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Demortia
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Roleplaying Games

Got a cool RPG, lets hear about it ( and where it can be aquired from, etc ) emoticon

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A Guest once said to me "Oh I like Roleplaying, I just dont like it when people stand around pretending to be Vampires!"

6/21/2005, 10:27 am

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Demortia
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Freelancer Review

Technically, this game falls under many categories, but I decided to place it in the Roleplaying Games section as it has been marketed as and Action/Simulation/RPG. Although not using the standard RPG system of statistics and stuff for your pilot, looking closer at the games system, it boils down to your character actually being your spacecraft instead of the person piloting it. There a few bad points to the game, but the good points far outbalance the bad. I'll begin by droning on about the good points and try not to make your eyes bleed emoticon

The game universe is huge, and I mean HUGE!! although the entire navigation map isnt revealed to you unless you actually go out there and find the "Jump Gates" or go places. Your nav map locations grow as you explore. In single player, the game follows a scripted storyline, with breaks that allow you to go and do as you please in the game world. The storyline is actually very good, full of intruiging plots and twistyness, very well written and the voice acting is excellent.
In multiplayer, you begin with a basic ship, equiped with basic weapons and equipment, and your left to find your way alone in the universe. You have the choice to become whatever you want, a merchant, pirate, smuggler, bounty hunter... or a "Jack of all trades" to name a few. There are dozens of ships available to suite your line of work ( I personally like the Reinland Valkyrie... tough as hell and can mount almost unmatched weaponry and equipment, but this isnt the best ship by any means ).
When flying near space stations and other ships, the airwaves are alive with constant chatter and communications of people and robots... unless your way out in space, there is never silence.
You get to land on hundreds of different planets, all with a unique look and architecture ( and all rendered in full 3D )
as well as dock with battle cruisers, space stations, outposts, etc.
Your status within the universe is determined by your reputation with dozens of different factions, from Mega-corporations, police and military, to pirate clans and scavengers. All of these have allies and enemies... killing one faction member might result in your reputation changing for the better with their enemy factions, or getting worse with their allies.... choose your targets carfully.

Your ship can be outfitted with various shields, weapons and thrusters, but the variety of ways you can customise seems to be kept to an easy level. The game itself has simplified physics for space flight, but this all seems to be deliberate to make it easy to learn and play. All the information you will ever need is built into the main ship interface.... making it very easy to look up factions and thier allies, to find out how much a commodity you pirated is worth, and where best to sell it, and what the power drain value of a given weapon is... all in a matter of seconds.
The game features all you would expect from a multiplayer RPG with player to player interraction. There is a trading system, various chat modes... and joining into teams ( Parties ) for missions and other tasks.

Now to the bad points....

Landing and docking is done by autopilot, the game moving to a cut scene. When your landed or docked, the locations you can travel to are done via a mouse click, seems you cant walk around as you please in the 3D locations.
You cant actually see other people ( real people logged into the server ) who are on the same planet as you, at the same location. It seems the only way to look at and interract with another person is in space while sitting in your ship.
You cant choose a different skin for your pilot ( but you'll spend most of your time in your ship anyway )

As a summary, Freelancer has a very "Starwars" feel to it without being a ripoff. It's open ended gameplay gives you the oportunity to be whatever you want, and do what you want. Everything you do will have consequences, either pissing someone off, or pleasing them. If you ever wanted to experience what life would be like for Bobba Fett or Han Solo, I highly recommend this game, its fun to play, and visually stunning in places. It makes a great platform for a futuristic Roleplay universe.

"Looking for a job? check out the bar and talk to some people, or visit the job board"

"My ship on the landing pad of planet Pittsburg, its a Reinland Valkyrie, armed to the teeth and offloading a load of pirated loot."

