ONLY ONLINEHALF LIFE:GAME OF T YR
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM
list price: $19.99 -- our price: $19.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Your gun had better be loaded if you're playing Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition, the smartest, shootingest, bloodiest game ever to hit the PC. Take control of a scientist charged with destroying the alien invasion force that arrived, courtesy of government experiments gone wrong. Of course, in the post-X-Files world, there's additional bad guys in the form of federal "cleaners" who want you just as dead as the monsters.

Power up your environmental suit and plunge through level after level of increasingly difficult and creepy challenges, rescuing your fellow scientists and ultimately clearing out the whole complex--if you're lucky. Game play is smooth and simple, after the obligatory false starts and botched maneuvers common to learning every new game. Persistence pays off, though: Half-Life rewards tenacity with increasing power and understanding of the virtual world.

Play on a network and cooperate or compete with folks across the world or in the next cubicle. For those who've mastered the intricacies of Half-Life , the Game of the Year Edition includes Worldcraft 2.0, which the designers used to build every detail of the base. Make your own levels and snicker at other players' pathetic attempts to evade your deathtraps. It's easy to see why Half-Life won Game of the Year from dozens of publications; try it and see for yourself--if you're not too squeamish. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Features

• Enemy AI: Half-Life's monsters are also remarkably--even terrifyingly--intelligent. Our proprietary AI has them running in packs, assessing threats and showing a marked distaste for suicide runs. You'd better think as fast as they do.
• Rendering Technologies: So you don't want to have to buy a special hardware accelerator just to get 16-bit color, colored lighting, blurring, translucency or other cool visual effects? Then don't. Half-Life has developed all these features in software so now they're an integral part of the gameplay, not just eye-candy. Of course, if you do have Open-GL, Direct 3D or MMX hardware, things will look mind-bogglingly cool.
• Skeletal Animation System: Our new animation system lets us create monsters that are more spectacularly menacing than ever before. Half-Life's monsters have the highest polygon count, and the most fluid and complex motion ever seen in an action game.
• Multiplayer: Joining a multiplayer game is now fast and easy, thanks
• to Half-Life's powerful interface. Find your friends, choose the type of game you prefer and let our master server do the rest. Choose from a variety of multiplayer gameplay scenarios, and use our decal technology to mark your territory with a personal or clan logo. Other Features:

Reviews (246)

Sierra Games
This game is really great. I own the following Sierra games:

Half-life (game of the year edition)
Blue Shift
Opposing Force
Half-life 2

All I can say is that in September of 2003, Half-life 2 was suppost to be released, but they delayed it many times. So finally it was released sometime around the middle-end of 2004, and in November 2004, I picked up the game. I wasn't too dissapointed, although it's not as hard/fun as the original Half-life game. I like Opposing Force and Blue Shift, except the only problem with Blue Shift is that it dissapointed me with it being way too short. There is not even a final monster like Opposing Force and Half-life. Still, Blue Shift is fun.

The Best Game Ever
When Half-Life first came out in 1999 I was about 11 years old, and I really wasn't into video games. But come late 2004, Half-Life 2 came out, and when I read the PC Gamer review(98%) and saw some screenshots, I went to GameStop to get it. The guy at the counter asked me if I had played Half-Life. I told him no. He then said, since I was under 17 he had no obligation to sell me the M rated game Half-Life 2, until I had bought, played and beaten Half-Life. So I bought Half-Life, went home, loaded it, and started playing. Imediatly I was suprised at how good the graphics were, especially for a game from 1999. The graphics in Half-Life could easily compete with many of the games in the 2000's. Also, the sound extremely good, hearing the slightest of noises. The story is pretty basic, but good enough to keep you interested in that area. You are Gordon Freeman, researcher at Black Mesa Labs. Your expirement has gone very wrong, releasing a bunch of aliens into the labs. The government has sent soldiers in to "clean things up" and you are faced with fighting for your life against aliens and human soldiers. The gameplay is awesome, and the weapons are very good. Online play is fabulous, especially if you have Counter-Strike. So, despite Call of Duty, Doom 3, the Battlefield series, WarCraft 3, Neverwinter Nights, or any other game that is mind-blowing, Half-Life is the best game I have ever played, and in my opinion, the best game ever.

Half-Life kicks ass
Half-Life is one of those games that you have to play and not read a stratedgy guide. I was reading some of the other reviews and people kept on reporting that their weren't good stratedgy guides and such. Well, here's a tip. Play the game!! You have to buy a stratedgy guide seperately and it's like that for most video games/etc.. The game has good graphics, good music, and excellent characters. The game is really realistic, one of the most realistic games out their that i've seen. On my computer it takes a while to load up but once it loads up it works pretty good. And of course you get the interloads afterwards. My advice before you get this game is check the requirements. I think the only reason some people rated this game at a low level is because 1) they didn't play it because it didn't come with a stratedgy guide, 2)they didn't look at the requirements needed before they baught the game. Their's a reason why video games require different settings for your computer. But that's beside the point. Half-Life has one of the best plots i've seen, and has a lot of action. So for those who like first person shooters, killing aliens and people, and love great graphics, this is the game for you. For those who don't like realism and don't like to play video games like these stick to your spongebob squarepants video games. Oh and for those of you who hate video games coming without a stratedgy guide here's another tip in half-life. Half-Life explains the game as you play along. Their's Hazard Courses you play to learn more about the game. You make your own controlls and etc. This is a must have for any video gamer who loves games like half-life. ... Read more

Asin: B00001KUII
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Shooters (Shooter)    4. Havas   

Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (09 May, 2001)
list price: $19.99
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Editorial Review

It's the new millennium. Civilization is near collapse. The world economy is in chaos. The middle class no longer exists. Deadly viruses have ravaged the earth's population. Terrorism runs rampant. From this maelstrom of violence and suffering an ancient conspiracy bent on world domination emerges from the shadows of legend. The conspirators' greatest strength? No one believes they exist. No one but you.

In Deus Ex, immerse yourself in an intricate web of betrayal and intrigue as you attempt to uncover power struggles, hidden agendas, and the dark conspiracy behind it all. Travel the globe building a network of allies and create an alternate identity to aid you in your search for the truth. There is no one path to success. It is achieved through various means; employ stealth, strategy, or force--the choice is yours. But remember, trust no one. Even those who you keep as allies may be more than they seem. Question everything.

This game incorporates role-playing, action, adventure, and first-person shooter genres into a chaotic blend of real-world conspiracies, cliffhangers, and plot twists. Explore a richly simulated world of unparalleled interactivity, engineered to react logically to your every action. The Game of the Year Edition now includes DX Multiplayer, DeathMatch, and Team DeathMatch, plus five new multiplayer maps and a built-in search engine for multiplayer servers. The bonus soundtrack CD contains 30 tracks remixed for higher audio quality. With the included software development kit, you can create standalone Deus Ex missions, build 3-D maps from scratch, or modify existing Deus Ex maps; you can also create new conversationsbetween game characters with ConEdit. The package includes a Deus Ex Windows desktop theme. ... Read more

Reviews (80)

Eeeexcelent
The style of this game is by far one of the best I think I have ever played. I am a big fan of Half-Life, and Half-Life 2, but they don't have the choices that you can make in this game. In HL you go through and shoot anybody and everybody. In HL2, you have to shoot most people, and only on occasion do you not. In Deus Ex, you pick and chose. If you don't like the way that guy is looking at you, how about just knock him out? If you were supposed to kill him, go back and say you did. You can chose to act and do whatever you want. I have only played the demo, and for 2005, the graphics are extremely out-dated, but that is okay, because the game style makes up for it. Should the graphics be shaped up some, and the AI finally figures out where it is going for most of the time, then this would be the perfect game, and I could literally play this, and only this game, forever.

PRO's:
Free Reign Over Actions.
Excelent Modification Form. (closes in on the D20 system)
Excelent Story Line.
Easy-To-Accept Premises.

CON's:
Graphics make it hard to tell what is happening always.
AI doesn't know what it is doing sometimes.
Long Wait for Shooting. (could be sped up just slightly)
* Apparently the ending is a letdown, but I don't know.

Best.Game.Ever.
It all happened about an hour ago...

