Overlord II

Some of today games are center around Evil. Many tell the story of a brave and good character going up against the forces of evil and eventually conquer them. Overlord II is role-playing game with multiplayer mode, written by Rhianna Pratchett, is one of the new game which promises to bring even more mayhem. The game features a new Overlord with an even bigger hunger for power.

In terms of story line, Rhianna Pratchett has emphasized the key role of a good story in games. He shows how writers should interact with the development team in order for everything to work as a smooth oiled machine.

Overlord was filled with amusing characters, interesting twists and some unforgettable moments. Overlord II brings much more than that. Payers are now in the armor of a new Overlord, who must go against the Empire, a Roman-like civilization that hates everything related to magic and the minions.

In order to sabotage Empire’s grip on the land, the Overlord must go on several quests and wreak havoc in a few interesting locations. All the locations in the game are well thought out by the designers and each location has some unique characteristics. The colorful characters and the amusing one-liners from the inhabitants are also quite entertaining.

As in Overlord, in a few cities player will meet some lovely female companions whom the player can bring to the Netherworld fortress in order to make them their mistresses. Each of the three eligible young ladies offers unique talents and can help customize the Dark Tower. The ladies also instrumental help the player defeat the Empire.

It's clear that the designers listened to the community. The first thing that a player might notice is that the minion AI is a little sharper, and less inclined to just follow the Overlord to their doom if the way ahead is dangerous. The path finding is more reliable, and as a consequence player does not lose too many minions in inexplicable circumstances. The new mini-map is another crucial addition. It ensures that the player know when they are on the right track, and removes all the time-consuming wandering of the original.

Gameplay

The game play of Overlord II is pretty much like Overlord. Player is the almighty Overlord, meaning that the player can make the minions do all the work. Minions come in four different “flavors”: the Reds can absorb fire and are great at long range; the Browns are expert fighters; the Blues can swim around and revive their fallen brethren and the Greens are guerrilla fighters and have a powerful backstab attack. The animations and the attention to detail of the character class in terms of the minions are great. Player wills definitely giggles when the little critters dressed in peacock feathers, soldier hats or baby seal fur on their heads or bodies.

The Overlord itself can also be customized, as the Dark Tower has a handy Forge, at the expense of jewels, gold and other minions. New weapons and armor can be made. Players can buy upgrades for the minions, increase their skill level and even revive the best soldiers lost during battle. This mean the player do not worry about sending the most well equipped minions into battle.

The battle backgrounds aren't extremely diverse. There are only a handful of enemies and isn't the brightest. They are at time present in many numbers. Coupled with some levels being constructed like mazes, might pose a significant threat to the Dark Majesty. With some patience and clever maneuvers, the battle isn't something that hard.

Most of the fights are extremely scripted to the point where the players might encounter glitches that will halt all the progress. The objectives are quite ambiguous at time, meaning that players will need to start exploring all of the nooks and crannies in the game world and even have go online to find out just what are needed to do in order to advance in the game.

On a lighter note, the mounts for the minions are quite interesting. Example in some of the sequences Browns can ride wolves, Reds can tackle salamanders and Greens can use spiders. All of them accomplish a specific goal, but player can only use them on certain levels, making them a novelty rather than a useful tool in battle.

Another break from the usual gameplay is the sections where player can man siege weapons, like catapults or ballistas and can command boats. Although this seem novel, they aren't very efficient sometimes, giving the player the feeling that they should have taken the minions and do the job properly.

Also, there are some sections where player take control of one minion and make him lead the others through some hard-to-reach places for the dark majesty. These are quite interesting, but will require a lot of strategy by the player, especially when player needs to recover the green hive.

Overlord II brings back a lot of the elements from Overlord. There are some great improvements in the game in terms of story and the wider variety of choices available. There aren't many in terms of exercising the dark power, but player does have a few more large quests to accomplish, even though they aren't mandatory to progress the main story.

Other character class looks pretty enough, but sometimes they border on ridicule in terms of design. Overall the empire looks great. The textures are extremely nice. The enemies do have a tendency to pop up from time to time, even though they are on the side of the room the player is standing in.

The standard two-stick third-person controls are once again the order of the day, with movement assigned to the left stick and the right stick sharing the camera controls for the Overlord with the 'sweep' controls for minions.

Good points

The game features a top-notch single-player campaign filled with interesting things. It has a multiplayer mode, pertaining to both competitive and cooperative play. In terms of competitive, player can choose to play alongside the rivals in the Dominate mode. The player must capture sections of the map and hold them against their rivals, or the Pillage mode, where player needs to capture portions of a large treasure.

In terms of concept, Overlord II deserves to be applauded for bringing evil to the center of the game's story and making it the main character. The “good” guys in the games that appeared so far have been corrupted by their power and fell prey to their weaknesses. As a character in Overlord II, player will say till the end as there is no light without darkness. The Overlord is a necessary presence in order to balance things out.

