Zoso

This is right up there with Battlefield 3, and in many aspects, it's even better. Of course visually, for example, but the one thing they absolutely nailed is Squad Play. If your squad cooperates, this creates maybe the best game moments I experienced so far in >20 years of gaming. If it doesn't, it's still good, and while I personally would have hoped for a steeper attrition curve here, encouraging even more squad play, I'm fine with the current compromise. I can only suspect that all the negative reviews come from people being upset with female soldiers, and that's just ridiculous.

You might think that as a backer, I might be more willing to forgive any shortcomings this game might have, but it's quite the opposite: The more I'm invested in a game and anticipate it, the more I tend to be bitterly disappointed (Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age 2 are examples). Not so this time! I was a bit torn between 9 and 10 as I didn't initially like some of the changes to the combat system, but 10 hours of game play later I can say combat is a lot of fun, although it lacks some of the depths of its predecessor. But the story, NPC, and especially dialogue make more than up for that - I don't miss it at all. A serious cointender for best RPG of all time, let's see how it plays out.

Brings back all the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale Memories, but clearly improved from a graphical and sound perspective - and it's huge, but atmospheric nevertheless! The Story - as far as I can tell - seems somwhat darker, too, on par with the Witcher or Dragon Age: Origins.

I enjoyed the original back in the old days, and this has everything that makes a good and enjoyable remake. It's been improved in all the rigth places (graphics and so on), the game mechanics have been reworked while retaining the spirit of the original. Hours and hours of good solid entertainment.

Not a bad game, by all means, but they didn't have the budget later titles in the series had, and so A) the graphics and B) the REPETITIVE level design make playing it a bit too tedious to be really great. Otherwise, it has all the strengths of its successors, like immersive story and a great combat system. And, also one of its major strengths: Your choices DO matter (a lot...), even if it's in pt. 2 or 3 of the trilogoy.

Definitely a premium RPG, and probably the most faithful translation of Dungeons&Dragons 3E rules to the computer ever. I wonder how anyone can compare Neverwinter Nights (a wireframe RPG :-) to this jewel that is superior in every respect, from the graphics through rules/gamplay right up to the deep and immersive story.

When I'd played through Mass Effect 2, I got to like the shooter mechanics (not usually my cup of tea) so much that I started to look for a shooter that was A) very tactical in nature B) not multiplayer and C) had a twist. After some in-depth research, I ended up buying Crysis - and was bitterly disappointed. Some time later, I tried again (though reluctantely) with Battlefield 3 - and that was what I'd been looking for, although the twist - admittently - is missing from that one. Bottom line: Stunning visuals and a twist - yes. Just not for me.

A game well woth playing, to be sure, but far too immature to be the dark roleplaying experience it set out to be. Plus, in an attempt to compensate for the "no matter which course you choose, all is well"-attitude of other games, here you're not rewarded for your actions, but rather punished. Action have consequences, and they're not mainly positive with some negative side-effects (as might have been the intention), but always dire, and the negative sides by far outweigh the positive sides, which makes this game pretty tiring at times.

I'll start by stating that I'm anything but a Sci-Fi fan, so I guess what I have to say might carry a bit more weight than if I was. I must say I dind't enjoy any game like I enjoyed Dragon Age:Origins for a long time, and yet, given the choice to play DA:O (which is more in line with the games is enjoy the most) or ME2, I'd have to think for a while and then probably choose Mass Effect 2. I loved it so much I even started looking for a tactical first person shooter (which not my kind of game, really), which eventually lead to the discovery of Battelfield 3. Overall, though not in my usual vein of games, probably the most satisfying game I ever played.

After over a year now, I still can't forget the disappointment when I first played the game. After playing Dragon Age: Origins, I'd been looking forward to the sequel in anticipation, but was even more taken aback than when Neverwinter Nights was released. It's truly terrible in every respect, it's basically a hack-n'-slash action RPG badly ported from an outdated console (like PS2 ore something). I was so paralyzed I actually played about 10 hours, waiting for the story to kick in, or anything to kick in, really, but it didn't. And it would have been so easy to make a great sequel to a great game - just leave mot of what made the game intact, improve upon the more technical stuff (graphics, interface responsiveness), and you're good to go. But no, they had to waste that chance and s**** it up (like what 4E did to D&D). Sad. I'm never going to pre-order anything Bioware again.

Definitely THE spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate´, and as such, Epic in every respect. One could argue that the graphics are not state-of-the-art-or-beyond, but the stories make you forget that in an instant.

Actually, apretty good game. The graphics are superb, as are the sound effects. The story is axcellent, but the story-telling not so much. Obviously afraid to give out too much information ahead of time, this game gives you not enough during the course of the game to fully immerse you. And then, the ending rushes it just a bit too much to make this a truly great game.

Forget the story and the graphics and everything of this one, it's not a game worth playing. The good thing about is that it adds some improvments (especially classes) to NWN2.

Considering how much of a blow Neverwinter Nights was to me, it's suprising I did try this one at all - and I didn't regret it! This a lot of fun, the graphics are actually pretty good (no more wireframes like in NWN1!), and - the story! The characters! Time to roleplay. Loot, skills, feats, everything D&D was meant to be! Ah yes, and even the multiplayer works and is a whole lot of fun.

Even better than the game it's based on. A darker story and especially the black-and white aesthetics to signify the shadow realm make this one even more fun to play.

What a disappointement, especially considering the high expectations at that time... only Dragon Age II has managed to disappoint me so thoroughly. The graphics are laughable at best (wireframes? seroiusly?), and to call the story paper-thin would be a wild exaggeration.

If this is possible, this is even better than Baldur's Gate. Everything has improve, graphics, sound, pathfinding works now - but this is only the technical part. Even the storytelling has improved, and that coming from a clear 10.

The Godfather of RPGs. Period. Still pays to play it from time to time. Everything about this game was groundbreaking for the time, the graphics, the interface, the sound, the vastness, the storytelling. Had some issues with pathfinding, but those were fixed in Baldur's Gate II.

Skyrim is not a bad game, to be sure. Some elements (Lockpicking, Archery) feel very natural - although archery is not perfect as you sometimes can't shoot through narrow openings you could shoot through in real life and arrows suddenly drop at long range. The scenery is impressive, but the character models are seriously lacking, human and non-human alike. And there numerous nice stories, but there not *TOLD*. I know, this an open world RPG, so telling stories can get quite complicated. But with Skyrim, there's so much to discover, but everything stays somehow flat, sterile, and unresponsive, though vast. It feels like every commoner now has a name, but it doesn't matter, they're still commoner 1 - 1000.

Definitely the best shooter I#ve played s ofar. Multiplayer can get pretty tactical, graphics are stunning (especially at night), weapon physics feel pretty natural, and even the single player story is well written and has a twist or two (coming from someone who is usually more into the Bioware-style RPGs must account for something :-) The only problem I see is the huge number of cheaters out there. I guess there's only so much that can be done about that...

To me, this game was dead the moment I shot the first bullet. The controls are just unresponsive, and even though you hit, you don't, or vice versa. In order to be playable, a game has to get at least the basics right, and this game just doesn't cut it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]