Liberty Island, New York City. The near future, 2055. A fatal wasting disease called the Gray Death is decimating the world. About an hour ago, terrorists highjacked a shipment of the only known treatment for the ailment, a substance known as Ambrosia. The terrorists are part of a group known as the National Secessionist Force, or simply NSF, a group who have long been rebelling against the U.S. government, a government that has begun to stray from the core of the U.S. Constitution, eliminating personal freedoms and reshaping society in the name of safety and security. Faced with a swelling tide of worldwide terror, American President Phillip Mead supported a charter to create a worldwide police force to combat terrorism, a force that knows no geographical boundaries, that answers to no one but itself, a force called the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition, or UNATCO. UNATCO's worldwide central headquarters is located on Liberty Island, on ground donated by the United States, fittingly situated in the shadow of a shattered monument to freedom: the headless, crumbling Statue of Liberty, victim of a previous terror strike. It is a time of widening arcs between classes, a time of ambiguity and of teetering on the brink of societal collapse, where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is becoming unbreachable. Even as technological advancements and scientific breakthroughs make the wonders of far-flung science fiction a reality for the chosen few, the common man sinks lower and lower into poverty and obscurity as the middle classes are systematically eliminated. Six million American citizens are on an undesirable list and due to be rounded up and put into "reeducation" camps. Many more Americans are already there. Nonconformists and those who question the motives and actions of the government are summarily arrested and sometimes just disappear. Citizens are encouraged to spy on their neighbors and report any behavior that could possibly be deemed questionable or sympathetic to the terror cause, such as visiting national monuments, spending time on the internet, debating politics or speaking with a foreign accent. Big business-spearheaded by the likes of renown entrepreneur Bob Page and his Page Industries-has a stranglehold on the world, even inching its fingers onto the control pads of world government. There exists the worldwide mining and profiling of all communications. And behind it all, like omniscient, invisible puppetmasters pulling strings from dark alcoves, are the whispers of grandiose conspiracies and shadow organizations and ancient secret societies that are finally making a grab for world domination: Majestic 12, the Illuminati, the Templars. And combating these forces, aware or not of how deeply the strands run, is the NSF and its allies around the world, such as the Silhouette faction in France; dismissed as common terrorists by UNATCO, they see themselves as freedom fighters fighting governments grown corrupt and diseased on an incomprehensible scale.

You are a newly appointed, nano-augmented UNATCO agent named J.C. Denton. You arrive on the Liberty Island docks via a New York City Police boat, tasked with the removal of the NSF forces who have taken refuge inside the Statue of Liberty. Nano-augmentation is a new science-you are only the second augmented agent-and its implementation consists of the placement of microscopic machines inside the body that can enhance certain elements of an individual's natural senses-vision, strength, lung capacity, healing abilities-or create altogether unique, distinctively unnatural abilities far beyond what a non-augmented person could imagine. Nano-augmented individuals have a slightly altered appearance from regular people, with a telltale glowing of the eyes and strains of raised bluish-silver lines crosshatching parts of their skin. Previous UNATCO experiments with enhancing field agents before nano-augmentation evolved bore a more archaic signature: removing natural body parts-such as arms, legs, or even parts of the skull-and replacing them with purely mechanical, robotic, metallic pieces that enhanced abilities, yet sometimes were uncomfortable and rendered the subject something of an outcast by appearance.

Via InfoLink-a communications device implanted inside your head-your liaison inside UNATCO HQ, Alex Jacobson, informs you to hook up with your brother, Paul Denton, who happens to be the first UNATCO agent to have been nano-augmented. Paul is nearby on the dock. With him, you're able to ascertain the background and tactical situation of the terrorists at Liberty Island and the missing shipments of Ambrosia. You briefly sidestep into some detailed personal reminiscing about your parents and upbringing centering around the shared fact of the augmentations, then bid Paul a transient farewell as you begin to formulate a plan of action. The charcoal night sky is teeming with ominous, cold, grayish-white clouds in steady, unrelenting motion. The moon, the remote vault of stars, the wind, the fluttering seagulls-all are indifferent observers to the folly of men. Live or die, succeed or fail, it's all the same to them; the world will still roll on regardless of the outcome. Harbor waves lap at the dock moorings, a surprisingly delicate sound. Across the water, on either side, the distant brilliance of the New York City night skyline twinkles on the periphery. There are people there in those buildings, you know there are, real people going about real tasks in their real lives-working, eating, sleeping, loving, dying from the Gray Death, hoping for a better tomorrow-and even as they are unknowing of you and your current dilemma, you must carry on just the same. As a UNATCO agent, it's your job. To protect them from the forces of terror and evil in the world, to protect them from threats they don't even realize exist.

And really, after maybe 15 hours of playing, this is just the beginning. Deus Ex launches from here into its prolongation of winding, protracted, expansive gameplay, a springboard into theretofore uncharted realms of the interactive medium; a living and breathing gaming universe that mirrors our own in so many ways, so compelling and immersing that the experience can become ingrained in your very psyche. You spend the rest of the game unraveling a complex and multifaceted storyline woven together with a deft conspirator's touch, globetrotting repeatedly to various world locations-New York, France, Hong Kong, the American southwest-in an effort to bring down the machines trying to twist and mold the world to their own purposes. At the top, in the end, sits billionaire Bob Page, yet he is representative of only one of three distinct factions vying for world control by the end of the game. And you must choose amongst them.

The game itself is a hybrid of genres: part first-person shooter, part role playing game, part adventure game. To that end, gameplay itself reflects a given player's personal choice of progression, anything from dawning the guise of a pitiless killing machine to morphing into an invisible shade on the wall who employs surreptitiousness and cunning and eradicates nobody-or anything in between. Level designs are ingenious and inspired, offering the player the illusion of nearly limitless strategic and tactical options to approach the completion of each objective. And they're calculated in such a way that they make you feel clever for discovering some new way of doing something; no betraying neon arrows are in place pointing you in any particular direction. Worlds turn within worlds in this game, large orbiting story arcs-as great as the world itself with Tracer Tong, Bob Page, Morgan Everett, Nicolette DuClare and Helios, the construct AI revealed late in the proceedings-supporting smaller and smaller story arcs turning within, as exemplified by the reoccurring minor characters of Harley Filban, Joe Greene, Sandra Renton, Maggie Chow, Max Chen, Juan Lebedev, Jock and Smuggler. Conversation trees appear during key NPC interactions, and in the choosing you're able to directly affect NPC loyalties and sometimes the chronological order of unfolding events. I've played the game to completion at least six times over five years on two different platforms, and I've never gotten tired of the experience. Indeed, even today, I'm still discovering new things here and there I'd somehow missed all the times before. The graphics, state of the art in 2000, are understandably beginning to show their age now, five years later. But they're still darkly striking and engrossing at 1280x1024x32 and offer some of the longest view distances and largest wide open levels ever seen in gaming. Deus Ex continues to astonish and boggle me at every turn. I don't just play this game; I'm captivated by it.

Skill points are acquired at measured intervals as rewards for achieving certain objectives or discovering new areas. These skill points are used to enhance regions of a player's profile: a particular type of weapon (heavy weapons, melee weapons, rifles, explosives and so on), lockpicking skill, computer hacking skill, swimming ability, and much more. Each area of expertise can be upgraded through four tiers of enrichment. But there are only a limited amount of points distributed throughout the game, so the choosing of which area of performance to upgrade becomes a fundamental part of the experience, effectively conferring upon the player the ability to create their own strengths and weaknesses. Working hand-in-hand with these skill point upgrades are your nano-augmentations, physiologically altering enhancements to various portions of the body: Arms: Combat Strength or Microfibral Muscle, Legs: Speed Enhancement or Run Silent, Subdermal (1): EMP Shield or Ballistic Protection, Subdermal (2): Cloak or Radar Transparency, Torso (1): Aqualung or Environmental Resistance, Torso (2): Regeneration or Energy Resistance, Torso (3): Synthetic Heart or Power, Recirculator, Cranium: Aggressive Defense System or Spy Drone, Optics: Targeting or Vision Enhancement. Only one upgrade in each category can be chosen, and once upgraded the process is irreversible. Used in combination with skill point upgrading, you have complete control as to the nature of your character and-by extension-which particular pathways through the intricate webs of each mission scenario are best suited to your abilities. The audio potion is itself a further star; the ambient music behind the scenes alternatively bounces with irresistible futuristic techno rhythms or lays low and refracts the atmospheric surroundings. Sometimes, as in the main Hong Kong market theme, the music itself is worth just stopping and listening to it. During conversation cut-scenes, the background music alters to appropriately intriguing themes that underscore the mood and implications of the dialogue.