Overlord was applauded for its story and concept, but in terms of graphics it wasn't much to look at. Overlord II on the other hand is quite a looker and gives almost everything a fresh coat of paint. All of the environments are much more detailed. The main character and the minions are extremely well built.

For player who wants to collaborate, they will have to choose either Survival, which is basically a Gear of War 2 Horde mode, meaning that player will have to defend themselves against waves of enemies, or Invasion, where they will attack powerful foes alongside their friends.

It's no surprise that the audio is similarly top-notch. It has excellent voice cast returning to give Gnarl and the minions an infectious character that somehow works even better the second time around. In one of the funny one-liners said by the minions to Gnarl's musings, the complaints of the inhabitants of the different cities, player will be amused. The orchestral score is impressive. It is a vital part of Overlord II in the fighting sequences.

In terms of the challenge and game length, the designer got it spot-on, with a satisfying blend of styles that can be achieved in a number of different ways. And once the players are all done with the campaign mode, there's also a pleasingly diverse multiplayer mode to dive into. Although restricted to just two players, each of the four maps is effectively modes in their own right.

Overall, although quite fun, the multiplayer modes seem a bit tacked on, as Overlord II is mostly about its intricate story.

Bad points

While the game works brilliantly on the whole, there are a few occasions where some elements could have been tightened up. Sadly the buggy camera and control system still remain in Overlord II. Often the camera is fixed to minions that run around the area, even though the player gives the command to regroup. Arguably is on top of the list in the wayward camera system.

An irritating part of the whole control scheme is the sweep maneuvers. The player must hold both mouse buttons and direct a group of minions around the room, on some steep ledges or in a hard-to-reach section. Sounds simple, but the player can't adjust how many minions where they can go, where exactly they want them to move to, what to do when they get there and how they can come back. If the mechanic hadn't been used a lot, it might have been alright, but there are scenes in the game where this is everything that player does, making it extremely annoying.

Another possible source of frustration is the soul-harvesting system. Every soul the player harvest is colour-coded, and corresponds to a type of minion. While this makes the game more strategic and tactical, it does mean player tends to run out of particular minion types just when the player needs them.

It is not easy to quit whenever the player want though, as the game specifically relies on an auto save function. The game generates a check point every time the player find a Netherworld gate, which are few and far in between. Once player loads up a save function the player is transported to the Netherworld Tower. Meaning that the player must teleport back to where the player was and eventually start things all over again.

Closing

Overlord II is a role-playing game with multiplayer mode, delivers some very mixed gameplay. On the one hand players are treated with some upgraded things, like improved minion speed, wider areas of exploration or more destructible things. On the other hand the buggy camera, stupid AI and the very annoying auto save mechanic are still present.

Overall, Overlord II feels like a shining beacon of quality. Not only is it a distinct improvement over Overlord, but the new features add greatly to what was already a superbly entertaining game. It manages to strike an excellent balance between being challenging and rewarding, and does so throughout with a wicked smile on its face.

If players are looking forward to wreaking havoc against the fellow men with the help of some extremely funny little critters, then Overlord II is definitely something all players will love to play.

Divine Divinity

Divine Divinity is a single-player fantasy computer role-playing game (RPG) created by Larian Studios, a small but reputable Belgium developer. Divine Divinity was released in 2002 and has a spin-off, Beyond Divinity, and a sequel, Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis. Divine Divinity is an RPG that combines the classic play style of the best of the Ultima series with the fast-paced action of titles like Dungeon Siege and Diablo.

The story behind Divine Divinity is traditional RPG fantasy role-playing game. It takes the player on a fantastic quest in the land of Rivellon, torn apart by corruption and dark magic. Throughout the journeys, player gets the chance to develop his/her personal character based one of six character types, and meets a variety of people and fantastical beings. The game combines monsters, magic, and medieval sensibility under one roof. It is populated not just by humans but also by dwarves, elves, orcs, the living dead, and other fantasy archetypes. The game takes place in an immediately recognizable fantasy world, evidence that Larian Studios didn't take risks with every aspect of Divine Divinity. The designers and developers were wise in this and chances are it won't take long before the players get accustomed to the game. Players will appreciate the similarity once they are immersed in the game.

Character Classes

Divine Divinity has 3 character classes: Fighter, Mage and Survivor (basically a rogue), each with a special move. Character classes differ somewhat and the spells and skills of one character class are available to all other character classes. They are organized in three classes, four sections per class and eight skills per section. The choice of genders is equally able and talented. Except for the initial choice of skills, the gender offers no significant difference in gameplay experience. A player begins the play by choosing from a male or female version of one of three character types. A chosen character determines the rules of gameplay in the setting. Each character looks distinctly different and begins with different skills, and each also has its own special attacking skill. The warrior is capable of performing a special whirling strike moves that damages every adjacent enemy. The wizard can perform a magic trick causing him or her to switch positions with an enemy. The survivor can crouch and sneak more efficiently, unbeknownst to nearby creatures. These come in very handy for each respective character and will probably govern how the players play them.

