DemonKing

So the combat is strategic RT w. pause/turn-based re: IE engine/TOEE or is it button mashing re: every other console game out there? Not saying that button-mashing can't be fun once in a while, but I can't see myself spending money on something that is essentially a combo/hacking game (although I do have a softspot for "Die By the Sword" from wayback when).

I like the idea of Alan Rickman voicing Marvin. Perfect!

Sigh...sorry JE but I'm not sure if this kind of game interests me. I used to love feeding the original Gauntlet arcade game 20c pieces back in the day..."Elf needs food badly!", "Valkyrie...your life force is running out!" and so on bring back fond memories...BUT...I'm not 14 anymore. Guess I can always replay some of my old BI games till the next big thing comes out.

I'm slightly disappointed but not surprised. Troika had 3 bites of the cherry to produce a "Monster-Smash-Hit" game and each time they produced something decent, but seriously flawed. I think the problem with Troika games is that while some parts of their games came across as being of AAA quality, other parts were strictly amateur. Saying that, I thought their games were improving with each title, so the collapse is a bit of a shame. Also, I think the business acumen of the powers that be at Troika probably left something to be desired, considering that they seemed to be incapable of dealing with publishers on an equitable basis, and equally incapable of convincing any publisher they worked with to give them the time they need to produce a stable product in-line with their original vision.

Didn't someone once say that war is 99% sheer boredom and 1% pure terror?

Well, whatever you think about the game's stability on launch, it's good news for Obsidian. Hopefully their next project can be self-funded and something original...or at least not a sequel to a Bio game.

Agreed - either an Alexander game or one covering the Imperial period from Tiberius on (14AD+) seem logical. A side question - is Medieval:TW worth picking up if your only experience of TW is Rome? Or will it seem too much like a backward step?

I liked it. I played a female Malkavian the first time through ('couse she looks hot in *all* her outfits) and as someone else pointed out, the Malkavian dialog rocks. Sure the combat engine isn't that hot and the respawning enemies sections blow the big one, but it was the best CRPG released last year in an admitedly barren field (no matter what Bio's marketing department tells you) and definitely my favourite Troika game. The voice acting alone is worth the price of admission.

I always thought conquest meant occupation and absorption of a defeated enemy's lands? Alexander won a few battles in India, but he didn't stick around - it was just meaningless conflict in the end. Already have. I don't have the paper with me but the main points of my argument are based around the fact that the assassin of Philip was rapidly dispatched trying to escape by Alexander's own bodyguard (not Philip's) and that there was a guy waiting around with a bunch of horses indicating that there was more than the solitary assassin (who was just a patsy) implicated in the plot. Also, the people with the greatest motivation to have Philip dead were Alexander and his Mum. Not disputing that - he was ahead of his time in many ways. If you measure greatness in being a successful (and lucky - as someone else pointed out) general then yes, he was great...and that is why the anicents gave him the title to begin with. Was he great at anything else? Not really, IMHO.

Well if you want to get specific, of course you can argue that Alexander did a lot of great things - founding cities, uniting the Greek world to a common purpose (albeit briefly), trying to integrate Persians and Hellenics into a single empire and so on. However, he also butchered one of his best friends in a drunken rage, got his mates to knock off someone who had actually helped him rise to power because he was too gutless to do it himself, and fought countless campaigns for no strategic reason (what the Hell was he doing in India???) until even his most loyal troops revolted. I also believe there is pretty strong evidence he was involved in the assasination of his own father. A final point...he was called the Great in the ancient world because of his military successes - not because he tried to get his Macedonian troops to marry persian women and all live happily ever after. That was considered rather eccentric!

He was called "the Great" for shipping a whole bunch of his somewhat reluctant countrymen to the Middle East to butcher hordes of the locals, so if that is the measure of greatness, then I guess we might as well have "Dubya the Great" as well. Actually - there was one difference. Alexander led from the frontlines and actually risked his own life, frequently getting wounded. Imagine that! Seriously though, everyone who ever got the label "the Great" after his name got it for butchery (eg Pompey the G, Peter the G etc), which is not really a valid measure of greatness in this day and age, IMHO.

It is just another example of the kind of lame "copy protection" that does nothing to stop pirates but only succeeds in annoying the hell out of the legitimate customer. Lucasarts probably paid someone a lot of money to come up with this "great" idea.

Lucasarts games are pretty sensitive to cd-copying software. Hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and make sure you don't have Nero or something running in the background. I had trouble running KOTOR on my PC until I disabled this.

To answer the original question I would like to paraphrase Star Wars: Luke: "I'm looking for a Great American." Yoda: "Ohh...Great American. America not make one great!"

This is what happens when you lay too much D&D: Dark Dungeons Comic Beware Sinners!!!!

Ummm...not much problem there...you just set the films 20-30 years after the events of episode VI. Sure Han in a zimmerframe might not be much fun to watch but at least its possible.

It's 2 days before my church wedding - so good for a little pre-stag night fun, I guess (already married in a civil ceremony last year, but this second thing is just theatre for the parental units). I promised my wife I would grow up after the final SW movie was released so I guess it's pretty good timing for me...although I secretly hope Darth Lucas relents and makes episodes VII-IX now!

Well he's a munchkin, but no more than you find in a lot of fantasy novels. Frankly I blame Tolkien - he started it all with Gimli & Legolas counting orc heads as they chopped in Helm's Deep, if you ask me. As for BG3 - I am not adverse to a Drizzt cameo provided its no more intrusive than the cameos in the first 2 games.

I have a suspicion that BG3 will involve Bioware to some degree...possibly it will use the Dragon Age engine. I doubt they are devleoping it solely themselves though.

Medal of Honor Allied Assault...I downloaded the demo without any great expectations and ended up playing it non-stop for weeks until the real deal came out, and then I played on-line for years. I still play sometimes now although COD:UO is hard to avoid. I guess unlike previous shooter games I had played where you blazed around at high speed bunny-hopping everywhere this game actually felt like real combat might...at least to me. Plus the sound effects and taunts were awesome.

Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper, Endar?

I prefered the BG series...maybe because I prefer fantasy over sci-fi/post-apocalyptic settings for CRPGs. I also liked being able to control the NPCs in combat - I got sick of Ian emptying clip after clip into my back. Also I found the "adult language" taunts of FO dare I say, a little immature? Granted you could turn it off but it didn't add much to the game IMO...unlike bloody mess.

I don't remember there being any kids in HOTU - in NWN, yes, but that came out prior to the 2003 "crackdown". Also wasn't a brothel also taken out of HOTU?

...and..um..."kids"?