Deus Ex was released by developer Ion Storm in the summer of 2000 for PC and later ported to the PlayStation 2 under the revised title of Deus Ex: The Conspiracy. The world prophesized by this game, evidenced before you, on the monitor right in front of you, didn't exist in 2000. Yet after 9/11/2001, it has begun to exist: the terror, the paranoia, the American government that chooses to lead its people with hollow slogans and the perpetuation of fear, that implores you to give up personal freedoms-the cornerstones the country was founded on-in the name of security in this, the bravest of new worlds. Throughout the game, you see it time and again; what were futuristic science fiction dream concepts in 2000 are hard realities in 2005, are indeed torn from the headlines of tomorrow's newspapers. And the game plays out in real-world locations, places that exist today, places with their own inherent sense of reality. It makes Deus Ex more than a game world, it makes it a real world, three dimensional, tangible, a place you can step into and become lost inside of. There has never been a game like it before, and there may never be one like it again. Without question, my favorite game experience ever, a place where I can go time and again, year after year, and become something more than I am, a real character created within the realms of real world, a place capable of supplanting other realities.

Great Game!
This is simpy one of the best games out there, ranking right up alongside Half-Life and other notable games. I found myself actually caring if an important NPC would make it or not, which is rare in many FPS. What makes this game great is the quality of gameplay and storyline, not the eye candy. The graphics are a dated (it's an old game) but the excellent and engrossing plot line overshadows that fact. This is hands down one of my favorite games, because it is strictly a PC game. Too many PC games today are also being made to run on the console, and so in my opinion the quality of these games goes down. Not in graphics but in gameplay overall; they make something that looks great but lacks soul. DE may look dated, but it has more soul than any other eye-candy game on the market will ever have. ... Read more

Asin: B00005B44D
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Adventure    3. Action    4. Shooters (Shooter)    5. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)   

Diablo 2
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (29 June, 2000)
list price: $19.99 -- our price: $19.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Everything that made the original Diablo great--nonstop action, wicked monsters, dark gothic atmosphere, and fantastic magic items--has returned. But new enhancements such as the class skill system and cheater-proof multiplayer competition make Diablo II even better than the original.

The millions of gamers who fought their way through the horror of Tristram'scatacombs in the original Diablo realized that all was not well aftertheir hero destroyed the demon's physical body. Diablo II opens with avivid animated vision of that mad, doomed hero, who unwittingly spreads chaos ashe moves toward a fate of Diablo's choosing. With the original character classesgone, players choose from a new cadre of champions: the Barbarian (can wield twotwo-handed swords at once, one in each hand), the Necromancer (raises the deadto fight his battles), the Amazon (master of bow and spear), Paladin (holycrusader), and Sorceress (wielder of elemental magic). These warriors follow adiabolical plot through four acts, and each act is roughly as big as theoriginal Diablo.

Diablo II looks and behaves very much like Diablo. Players areassigned quests by nonplayer characters and adventure through dark catacombs andcrypts. Hordes of vile monsters assail the hero, who survives by force of arms,powerful spells, and through the use of varied and exotic magic items. Randomlygenerated dungeons guarantee fresh adventure each time a new game is started.But unlike the original game, characters must fight their way through the above-ground wilderness before entering a dungeon. Fortunately, some of thefrustrations of adventuring have been lessened in Diablo II, thanks to thenew ability to run and the clever implementation of "waypoints" that let yourcharacter quickly travel to and from the safety of town.

Along with the new character classes comes a new character skill system. As inthe original game, players improve their character's ability scores as they killmonsters and gain experience. But unlike the original game, players get to addspecific skills, spells, and powers each time they advance. For example, aftergaining a level you could choose between taking a skill that improves yourattack speed or a skill that allows you to scatter your foes with a mightyshout. With this customizedadvancement system it is unlikely that two high-levelcharacters, even characters of the same class, will be alike. Instead ofprogressing along a set path, you can choose skills and powers that complementyour own particular playing style. Interestingly, this new customizable classsystem closelyparallels the changes made in the new editionof Dungeons & Dragons.

Other enhancements include a method for creating and customizing magicitems, 3-D accelerated spell effects, anticheat multiplayer code, and a place to safelystore excess money and equipment. But even without these tweaks, even withoutthe sophisticated story line and all the cool new features, Diablo II isjust a great game. The sound, music, and graphics combine to create atantalizingly eerie setting. Players will willingly let their game-playing hoursslip well past reasonable bedtimes, suffering bleary-eyed classes and meetingsin exchange for "just one more" magic item, dungeon level, or characterskill.

Diablo is back. Say hello to the game that will once again dominate gamers'computers, and say good-bye to your free time. --Michael Fehlauer.

Pros:

• Diabolical, engrossing story line told through brilliant cutscenes
• All five of the new classes are distinct and fun
• Fantastic music and sound effects
• Random dungeons allow unlimited replayability
• Millions of magic items, including rare items and sets of unique magicalequipment

Cons:

• Addictive gameplay may cause loss of sleep, significant other, job
• Virtually no improvement in graphics

... Read more

Features

• Five all-new character classes with unique attributes and abilities.
• Four different, fully populated towns complete with wilderness areas.
• Multiple dungeons, caverns and crypts in every town for players to explore.
• Expanded world filled with all-new quests, weapons, spells, armor, monsters and non-player characters.

Reviews (533)

Best of the Genre
Diablo II is a helluva lotta fun.I'm not so much a single player person, but a multiplayer person.The gameplay is well thought-out and engaging.The plot is corny, but, then again, this is an RPG.

The graphics are kinda mediocre, but the gameplay makes up for it.The expansion is a must.Playing online is incredibly addictive, which I don't like, but I get a kick out of it.What makes this game is the interaction in multiplayer.

(...) is easy to use.They catch a fair few cheaters.

My main complaint is that there are many lamers.There is a group of people that buys duplicated items of the internet at like 10 dollars a piece.This is what I don't like.There are other people that hack accounts and steal characters and equipment, and that is just lame.Thankfully, this has not happened to me, although my brother got hacked a long time ago.

Even so, the fact that your account might get hijacked just adds to the reality that it is, after all, just a game.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The single player is a lot like the multiplayer.It is a good way to learn how to start out independently.In fact, the multiplayer is like single player, but just with more people.(surprise)

There aren't many glitches, and there is skill involved, up to a point.

Buy this game.It's worth your money.So is the expansion.

Great game!
Diablo 1 players. Yes, I know you have suffered, but Diablo 2 fixed all their problems and this game is 700 times better! Get it!

Learned some lessons from DIABLO, but quests more restricted
DIABLO 2 can be summarized as "like DIABLO, but more so." DIABLO 2 has more locales, more varied scenery, more (and more elaborate) AIs, more control over developing your character's skills, more types of characters to play, better play balance, and so on.

Like the original, DIABLO 2's settings are (mostly) randomly generated, so that with the exception of some set-piece areas (like the Skeleton King's lair in the original), no two games follow exactly the same map. DIABLO 2 has four acts covering 5 locales (including Tristram, the setting of DIABLO). Each act has very different climate/geography and monsters differing accordingly.

You're following the trail of the Wanderer (the hero of the first game) as he locates the other Prime Evils, Diablo's brothers, before leading you into Hell and the final confrontation with Diablo himself. The settings in general have much greater variety and eye candy, and include outdoor segments as well as dungeon crawls.

Act I is a generic-Europe setting, with a lesser-demon Level Boss rather than a Prime Evil. Act I most closely resembles the earlier stages of the original DIABLO, and contains references back to the original, as the player's task is to help the Sisters of the Sightless Eye. (The Rogue from DIABLO was a member of the order; your closest-equivalent player character in DIABLO 2 is the Amazon, who has a different backstory.)

Act II is a desert scenario, with a sort of Egyptian flavor to the tombs, and a different, more formidable type of undead. Act III, by contrast, is a rainforest, emphasis on poisonous insects, water monsters, and fast-moving little AIs with blowpipe attacks. Act IV's revamped version of Hell is much more larger and elaborate than that in the original, with an assortment of demons and new attacks. The succubae weren't retained, but as a tradeoff Act I has hordes of renegade Rogues.

Many of the AIs have been revamped to make them tougher and to give them more distinctive appearances. While the distinct colour schemes were retained, the details are more elaborate and they're tougher opponents. The carver-type AIs now include shamans, who in addition to their own magical attacks can raise the fallen. Animated skeletons on higher difficulty levels may now have mages as well as archers with them.

That's one of the biggest changes from the original. Monsters not only regenerate after you've cleaned out a level (even lesser "unique" monsters, though not Level Bosses that have to be killed to end an Act), but many monster types can raise the dead or harvest energy from corpses. There are also delayed-action attacks, as poisons and antidotes have been added.

