Command & Conquer 4 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It is always sad when a great historic game franchise comes to the end of its road. But it is depressingly sad to watch it do so in this condition.
KANE IN DISNEYLAND?
The graphics are laughable. True, EA has been steering the C&C franchise towards the ...cartoon direction ever since the RED ALERT 3 installment. But the RED ALERT series had always been more playful. Even so, what was barely palatable for a RED ALERT game is outright insulting for a TIBERIUM one.
If his tanks could still run-over infantry units, have no doubt, he would hunt down whoever did this to him.
Because, you cannot mock Kane and avoid having your lungs infused with Tiberium fumes!
MORE UNITS? PLEASE WAIT BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE. FOREVER.
One of the most annoying features of the new C&C4 is the units cap. You cannot produce more units above a (very low) number. Upgrading your tech-tree with such a unit cap in place means you have to kill and replace most of your units - and make painful decisions as some units are more equal than others. It feels like having to deal with a (small) Diablo-like inventory: whatever does not fit within the grid must be left behind to rot.
And to add insult to injury, extra units are bestowed with a dropper. A tiny one.
This cap reeks of one thing: an attempt to turn this series into a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (fewer units means less lag). And no one seems to care that this took away one of the most fun tactics in a C&C game: tank rushing.
SORRY, ALL OF OUR TIBERIUM-HARVESTERS HAVE BEEN RECALLED. WOULD YOU CARE FOR A SENSIBLE COMPACT?
A COMMAND & CONQUER game without harvesting? It could be an RTS game of any name (and there have been baseless RTS games before), why did it have to be a C&C game? Because, once again, EA proves to have no respect for this beautiful art-form. If it means exploiting a classic title in its swan song to sell a few more units, so be it.
Moreover, game publishers seem to have an ever declining expectation of their targeted customer IQ. Hence the ever simplified games released. So, yes, this feels like C&C-for-Dummies.
BATTLEFIELD CONTROLS OFFLINE? YOU'RE SCREWED COMMANDER!
Yes, this must be the most inconvenient DRM scheme ever.
If you hate STEAM for requiring endless updates, this is worse.
If you hate games that require online activation because they never actually become yours, yes, this is worse.
And if you hate games that come with Limited Activations and become worthless the moment you pop the box, well yes, this is worse.
This inconceivable scheme demands for the owner of this game to always be online to verify that the copy he payed for is legitimate. That's right, not just activation, ALWAYS ONLINE. Yes, even for a single player game.
Will it deter piracy? No, pirates will be playing the game without all those DRM hassles. Legitimate gamers are left complaining - and, once more, EA will turn a deaf ear.All in all, C&C4 will not appeal neither to old friends of the series nor younger gamers. And (for as long as it will keep working), it will have you jumping through hoops for the privilege of having ...bought it. And I thought it was the other way around.
This Tiberium field has been depleted long ago.
Move along Commanders.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Command & Conquer 4

Story In the year 2062, humanity found itself on the brink of extinction. Tiberium, the mysterious, alien crystalline structure that infested Earth for decades and caused years of relentless conflict between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod, was close to rendering the planet uninhabitable. In the midst of this crisis, Kane, Nod's prophetic leader, emerged from seclusion to deliver GDI the message that he had developed a system that could control Tiberium and harness its power. But he could not build this "Tiberium Control Network" without GDI's cooperation. Thus, the two opposing factions—GDI and Nod—found themselves in a desperate and unlikely alliance to stop Tiberium from extinguishing mankind. Now, after 15 years, the network is nearly complete. Tiberium is under strict control and the revitalized Earth is on the cusp of a new age of prosperity and progress. It is only now that the world's citizens begin to seriously ponder why Kane chose to help, and what he will want in return. Kane. GDI. Nod. Tiberium. How will it end? These questions and more lead to the dramatic final act of the 15-year Tiberium saga in Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. Gameplay Command & Conquer is a real-time strategy gaming franchise,and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is no exception.Players assume color-coated versions of the GDI or Nod factions and uncoversegments of the map, where they must manage Tiberium and other resourcesin their possession or that they they mine or commandeer in the field.Other factions occur in the game, but are not playable, and differentsingle player campaigns are available to players depending on which ofthe two factions are chosen. The energy that Tiberium crystals possessis used in the manufacture and upgrading of mining and combat units, weaponsand support infrastructure in preparation for impending conflicts withother players on the same map that are doing the same. Each faction hasits own distinct unit types, both land and air based, which although unique,are overall more or less balanced against those of opposing faction. Inaddition, certain units can be captured on the battlefield and used tosupplement your arsenal. The overarching task though is to combine theright number and type of units with the right battlefield strategy forthe conflict and terrain at hand. Historically, C&C matches have been won by completely eliminating all enemy units that stand against you. Although there is certainly plenty of this within Tiberian Twilight, the game also is different in that players need not eliminate all enemy units, instead capturing control nodes throughout the game and holding them for a minimum amount of time. Doing so leads to earning enough points to win the match. Tiberian Twilight also differs from earlier games in the series with the addition of certain RPG game elements. Players overall orientation within their chosen faction is class based, with units falling generally in offensive, defensive or support classes depending on your play style. These units can be upgraded with experience points, which are gained through success against enemy units, with more advanced enemy units earning the conquering player more points, and thus potential unit upgrade opportunity. 5-on-5 Online Multiplayer Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight allows PC gamers to team up and battle like never before. Join your fellow commanders online and tackle your opponents in the biggest C&C multiplayer to date, featuring 5 vs. 5 objective-based battles. Choose your favorite class and take online strategy action to the next level as you conquer objectives while pummeling your enemies. In addition, an all-new party system lets you move with your party of friends from one online battle to the next. Key Game Features
The Epic Conclusion to the Tiberium Saga - Kane returns in the thrilling conclusion to one of gaming's longest running storylines, told through gritty live-action cinematics. Choose to take on the campaign solo or team up with a friend and play cooperatively.
Persistent Player Progression - The more enemy units you destroy, the more experience points you earn to progress your player profile. Level up to unlock new units, powers, and upgrades to make your army more powerful.
Always on the Move - For the first time ever in the C&C series, a massive, mobile, all-in-one base, The Crawler, lets you pack up and move your base with your army for a new layer of strategic depth. Build units as you move across the field, and deploy whenever and wherever you choose.
Choose Your Class - Choose from three unique classes from both GDI and Nod, each with its own specialized units and powers, for more strategic and combative options that match your play style of choice. Offensive, Defensive, or Support classes-which will you pick?
Online Multiplayer Support – Sign on for 5-on-5, online objective based battles which also features an all-new party system that lets you move with your party of friends from one online battle to the next.