"Flying past a space station under fire, it seems those people I pissed off the other day found me! they should run now before I decide to turn my ship around"

"Tradelanes are handy to get places quickly, but for a real ride, try a Jump Gate, that'll rattle the teeth from your head ( kind of reminds me of the Stargate travel effect thing from TV) "

"Navigating debris and asteroid fields at cruise speed can be a real piloting challenge, but tons of fun!! although actually hitting something doesnt do much damage unless your shields are down. Battles in these places can be awesome! use asteroids for cover, then afterburn out and behind the enemy when they shoot past".

Last edited by Demortia, 7/3/2005, 12:15 pm

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A Guest once said to me "Oh I like Roleplaying, I just dont like it when people stand around pretending to be Vampires!"

7/3/2005, 12:10 pm

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Palpy
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Planescape: Torment

I started to play Planescape:Torment again a while ago. Its a great game that I always come back too..and now you get a review emoticon

. It is a Black Isle game using the infinity engine, like the Baldurs Gate..Icewind Dale and Fallout series and to me it is definetly the best game Black Isle released. Now Planescape is the setting (unlike Baldurs gate and Icewind Dale who takes place in the forgotten realms setting) and Torment the name of the game. the Planescape setting is really interesting and quite different from the traditional fantasy one, It takes place in Sigil the city of doors/portals at the center of the multiverse that is filled with various creatures and people. It is a fnatasy setting though so no starships or rayguns haha. The game starts with your character The-Nameless-One waking upp on a slab in the mortuary of the dustmen without any memmories of who he is but apparently he is immortal..he can not die. And the game is a search for who and what you are. I find this to be much more personal and interesting compared to the usual "save the world" plots, and while it may seem a bit clishe it is handeled better then in any game ive seen. It is never cast aside and the game really deals with the problems of such a condition. The most important thing of a game of this type..the writing, is really first class. Dialogues always seem to be very interesting and the story line is just wonderfull..it is really sad that this game didnt sell well or we may have more like it. It is hard to talk about the story without spoiling parts..wich I wouldnt wish to do..it is really something that should be experienced. There isnt as manny ither people that can join your party as there is in baldurs gate..there is a total of 7 (compared to 17 in BG2) but here they are far more then some walking stats that fight for you. They are very well written and active..and their development is wonderfull to follow. There arent nearly as much fighting in this game as in the other black isle ones..It may actually be possible to complete the game without a single fight. and most exp is gained through dialogue. The most important stats is intelligence wisdom and charisma..as with them you will get far more and interesting options..they really make a huge difference.

So what is the bad things? Well first there is a lot of text to read. It is all VERY well written and is never boring though. Also the game isnt much about fighting so if you are looking for a game like Diablo look elsewhere. It is not the hottest game around graphics wise but I find the designs in the game to be really nice, still the enmgine isnt as flashy as the one in later Black Isle games (But who cares? emoticon

) Also technical development (stats) is rather limited..all you do is push the level upp button once in a while when they have enough exp and there arent really any choises there..However their development as actual people is far more gratifying (and something often forgotten in games like this). Also it may consume quite a bit of your time, but isnt that always a problem with good games?

All in all this is the best single player RPG I have ever played. Want it, hmm ask me about it and im sure we can arrange something emoticon

I think I will finish with the comments of another player I found on some board

"I really wanted to hate this game. I mean I REALLY TRUELY wanted to DESPISE this game. The graphics were poor, it wasn't balanced in any way, and combat really didn't exist. As for the story; it was rather short and the climax left me with more questions than answers. Oh, and setting it in Planescape made the game feel very sci-fi-ish, nothing like the traditional fantasy I love so much. And on top of all that it used a radial menu (argggghhhh!).
And yet I loved the game. For all its holes it was simply brilliant. The voice acting and character development were top-notch for an RPG. Role playing was of prime importance as your actions influenced your alignment. And the story was so original, so rich in its philosophy, and so full of tragedy it was unarguably brilliant. It's a shame we'll never see a sequal"

Waking upp in the Mortuary..

the game have an excellent soundtrack wich can be found here..