Other changes from original:
- Multiplayer and single player now use the same limited set of quests, rather than single player having a random selection of a larger set of quests.
- Play balance on character abilities now includes active and passive skills, differing by character type. Not just any character can learn spells.
- In addition to mana and life, player has stamina. While you don't have to eat or sleep as in, e.g. DARKSTONE, you either have to pace your character, stock up on stamina potions, or be content to move slowly.
- In addition to Town Portal spells, each Act contains a set of fixed waypoints, and the player can return to earlier Acts if desired.
- Towns are more elaborate. Apothecaries selling potions are now separate from magic sellers, and at least one NPC per Act can "gamble" with you. You can hire and equip NPCs who will follow you and fight what you fight. If they're with you, your experience points are divided with them, but they level up and become more formidable over time.

Some lessons learned by the designers:
- Local smiths can upgrade weapons, e.g. installing runes or gems in them. Partway through Act II, a quest item allows you to combine multiple gems of the same type to get a single gem of a better grade, so strategy is a factor.
- In town/camp you have a chest in addition to the inventory on your character's person. Items in the chest are safe, but if you're killed and resurrected, anything you were carrying has to be retrieved from the body. Since you're fined a large amount of your total gold when you're resurrected, you're motivated to scavenge your own body anyway just to get some of it back.
- Partway through Act I, you revisit Tristram and rescue Deckard Cain, who now has enough gratitude to identify items for free instead of gouging you.
- Some unique items now come in sets (e.g. helmet, breastplate, gauntlets) that are stronger together than apart, and mostly effective for specific character types (e.g. bonuses apply only to a paladin). Strategy comes into play: is it worth saving an item in the hopes of acquiring the rest of the set?

In summary: the thing I miss most from the original is the randomized quest mix on single player. The active/passive skill system is interesting enough to make up for restricting the player's ability to create super-powerful spell-casting Rogues and the like.

As in the original, even in single-player a game can't be saved in multiple states; you can only have multiple characters working through different scenarios. In multi-player, items can be transferred between characters by drop-and-switch, but that's about it.
... Read more

Asin: B00002CF9M
Subjects:  1. Diablo2 (Two, II) Dialbo    2. Fantasy (FRPG)    3. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)    4. Havas   

Black & White
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (28 March, 2001)

US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

If you've ever wanted to play god, Black & White shoulddefinitely be on your short list. This highly anticipated game takesthe concept literally, letting players navigate and influence a lushworld using only the "hand of god" as an interface. Players can use thehand to uproot trees, hurl rocks, rescue (or punish) followers, andcontrol all aspects of the camera as it zooms, dips, and swerves overthe completely 3-D environments.

The game gets off to a slow start, but things pick up once players getto choose their creatures. Creatures are giant animals that serve asyour physical link to the mortal world, and they have a sophisticatedartificial intelligence that lets players teach them how to act. In thebeginning, there's only a cow, ape, and tiger from which to pick, butthe choices expand as the game progresses. And for a limited time, Amazon.com customers can download a bonus creature--a magnificent horse. Click here for details.

Ultimately, creatures grow, and their appearance gradually changes toreflect both their tendency toward good or evil and the treatmentthey've received from the player. Deny the animal access to food and itwill lose weight. Pet it each time it eats a villager and you'll soonhave an evil juggernaut that strikes fear into people's hearts. Most ofthe game's fun comes from spending time teaching your creature andsimply watching the crazy things it does of its own volition. Best ofall, players and creatures don't have to have the same alignment,making it possible to be an evil god with a glowing, beloved,benevolent creature. It all depends on why you choose to reward orpunish the creature.

Unfortunately, Black & White tries to be too many things atonce, and there is rarely any real focus. It's difficult to enjoytraining a creature when villages need protecting, villagers needdirection, and buildings need to be built in order to expand theplayer's influence and ultimately win each level. It wouldn't be so badif the villagers were half as smart as the game's creatures, but theyrequire a lot of micromanagement to work efficiently. The single-playercampaign gives players plenty of time in each mission to overcome theseshortcomings, but prepare to spend many long hours administrating yourholdings for every hour of pure joy that Black & White iscapable of providing. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Great graphics and animations
• Exceptional creature artificial intelligence
• Plenty of keyboard shortcuts, greatly simplifying the complexcamera controls

Cons:

• Managing villagers and buildings can be a chore
• The manual is completely inadequate considering the complexity ofthe creature AI

... Read more

Reviews (506)

Frustrating!
I played this game for about a month, but it got so tedious andfrustrating that I quit. I am 12 years old and I've beaten Civilization III and other games like that but this game I just couldn't finish. Do yourself a favour, and don't even try it.

Not for the blood thirsty
If you like running from room to room or planet to planet (or whatever) shooting things and blowing stuff up.This is NOT the game for you.

If you enjoy sociological endeavors, you'll enjoy this game.

As others have said, micromanaging (who ever said God's job was easy?), is tedeous BUT the one person who complained obviously did not read some of the instructions.You can set up short cuts to various places on your island.Then it is as simple as pressing "4" to get from one place to the place you've designated as area "4".No biggie.

There does not appear to be any book out on how to accomplish things you want to accomplish.I suppose that is because there are too many variables in the game.

Some parts of the game are pretty funny.The boat builders song is pretty humerous as well as people falling "in love" and giggling etc.

So, all in all, not the most riveting game I've ever played but certainly not the most boring.This is kind of like SIMS meets The Swiss Family Robinson.

At $3 for a used version, how bad could it be?

Wish I had gotten mine for that price!

If you have Windows98/ME & A LOT of Ram. You need see this..
I saw some people have problems running this game.If your system is Windows98/ME and you have more than 512 MB memory in stalled, you need to see this ... otherwise you will get game crashes more frequently ... not just in Black & White, but other games as well. You need to follow the workaround method as follows.

I first come across this knowledge from www.nvidia.com FAQ : Windows 98 and ME were based on the original Windows 95 kernel which was never designed for handling a lot of memory. These systems will experience various operational difficulties if more than 512MB physical memory is installed. These problems are due to how the 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (VCache) for Windows 9x/ME reserves memory.With more than 512MB memory, VCache may reserve most of the virtual addresses available.This issue does not affect Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000. Directions for correcting this problem are outlined in Microsoft's Knowledge Base article number 253912:[...]
CAUSE :
The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cache size based on the amount of RAM that is present when Windows starts, or 800MB, whichever is less. Vcache then reserves enough memory addresses to permit it to access a cache of the maximum size so that it can increase the cache to that size if needed.. These addresses are allocated in a range of virtual addresses from 0xC0000000 through 0xFFFFFFFF (virtual address occupy between 3 gigabyte and 4 gigabyte area - a space of only 1 gigabytes) known as the system arena.

On computers with large amounts of RAM, the maximum cache size can be large enough that Vcache consumes nearly all of the addresses in the system arena, leaving little virtual memory addresses available for other system process.

This problem may occur more readily with Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) video adapters because the AGP aperture is also mapped to addresses in the system arena. For example, if Vcache is using a maximum cache size of 800 MB and an AGP video adapter has a 128-MB aperture mapped, there is very little address space remaining for the other system code and data that must occupy this range of virtual addresses.


WORKAROUND :

- Add the MaxFileCache line as follows in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum cache size that Vcache uses to 512 MB (512x1024 =524288 KB. Note: The value for these settings are in kilobytes) or less :
[VCache]
MaxFileCache=524288

- Then reboot computer to have setting take effect. You should suffer FAR LESS crashes in many games. Your game can still crash, though.But it will be due to other problems - game bugs, drivers too old, etc.
... Read more

Asin: B00004UE0O
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Strategy (Strategic)    4. Fantasy    5. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)   

SimCity 3000
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM
list price: $14.99
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Don't cry for me, SimCity. As the mayor--potentate, really--the entire future and design of the city is within your hands. A classic city-simulation game, the new version boasts scores of cool improvements, including more refined graphics.

The infrastructure of your new home is intense, and so are the tasks at hand: building roads, establishing water and power lines, providing civil protection through fire and police stations--and reviewing city finances to make sure all these things can happen. The realistic details in SimCity 3000 are what make it brilliant: an icon for "subway to rail connection" allows you to create a spot for your city residents to change trains on their daily commute.

The pleasing graphics offer color palates similar to a Diego Rivera painting or a Rockefeller Center mural. With an endless array of satisfying options and fascinating possibilities, a review of this edition requires almost ridiculous hyperbole and praise. A great way to get lost in careful consideration for days on end, SimCity 3000 is simply the best game of its type. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Features

Reviews (127)

One Word: Awesome
This is the kind of game that makes you want to keep playing for the rest of your life. You start out with the basics, a few zones, a power plant, and eventually some development.There really are infinite choices to build a city with. It is just so dang addictive! This game will consume your soul! Mwa,ha,ha,ha.
Okay just kidding. Well, anyway if you like city building pick this game up, you'll thank me.

very good and perhaps better than SC2000
I found this to be a delightful game. I played it the most on my mother's old HP Celeron 466 with only a small video card so sometimes it ran slowly. On today's computer's I'm sure it won't be a problem though. I loved the older version--Sim City 2000--and this seemed to improve on that (other than the need for a fast computer) and it struck a good balance between being realistic and being too complicated.