Click here for more information about Command & Conquer 4

Read More...

Dragon Age 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For the 'TLDR' crowd DA2 isn't a *bad* game per se, it's just very rushed and often schizophrenic about what kind of game it wants to be. Fans of Origins in particular will want to be wary, but even newcomers should give the demo a try and probably wait for it to go on sale. It likely won't take longer than a month or two, so you won't have to wait long.
For anyone else wanting a bit more detail...
Many, many fans of Dragon Age: Origins have lamented that a more appropriate title for it's divisive sequel would be 'Mass Dragon Effect 2.' I disagree, as aside from the new conversation wheel the two have very little in common. Dragon Age 2 is, in many ways, far more similar to another title of Bioware's: the often forgotten Jade Empire.
Like Jade Empire, DA2 is a console-focused RPG with much of the choices stripped out, shallow party members you don't interact with much, a set protagonist with a set background, an almost completely linear story, and features a combat system with a bent towards action RPGs/button mashers.
Unlike Jade Empire, DA2 is the sequel to a game that was the opposite of all of that and doesn't have the strong overarching story, pivotal decision moment, and detailed art design of Jade Empire to back it up.
I've spent a significant amount of time with DA2 across two different playthroughs in an attempt to be fair and try to understand some of the changes. My first game was as a DPS warrior on Nightmare, I finished the game with all the non-fetch quest (we'll get to that soon) side quests done in 32 hours. My second playthrough was as a mage with healer leanings due to my loathing of a certain party member on Normal, also with all of the quests done, in 22 hours. Act 3 of the second run was incredibly hard for me to get through, not because of difficulty but due to my own boredom. I have no urge whatsoever to replay the game anytime soon. That should speak for itself.
The absolute worst part of DA2 is how it shows the sign of a rushed development in nearly every facet. Music and codex entries from DA:O and it's DLC have been reused, environments and locations are reused over and over and over again, environments in general are nearly barren and devoid of things to interact with, and there is a surprising amount of purely filler fetch quests to try and pad the amount of content.
In terms of locations, I felt like I spent 80% of the time in Kirkwall, 10% of the time in Reused Dungeon X (Beach Dungeon/Cave Dungeon/Sewer Dungeon/Catacomb Dungeon), 1% of the time in the Deep Roads (much of which was reused for the Catacomb Dungeon), and 9% of the time staring at loading screens as I fast traveled between Kirkwall and Reused Dungeon X. The reused dungeons are a huge problem, anyone that is trying to dismiss it as a minor fault is underplaying it. You *will* get utterly sick of seeing the Wounded Coast and Sundermount tilesets to the point you simply don't want to play anymore. Nearly every side quest in the game takes place in these reused locations, and the game is almost entirely made up *of* side quests. They were reused so overtly that the map wasn't even edited, you'll see areas where the dungeon continues but you can't actually access due to suspiciously placed rocks or non-interactive doors or -- and I am not exaggerating -- INVISIBLE WALLS. When Hawke ran uselessly against an invisible wall in one of the repeated areas I exited the game in disgust and didn't come back to it until a few days later. It really is that bad.
Kirkwall isn't much better, and even has one of it's districts reused for a tileset, as it is nearly barren. Streets and important buildings are practically empty with only motionless non-interactive, largely silent NPCs loitering about amongst the occasional vendor or the rare quest NPC. For the ones that do speak when you walk by, they are shockingly repetitive. DA2 takes place over a span of 10 years, and yet the loitering crowds barely change. There will always be that one NPC in the Keep that bemoans not being able to see the Viscount for the entire game, even after a certain event in Act 2 that makes that line completely bizarre. You will quickly memorize who says what when you walk by them. This wouldn't be so bad if Kirkwall was just one of several major locations you spent the game in, like DA:O's Denerim, but this is literally the ONLY major location. At night the streets are even emptier and you will instead find the occasional spawn of enemy thugs/mercs instead, another blatant sign of being rushed.
Remember back to when you played Mass Effect 1 and how sick you were of the reused cave/bunker map for it's side quests. Now imagine if the game was gutted of it's major quest hubs and you were forced to stay on the Citadel the entire game, complete with loading screens for the different districts instead of elevators, and fast traveled to those caves and bunkers for every single side quest. You now have a pretty good idea of what DA2 is like.
