Which new game to buy?

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 18 Sep 2006, 23:44

I'm looking for a new game on Amazon.co.uk. Got any good suggestions?

- Price: below £15. If it's any more than that, the Norwegian Customs Service will snatch it up and demand VAT for it, and an additional service charge which I don't want to pay.

- Type: well, any, really, just steer clear of those "Doom" shoot 'em up types. I'm looking for something that I can play on occasion, and keep playing for some years. Adventure games are nice.

- Difficulty: medium. I just want to have a bit of fun, but it shouldn't be too easy either.

Recommendations?

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 19 Sep 2006, 00:10

I dont know if any new game will meet those recomendations.I might suggest a couple of oldies,though(also,it depends on which of these you already played):

Empire Earth(EE) - though a bit old graphics,it is still excelent,and considering that characters dont move lips,and the movies are made using units from the game itself,it has a HV feeling to it.But Im asying this in a positive way.Those cutscenes look excelent,and are easy to make on your own.And that brings us to why this game is so long lived:It is highly modable,and there are numerous maps and campaigns out there,and some of those are on par with the best novels that exist.Also,the main story is excelent as well(even though first three campaigns are historical,they do have an excelent storytelling).Warning:Do not,at any cost,buy the sequel!Its so bad that it squeezed RAII from the top place in my the worst sequel list.

Rise of nations(RoN) - this is mostly a blend of EE and civ(its real time though).Its quite simple to learn,but difficult to master.Its replayability lies in the conquer the world map,which is something like risk blended with an RTS.Personally,I prefer EE because of the multitude of epochs and units,but this one is nice as well.

Neverwinter nights(NWN) - I asume you did play baldurs gate,so I wont mention that.NWN is a decent game on its own,but not as good as BG.Though the expansions bring it very,very close to it,and not because of the graphics(which is marvelous),but because of the story,which trully shines.And though NWNII is coming,this one is still worth every cent you invest in it.

Spellforce:The order of dawn - I dont know about the expansions and the sequel,but the original game was(and still is) great.The graphics in it is superb even now,and the intro is unbeatable in its beauty imo(at least by the newer games,because I love the intro to ascendancy and SC).Its a blend of an RPG and an RTS.And a very successful blend.Though the story is linear,the AI presents quite a chalenge,especially on later levels,and youll find that retreting is sometimes the best way to win.

Well,there are a lot more Id add here(like discworld,SC,fallout,BG),but I dont think such classics need any special mention.And heroes,of course,but you already have those

Omega_Destroyer · Unread postby **Omega_Destroyer** » 19 Sep 2006, 04:50

Spellforce 2 is good. Rise of Nations and Neverwinter Nights are both excellant. I guess it all boils down to if you want a role playing game or a real-time strategy game.

cornellian · Unread postby **cornellian** » 19 Sep 2006, 04:52

I have no idea about how much 15 pounds would make in dollars (guessing something about 30-35), but if you like space sims, or have played Elite or Privateer, and liked them, then there is this one new game I'd recommend, Darkstar One..

It is from Ascaron (of Sacred fame), a European developer, so it might actually be cheaper there than 40$, its price here in US. To handle the game with maximum details you might need a newer video card but my meager 7600 gt video card was more than enough.

The gameplay is pretty much the same thing as Elite. You trade, go for bounty hunts, escort ships, engage in piracy, take sides in wars between different races etc. while solving the main quest.. As a nice change, you level up your ship a la D&D, and it gains 'spells' like a mage.. The game has five difficulty ratings and they rank from walk in the park to nightmare, so it is easy to get into if you're not a particularly good pilot..

Though if you want something that you will play for years, then you can't go wrong with Sim City/Ceasar type city sims, or Civ IV of course...

P.S: DL's Spellforce recommendation, I heartily agree; it is a very nice little game...

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 19 Sep 2006, 11:39

I was thinking about Civ4, but now that the expansion has been released I'd rather wait for a collection pack.

As for Neverwinter Nights - I saw this Deluxe Edition on sale at Amazon, but apparently, there is no security code included or something like that. Not for n00bs like me, then. I'll look into Spellforce and Empire Earth for more info.

