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maan_2969 (88)- Évaluation laissée par l'acheteur.
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Thank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A++++++.
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Excellent Seller! Great Item! Thank you for the extras! A+++
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Exactly as described and even received extra items! Awesome seller!
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Came quick and as described. Thanks for the bonus of the second one!
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Great seller! highly recommend 👍👍
Item as described + fast shipping
Avis (21)
04 sept. 2008
Baroque: Something Old, Something New...
4 personnes sur 4 ont jugé cet avis utile. As a new RPG from Atlus, Baroque will seem a bit odd to some gamers looking for a more traditional console experience. On the other hand, this update of a Sega Saturn (and later, PlayStation) import hearkens back to the days of classic PC rogue-like dungeon games, which is a good thing. I won't go into the story much here except to day you're a young man who wakes up in a strange world, there's an otherworldly tower/dungeon in the distance and yup, you're tasked with reaching its very depths. As a fan of the original import, I had to snap this remix/remake up just to see how well it turned out.
Controls are simple to pick up and the game can be played from a first or third-person viewpoint, a nice touch for those who want to see things up close and personal. As in other rogue-likes, the game randomizes each floor of the tower along with weapons, items, armor and potions, making each trip a fresh experience. You'll also come across traps or other status affecting objects scattered throughout the tower, some of which can be helpful in a pinch.
In a tricky touch, your character has Health Points (HP) protected by slowly draining Vitality (VT). The only ways to regain VT are by consuming certain items or by finding a random healing tile. Merely wandering about aimlessly is a very bad idea, as it's impossible to predict what's on a particular floor and there's nothing worse than watching first your VT then HP drain away as you're surrounded by monsters a few steps from a restore point.
You'll die a lot if you're careless (and sometimes if you're not), but unlike other games, dying can actually advance the plot, allowing you to enjoy the overall story even more. Granted, it's hard to recommend dying frequently in any game for the sake of a few more cut scenes, but given the difficulty of some enemies and bosses, you'll have little choice. As you play however, you'll learn which weapons and armor work for which enemies, adjusting your tactics accordingly. Yes, there are hundreds of unique items to find and thankfully, your avatar changes accordingly when new or old gear is equipped.
Visually, The game's use of a gloomy color palette combined with stylized freakish looking creatures works quite well. The intentionally limited draw distance and hazy filter over everything give the game a dreamlike (well, nightmarish) quality as effective as in the PS2 Shin Megami Tensei games. Actually, developer Sting isn't going for graphic flashiness here. What works best is the overall atmosphere and the wide range of twisted characters, some of which are actually helpful during your adventure.
For all the nasty looking enemies and intentionally dreary environments, the pacing can seem a bit too languid at times, especially when playing in first-person mode. This is definitely a nod to the original game's pacing, but gamers more used to rapid-fire action RPGs may find this one too slow. The sound design is decent yet minimalist. A bunch of American voice talent does an OK job with the English translation, but you'll probably remember the fantastic music and truly frightening sound effects a lot more.
Overall, this is a highly original take on a highly familiar genre and what works here works well more often than not. While definitely not for younger players, I'd recommend Baroque for any RPG fan looking for a real challenge along with an occasionally fright here and there. There's also a Wii version available, but I'll get to that one in the future.
08 mars 2010
Core Design's Innovative Hidden Gem
1 personnes sur 1 ont jugé cet avis utile. Whether you play the PC or PlayStation 2 version, Project Eden is one of those great games that not only does what it does well, it breaks a few rules in doing it. Of course, you'd expect nothing less from some of the folks who brought you the Tomb Raider series and in terms of level design, PE outstrips some of Lara's trickier stages. The ability to play with up to three others on the same PC in the main mode is an excellent selling point, but the game works equally as well as a solo game with you controlling all four characters.
After a small tech team goes missing at the Real Meat Factory (which amusingly enough, produces massive amounts of genetically engineered food), The UPA (Urban Protection Agency) sends in a team of four skilled agents to track down the missing men. Things go from bad to worse to weird as the game progresses and the team discovers that a lot more is going on than they planned for. Gamplay revolves around a good deal of environmental puzzle solving, exploration and fast-paced combat sections.