Game Description

The story is very nicely implemented. The adventure starts slowly and inconspicuously, gradually gaining in leverage, allowing players to adapt, explore the surrounding area, but occasionally players get more heat than they hoped for.

There are four core abilities (strength, agility, intelligence and constitution) and ninety-six skills that any of the character classes can choose from, each with five ranks of their own. Deadly gift allows the player to lay traps, including some extremely powerful steel scorpions, and with aura of command. A player has to make sure those steel scorpions stay at the player side until the player decides to rest. Another useful skill, alchemy, lets the player combine potions to make new potions and use herbs and mushrooms lying on the ground to make potions with the empty flasks where the player will acquire alone the way. By the end of the game, the player will probably have a smattering of different skills, such as a few spells where the player can cast, some weapon specialization, etc.

The game features some nice details, such as wild life and butterflies, romantic encounters, alchemy, cooking, generally loony conversations and hilarious NPC's. There are four huge maps totaling over 20,000 screens, with a wide range of environments such as elven forests, a demon wasteland, farmlands, towns, fortifications and extensive sewer systems. The fantasy world is extensive, and includes numerous details such as epitaphs on tombstones. There are more than 150 non-player characters, many with detailed background stories and depth, and a large number of varied villains. These details feature and the wide range of environments are well thought off by the designers and developers, allowing players to experience and engross in the world of fantasy play.

In the game logic, players are allowed to choose one of two scenarios: players can decide whether or not to involve in political tensions, social disorder, secret factions, and various guilds, cults, and pockets of resistance; or alternately, players could just roam the countryside slaying villains and other wicked creatures, earning riches and using them to buy better and better equipment. The players are given the choices of starting the sequence of the gameplay.

The dynamics of each character type are their special attack skills and the initial starting abilities are all that distinguish that character from the others. Each character from any class can later proceed to learn any other class' skills as they gain experience levels. A warrior may learn the wizard's restoration spell and the survivor's ability to gradually regenerate health. A wizard may learn the survivor's lock-picking and thieving skills. A survivor may learn the warrior's crossbow specialization skill or the warrior's repair ability. The ability of the players to transform from one skill level to another skill level of the character type makes the game un-deterministic and introduces randomness, challenging players to mentally switch roles during gameplay.

The game encourages players to create a multitalented character. Each time a player gain a level, the player finds them self facing a tough decision on which skills to learn or which skills to upgrade. This is a tough decision not because there are many wrong answers, but because there are so many right ones. Almost every skill in Divine Divinity is useful in character building.

The game setting of Divine Divinity looks very similar to Diablo II, though the former looks much better. The gameplay seems quite similar at first; i.e. character vs. character setting. Controlling the character class is simple using just the mouse. Each player can attack their opponents just by clicking on them once. Actually, the game has a very handy feature that lets the player automatically target the nearest foe, so the player doesn’t even have to click on it directly. Hotkeys are available for revealing all items of interest onscreen. Occasional the path finding issues and a few slightly awkward aspects of the interface do popup during gameplay.

The dynamics of the combat tends to be very challenging, requires the player to make hasty retreats at times, use various skills in quick succession, and liberally quaff various magic potions to restore the player health and magic power. The game is punishing at times. Critical hits to unarmored areas can slay the character class easily, and enemies will pursue the player seemingly to the ends of the earth. The unique feature of Divine Divinity is the player can pause the action at any moment and issue further instructions to change the behavior of the character class. The feature is essential for surviving some of the tougher bouts. A player combat expectation has a generally solid feel, and much like in the Diablo series. A player will often pit lone character against droves of enemies - Character vs. Character - and somehow scrape by with a hard-fought, satisfying victory.

The quests in Divine Divinity are varied and there are a lot of them. There is the basic 'fetch me this and that' mission. It also has complex tasks which have their own sub-quests. The entire story and quest system is vast, but not cumbersome, which is a definitive high for this game.

Divine Divinity is a single-player, single-character game. Depending on the player setting and response, at time the player won't have to do the fighting all by them self. Sometimes the player will get to take part in great pitched battles, and at other times player can have companions join in the fight, a unique distinct feature for this single player game.

Good Points

Divine Divinity has an impressive graphics setting and music sound effect. Its combination of hack-and-slash action and pure role-playing says a lot about the effort and the design of the game. Even despite its conventional fantasy setting, it clearly takes inspiration from other games. Divine Divinity manages to have its own distinct style - thanks in large part to a truly incredible musical score. The good sound effects serve to enhance the action and the ambience in the game, and the musical score, credited to Kirill Pokrovsky, deserves special mention.

There are massive amount of detail that lies underneath the game's superficially generic style. This is one of those uncommon role-playing games where the world actually seems rather alive.

Considering the game's been imported from Europe, the English translation is surprisingly good and some of the dialogue is intentionally comical which serves well to cut through the game's otherwise grim look and style.

