Is Wizards & Warriors the next Wizardry Game? Unfortunately not! An attempt was made here to upgrade the award winning Wizardry system, even using some of the same folk that were responsible for that series, but falls a bit short. Visually appealing, heck they almost all look good these days, the gameplay bogs down due to the interface choices made. Other reviews I have read state that the game overall is well worth playing and that the further you delve into it, the more it rewards you. Us hardcore D&D computer gamers put up with a lot to get our … Continue reading Wizards & Warriors is Not Quite Wonderful→
Ok, it’s no secret to anyone out there; I don’t like RPGs! I do not see how anyone can sit there for hours on end watching FMV look-alike characters getting slaughtered by opponents who use the cheap all out attack (cough, Super Nova, cough, Final Fantasy series, cough) over and over again. Not to mention that I hate having to stay in one small area all day beating foes that cheaply pop out of nowhere in order to get a high enough level to beat a boss. I will admit that some RPGs I do enjoy (Grandia 2 instantly comes … Continue reading Phantasy Star Online is Ultima for Console→
What would you do with a hundred million dollars? Hmmm, let’s see. First things first: one might tell your power-hungry boss to take this job, turn it side ways and stick it straight"well, you get the idea! Then one might proceed to the car dealership and trade in their chitty-chitty-bang-bang for a brand new ride to match their newfound riches. Then one might decide to never set foot in or ever ride by their former "rent-a-home," but instead drive straight over to the neighborhood of the "rich and famous" and set themselves up in the most luxurious of bachelor/bachelorett pads. … Continue reading StarPeace is Multiplayer Mayhem→
Then perhaps Interplay’s latest release, Icewind Dale, is what you and your Dungeons and Dragons group may be looking for. Icewind Dale is the latest in the series of TSR Advanced Dungeons and Dragons PC adaptations dealing with the Forgotten Realms setting. The look and feel of the game resembles that found in Baldur’s Gate or Baldur’s Gate II. The three quarters view and the activation of various members of the group (in the stand alone game) are identical. The pausing of combat to allow commands to be given to the various members of the group are also similar. All … Continue reading Ever Get Tired of Being the DM?→
I thought perhaps I would have to take on the curse of unlife to wait for a quality RPG with a good storyline to come out for the PC in the United States. Thankfully, I have found one, and I didn’t even have to wait a thousand years, though it seemed like it at times. I must admit I was a bit wary of a game titled Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption. After all, I have never been into vampires. But the graphics on the box looked so appealing, I had to give it a try. If I was willing to … Continue reading Vampire gets in your blood→
I might be wrong, but I think I’m the only one on the entire GiN staff who doesn’t role-play at all. Aside from some console-based RPG experiences such as Lunar or the overrated Final Fantasy series (let the hate mail begin again!), I just never really got into it at all. A couple years ago, however, a nice little product from Blizzard, entitled Diablo, was released to the gaming public. Combining basic role-play elements with the action of a real-time strategy game, I was instantly hooked with its unique style of gameplay, and am waiting impatiently for Blizzard to release … Continue reading Nox Rocks!→
Planescape: Torment has a lot of things going for it. Unfortunately it also has a lot of things against it. These competing factors seems to be in constant battle as you play the game. The advantages outweigh the negatives, but not by much. In the advantage category is that the game uses the same engine as the hugely popular Baldur’s Gate. And with Baldur’s Gate II still pretty far out in the future, those million or so gamers who played through the game and the Sword Coast expansion pack are going to need something similar to get their fix. Another … Continue reading Planescape: Torment is a mixed bag→
Septerra Core arrived at GiN headquarters with a special request: Let Michael Cheek review it. I don’t think this was an example of "Let Mikey review it; he’ll review anything." You see, I’m not the role-playing game reviewer. I look at DVDs and puzzle games for the most part, and Septerra Core is neither. In fact, I’m not that fond of RPGs since many tend to be complex and unforgiving for a methodical player like myself. Moreover, when building characters, I can never get the balance just right between character’s attributes. But I launched into Septerra Core and found I … Continue reading At its core, Septerra Core rocks–leisurely→
So I wanted to play Darkstone again to reacquaint myself with the game after all the time I’ve spent on Ever Quest lately. Sure, spend maybe an hour or two romping through the dungeons, busting a few monster heads and generally remembering all the ins and outs. Problem: those couple of hours turned into a couple of days and I thought to myself, "Hey…didn’t I have a review to write?" Aw, nuts… I remember back when I first started playing Darkstone that I was slightly disappointed. "Great," I thought, "a Diablo clone." Sure, Darkstone plays a helluva lot like Diablo, … Continue reading Darkstone is Diablo’s Happier Twin→
Jagged Alliance 2 gives armchair mercenaries the ability to travel to exciting places, meet new and fascinating people, and kill them. Jagged Alliance 2 is actually the third in the mercenary-for-hire series on the PC, and by far is the best one yet. I love turn based combat games, especially the ones where you can maneuver in real time till the shooting starts. This gives you the ability to wander around and explore without having to worry about your characters annoyingly running out of action points. It was this type of interface that was missing from the second game in … Continue reading Jagged Alliance 2 is locked, loaded and ready for action→
