vicente

I had high hopes for this game, but when I finally played this game, I felt really disappointed. Right in the childhood. While I liked some improvements or additions like city-states (which were quite interesting), a lot of stuff that made the previous games so good were just plucked out and replaced with useless stuff, or are just not there. Like religion. OH MY GOD I MISS RELIGION. How could they not retain religion? I mean, it has shaped history significantly whether good or bad. Other than that, I quite missed stacking units. Although, with those new hexes, you can work out strategies better, like flanking and 'outmaneuvering' your enemy, getting around seems harder, so my reaction to that is quite mixed. AI is dumbed out as ever, and the game is plagued with bugs.. Diplomacy and trades felt really dull, too. I also wished that the live-action advisors from old buddy civ 2 would make a come back (*remember Elvis?). Well, not live action, but animated like the leaders of the civs you encounter. That would be quite sick. Other than that, the music was great, although it gets a little exaggerated at some occasions, like some war themes. Overall, I felt quite sad by this game, being a fan of the previous civ games. This would've rocked had they not remove major pieces of content in the game.

Well, CA, was wrong when making Nappy a full game. This game excels barely on single player. On to graphics, the effects and terrain actually look better, but the models don't really look good as expected, the soldiers look "shiny", and their faces seem all the same, just with different mustaches and beards. The campaign drop-in battle addition is actually pretty cool and interesting, though there's really something; CA forgot to improve the A.I. It's dumbed out as Empire's. The campaign is still fun, but when fighting in real-time battles with A.I., it's not really fun. Napoleon is basically Empire, with fewer factions and a new title screen. This game only excels in multiplayer. There's no dumb A.I. that puts its cannons behind hills, or any exploitable stupid act they perform. If you're that guy that doesn't play singleplayer (specifically, the campaign) at all (like the Prince of Macedon), this game may suit you. Although, beware of noob players.

Alien Swarm. Alien swarm started as a mod for unreal tournament 2004, until Valve hired those guys who created the mod and turned it to a full game (just like what Valve almost always does when making games - - most of them start out as mods). While I understand that Valve's games other than Half-Life are all but "fillers", or games for us play with while they make HL3, they really should be adding more support for them (yes, I made a conspiracy). I mean, why would you wait for a game that's really cool while playing a game with a lack of content and repetitive gameplay? Uh, yes, you could play Valve's other multiplayer games. They're good too. Alien Swarm can be quite fun at the start, but after that, that's just it! There's barely any customization (you can change your weapons, new weapons are given when a certain level is reached or when promoted), but after playing each class and level, you're done! That's just it! Do player-created maps help? Not really. There is no big alien variety, which is a HUGE disappointment. The lack of customization is a big downside, too. The playable characters/classes have bland personalities. The action intended in this game quite misses its goal. I've almost always felt bored playing this game. The theme and atmosphere is quite dull. I've never had the feeling of fear or sadness despite the game being dark and the occasional sight of body piles. (PDA's showing logs or journals of now-dead survivors didn't help either) They could've worked harder on that, it would make this game quite better. Why didn't this game get a lower score? Well, for a free game, the content here is fairly sufficient, and will be fun for.. well, not that long. Flaws aside, the leveling system is quite easy and fun, and there are quite interesting weapons like the Tesla cannon, the mining laser and others. Overall, this is not the best nor the worst around, and is best fun online and with friends, and the fact that this is a free game, it quite makes up for most of the flaws.

This is a must-have expansion pack for real fans of AOM, although be wary of flaws present in this game. This expansion pack adds a new civilization; the Atlanteans, playing as them features new units, myth creatures and god powers (obviously). It, too adds new upgrades for the original civilizations (and some tweaks/ fixes on them) , adds a new campaign and of course, huge, monstrous and ever-city-crushing Titans. Some flaws in this game regard the new campaign's [quite] short campaign, plot holes, bad voice acting (in the campaign as well) and insufficient new content for the original civs (although, the fact that upgrades and unit/building costs are expensive does [kind of] barely compensate for this). Playing on multiplayer is actually fun, especially (or limited to, for some players) on random, just like in the original AOM. Lastly, one thing that kind of bugged me is that, once your enemy already has a titan, you are practically defenseless, (unless without your own titan). I'm not really sure if every one else experiences this, but if so, the best strategy when playing a game (whether it be skirmish or multiplayer) may be good, old fashioned rushing. Flaws aside, this is still a good game, and you will have a good time playing with it. I assure. Kinda.