The dialogue with characters is always to the point and never overbearingly long-winded. Players who prefer social discourse to nonstop action in their role-playing games have plenty of chatting to be done. Some of the dialogue can be heard in full speech, and here the player may be surprised by the effectiveness of some of the performances. Most of the voice over is ham-fisted and some of it is decidedly awkward, but at other times, the voice acting is quite good.

The game supports graphical resolutions up to 1024x768 and it gives a sharp picture. The details are small but sometimes seem photorealistic. It has very short loading times. Player can stomp across miles of countryside without the game ever pausing to load up new scenery, and though the frame rate can bog down at times on lower-end machines trying to run the game at a high resolution, the game generally runs smoothly and looks great.

A mini-map on the screen let the player see enemies approaching from afar. The audio and sounds effects are not a huge part of the game, more like a regular part. Combat sounds could've been more interesting. The spell effects more mystic. Music is quite nice and ambient, though sounds of the wilderness are not as wild-like as one would expect. In short, the sound could be better!

The game does have a cohesive central story to it, just like many classic computers RPGs. Divine Divinity is just as much about creating your own adventures as it is about following a linear plot.

Bad Points

The worst thing about Divine Divinity is its title, a strange name especially from Belgian developer Larian Studios. Divine Divinity is ranks 21 in the Worst Video Game Names of all time. The name Divine Divinity would likely due to marketing or focus groups. Looks like the publisher did not explained their reasoning and even tell Larian about the rename in advance.

Sadly, Divine Divinity is single-player only game. While the solo campaign is well done, it would have been nice to be able to traverse the game world with a few friends in cooperative mode. The game would be fun with multiplayer and the enhancement of interactive functionalities with the co-players.

Probably the worst bug next to the occasional crash was the drop in frame rates that occurred in Verdistis and to a lesser extent, the Dark Forest. Whenever the character left an inside area for the outdoor areas of Verdistis, the game would slow to a crawl for a few seconds before resuming its normal speed. It also happened at times without having to go inside a building first. This never happened in the main map, so this sudden change was confusing.

Divine Divinity is not without its technical glitches. The majority of them are merely annoying. Divine Divinity did crash to the desktop without warning on a few occasions, and quick save didn't always work, either. The game doesn't always acknowledge when a player no longer encumbered, such as when a player would eat a couple of hunks of meat or swallow potions. A player can fix this by moving something around in their inventory, but it's a rather bothersome problem until one learns this.

On the technical front, the 2D isometric graphics are nice looking and are up to the current gaming standards. All the dungeons tend to be either brown cut stone or brown cave walls hence distinguish the buildings become difficult. Character images change depending on what gear they are wearing and monsters are well done. Spell effects and lighting really show off the graphics engine at it best.

Closing

Divine Divinity is an exciting, additive, well-designed, open-ended and lengthy role-playing game. It has sporting impressive graphics and sound, lot of replay value and enormous fun that will keep players at their computer in the wee hours of the morning for weeks. Combining many of the best aspects both of action-driven RPGs like the Diablo series and epic, open-ended RPGs like the classic Ultima series, Divine Divinity is a real pleasure to play. A player can easily spend hundred hours of gameplay when fully engrossed in lots of interesting quests and nice graphical effects.

Though Divine Divinity might seem lacking in originality at first, if a player ever enjoyed another computer role-playing game before, then chances are the player will find ample liked quantities here. Divine Divinity simply is one of the best efforts at capturing all the best qualities of the role-playing genre: the experience of growing more and more powerful while leaving an undeniable impression on a memorable, richly detailed world.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™ is a computer role-playing game (RPG) for Windows. It is developed by Troika Games and released on November 16, 2004. It is also Troika Games' third title and the last to be made before Troika closed down in February 2005. The Masquerade - Bloodlines comes during a surprisingly dry year for PC role-playing games, which only amplifies the attention on the game. Bloodlines is visually stunning, a role-playing game with the choice between first person and third person. It is an adventure game and has an immersive storyline. It combines intense first-person action with an open, non-linear world, and rich character development. The game throws players into the dark and gritty vampire underworld of modern day L.A. as a creature of the night. It allows the player to choose one of several different vampire clans. As you play the game, the players progress through the game according to the different strengths and weaknesses of the player's character. In this game, players interact with and battling mortals and other creatures of darkness with an incredible array of vampire powers, skills and traits.

Bloodlines uses Valve's Source engine, which allows the game to be played from either the first-person shooter (FPS) or third-person shooter (TPS) perspectives. Bloodlines takes the power of Valve's Source Technology, the driving force fueling Half-Life 2, and delivers a new type of RPG that blends the deep storyline, character development and interaction, exploration, and multiple solutions to quests of a traditional RPG, with the graphical beauty, fast action and first-person immersion of an FPS.