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 20 Sep 2006, 17:04

Kalah wrote:I was thinking about Civ4, but now that the expansion has been released I'd rather wait for a collection pack.

The expansion is not much (IMHO). I'd go ahead and get a discounted copy and then install some of the free mods. Many of these are superior to the Warlords expansion.

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 20 Sep 2006, 21:16

Why, thanks, good advice. I just ordered Civ4 from Amazon, and by going via the CH Marketplace I made sure a few cents will end up serving the Community as well.

Very reasonable price, I think - only £12.76 for the game (and then 4.98 p&p but that's not included in the customs calculations, so it will pass unhindered).

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 21 Sep 2006, 00:12

Ah,another civilized member then

I suggest you instal this mod as soon as you instal the game.It wont change the rules,but it will make the terrain much nicer.Once you familiarize yourself with the game,experiment with the rest of the mods.

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 22 Sep 2006, 05:05

And if you have performance issues, there is a mod that speeds things up by sacrificing the waving grass. I don't miss that at all and my 2 year old graphics card can handle the remaining load.

Speaking of performance, CIV is another one of those games (like Heroes V) that grabs every bit of free memory and takes ages to free any up. However, it is apparently stateless so the fastest way to end a game is to ALT-TAB and CTL-ALT-TAB to kill the executable.

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 22 Sep 2006, 05:14

Indeed,it does gulp the memory.However,with 1GB ram I had no problem on medium and smaller maps,and just longer loads in late large ones.

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 22 Sep 2006, 10:11

I don't have 1Gb of RAM. I have 2 Gb.

ByteBandit · Unread postby **ByteBandit** » 30 Sep 2006, 18:42

I would highly recommend Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition. You get all the expansionns and updates up to 1.67. And you could go to the Bioware site and update if you have high speed internet. There are many, many very good fan made modules for this game. Some are actually much better than the ones that come with the Disc. Although none are as good as the original and first module for NWN.
If you like story based games, this is perhaps the cream of the crop.

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 01 Oct 2006, 22:14

Kalah wrote:I don't have 1Gb of RAM. I have 2 Gb.

Then can you spare 512MB for an old timer?

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 01 Oct 2006, 22:21

ByteBandit wrote:I would highly recommend Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition. You get all the expansionns and updates up to 1.67. And you could go to the Bioware site and update if you have high speed internet. There are many, many very good fan made modules for this game. Some are actually much better than the ones that come with the Disc. Although none are as good as the original and first module for NWN.
If you like story based games, this is perhaps the cream of the crop.

Yes, I fondly remember that original campaign. That last battle was as sonofabitch. I was playing a Rogue fighting 2-handed with daggers and was not able to score damage on the final foe. I ended up luring all the minions down the hallway and locking them in a cell. I'd let them out, fight a while, and lock them back up while I recovered. Eventually one of them dropped a sunsword and I was able to go back and finish the big guy. Took about 4 hours.

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 01 Oct 2006, 23:29

I got bored, gave up and used cheats. Unforgiving boss fights are not my idea of having a good time.

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 02 Oct 2006, 09:41

Now why didn't I think of that?!

And i belive the devs wanted you to get his real name, not fight him.

chaosgorgon · Unread postby **chaosgorgon** » 02 Oct 2006, 13:57

theres any good turn based game of WW2?? i mean a battlefield no commandos

playing now Il2 is quite nice but needs a bit of patience, but when you get it you can say that a FW190 rules!!!

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 02 Oct 2006, 14:01

ThunderTitan wrote: And i belive the devs wanted you to get his real name, not fight him.

You can do that,or you can fight him.Theres more then one way to skin a cat.Besides,fighting him can be so much fun

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 02 Oct 2006, 21:24

Secret name? (Besides Morad or whatever) I remember some secret words, but not a name. What did I miss?

The Rogue strategy worked pretty well. By the end I was pretty much magic proof and unhittable, but I had always had trouble dealing damage. In the last battle, I had to drain her magic until she could no longer cast Premonition to get a hit, even after offing the priests.

And you say NWN2 is out this month?

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 02 Oct 2006, 21:34

The second Expansion... you fight a Devil Lord.

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