http://www.planescape-torment.org/?page=soundtrack

Last edited by Palpy, 7/15/2005, 2:27 am

7/15/2005, 2:13 am

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Demortia
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Icewind Dale 2

Got this game a few days ago, and after completing 95% of it, figured it deserved a review. Those of you who played Baldurs Gate or any of the Black Isle games ( Infinity Engine games ) will be instantly familiar with it, yet the new rules system at its core is something new.
I have included a collection of screenies that I found around the net ( none are mine as I dont have the space on my FTP to upload my own ) but none really do the game justice.
I decided to look around for other reviews and forum posts to gather as much opinion as possible. And it seems many people were dissapointed by what IWD2 had to offer. I only have Baldurs Gate and its Expansion so have very little to compare IWD2 to but many people have spend a lot of effort comparing it too much to BG 1+2, IWD, and all the other Infinity Engine games. The major complaints were that IWD2 returned to some of the locations that IWD already covered, and that the IWD2 plot was boring and unoriginal.

IWD2 focuses on puzzle solving and roleplaying. Even though this game requires brain power it doesnt mean it lacks in action, the enemies pour down upon you in hoards and can make for some frantic battles in places. I found dealing with many groups requires a great deal of strategy and a lot of pausing while you think carefully about the next move.

Many times I have faced taunting bad guys who always have something cliche to say before a battle ensues ( maybe cliche but thats what bad guys do... and its to be expected! emoticon

And theres always some funny remark you can answer back with. But while this dialog is happening, the bad guy is surrounded by a hoard of creatures that constantly have you thinking "Oh crap! how the hell am I going to deal with this lot!".
Its keeps the tension high and even before the battle begins one is planning which spells to cast first and which bad guys to send your best fighters after in the initial rounds of the melee.

Now this bit is where I do my own comparison. IWD2 supports a standard resolution of 800x600 but can be cranked up via the configuration utility to around 1024x768 and higher although this is unsupported. The graphics are better drawn and animated than BG. The whole of IWD2 plays for many more hours than BG and is actually a much bigger game. However, the major difference to IWD2 is it linearity. Baldurs Gate gave us freedom to wander off from the main story and just go exploring the land, you could go wherever you pleased ( as long as the story progressed to allow access to certain places ). IDW2 herds the player through a set path through the game but isnt overly restrictive as you can still return to various places you have already passed through. This may sound like a major downfall but in fact fits the game very well.

The plot is by no means original, but it is in its execution that its strengths lie. I wont give the plot away as I dont want to spoil any suprises for those of you interested in playing IWD2 but a rough outline wont hurt.
Its a standard "Bad guy wants to take over" story, but it is the nature of the bad guy ( guys? ) that make it interesting. You find your quest is not just to defeat the bad guy/s but to find a way to actually kill him/them. Putting them to the sword isnt as easy as it sounds.
You'll be dogged every step of the way by the bad guys minions who get increasingly desperate to hold you back as you draw closer to thier fortress.
There are many side quests you can undertake and all are well suited to good and evil characters, and you are rewarded no matter how you handle the quests for sticking to the alignment of your party ( being evil is much fun! ) and all the sub-quests tie in logically to the main quest.
This is were my opinion differes from the majority... the overall plot to the IWD2 story is very well thought out and planned. All the bad guys are trying to stab each other in the back and take power for themselves. It is quite amusing to watch a bad guy talk about his master after his master has left the room emoticon

Many times in the story will you end up taking an alternative means to completing your goal. I found a group of Initiate priests outside a temple, after killing them I recovered their robes and had my party wear the robes, we could them walk into the temple and move about freely. I could then assassinate the key figures in the temple with very little hastle.
Many times in the story you will find things can be resolved by diplomacy, persuasion, threats and other non-combatative means.