Game Description

Players start the game by creating a vampire, which conforms to on of seven major vampire types. The idea is that the player can create a vampire suited to the style of play. The options range from sophisticated vampires that can talk their way past most situations; to burly vampires who like to intimidate people and pick fights; to demonic vampires who prefer to skulk in the shadows. Player can select a gender of the vampire, which affects the kinds of characters. The player won't actually be able to customize the vampire's appearance, aside from the kind of clothes the gender wears.

The game takes place in modern-day Los Angeles, in four major sections of the city. Player often starts the game in Santa Monica, carrying out all sorts of low-level missions for the vampire lord. But before too long, the player will be drawn into the game's overarching story, which deals with the vampiric end times. The story itself is filled with all sorts of intrigue and player is caught between the major vampire factions as they battle for supremacy. Part of the fun is to figure out which of the factions the player wants to ultimately align them self with. The game also has a cool twist of four different endings, so player can decide how the story will eventually conclude. This makes for added incentive to go back and replay the game to check out different story paths. In turn, this gives the game quite a bit of replay value. A first-time player will probably takes at least 20 to 30 hours to get through Bloodlines the first time.

The game itself is populated by all sorts of interesting characters who come to life thanks to the Source engine's amazing facial expression technology - though the characters in Bloodlines don't look as good as the characters in Half-Life 2. The dialogue itself is sharply written - there are many memorable lines and phrases uttered by the characters. The game is a mature-rated game and it contains sexual themes and profanity, although it never feels too gratuitous.

Game Design

The game logic allows the player character's ability to overcome obstacles, in many cases a mixture of player and character abilities. The character stats determine the effectiveness of the actions, and player abilities determining whether or not the actions succeed. The concept behind the game is for player to move silently and avoid being detected is heavily influenced by the character's Dexterity and Stealth ratings. However, if the behavior of the player does not stay in the shadows while sneaking past enemies, the character can still be detected.

The rules allow the player character to increases in power dramatically during the course of the game through the expenditure of earned experience points on attributes, skills, and vampire abilities called "Disciplines". A multitude of items, weapons, and books can be found or purchased to make the player character even more powerful. With these items, it enhances the player capabilities in the gameplay. Melee and ranged weapons are also game items that exist in equal numbers, although only in the later stages of the game.

How the player interacts with the game world and depending upon which clan the player character belongs to, differences range from different dialogue options - game output - becoming available to certain quests becoming available or unavailable. The most notable emotional response of the gameplay differences are experienced by those who play as Malkavian and as Nosferatu. Due to Malkavians’ character insanity, dialogue options are often non sequential, making it difficult to conduct conversations and negotiations. During gameplay, Malkavians also encounter numerous bizarre moments, such as television sets and stop signs speaking to them. Nosferatu who in order to avoid Masquerade violations, are prohibited from speaking to humans and do not have access to any gameplay options, only involved seduction.

Unlike most computers role-playing games (CRPGs), which place a strong emphasis on storyline-driven arcs and character development, in Bloodlines, experiences are needed to increase stats and skills and are not awarded for killing enemies, and considered probability losses to the player. Experience points are awarded solely for completing quests, no matter how many creatures the player eliminates in the process - though the quest objective often involves killing. This encourages the player to complete quests in creative ways and significantly increases the game's replay value. The payoff of Bloodlines is based on experiencing a more dynamic world via nonlinear gameplay instead of storytelling.

The game’s risk invokes two other unique penalties and rewards for certain behaviors in the game's non-quest (i.e. non-combat) areas. In the game, players are penalized for exhibiting vampiric abilities in front of humans by the in-game loss of Masquerade points, which can also be reinstated by performing actions to protect the Masquerade hence creating a new life. If the player loses 5 Masquerade points, the game ends. Also, the player is able to gain and lose "humanity/health" points, which have an impact on how well the character can be controlled when the blood supply in the body is low. This can potentially cause the character to go into a feeding frenzy at the wrong time and in turn can lead to Masquerade violations. Humanity points are awarded for acts of kindness, such as finding alternatives to killing certain non-player characters (NPCs). They can be taken away if the player character kills a human outside a combat zone (or even sometimes within a combat zone if the human is a noncombatant), intentionally or not, or if the character commits an unethical deed such as stealing money from a charity. Unlike Masquerade points, the game does not end if the player humanity level drops to zero, but the player’s character are almost certain to enter frenzy when it is this low, and some dialog options may change. Experience points can be used to purchase humanity points.

One of the most frequent questions asked from Vampire fans is exactly how 'linear' this game is going to be. ‘Pure’ RPG gamers would like something that's currently impossible - total freedom to explore a world that's totally responsive to the player. The analogy uses is to imagine driving from Los Angeles to New York. There are plenty of different ways to get the destination, but everyone who takes the trip will end up at the same destination. Some may even stop at same roadside attractions, but ultimately, their experiences will be unique.

