I bought this just for the DLC (BL2 has tons of it) and it does work on PC but I had to redownload and reinstall BL2.
So, *Rome 2 *- bottom line. Any good? Is it *Rome 1 *with better graphics? Because I don’t need anything more than that.
I like it quite a lot, and think it’s a worthy successor to the first Rome. It does build on the changes they’ve made to the series in subsequent games, though. For example, they use the same city building rule that they used in Shogun II, where each city has a limited number of slots where you can put buildings. However, this is offset by dividing the map into provinces, each with a capital and two or three satellite territories. The buildings in each city affect the entire province, not just the city it’s built in, so if you construct a temple in Rome, it will reduce unrest in Rome, Neapolis, Arminium, and Velathri, which are all part of the province of Italia.
It’s still not possible to build a city that has everything in it, but it does give you more freedom than you had in Shogun II, or (as I recall) Empire. Similarly, leveling up generals or agents uses a skill tree like in SII, but with far more options to choose from, avoiding the cookie-cutter feel these units had in that game.
The biggest change is that armies cannot exist without a general to lead them, and you’re limited to a certain number of generals dependent on how big your empire is. On the one hand, it bothers me that, as the ruler of Rome, I can’t just appoint whoever I want, in whatever quantities I want, as generals. On the other hand, it makes careful maneuvering on the strategic map much more important, and I think that improves that part of the game significantly.
When it comes down to watching your legionnaires butcher horde after horde of screaming Celts, however, it does not disappoint.
Cool. I always preferred specialized cities and smaller, more elite armies anyway.
Does it do that thing *Shogun *did, where it suddenly gets much more difficult at some random point in the middle? Because I hated that. I conquered one province, and suddenly all my caredully-crafted trade contracts have been revoked, and every faction suddenly decides to attack me. I never managed to get past that hump.
Sort of, but not as badly as in Shogun. At some point, about halfway through the game, you’ll have a civil war, where a couple of provinces will split off and declare war on you. I’ve only played this far through a campaign once so far - I lost most of Eastern Spain for a couple decades. Once you reconquer them, you’re give an option to either declare yourself Emperor, or re-establish the Republic. I forget what the difference is, but from that point on, you don’t have to worry about civil wars any more, provided you keep your provinces happy. There’s nothing like the situation in SII, where suddenly the entire map declares war on you. In fact, they’ve added two new victory conditions: aside from just conquering everyone, you can win by cultural victory (which still involves conquering a lot of people, but not quite as many), or by economic victory (which also requires you to be bloody up to the elbows, but also trade!).
Also, the armies are just as big - possibly bigger - but there are fewer of them on the map. It makes conquering a bit harder, because you can’t fill a newly conquered city with low-cost units to keep order. You have to keep one of your precious army stacks there, instead of using them to capture more territory.
I’m considering the 1C Strategy Collection, which includes:
Fantasy Wars (67 Metacritic)
King’s Bounty: Armored Princess (82)
King’s Bounty: Crossroads (78)
King’s Bounty: The Legend (79)
Reign: Conflict of Nations (60)
XIII Century-- Gold Edition (7.5 Gamespot)
However, the only one I know I’m interested in is Armored Princess, as I read that it’s similar to Heroes of Might and Magic III, an old favorite of mine. Can anybody recommend or comment on the others?
The reviews are decent, but I don’t give them full credence for strategy games. Most reviewers aren’t really all that good at judging niche games, IMO.
I’m also wondering if I’ll be buying the same game 3 times and some also rans.
The original Heroes of Might and Magic was originally going to be called King’s Bounty 2, before the publisher decided to slap it’s popular M&M franchise onto it. All three of the King’s Bounty games in that pack are very similar to the Heroes franchise. If you liked III, you’ll like those games.
I don’t know that it’s worth buying all three, though - I’ve only played the first one, Armored Princess. I don’t know if the others mix it up enough to be worthwhile.
Also, throwing this out to everyone, Legend of Grimrock is on Steam right now for three bucks. If you were a fan of old school RPGs like Eye of the Beholder or Dungeon Master, you’ll love this one. Highly recommended.
Fantasy Wars was not bad but not very impressive either - it’s old and the age shows. I got it for free when I preordered King’s Bounty - Warriors of the North and I did play it quite a bit as I waited for WotN to be released.
King’s Bounty games are fairly similar and they have very lengthy campaigns but despite that I’ve happily played through them all. Armored Princess has a demo on Steam if you are on the fence, but if you like the sort of hex-based combat these games offer you can get a ton of enjoyment out of that pack. I’ve played the various King’s Bounty games for over 350 hours total (though that includes Warriors of the North that’s not in the pack).
If you buy them, KB: Legends is the first game in the series, then Armored Princess. But you should start Armored Princess through Crossworlds for the enhanced version, even for the first playthrough. Not sure if I’d recommend playing them in a row, though, given their similarity and length.
Kerbal Space Program is $12.96 (around 55% off) at GMG by stacking its 40% discount with the 20% voucher (TAREM-4PLAY-VOUCH). No idea if it’ll pop up as a Steam Daily today but the current discount there is 33%
Civ 5 is a daily on Steam. I have an extra of Civ 5 gold, if somebody wants to trade fo it instead of buying it.
Just Cause 2 is on Steam again, for three bucks. Get it. It’s like GTA, only fun.
Monaco is a flash sale for $3. I’m going to get some games going for it at some point. It’s fun but friends and voice chat are required.
Friends aren’t necessarily required-- I did all of the first story and a good amount of the second on single player-- but it’s definitely more fun with friends.
No mention of Good Old Games Sale? ( http://www.gog.com/promo/black_friday_weekend_promo_291113 )
They have 65 titles on sale and they let you pick and choose as many as you want for a 70% discount.
Some that you can grab (my favs)
Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 & 2 & 3
Alone in the dark series
master of magic
creatures series
worms 2
simon the sorcerer games
superfrog
restaurant empire
They have extended the sale until 3rd December, with 16hrs left as I post this. If you love classic games its the place to get them.
Fantasy Wars was a decently entertaining fantasy strategy game. I wouldn’t call it great, but I think it deserves a better rating than it has on metacritic. Like you said, games like this have pretty niche appeal.
It plays very similarly to games like Panzer General and Fantasy General, except army sizes are much smaller and there’s more unit costumization through combat spells, perks gained through experience and artifacts.
Assassin’s Creed IV will be $29.99 from Amazon tomorrow.
He only linked the PS3 digital download and the PC digital download version so I don’t know if the physical versions will be on sale.
Buy Natural Selection 2. It’s a flash sale, 4 hours left. Great game, the only one to do hybrid RTS/FPS gameplay well. I’ve been wanting to start playing again, and I may end up organizing SDMB games soon. For $2.50 it’s a ridiculous steal.
90% off flash sale on Audiosurf, which has an 89 on Metacritic. It’s a puzzle/racing game. 99 cents.
Hi.
I’m not very game savvy, but I own Civilization V on steam. I bought it quite a while ago and I would like to buy the add on stuff or whatever to update it to the current version. I look at steam and they are selling:
the Gold Edition for 12.49.
A Gold Edition Upgrade for 5.00.
And Downloadable content for 32.42.
Which one do I want? I already have the original Civilization V.
Apparently I have 3 hours to figure this out.
I’d get the Gold Edition upgrade (which I assume contains all the Gold edition stuff except for the base game) and Brave New World on sale for $10.18
That’d give you all the benefits of Gods & Kings and BNW for $15 which pretty completely transforms the game for the better, plus the various new civilizations from the Gold DLC upgrades.