the small city of Aruldusk. Both the Church and the Crown send in agents to investigate. But when the body count continues to rise, these rival factions will have to learn to work together to track down the killers -- even if it means hunting through the highest reaches of power.

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