Good points

The game is rated for 17 years or above, hence keeping minors from playing. The graphics are very well designed and presented a gritty Los Angeles. Musically, the game is top notch, Interesting and atmospheric quests. The game has an open-ended character development and the gameplay is just as classic as ever.

The best part is the story. The story-telling, character voices, quest design, dialog options, all of them is pretty awesome. The player feels like talking with real people in a real world. The story is very addictive. In fact the game is long and probably finished it in 24+ hours. At the end of the game, the player wish there was more things to do.

The storyline of the game is dynamic. Player interacts with all sorts of interesting and memorable characters. This comes not only from the presence of numerous optional quests, but also from the existence of several different endings.

Bad points

There are only six stages and the sound effects could be better. The storyline is totally unoriginal. There are some clumsy combat systems in favors of melee over firearms. Some graphical glitches appeared in some of the stages of play coursing few stability issues in performance. The combat system treats guns as a disadvantage in fights. It's easier to simply use a sword or knife. Los Angeles is gritty and colorful, though strangely devoid of cars. The game is great but there was no multi player support.

And, for the most part, Bloodlines is an atmospheric role-playing game with a rich setting--though it's one beset with a clumsy combat system and some noticeable bugs. That's unfortunate, since the game clearly could have been better had its rough edges been ironed out.
The in-game storyline does not change regardless of what is done, and all the core missions still need to be completed. For example, if the player decides to side with the Anarchs, they will still need to obey Prince LaCroix, as they are told to act like they are still loyal. The only storyline-affecting choice is when the character chooses his or her allegiance near the end of the game, though prior choices can affect which of these allegiances are available.

One of the problems is lack of side quests. Of course current main and side quests are very fun. And they take long time to do. But different quest options each time you play and alternative endings for quests would indeed a perfect feature for this game. It is a bit open-ended, you will see different ends due to your choices, but prior side quests could have different ends also.
As most games are rated based on Psycho Penguin Style, the attributes in rating Bloodlines should falls under storyline, graphics, music, sound effects, control, gameplay, replay value, challenge and finally Worth a Purchase?

Closing

Bloodlines is a mostly great-looking game, though it's not on the same level of visual quality as that certain other game featuring the same graphics engine. Despite the clunky combat and other shortcomings, there's a rich world to explore in Bloodlines, an RPG that allows you to indulge your inner vampire.

Diablo II

Many varieties of game exist, but most follow the pattern established by the first published role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons. Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game released in November 30, 1996.s. Diablo is franchise owned and produced by Blizzard Entertainment. Over time, the sequel has evolved to include: Diablo (video game), Diablo: Hellfire, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and the latest Diablo III. The original Diablo game sold more than 2 million copies and enthralled players with its blend of role playing and action elements.

Diablo II was released on September 10, 2004 amidst a tremendous hype. Diablo II can be played alone or by up to four players via direct connection. It’s based on the premise of a war between the forces of Light and Darkness, Heaven and Hell; have engaged in an eternal war. It is based on the setting of a fictional Kingdom of Khanduras. In the game, the town of Tristram has come under attack by demons. To save the town, the player takes control of a lone hero as he battles to rid the world of the eponymous Lord of Terror. The hero is also there to avenge his family who died at the hand of Diablo. Beneath the town of Tristram, the player navigates through sixteen dungeon levels to ultimately come face to face with Diablo and his demon minions. As the player delves into the underworld, some of the history behind the war between Heaven and Hell, as well as knowledge about Diablo himself, is revealed through large tomes that are found throughout the levels.

In the game, the player assume as one of five distinct character types, explore the world of Diablo II -- journey across distant lands, fight new villains, discover new treasures, and uncover ancient mysteries, all in the quest to stop the Lord of Terror, once and for all. As you complete one level, you start again with different level of difficulty.

Game Description

Diablo II is a Role Playing Game (RPG) in which the participants assume the roles of five fictional character classes: Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorceress. Each class has its own abilities and skills to aid in battle to stop evil trough the four acts. The player determines the actions of their characters based on their characterization. The actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game. As you play the game, you get better by killing monsters and try to collect good equipment. Only you will be able to determine the outcome of this final encounter. The game is for character builders and item collectors who don’t care about the stories.

MDA framework of Diablo II

Games are created by designers and teams of developers, and consumed by players. They are purchased, used and eventually cast away like most other consumable goods. The difference between games and other entertainment products (such as books, music, movies and plays) is that their consumption is relatively unpredictable. The string of events that occur during gameplay and the outcome of those events are unknown at the time the product is finished.

The MDA framework formalizes the consumption of games by breaking them into their distinct components. We analyse Diablo II based on the MDA framework.

Mechanics describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. In Diablo II, the joystick allows the players to control the movement of the characters. The player must tilt the level to maneuvers the characters in the game. Basically, the player acts as the selected character and not the character, to control the interactions with other classes, which is a very innovative approach.