I suspect you will really like it and you will be happy you bought it.

Buy it!!!!!!!
This is the on of the colest games in history! You are the mayor of a city. You have to think about ploution a lot.It is cool ... Read more

Asin: B00000G16I
Subjects:  1. Sim City town simtown    2. Maxis    3. simcity3000    4. Computer Games    5. Strategy (Strategic)    6. Simulations    7. World Building (Builders)   

Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (07 March, 2002)
list price: $19.99
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

When it comes to vast, kingdom-spanning ambition, you can't do better than Microsoft's Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. Microsoft went all out to create this real-time strategy game, and it fairly hums with gorgeous graphics, sophisticated AI, and challenging scenarios for the novice and experienced player alike.

The point of the game is to shepherd your fledgling civilization to world domination, using war, trade, and exploration. You start with the bare minimum to get going, and you've got to balance your people's needs with your desire to be a little Napoleon. The Age of Kings gives you a ton of new units and technologies to enrich your strategic options. Each scenario is placed accurately within history, but you're also free to create your own.

The multiplayer format is robust, allowing up to nine players to share a world. When battles commence, you can take control of every aspect of your workers and soldiers, sending them running for shelter in the town center, ordering them to defend a watchtower, or setting their combat stance to "aggressive" for free-for-all sword smashing fun. When you're not fighting, find your idle peasants with a mouse click and send them back to work chopping trees, rounding up sheep, fishing, or mining gold and stone.

As you acquire more resources, you can improve your soldier's gear and skills, start to trade more efficiently, and make life better for everyone in your empire. You can choose from 13 groups to manage, from the Japanese to the Teutons and Franks. Each group has unique units and special characteristics, making this a game that changes every time you play it.

If all this sounds complicated, it is. New players may be intimidated by the range of choices, but the teaching scenarios are very helpful in conquering the controls. Age of Empires II is a sophisticated, gorgeous successor to the wildly popular original. It's a real feather in Microsoft's cap--a world-building game that will hold you captive. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Features

• Players can use garrisoning, military formations, and advantages in direction facing add interesting tactical choices. Units are also smarter, with new artificial intelligence (AI) options like Guard, Patrol and Follow as well as multiple aggression levels. Also boats will be able to ram or board enemy ships to capture them.
• Players can improve the economy of their civilization through expanded trade and diplomacy options. In addition to gathering resources, they can trade at their own market or use trading routes with their allies. A market-based economy gives new options for players to buy, sell, and speculate on resources.
• Gamers command one of 13 mighty civilizations. These include Franks, Japanese, Byzantine and the raiding Viking, Mongol and Celt civilizations. Each civilization has unique attributes, buildings and technologies as well as a particular combat unit based on its historical counterpart.
• Production queues, improved navigation points and chas more than 100 nodes, larger than one player could possibly complete in just one game.
• Experience intense single and multiplayer game play. Enhanced historical campaigns, a random map generator and a scenario and campaign editor offer players extensive replay value.

Reviews (374)

Best game in the world
Even though I dont have the game my friend has it. Its the funist game ever in the history of age of empires.If you by it
I bet you'll have it for ever!

IT WAS OKAY
This game was fun for awhile, but I enjoy faster paced strategy games better. (Stronghold, C&C)The graphics were great for their time, but show their age now.The sound is pretty good.The gameplay, as mentioned above, is not my style, so I didn't like it much.Overall a 3 out of 5.

Still a fun one.
I admit, AOE is now kind of an oldie, but it's still a fun game.I played Age of Mythology in a store once, but I still like this one better.Granted, there are some annoying aspects to Kings, such as replanting farms one at a time.Also, if you use a group of villagers to do a task, you have click each one at a time to spread them out.The Conquerors expansion corrects all this (see my review).You can get both Kings and Conqs in the Gold Edition.The games are old enough that they should work on just about every computer.For parents, the blood and gore is so miniscule it's nothing to worry about.This is an easy game to learn, and a fun one to play.Check it out! ... Read more

Asin: B00002NDRY
Subjects:  1. Two (II)    2. AoE2 (AoE)    3. ageofempires ageofempires2    4. Computer Games    5. Action    6. Strategy (Strategic)    7. Historical (historic) Recreation (Recreations)    8. Military (Wargames   

Unreal Gold
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (24 September, 2000)
list price: $39.95
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Editorial Review

A super-charged compilation of Unreal (voted the Action Game of the Year by the Software Publisher's Association) and the Unreal Mission Pack. The game begins when your prison starship crash-lands on a remote planet. Freed from your cell and armed only with a salvaged pistol, it is up to you to unravel the mystery of this strange place--and survive its vicious inhabitants. ... Read more

Features

Reviews (24)

My favorite PC game of all time!
This game, already several years old, remains my favorite computer game. I just love everything about this game: the weapons, the storyline, the graphics, even the music! Unreal Gold is actually divided into two different "mission packs" (both included on this cd): First, Unreal, then Return to Na Pali.

The plot of Unreal is pretty simple: you're a prisoner that has just escaped from a huge space craft that's crashed landed on a mysterious planet, filled with just about every kind of evil creature you could possible imagine! Now, you must bravely fight your way through literally dozens of challenging levels, both on land and in water, in your search to find a servicable space ship you can use to escape.

Different levels challenge different fears: you have to go underwater and face large reptile-like creatures and man-eating fish (and that's just for starters!), fight large spiders in totally dark rooms, and walk on the edges of cliffs and along narrow bridges (one slip and you've had it, buddy!). The villians get increasingly more intelligent and harder to kill as the game progresses, but your weapons also get increasingly better! You can choose four different levels of difficulty: easy, medium, hard, and "unreal"(-only for the bravest of the bave!). I recommend playing the game on easy mode until you get the hang of things.

After you finally win Unreal, you get to play "part 2": Return to Na Pali, in which you get to return to the same evil planet you just escaped from (oh boy!) and face even tougher villians as you try to find a crashed spaceship and its important cargo. Return to Na Pali wasn't quite as difficult as Unreal, although there are two extremely tough levels where you have to walk on slippery ice constantly while facing enemies and treacherous cliffs! In short, Unreal Gold is an awesome game that will challenge and entertain you like no other pc game! And yes, this game works great on computers with Windows XP. Highly recommended!

Scary and fun game!
This game is so scary! I can't even play it in the night! The regular game is Unreal Gold but they give you an extra game called Return to Nali Pali which is less scary and has a different story. I love this game. You will love it too!

Halo fans, thought it couldn't get any better?
I've been playing Unreal Gold for the past couple years. Not only has it grown onto me, but for those who appriciate a godo game, here's my favorite details:

Excelent music which you'll never forget, amazing worlds of all kinds, ranging from huge spacecraftst to peaceful villages, and enough weapons to live in trigger happy heaven. Interesting concepts, challenging missions, completely unreal animals and races, tons of surprises, terrifying at times and rediculously fun at others. Useing a translator you can read the journals of those who did not survive along the journey, and signals or messages. There are available simple cheats which can be fun at times. There's always fun in a little god mode and weapon summoning right?

In my opinion, I'm fascinated by this game. It has an overall great atmosphere, although not the greatest plot it's still appealing. You suffer no save points, no bosses at the end of every level, no telling you you can't go somewhere or do something - this game just lets you play. This is my favorite of all the Unreal series. It'll grow onto you like the video game classics. (By the way I can't emphasize how cool the soundtrack is!) ... Read more

Asin: B00004KHDP
Subjects:  1. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, SciFi)    2. First Person Shooter (FPS)    3. Computer Games    4. Action    5. Shooters (Shooter)   

Heretic 2 (Jewel Case)
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM
list price: $29.95
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Editorial Review

This game is the newest title in the bestselling Heretic-Hexen series. A third-person action game based on the Quake 2 engine, Heretic 2 sets players on a quest through vast city and outdoor environments as they search for a cure to a deadly evil plague before all is lost. Using the Quake 2 engine, Heretic 2 plunges you into a deep, compelling game that combines brutal face-to-face combat and mystery-laden adventure in the most advanced graphics engine yet. From a third-person perspective, gamers travel through complex, richly detailed environments filled with stunning special effects, wicked magic spells, detailed characters, vivid artwork, and challenging-level designs created by the Raven team and renowned fantasy artist Brom. ... Read more

Features

Reviews (12)

Well designed shooter in a supernatural fantasy world
Before I found this game I thought that I was through with first person shooters. After playing just about every version of Doom, Heretic, and Hexen over the years I was pretty much bored with the concept. Plus, the "gritty reality" of Quake 2 really turned me off after only playing it all the way through a couple of times. Then I found Heretic 2, and once again found myself completely immersed in a fantasy world for the first time in years.