DA2's main plot is a very, very slow starter that depends on side quests for almost all of Act 1 and 2 to fill it out. By the time it picks up at the end of Act 2 it's too late, and you're stumbling your way to the ending and realizing just how utterly linear the game is with a sense of "That's it?!" before you know it. The side quests themselves have the occasional high point, but for the most part they're quite simplified compared to DA:O with superficial choices at best and at worst they're little more than MMO fetch quests. This is largely due to the dialogue wheel and voiced protagonist, it's simply impossible to have the amount of ways DA:O had to solve quests with all the dialogue recorded for both a male and female Hawke. Unfortunately this means there is often only two (blatantly good or naive vs blatantly evil or practical) solutions for each quest, with the rare third option usually depending on what companions you've brought along. Even those third options can be deceptive and can result in one of the two good/bad results anyway. The consequences for these decisions have also been almost completely removed, especially in regards to how party members react. There is exactly one side quest that causes companions to turn on you (it's forced, nothing you say/no amount of friendship can stop it from happening, and it's only temporary), one companion quest that can result in that companion never coming back, and two forced main story events that can result in losing a companion each (one of which requires the prior companion coming back only to be sent away again). This is a far cry from how DA:O handled quest decisions and companion reactions. Now the worst that can happen is you'll earn Rival points if you do something completely against what that companion stands for. Lovely.
Your character in general is so much worse than DA:O as well. Dialogue suffers from the change to the wheel, often having "What? Why did Hawke say THAT?" moments even with the new 'emotion' icons. One of the few interesting additions to DA2 was the way Hawke's non-wheel lines would change in tone depending on what you've chosen before, so a snarky Hawke would be more inclined to be flippant or an aggressive/jerk Hawke would be more likely to behave as a jerk when you're not picking the lines yourself. This is hampered by the fact that Hawke is, in general, a complete jerk. The snarky "funny" lines tend to not be funny at all and even if you pick the "nice/peaceful" option all the time every time, Hawke will still spout incredibly inane/idiotic things when you're not in control. And that's the thing about Hawke, you're never in control. You're given a backstory right at the start, with a family you're supposed to care about, but nothing tangible in game to *make* you care about Hawke's personal story. So something tragic happens to Hawke's family member and one of two things happens: A.) Hawke will say something absurdly stupid (this is easily seen in the demo at a certain point, but it isn't the only time) causing a disconnect between the player and their character or B.) Hawke reacts emotionally but the player doesn't care due to the lack of development and is, again, disconnected. Hawke is never YOUR Hawke the way Shepard became YOUR Shepard in Mass Effect, instead it's on level with Jade Empire foisting Dawn Star on you as your best friend at the beginning. The character is incredibly bland and you never form any kind of emotional attachment to her, but you can never actually make her leave no matter how much of a jerk you are. She's just kind of *there.* So when Surprising Plot Revelation Y comes around you simply shrug while your character reacts much less ambivalently.
The companions fair slightly better than Hawke/Hawke's family does, but they're well below DA:O and Mass Effect standards. With the exception of Varric, they're stereotypes that are given little to no depth or just poorly written in general. Isabela is the stereotypical flirty hot video game chick that provides innuendo in banter, her only development (aside from her bust line from DA:O to DA2) is whether she's only slightly selfish or morally bankrupt selfish. Merril is supposed to be similar to Tali as the geeky/adorable character, but comes off as incredibly childish and frankly stupid. This is especially true in her companion quest, which was so obviously a bad idea with no real way to change the ending short of not accepting the quest that it's frustrating; the end to her quest also highlights just how bad the dialogue wheel's summary misrepresents what you actually say in an awful two-for-one representation of what's wrong with DA2. Fenris is a Broody Elf(tm) that stays a Broody Elf(tm) and seems to be inspired by the worst of anime and the Twilight series mushed together into a video game character, though his...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: Dragon Age 2


Dragon Age II is a single player role-playing game (RPG) for play on the PC. Epic sequel to the BioWare developed 2009 Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II continues the adventure with a new hero, Hawke, and utilizes the choices made by the player to affect a story that spans ten years worth of time in-game. Additional game features include: the ability to choose your character's class and sex, a new cinematic in-game experience, a nonlinear narrative and the ability to import saved information from earlier Dragon Age games.

Click here for more information about Dragon Age 2

Read More...