Dynamics describes the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others, outputs over time. Diablo is divided into sixteen dungeon levels. In each level, the goal is the maximum points of the level. The player scored is based on the number of opponents killed. At each level, a time period is permitted for the player to complete the level. Once completed, the player can move to the next level, repeating the sequence with higher level of difficulty.

Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system. Diablo II is a very innovative game and first of its kind. Diablo II provides sensational pleasures and discovery fun. The responses of play are very fast, keeping the player attention. The game is suitable for players of older age groups. The music is just plain amazing and it is perfect for the game setting. It is very moody and dark at the right places. The sound effect tied in nicely with the character movements. It is the type of music that makes playing the game a little more enjoyable in the long run. Diablo is one of games when you starts to play, you will challenge yourself to get the goal and move to the next level.

Diablo II expansion

The things that made the original Diablo game great are still here: the simplicity, good story, and role-playing elements. What has changed in the Diablo II expansion is just about every bad part of the original. There are many improvements scattered throughout the game to make this title a very worthy sequel.

Diablo II expansion makes several key aesthetic enhancements to the game. Most notably, it now lets you play in 800x600 resolutions, up from 640x480. Though the higher resolution setting adversely affects performance on systems that approach the minimum requirements for Diablo II, for all the rest, this yields a threefold benefit.

Like any good expansion pack, Diablo: Lord of Destruction doesn't make any major attempts to alter the gameplay that made the preceding game successful. Rather it builds on the strengths of its predecessor. It expands the tactical options found throughout the game, and even enhances the graphics. Diablo II expansion has a lot of depth that's readily apparent. It will take a long time to really see how much is packed into this great expansion to one of the most addicting games.

Good Points

The game has good graphics and sounds effect. Graphics are 800x600 resolutions, 256 colors which make the scene pretty spectacular. The game uses 2D sprites, but a 3D rendered scenery which allows for good lighting effects. Apart from the lava caves, most maps are pretty dark. Playing it in a well-lit room is sometimes a bit difficult.

The game was developed for Multiplayer on-line with very many different items. In the game, there many different ways to build a good character and the difficulty increased enough throughout the whole game with trading possibility.

It shows a new way to play RPG and gives everybody a shock. The graphics is not important and the process is not the key factor. In the game play, the players are the justice and likewise the angel of death. Once the player picks up a good weapon, he is ready to fight and save the people.
In this game the players are constantly fighting droves of enemy forces through expansive and sometimes maze like randomly generated environments. The attractive points of this game are the entertainment of killing under name of justice, the variety sorts of equipments, and unique skill trees. The reason why a successful game succeeds is simple. Question is who can find it out first.

Bad Points

Diablo II is a single storyline, i.e. to save the world! It has this sixteen dungeon levels, the same story to play and is easy affected by other programs or internet traffic. What annoying it there are no pause or save possibilities. Playing the game is tough, but its six different quests are rather involved. It probably won't take more than 10 hours to finish the first time.
Apart from the major issues of online play, the graphics aren't show stopping, especially when you consider that the game was in development for nearly three years.

Critic

While the graphics in angled perspective (i.e. 2D made to look "3D") was nothing new, this was the first such game to offer multiplayer possibilities. That's just a small taste of Diablo's excellent game design. Music and voice acting was perfect, particularly in the town above the dungeons explored (town inhabitants even gave you amusing mini-quests). Animation was great, and the number of creatures you came across was suitably different and diverse. The major selling point of the game, however, was its outrageous replay value; dungeons were randomly made by the game, on the fly, each time you entered a new level. This meant you could re-play the game over and over and never play it quite the same way; even inventory found in trunks and chests would be different. This was a classic game that was enjoyed by many players.

Closing

Diablo II has proven to have a very enduring appeal. Players have continued to pit their characters against the collective forces of hell and debate among themselves about which of the five original character classes is the mightiest. The quest to be the best and have the best is one of the main features of the Diablo titles that snares people in.

This review provides a brief description of Diablo and the expansion pack. The MDA framework of Diablo II game is presented and some of the good and bed points were identified. Using MDA framework as the benchmark, we can conceptualize the dynamic behaviour of the game. Understanding the game dynamic helps developers to develop techniques for iterative design and improvement allowing players to control for undesired outcomes, and tune for desired behaviour.

Evony

Evony is massively multiplayer online real time strategy game (MMORTS) from Universal Multiplayer Game Entertainment that is growing in popularity very quickly. It is freely available to all users @ http://evonygame.net/. It’s an extremely addictive game reminiscent of Age of Empires. It's entirely web based, no download required.

A new player creates a login account, gains entry to the gaming environment. The download size of the game is 3576246 bytes and no installation required. Not a big file by any standard but the download time takes “xyz” minutes over a modem line. Never give up!!!, I side to myself. Good it’s done, after taking a shot nap. Unless your computer is connected to the high speed network, looks like you must have the patient to wait for the download. Down loading Evony near a WiFi access point, takes seconds. What a contrast.