The third person interface took a little while to get used to, but now I truly believe that it is the smoothest and most instinctual way to go. Plus, the levels are intricate, detailed, and attractive. You actually look forward to seeing what is around the next corner (as opposed to the grim, repetitious, industrial hell of Quake 2.) Finally, the story line is interesting and satisfying. This game is laid out in a linear manner (no constant backtracking to a common hub) so it works very well with the concept of a quest.

The basic storyline is that Corvus, the hero that slew Serpent Rider and his minions, has returned to Parthoris after an unexpected detour through the outer realms. He finds that the land is revaged by a plague that turns the inhabitants into murderous zombies. It is an artificially created plague resulting from the corrupted efforts of the seraph, Morcalavin, to achieve ascension and immortality.

If you were into the old Heretic and the story of the Sidhe and the Serpent Riders then this game will be a pleasant blast from the past (only with modern high resolution graphics.)

Excellent Game
Great story.Great graphics.Get the 1.06 Enhancement Pack [14 MB] at the HereticII website which fixes some bugs.There's also a walkthrough there as well some single player add-ons.I love this game.

Lights-Sound-Camera-Action!
This is one hell of a thrill ride. First off the game uses a customized Quake II engine that looks gorgeous and plays ultra-smoothly. The 3rd person camera in Heretic 2 should be the reference point for all games that use this perspective because it is the most intuitive and easy-to-use system developed.
The player character Corvus has a host of easy to perform maneuvers that look very cool on screen. The weapons and spells are fun to use and have fantastic special FX. The levels look very good especially the Andorian episode and the K'chekrik episode and the artwork is always high quality. This game is a great buy.
The manual for those who are lucky enough to get the boxed edition is also nifty though not too detailed. ... Read more

Asin: B00004T9C6
Subjects:  1. Fantasy    2. Two (II) Heretic2    3. Computer Games    4. Action    5. Shooters (Shooter)   

Sin (Jewel Case)
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM
list price: $29.95
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

When the chief executive officer of SinTEK Industries begins injecting the streets of Freeport with a DNA-altering drug, it's time to reassess the laws of morality. When this twisted biochemist plans to overtake the world with her army of genetically engineered mutants, it's time to rewrite the golden rule. You are Col. John R. Blade. You've made a religion out of fighting crime, and now you're going to make Elexis Sinclaire pay for her sins. ... Read more

Features

Reviews (8)

Fun but outdated...
This was a good but buggy game when it debuted, but patches (including internet play) have made it a late bloomer. Fun to go through, but beware the adult themes and situations.

Great for the price. Be sure to download all current patches beofre you play the first time, as patching erases all saved games.

SiN, have some problems, but it' s cool
I have to admit, I gave 5 stars, yes, its one of the best games I ever had the chance to play, but it have some problems, the graphics have some bugs and the history give you a little felling of "deja-vu", but even with this problems I love this great game, if you like guns, hot babes and some funny jokes, this is your game, go and buy!!

Highly entertaining game with a few flaws.
There are many faults with this game. The graphics look pretty bad at times, there a quite a few bugs even when the game has been patched twice. The "movies" are a bit tacky and it ain't that original. But, unlike a lot of other games out there, it is SO ... fun to play. There's none of this "we're gonna take ourselves seriously" ... It's intentionally cheesy and gung-ho in places, and the plot unravals bit by bit like some American action movie starring Arnold Swartzeneggar. I won't ruin the plot, but the game has been left for a sequal, and even Half-Life was unable to give such a good ending.

Make no mistake, SiN has its faults. You can get hurt by a little mouse attacking you! But after owning it since it was first released I have only just bothered to complete it, and I felt that I had to review it. The level design is far beyond many games out there now, and although some levels don't have a large amount of replayability, some levels are really cool. It may not have aged well, and Half-Life is definately a better game, but if you're bored of all this serious stuff that's around and you just want something where not only can you go around shooting things in a deeply satisfying manner (and your computer won't support Unreal Tournament), but also that will make you laugh in places and even get you attatched to some of the characters, this is the game for you. Especially when you can pick up for GBP 10 - GBP 15. ... Read more

Asin: B00004T9C9
Subjects:  1. Science Fiction (SciFi, Sci Fi)    2. First Person    3. Computer Games    4. Action    5. Shooters (Shooter)   

StarCraft Battle Chest
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (24 October, 1999)
list price: $19.99 -- our price: $19.99
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

The full versions of StarCraft and the acclaimed expansion pack Brood War, as well as complete strategy guides for each, make StarCraft: Battle Chest a treasure chest for real-time strategy fans.

Instead of two similarly powered enemies facing off, the three distinct races in StarCraft have unique capabilities and strategies. Everyone still competes in the RTS genre's typical race for resources, but that's the only shared trait. Terrans can move their bulky mechanized bases as necessary, while the reptilian Zerg grow their colonies and warriors from mutating larvae. Meanwhile, the noble Protoss warp in equipment from their home world using psionic powers.

Not only does game maker Blizzard juggle the races' playability and match it with superb art and sound effects, it also weaves together an engrossing three-act plot. Early on, as a Terran magistrate, you spend a breathtaking 30 minutes defending against a Zerg onslaught. As the story unfolds around you, you'll experience the Zerg's hive mentality and decipher the mysterious Protoss by the game's dramatic conclusion.

Missions vary in scope and are effectively framed with dialogue, chapter screens, and in-mission exposition. Multiplayer games are also very well represented by Blizzard's own free Battle.net service. If you'd rather play over a local area network, StarCraft will generously "spawn" up to seven copies so your friends can join in.

In keeping with StarCraft's groundbreaking design, Brood War presents you with three sides of a galactic conflict. Scheming humans, insidious Zerg, and proud Protoss collide again, with stunning new cinematics setting the stage. Old friends and foes and ominous new arrivals give the story a breakneck pace, while a handful of additions to each race's arsenal makes for tense battles. Brood War also features stellar new environments and ambient art, as well as more than 100 additional multiplayer maps.

Some missions require a bit of finesse, breaking the resource-gathering routine while making good use of the new units. Humans now have Valkyrie missile frigates as well as medics who automatically try to heal your grunts. New for the Zerg air force is the acid-spewing Devourer; the new Lurker unit provides heavy-duty (under)ground support. Along with the Corsair fighter, the Protoss reenter the fray with Dark Templar, which can merge to form the devastating Dark Archon. Unfortunately, units old and new still suffer from weak artificial intelligence in path finding.

Real-time strategy games don't get any more epic or any more satisfying. --Jack Gardiner ... Read more

Features

• 3 unique alien species: Whether you command the nomadic Terran, mysterious Protoss, or voracious Zerg, you must devise totally unique strategies to survive the acid-drenched, fire scorched battles of the future.
• 44 explosive scenarios: Dominate or die in 55 complete missions set within 6 epic campaigns.
• Intense internet competition: Challenge players worldwide with free access to Blizzard's Battle.net Gaming Service.
• Offical strategy guide: Includes the official Starcraft and Starcraft Expansion Set: Brood War strategy guides from Prima Publishing.

Reviews (218)

Starcraft is the best game ever.
If I had the chance to buy just 1 game in my whole life, I would pick Starcraft, without any doubts. I want a copy of it, not because I don't have access to battle.net, but because I do believe that this game is really WORTH spending money and some of your time. I would pay 10 times more for it.

Game for the Ages
This game gets old like breathing gets old -- it doesn't.This game has been out over 10 years and it is STILL the dominant multiplayer game featured in just about every group I've ever LAN'd with.

The thing is this:It's not graphics that make a game great, it's the concept.When describing Starcraft to new players, I compare it to chess.You have a small number of brilliantly simple "pieces" and the game is about putting them to best use.

There are no complicated combat systems, overly-elaborate frills, special rules, blah, blah, blah.Each unit does what it does and it's easy to understand.Most importantly, new players can pick it up quickly.The variety is enough to keep you interested, but not so much that strategizing is a crap shoot.At the end of the day, pieces move in straight lines and diagonals, except for templar which move two spaces up and one to the right (just to keep you on your toes).

