wolverdick

I give this game a solid 8. It wasn't as great as the very first in the DA series, but it isn't horrible either. The way developers dumb-down games to appeal to the console audience is the major downfall. The new skill trees leave a lot to be wondered about. But the story is good, the game-play engaging, and there is a lot more to this game than meets the eye. Sure the story is short, but there are tons of side quests. The interpersonal interaction with the companions is not as good as before, but that doesn't degrade the experience very much in my opinion. All in all, if you like DA you will like the game, but chances are you wont love it.

Absolutely 100% enjoyable game. Funny, challenging, polished. Just play it. Anyone who has a bad review of this game is sad. A wonderful sequel, but also terrific by itself to those who have never played the first one.

This is a great new installment to the total war franchise. They have successfully combined all their efforts into a completely enjoyable game. Great graphics (even better when the DX 11 patch comes out), a terrific artistic style. Tone of good voice overs, although the adviser gets real annoying real fast, I had to turn it off. I can only give the game a 9 though, because some of the same old TW quirks are still there, and I was hoping that in a game that is mostly just a cosmetic makeover, some of the engine would get tweaked. I wont go into detail, but if you are a hardcore TW gamer you know the annoyances I refer to. Still an awesome game and well worth it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Take everything you ever loved about the CIV franchise and then delete half of it. Then dumb it up some more so a twelve year-old can play it on his X-box and that is CIV five. This game is a huge disappointment. The graphics upgrades are less than exemplary, almost cartoonish. The removal of all the sophisticated strategy elements leaves you wondering why. Recent patches have fixed some of the game imbalances and absurd city-state mechanics, but on a whole this is the worst CIV game ever.

Dumb Story, weak strategy, horrible DRM. This game is nothing like the Settlers series that came before it and has destroyed the franchise in my opinion. Whatever you may have loved about the Settlers, is all gone. Whats left is a cartoony impersonation without any real strategy. If it weren't for some quality work on the graphics side, I would give this game a zero.

This game is a huge disappointment. I bought the original Cities XL limited edition when it was first released and it was one bungled affair. The re-release of the same game as XL-2011 is a mocking kick in the face to original players. There are still issues with the game play that have gone unresolved since first launch, and the fact that the game was originally intended as a MMO (which failed miserably) still leave certain elements of the trading and city specialization aspects grossly underutilized. The road system and upgrades make future planning major headaches. If you want a great city simulator, go back and install SimCity3k. While this game has some great visuals and other more advanced elements (like curved roads) that the old city sims don't **** should not be rewarding a company that has underachieved and misled its loyal users over and over again. Bad companies deserve to fail, no matter how mediocre the product is.

This game has a fatal flaw. The AI and unit balance are drastically off. The longer you play the stronger the AI gets until it becomes nearly unbeatable. Archers are vastly overpowered and the inability to train user troops to match the elevated levels of the AI make the game a buzz kill when you get deeply into it. If you are not proceeding through the game at breakneck speed and with amazing luck, you will eventually be overwhelmed by the AI.These limitations and a clumsy interface make this game no match for the Total War series. The story elements are good and the graphics as well, but this game will only lull you in and leave you disappointed in the end. Bad AI and design do not equate with challenge.