On fist sight, the web page looks completely “????” for a “first-time” gamer. One would look for the help button first, but nowhere to be found. You have to move your mouse pointer around the page and click all possible icons, etc. As you move over the icons, a short explanation popup. This helps the gamer along the way, not at interactive game. An option to disable these popup would be handy for advanced players. It’s a learning lesson that was taking you all over the screen to find all the links, instruction, operation, etc. So where do you start. The simplest way is to move your mouse around the window and click on ever icon, images, etc. What a way to learn how to play your “first game”. One quick way is to Google and visits the forum sites. After some search, found the Beginner Tutorial in the Evony‘s home page for new gamers (what? - going round a circle). A Forum page allows users to interact and discuss all aspect of Evony’s game. The Evony Community allows gamers to share and interact with one another. A dynamic message window show activities form other users. It’s hard to follow the messages, as it scrolls up very fast. Not sure whether this feature will helps the gamers.

How to play the game?

As one blogger said “You’ve looked at Evony and thought ‘How do I play?’ you’re not alone.” Start off with Beginner Tutorial to learn the rules, regulations and procedures of the game (NO well defined rules in the real world, only dogs eat dogs). This will help you to speed up in the adventure. Another way to learn to play is by following the Quests in the game. The Quests give you tips on building your resources and population proportionately. As you get more advanced in the game, you’ll build academies, military barracks, watch towers and a military force that will be keys in helping you defend your city (sound familiar). The saying is “Just do it” - play the game and get down to it. Who wants to read all the pages of rules, regulationns and strategies? The game must be simple and easy to pick up, unless otherwise where you want to be a high scorer.

The Game

Evony is a free internet game but they encourage you to spend money (someone have to pay the salaries to build the game) in order to compete with others that do likewise. If you don't buy the 'powerups' you're at a disadvantage (no free lunch here!). The game itself starts you off in new city in a big map with hundreds / thousands of other player cities. You try to build up your resources by collecting gold, wood, stone & food in order to build new things - the standard strategy stuff like barracks, walls, houses, stables etc. By selling your extra resources in your market, you can make extra money. With the money, you can buy others items when you’re short of building materials (e.g. sand - if they want to sell them to you). The game is based on strategies and good planning is required in the early stage of the game. It’s a slow ongoing game. Once you build up your economy (assets), you raise armies (capitals via share options) and send them off to fight (buy) for control of resource tiles (assets and/or companies) on that world map (economy). These are either NPC controlled or player controlled. Similarly you can eventually attack (take over) player cities, and join a guild (partnership) to coordinate those attacks (cooperate raiders).

Critic

In the Evony game, all action takes place in the form of messages (high tech?). There is no live action, apart from a little graphic for building. No fights, no fighter graphics. A large amount of time are just waiting for more resources to be collected to upgrade your town hall (should be an IR - you make more money), then wait for a few hours until you see it's finished. Then build a new house or stone mine, etc, etc. Evony is goal- oriented with zero competitor designed for long term planning, thinking process, builds up resources, and implements a strategy to take control of all resources. The degree of fun is low as there are no instance responses from the system. Compared to a simple Chess game, Evony is non interactive. The response only comes from other players. The other players will likewise take time to build out their resources and army before they can make an attempt on your city. At the higher level of play, your enemy will try to take control of your assets. As there is no physical attack between two parties, the dichotomy of game would not placed Evony in the “Game category”.

The 2D images are simple and do not required much processing power. Interaction of the player is just picks and placed of items and assets on the map. The graphics can be improved but will not change the focus of the game. If done in 3D with rotation, this will improve the appearance and facade of the game.

It's a nice free game if you can keep popping back to do stuff during your free hours – don’t let your boss know when you are playing it, even the strategies learned will help him build-up the company’s assets. He will mistaken you for your good intention as he will only see the negative aspect, i.e. play game during office hours.

Personally the concepts learned are applicable to the business environments and the building of assets from ground up is importance component in any business arena. Evony is a strategic game and not an action game. If you are the strategic thinker of the corporate and like this kind of game that great. You might also want to try Gladiatus at http://www.gladiatus.com/.

Opinions

A gamer critic, my son, who enjoys fast interactive games, would consider Evony be “boring and not much meaning to the game”. He suggested going to Facebook (http://apps.facebook.com) and try out the following games: Airline manager, Restaurant city, Premier football, Barn buddy, Farm pals, Fish a fish, Crazy taxi, Bejeweled blitz, and Mafia wars. He is currently playing these games- near to real life - during his “free time” (Boy study first!). Looking at his personal “virtual assets”, he has buildup millions of “virtual dollars” to his personal account from all these ventures. Now it’s how to translate them it real dollars. As a saying goes, 'no money no talk'. Looking on the positive side of strategic gaming, what he learned today is practical in real life. It will help him in his future career, if it is not his own boss. I personally would like to try out “Cashflow 101 Board Game” by the author of Poor Dad Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki (a prospective from a different generation).