One of my absolutely most favorite-est games of all time.

MAC Fans rejoice ...
I am not going to tell you how awesome this game is ... you can get that from the other reviews.What I want to tell you is this:I took the 'Starcraft Battlechest' home, expecting to play it under 'Classic';there is no mention on the box of OSX, and the game was made well before OSX was.However, when I installed it, there was an OSX native version right on the disk!So, Mac fans, if you want a good RTS, here ya go. ... Read more

Asin: B00001IVRD
Subjects:  1. Apple    2. Havas    3. Star Craft    4. Computer Games    5. Strategy (Strategic)    6. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, Scifi)    7. Macintosh (Machintosh)    8. Mac   

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (07 October, 2002)
list price: $19.99
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga gathers the popular real-time strategy game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its dynamic Star Wars: Episode II mission expansion Clone Campaigns in a single package. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga challenges players with more than 50 battle campaigns representing the classic and prequel Star Wars universe.

Powered by the award-winning Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings core game engine, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga allows players to deploy vast armies of Storm Troopers, Clones, Naboo, Battle Droids, Rebels, Gungans, and Wookiees. Players manage their units, structures, and resources in single- or multiplayer campaigns on Tatooine, Naboo, Endor, Hoth, and Geonosis. ... Read more

Features

• evel brings new wonders and new forces.
• Accessible gameplay built upon the familiar RTS engine adapted from Ensemble's popular Age of Empires series
• Use the scenario editor to create custom single- or multiplayer battlegrounds with virtually any Star Wars units and settings.Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns:
• 14 original single-player combat scenarios
• New civilizations

Reviews (25)

Can't...stop....playing!
This is an awesome game. The graphics could use improvement but the gameplay is fun. I can't stop playing this game its addictive. I played for 5 hours once and I didn't even know. If you like Star Wars as much as I do then BUY THIS GAME!

Not to Bad By mike
I bought this game about 1 month ago, and it is'nt that bad. The graphics could be better, but the reality of the units as far as corresponding to the movies is good. After a while, the concept gets kind of repetitive, but the difference in units depending on the side does liven it up. Also, it's cool to be able to be different sides, rather than just the good guys.(I mean, come on, who doesn't want to kick some rebel dairiair with an AT-AT?) Anyway, the graphics will leave a 2-D aftertaste in your mouth, but for big starwars fans it's definetly worth 10.00 bucks.

It's Hiroshima all over again!
this game is the most awsome game of its type i have ever played, and i own every one of the comand and coucer games and age of mythology, and this one woops all of them! it is a guarentied sucess among u and your froedns with its multyplayer mode...so buy it now!! its an awsome game! ... Read more

Asin: B00006IJCP
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Space Simulators (Simulation)    4. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, scifi)    5. Strategy (Strategic)    6. Star Wars (Starwars)   

Fallout 1 / Fallout 2 Bundle (Jewel Case)
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (29 December, 2000)
list price: $49.95
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Editorial Review

The science-fiction role-playing games Fallout and Fallout 2 have been bundled together for the complete post-nuclear-war game experience. In Fallout you are dwelling in a self-sufficient fallout shelter called Vault-13, three generations removed from the apocalyptic war. When your shelter's water filter breaks down, you are sent out into the unknown wasteland to find a replacement filter or a new source of fresh water. The Fallout adventure unfolds as a gritty tale of discovery, paranoia, and survival. Mature gamers are in for a classic role-playing game that has earned a cult following just as loyal as the fans of the Mad Max movies that inspired it.

Fallout 2 takes place 80 years after the events in the original game. You are the Chosen One, a tribal ancestor of Fallout's vault dweller. Your tribe has built a modest settlement in an isolated corner of the futuristic Californian wasteland, but you must find a Garden of Eden Creation Kit to sustain the village. During your adventure, you'll encounter misfits and monsters ranging from gangsters to supermutants. Twice as many weapons are at your disposal, including the M72 Gauss Rifle, M3A1 "Grease Gun" SMG, Louisville Slugger, H&K CAWS, and the Solar Scorcher. In addition, you can give your character combat postures such as berserk, aggressive, defensive, or cowardly.

Parents should be aware that the games contain violence and some sexual situations. Though you can adjust the tone down a bit through the main control panel, developments that occur on the adult setting are integral to the story. ... Read more

Features

Reviews (92)

A classic that still manages to entertain
I picked up the bundled jewel case as a cheap diversion for a weekend away from home visiting relatives. Rather than be taken hostage on a shopping trip that never ends, I snuck off to the store, found this little gem of a game, hid away with my laptop an opened a wickedly funny universe.

Both of these games are a blast. Many might find the graphics a bit dated, but the open-endedness is unfathomable. You really can do all those stupid things you always want to do in other CRPGs - steal cars, be bad, be good, be both. The campy humor kept me going into the wee hours of the night. I haven't played a game that kept me laughing this long in nearly a decade. The content is a tad on the mature side, particularly in Fallout 2, parents you were warned. It is a small wonder that this game developed a cult following, it is a place all its own. It will stick with you long after you abandon it.

Best PC classic EVER
If you are a fan of classic games, then you MUST have heard of fallout 2. A game where the word "limited" is not in your vocabulary. Do WHATEVER you want. steel, kill, help, save, marry, marry again, become addicted to drugs, become a sex star, this mature rated game has it all. Oh, and it has a great story too. One of the best RPGs period, and its sooooo cheap!

Dryman
both these games are great and very replayable. you can be either a good guy or bad' theres always more than one way to do things and there just both the most fun games ive ever played.Thay are funny and you can do just about anything you can think of to do like get marryed and devorced, smoke jet and get loaded,become a boxer and bite the other guys ear off,become a porn star,become a made man. Its endless how much they put into this game you can play it five times and not do everything possable. ... Read more

Asin: B00004ZBSX
Subjects:  1. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)   

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (16 March, 2001)
list price: $49.95
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Editorial Review

The Fallout series of role-playing games is known for its epicpost-apocalyptic story line and deep combat system, in that order.Fallout Tactics turns the tables by focusing almost exclusivelyon a series of complex missions that are loosely wrapped in a plot. Thefocus is on combat, but Fallout Tactics stays true to its RPGroots.

You create your own character with the RPG system from the previousFallout games. The basics should be familiar to RPG fans: assignnumbers to attributes, such as strength, perception, and dexterity,which help determine values for skills such as medic, sneak, repair,and big guns. Fun quirks such as fast shot, finesse, and bloody messmake your character unique. Once your character is complete, you'reassigned your first mission. There's no need for a strong, personalplot device to get the game going: you're in the army now.

Instead of the one-man-against-the-wasteland story of Falloutand Fallout 2, Tactics sets you up as a junior squadleader in an expeditionary force of the Brotherhood of Steel. TheBrotherhood is a no-nonsense group of soldiers that has managed tothrive in the nuked American landscape by maintaining strict controlover its technological superiority. Your group split off from the maingroup and headed east in huge dirigibles, only to crash-land nearChicago. Trading technology and protection for food and recruits, theBrotherhood soon finds itself taking on the role of feudal overlord.You and your squad tackle increasingly difficult missions for theBrotherhood. Each successful mission lets you improve your characterand squadmates by way of accumulated experience, weapons, equipment,and vehicles.

The word "tactics" didn't get into the title of this game by mistake.Characters can sneak into position, lay down covering fire, set upambushes, lie prone in a sniper hide, and do just about anything else areal soldier can do. You'll need to use these abilities in order tocomplete the game's tough single-player campaign, or against humansquad leaders in the included multiplayer mode. You can set the game toplay in the strict turn-based mode familiar to Fallout veterans,or can play in "continuous turn-based," which is essentially thereal-time strategy mode seen in games such as Baldur's Gate. Thedevelopers should get a medal for allowing gamers to switch betweenturn-based and real-time anytime.

Between battles, your characters wander the wasteland in search ofquests, barter for items, and interact with nonplayer characters whosereactions depend on the squad's reputation. It's enough to keeprole-playing aficionados entertained, and action fans won't want to miss it.Note that Fallout Tactics is just as profane and violent as theother games in the series, and isn't for kids. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Crisp graphics with great animation
• A truly beautiful combat system
• A decent story links the missions together and lets players get toknow their characters

Cons:

• Very challenging
• Plot is nowhere near as complex as those in Fallout andFallout 2.