No type or class of character has a feeling of uselesness and all eventually becomes highly valued. A Rogue will be prized for far more than merely disarming traps and opening locks. Scouting ahead will become a nessesary tactic to prepare for upcoming battles. This game will punish you for rushing blindly into the enemy ranks. Many combats can be resolved without even drawing a sword or casting a spell. I killed an entire garrison full of guards by poisoning their food supply which was very satisfying.
Your Mages Alchemy skill will become very usefull for brewing such poisons using one of the many alchemy aparatus benches spread throughout.

The sheer variety of enemies is incredible, begining with lowly Goblins and progressing through varieties of undead, to Infernal Demons. I cant name them all but take my word for it, theres more than enough different kinds of foul creatures to put to death. All are well drawn and animated and many spit curses and insults at you as you fight them ( some even in their native language )
As another comparison, Baldurs gate offered a small handfull of different creatures to IWD2's vast array and multitude of monstrosities... some big enough to take up half of the screen!!!
As you progress, the enemies change to suit the enviroment as you would expect. But even if you meet the same creature you met in the last chapter... you're still going to have to deal with it differently emoticon

You'll find your constantly developing new tactics and ways to overcome your foe.

The rules system at its core differ from the other infinity engine games ( Using a variation of the 3rd edition D&D rule I think ). In my opinion, this is by far the best rules set of any D&D edition. It allows for much better character development and uniqueness by utilising Feats and Skills. This allows you to create a Battlemage who can wield a huge battleaxe and wear armour providing you tailor his/her feats and skills wisely. In previous D&D rules, Clerics were limited to using only crushing and bashing weapons, Mages could barely use any weapon other than daggers and staffs, and various other classes were severly limited.
With IWD2's system, you still have the character classes, but they are unrestricted in what they can use and wear. Feats give a character extra bonuses, like Two Weapon Fighting, Extra Toughness, Shapeshifting into various creatures and improved Critical strikes.
This removal of class restrictions allows the creation of more detailed and lifelike characters, offering a slight penalty if a character uses a weapon of wears armour he/she is not trained in instead of a total inability to wear or use that item.
In my opinion, this is the best D&D rules set and should be adopted by future games based in the D&D world as standard.

Theres are many other smaller features to the game that give it an amazing depth and scope. Unfortunately, Neverwinter Nights and all its glorious 3D killed it due to the titles close releases. Icewind Dale 2 is still worthy of being on ones games shelf and is a joy to play. In many ways its 2D drawn simplicity is a bonus over many of todays mega 3D ultra detailed games in that even a lowly PC can run it with ease.
It has a very high replayability value and although many of the puzzles will have you scratching your head and looking for advice about how to solve it, they arent overly difficult and can be solved easily if you use logic or search around the area and find clues or talk to the various NPC's.
many bad guys wont even try to fight you and will try to bargain their way out of a fight by offering you magic items or information about the area and puzzles you will encounter.

In many places I started to suspect that certain objectives were influenced by Tomb Raider. Small things like needing rope to reach a lower level in caves, finding strange rune carved stones to open a gate, activating many levers and ancient combination locks. Not to mention the variety of keys needed to open the various locked doors.

Now to the usual bad points :
IWD2 tends to suffer slight frame rate drops when many spell effects are on screen. Choking clouds cover a large area with animated effects and often slows things down depending on what is going on.
There seems to be crashes here and there but these appear to be random and rarely occur. Even so its always best to save your game at every oportunity. This rare crash problem might only be limited to my machine ( its purpose of existence is to give me strife )

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A Guest once said to me "Oh I like Roleplaying, I just dont like it when people stand around pretending to be Vampires!"

10/24/2005, 1:38 pm

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Cadius
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Re: Roleplaying Games

heh that last one looks like a rip off of diablo....however doesn't look too horrible

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11/30/2005, 9:56 pm

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sokolkeep
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Re: Roleplaying Games

The Icewind Dale series was a good hack n'slash, and your right about the "suffers slight frame rate drops when many spell effects are on screen" thing. ALso it gets kind of difficult to see exactly what's going on + where your characters are when there's so much happening on screen. I'd prefer to fight less creatures but have them more powerful, but it was still fun all the same.