Wrath of Dagon

Loved the first game, the second wouldn't run on my Xbox because of some horrendous bug they didn't catch. Was really looking forward to the third one until I found out they made it more "accessible", which means take out a lot of the stuff that made the first one good and make it into Gears of Duty in Arms. Third person cover, regenerating health, less realistic iron sights, lots of gore, in-game advertisement. The reviews have also been fairly negative. Still, I'll probably try the demo once it's out.

No, the more realistic, the more awesome, so long as it's still a game of course. http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?optio...5&Itemid=95

What amazes me is that any nutcase can start a website attacking a game and it immediately get picked up by every gaming website out there, because obviously gamers love being defensive. I should try that, think of all the money I'd make from clicks!

The 10 point grading system for games isn't really linear. Most critics give a 7 to an average game, not a 5. The 5 point scale seems to be more linear, with 2.5-3 being average. I think that's just how scores developed over time. So many games getting above a 9 is pretty ridiculous, and it's hard not to suspect that something nefarious is going on. I blame the Halo 2 review, that's the first time I noticed something seems to be out of whack.

How reviews really work: http://sorethumbsblog.com/post/47555759/gamingjournalism3

Yes, and Ion Storm Austin. Two Thief games in all.

An interview with Emil Pagliarulo : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3775...ritage_the_.php

No, because you normally can't look for healthpacks while in combat. OK, that can be an interesting game mechanic, but it doesn't have to be in every game. AP will provide other stuff for you to fiddle with. Overheating gauge is kind of like reload, just to limit your rate of fire and prevent you from spraying bullets all over the screen without aiming. I didn't have any problems with it in PS or Mass Effect.

Yeah, I agree with the OP, in most shooters ammo being limited is almost meaningless. It does make for a decent reward though.

It's more interesting to analyze, I'll give you that.

She leaked the knowledge, and she knew what could happen, so I'd say she betrayed them, just a matter of semantics though. Edit: Also, remember that Kreia thought Atris would replace her as the betrayer, so her actions have to be seen in that light.

Yes she did:

No one has as much dialog if that's what you mean, but as far as quality I don't see what's so great about Atris. I never entirely got the point of her character while playing, may be if it was clear that she betrayed the Jedi gathering I'd appreciate her more. So I'd say most of your party members are better than her. As far as others, perhaps the Sith Academy master and his assistant. And Bastila isn't silly or black and white at all, she's trying to be a good Jedi, but her hubris and passions are corrupting her, that's a very human thing to happen. As opposed to all the mumbo-jumbo about destroying the force that's a large part of K2.

No, I didn't like Zaalbar, but I actively despised Hanhaar, he's just a pure psycho, nothing interesting about him at all. Elekra complexial? What's that? I liked the Handmaiden, but Bastila was a more interesting character and had better dialog. Visas was just plain boring. Carth was a well written crybaby, Bao-Dur was dull, I did like Atton but again Carth wins on dialog. Sure, if you actually get to unlock that important info, which I never did. Mission was good though. Well, K1 created HK-47. Also you forgot Jolee and Canderous. I was talking more about party members, although if you want to talk about NPC's overall I believe K1 still wins.

Exactly, it's Jade Empire, a mythical version of China, it did not claim to be actual China like Mulan. Art design was good, and technically it had the best graphics until ME, but I still prefer KOTOR art design because of the subject matter. The writing in some of the quests was quite good, although I agree the characters were weak, and since they didn't do much in combat there wasn't much reason to have them at all, except if you got Death's Hand in your party. He was cool, and actually useful in combat. Also Zaalbar was in K1, K2 had the psycho Hanhaar, ech. Overall K2 characters were much less interesting than K1, Kreia excepted.

Pretty sure AP has XP. XP is such an abstract reward though, I much prefer cool loot, the thrill of finding something better than anything you've got so far. AP being set in the real world it may not fit well unfortunately.

It's a little too jokey, but I wouldn't say over the top. What about the cursed forest quest with the cannibals, and the pirate layer, and the drowned city aside from the ghost children? And I don't just mean I didn't like them, it was just pretty clear to me they weren't even trying. Most of those were just some very formulaic dialog and then some fighting, nothing interesting or compelling.

I know it's chockful, but it's mostly just filler which has no reason to be there except waste time. The "western" ass was well done, but was too over the top to fit the game. I also really liked the liver transplant quest, but aside from those, can't really think of anything else that was other than mediocre. In contrast, almost everything in Tien's Landing was interesting. Edit: Both times I played the game, it was like two different teams made it.

You have fighter, mage, and rogue. Pretty sure the same skill trees are available to the entire party, although there could be some exceptions, like the dog.

The rushedness showed in most quests in Imperial City being really underdeveloped and boring. The Lotus Academy was just a retread of the Sith Academy from KOTOR, and they had to resort to even a second academy! Plus you had the arena which took up the bulk of the time there. Also if you look at the world map, it's similar to maps in other Bio games, but this one only has 2 locations, with there really being no point to traveling between them. Clearly there were originally supposed to be more locations, but they got cut. And what weak area in HL2?

@newc It did show, and so did ME stuff. I'm being objective, it's a matter of perceptiveness. @Moat I guess I was lucky I never found that combo. There were quite a few battles I had to attempt several times on hard and barely made through.

You're right that constantly being fed rewards is a major factor in making RPG's addictive. The subconscious brain can not distinguish between real and imaginary success, and releases dopamine regardless. I would dispute that ME got anything right though.

Since there are only 3 base classes, a party of 4 should be enough to make a balanced or a specialized party.

KOTOR1 was high quality throughout, KOTOR2 was unfinished and unpolished, although often brilliant, Jade Empire Tien's Landing was well designed, but Imperial City was rushed and full of filler, Mass Effect had poor quality throughout as a result of time and resource constraints. One should be able to realize that without regard to personal preference.

I'm not sure to what extent the origins include any kind of morality, but in general they promised more than clear cut good/evil choices. And this is not a D&D setting. Also you may have better luck asking on the official forum, the worst that can happen is they won't answer.