... Read more

Features

Reviews (52)

Better than Fallout
I know many folks will disagree with that statement, but I had MUCH more fun playing this game than Fallout 1 and 2.The original Fallouts were too bogged down in dialog and role playing.I would quit playing Fallout at night and forget where I was when I started the next day. The journals were horrible and it took me days of playing to continue with the plot.Tactics, however, caters more to my tastes for action and tactical maneuvering.If you like the in-depth role playing and storyline, you'll probably like Fallout 1 and 2 better.

The option to switch back and forth between real time and turn based combat is awesome.I've played it both ways.This mixes a military-type game with a Balder's Gate-type RPG very well.Great job and I hope to see more of the like in the future!

Tactics in the Fallout World...
Guys and gals, please, remember that the box says 'Fallout TACTICS,' not 'Fallout 3.' If you take into account that this is a strategy game in the Fallout world, this game is incredible, with reasonable replay value. Now, I played Fallout and Fallout 2 three and two times each [respectively], back-to-back. Tactics I managed two, then had to wait a while. Incredible game, as long as you realize that it is not one of the Fallout RPGs; rather, it is a new branch in the series, and, personally, I am very fond of it. If you want to criticize something, do the console Fallout BOS.

Tactical side of the Fallout series
Of the three Fallout games, this has to be the best.You have direct control over all characters in your group(squad) and even thier atts, skills, and perks.Thier is no story as in the others which are enjoyable in thier own right, but the micromanagement and control are what you want in a game.You start out with two other members(who may or may not compliment your main character's skills and abilities) but you can control them and give complicated manuevers in real time or turn based time which ever preferred.The piloting skill is rarely used in combat and thier are others who can give you thier services as a driver, but I like driving in an RP sense, so my PC has it tagged.Speech has no place in a game about war and fighting and Charisma takes on a more important role, team performance.This game is much harder than the previous two(in real time mode) and you must use quick thinking and position/planned attack manuvers executed imediately.Some of the bugs in previous versions(1.0) such as the language filter filtering even when not turned on have been removed and now the bull-$%#@ flies as does the blood. ... Read more

Asin: B000059O8B
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Strategy (Strategic)    4. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, Scifi)    5. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)   

WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (02 July, 2002)
list price: $29.99 -- our price: $24.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Features

• Four different races to command including Orcs, Humans, Night Elves and Undead, each possessing unique units, magical abilities and weapons of war.
• Skeletal and skinning animation process allows infinite frames of animation resulting in true fluid movement of 3D models.
• Advanced world design tools allowing players to customize every aspect of the game including tile sets, character art, quests, mission objectives, and unit types, AI, attributes, special abilities and spells.
• Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.net including a larger number of players per game and multiple game types including team play and questing.

Reviews (436)

WarCraftIII + Apple + a buddy = where the time go...
Super fun - I took my powerbook over to a buddies - hooked up an ethernet cable and bam - we were having a blast.Must admit the little lady was a little bent because I lost all sense of time and was a bit late for dinner.I will say it was worth it - great maps - great connection - and Blizzard just makes the best games ever - they are all about making games fun.
I can't recomend them enough.

Good game, great fun
this game is really fun, especially the online action. join TONS of people on Battle.net and play online for hours, its addicting. the sigle player also kicks arse if i may say so. i bought this game when it first came out for 50 bucks and i still play it. its awesome. im pretty sure in a general sense that if you like ANY video games you will love this.

Blizzard seems to be the only one who can make a good RTS
Represented in this years 2004 WCG (world cyber games). Games voted by the players of the world. The WCG is the equivalent of the Olympic games for video games. Nations and countries from around the world play in this event. This year, It was held in San Francisco(where I attended). Some of the biggest crowd turnouts, Aside from the usual Gamer favorite StarCraft, was WarCraft 3. Loud chants and even national pride anthems were song during the mathches. This game stands up to the test of professionals, tested for it's speed and compatibility. It is among the best in a category dominated by the computer media: RTS. As a long time RTS player I would rank this only second to StarCraft. And for those gamers not really into RTS, the game provides outlets for the online experience. Custom games where gamers like you, make the maps and the rules. Games like Sheep tag, Where you and how ever many other players build obstacles (farms in this case) to surround themselves with, so that online players, playing as Wolves, don't attack and kill you. The point of the game for the Sheeps side is to survive for twenty minutes. On the other side, the wolves, it is to kill every online sheep. The games are endless and thus are the opportunities for fun. I'm currently addicted to custom games. I can't find myself to do anything else. Join the crave.. The community of WarCraft is welcoming to new players.
The RTS is rather different than StarCraft, who requires blinding speed for not only Macro but also Micro. The average Pro gamer speed for StarCraft is around 200 apm. In WarCraft it's around 50. But that means that WC3 is only differrent. Giving gamers who couldn't compete with the engine of SC a wonderfully new outlet to compete. WC3 focuses more on Hero's. In the WCG those who lost their hero's lost the game. The maximum number of troops is low, around 100. But those numbers are deceiving to the critics out there. If you where given the opportunity of more troops, it would only lead to the emulation of SC. Blizzard wanted a new RTS. One with its own identity. They knew they couldn't cater to the needs of Pro SC gamers. The expectations were too high. So they worked for years, and in the end they gave us a graphicaly superb beast filled with Commanding hero's and spell casters who demand the game's victory or loss.-jeff ... Read more

Asin: B00005V9Q1
Sales Rank: 750
Subjects:  1. Historical (historic) Recreation (Recreations)    2. Military (Wargames    3. Macintosh (Machintosh)    4. Mac    5. Apple    6. Havas    7. Computer Games    8. Action    9. Adventure    10. Strategy (Strategic)    11. Fantasy   

Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (27 March, 2002)
list price: $19.99
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Editorial Review

In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Star Wars: Jedi Knight, Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Outcast features rebel agent Kyle Katarn in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future.

LucasArts is developing Jedi Outcast in partnership with Activision's critically acclaimed Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers, and the lightsaber in both single- and multiplayer modes. Jedi Outcast features expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber, with new attack and defense moves. Tap into the powers of the Force, including jump, push, Jedi mind tricks, and more. Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, and blaster rifle to name but a few.

Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales such as Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations. Multiplayer options include deathmatch, saber-only deathmatch, and team capture the flag. ... Read more

Features

• Expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber features a slew of attack and defense moves
• Tap into the powers of the Force including Jump, Push, Jedi Mind Tricks and more
• Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, blaster rifle to name but a few.
• Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales--Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations
• Multi-player options including, deathmatch, saber-only deathmatch, and team capture the flag.

Reviews (336)

Mac users can be Jedi!
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is one of the first games I bought for my Mac.Gameplay is challenging and fun!The single player storyline is entertaining and pulls you into the game and keeps you there.After a slow start with no Force Powers or light saber, you really will begin to feel like a Jedi Knight.Kyle Katarn's character is one of the best characters I've seen in any game, and could easily be a film character in a Star Wars movie.Some of the most memorable levels for me are fighting as a Jedi alongside Jedi Master Luke Skywalker against a half dozen or so Reborn Dark Jedi, fighting criminals in Nar Shadaa where you really must make use of your arsenal of cool weapons, and the two key battles against Tavion and Desann.I have other, newer games, but Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is the game I keep coming back to play.

The multiplayer matches are fairly standard Quake 3 Arena fare, with one exception, the one-on-one Lightsaber Duel.You may think you're a Jedi Knight after dispatching hundereds of storm troopers and Dark Jedi in the single player game, but the real creative battles happen in Lightsaber Duels against real people online.Just please remember to fight with honor and bow before combat.

Jedi Outcast has reasonable system requirements will play well on any modern G4 or G5 Mac.

Jedi Academy
As other people have said, the plot for one-player mode is very...Well, almsot pathetic. It left me confused, it didn't explain alot. But the game is still enjoyable, the graphics are OK.

In Multi-Player, you can fight other players. You can choose what you want you charecter to look like and change it as much as you want and pick your light saber. My only complaint about Multi-player mode is everyone there is rude. Well, almost everyone. There are certain clubs and "cults" where they go around calling non-members of their club/cult "Lamers".

Overall, it's a pretty good game.

Lightsabers, now that's different!
I am by no means a hardcore gamer, but for any fan of shooters, this is a great one, and it gives you a chance to get away from just shooting a bunch of goons (in this case, stormtroopers).Instead you can run around with a lightsaber and hack everything up ( I did this rather gleefully).For a game as old as this one is, it looks good, I'm not sure how it compares to a game using an unmodified Quake III engine but it looks almost as good as Star Trek: Elite Force 2, which is undoubtedly the best Quake game out there. ... Read more

Asin: B00005LABK
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Adventure    3. Action    4. Shooters (Shooter)    5. Space Simulators (Simulation)    6. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, scifi)    7. Star Wars (Starwars)