The levels are brilliantly laid out so that each character gets to use his or her skills where needed. While everyone is armed with the same basic weapons and movement controls, team leader Carter is the only one who can interview key subjects. Minoko, the team hacker, can break into different computers in order to access new areas, security cameras and such. Andre can repair broken machinery or objects that hamper the team' progress. Amber, the most unique member, is a young woman who after a horrific accident, had her mind transplanted into a huge robotic body. She's the team powerhouse, immune to most hazards and she has a missile launcher at her disposal.
Getting through the game requires you to use all four members. For example, early on, Amber needs to pass through a steam-filled room to throw a switch that allows the team to get through the area so Carter can interview someone who reveals a locked door somewhere. Andre hacks into the door, but it breaks, which has Minoko hack a camera to look into the room to see what's inside. The game requires a bit of thought early on and you're thrown a big monkey wrench a few times when the team is separated into pairs or sometimes a single character. In these stages, you need to complete part of a task, switch to another character or pair of characters to do more stuff in order to reunite everyone.
Graphically, the game shows its age, but has a nice use of color and some vast 3D levels. Core built up the stages so well that they added 3D areas you won't see or reach at all (unless you use a certain cheat). This attention to detail makes the game all the more impressive. Enemies range from silly-looking to really scary freaks that pop out of the ground or burst onto the scene when you least expect it. Combat is unfortunately like the Tomb Raider games - a bit slapdash and erratic. Nevertheless, you'll be glued to the monitor once the game has its hooks in you. Sounds and voice acting are great and while minimalist, the music adds a nicely frightening vibe to the darker sections.
Two areas where the game slips are multiplayer (the deathmatch and "Rover" racing are a bit dull) and the ending, which is one of the strangest since Outlander (SNES/Genesis - Remember? "Bibble Bibble... where's my fish?" This is similarly whacked, but fits). Other than that, Project Eden comes recommended for anyone looking for a solid, slightly to moderately scary and well-designed action game.
08 mars 2010
A Great Collection Strategy & RPG Fans Will Love
Spellforce: Universe Edition packs the five games and expansions in the series onto two discs and if you're a fan of fantasy-based RPGs, action/RPGs and/or real-time strategy games, you'll like much of what's here. There are a few annoyances in the collection that keep it from perfection, but most are addressed in the sequels or by tinkering with the installation process.
First off all I'd buy the disc collection here over the download versions simply because you can fix the horrible freezing and sound issues the may occur in a few minutes with the retail versions. I've heard that some who downloaded the game are having issues getting it to run at times. With the boxed retail version you can install the game then reboot your system before going back to Disc One and selecting the "Repair" option. Once this is done, you can reboot and play through both discs will no problems other than a bit of slowdown if your PC can't run the game at the highest settings.
As to the games themselves, the Spellforce series combines hack 'n slash action with turn-based elements, the ability to play from different viewpoints (top-down to third-person), recruit small to large armies of heroes and soldiers to do battle for your cause. You can play as a few different character types (some good some evil) and who you choose as your avatar also dictates what types of spells, weapons and gear you can use. The tutorials are excellent, getting you into the gameplay quickly while allowing you to experiment with each element as you go.
You'll need to be a fast learner, as the main game rarely gives you much chance to breathe when things get busy and even less room for error once you're facing heavy enemy opposition. The RTS elements aren't as dense as many popular games on the market, but you'll still need to be on the ball when you start building structures and placing troops. In the first game, you're given just enough time and leeway to do a few things your way, but there's generally one or two "best" methods to defeat a stage.
Visually, all the games look great, with the later installments offering up more polish. Spellforce 2 (presented as the Gold Edition here) has a number of improvements (including even more impressive visuals). Unfortunately, both games have an odd camera system that doesn't allow you to properly rotate the camera freely unless you play from the third-person perspective. You get used to this after a few maps, but the omission of complete camera control from every angle is a sore point for me. Other presentation elements such as sound, voice acting and menu design are fine to great. Despite the issues, if you let yourself be charmed by the good points, expect to really feel a solid sense of immersion the the game world Phenolic has created.
Bottom line: if this sort of fantasy/strategy hybrid is your cup of tea, absolutely give Spellforce: Universe Edition a buy - you won't be disappointed.