Computer game reviews

I am still in the U.S. for another few weeks, and I am shopping for some new PC games to bring back with me. I was at Fryes electronic store and I was overwhelmed with the PC game selection. I would like to get some feedback on the following games.

Oblivion
Call of Duty II
Civilization IV (and the expansion pack)

I did buy Hearts of Iron II and wow what a cool game (especially if you enjoy Axis and Allies the board game). I bought this after buying Hearts of Iron for $5 and mildly enjoying it. I say mildly because there is software bugs that need patches to shore it up. It was a good game for those who enjoy stratagey games and will take a huge chunk of one's time. Since I have bought the Hearts opf Iron II ( and love it) I will give thie original away once I arrive in Munich. If anyone has any good recommendations post it. It is cheaper for me to buy locally in Portland than in Munich.

Cheers!

@Mods
Your choice to crosslink or merge with previous PC links. I just thought it might be a good place to share reviews for gamers.

I wouldn't play any of the others, but I love Civ IV & expansion

...though oddly enough, I prefer Civ III.

They're games you either really like the style of, or don't...so I don't think much of a review is necessary. Obviously Civ is far off of the other couple you mentioned...

I'm currently playing Oblivion and I think its great. If you like RPG's at all then go for it.

Apparently the German Oblivion is hilarious in its translation. Otherwise, the RV game is meant to be quite good.

How does Oblivion compare to Morrowind III? I had read reviews where people mentioned that the levelling up of monsters was irritating (as you levelled up) as you never got strong enough to swipe goblins away with the flick of a hand.

I haven't played Morrowind so I can't really compare them. As for the levelling system there is a mod available to download which fixes that problem, so that you can become powerful compared to ceratin foes while not being able to tackle certain ones until a higher level.
Mind you the standard leveling in the game has its advantages as well, in so far as you can do any quest at anytime whatever your level and the game is always challenging rather than becoming easier as you progress.

I was seriously addicted to Morrowind and Baldur's Gate years ago... don't know if I should open that can of worms again. You know when you get so involved in games, you tend to see the "outside" world in the same terms?

From a "You Know You're Played Too Much..." Site
If you're going out with a bunch of people, you find yourself saying "I must gather my party before venturing forth"
When someone approaches you, you tell them "Speak quickly, or go away!"
You can only fall asleep at night after summoning allies and casting protection spells on yourself in case you're attacked by a wandering group of umberhulks.

You haven't had sex with your partner for days because "I'll be along to bed in a minute honey..."

Baldur's Gate...my god, if you only knew how much time I had spent on that game. But it was an excellent game

I'm a huge Civ IV fan, and ordered the Warlords expansion pack today, in fact.
After listening to SiM wax lyrical about Oblivion, I decided to order that at the same time - it's apparently similar to Dungeon Quest and I spent hours playing that when it first came out

and of course, there's Sims2
i my Sims

Maybe you should buy that Call of Duty one, you can always have a try out of the other games when you get here.

FAB news that you're coming back, btw YAY!!!
Are you gonna have a "Guess who's back" party? I think you should

I have been plazing Oblivion for about 2 weeks, with a short break over the last few dazs as I have downgraded mz PC to windows xp 64 bit and cant get sod all to work, I have to admit it is really good

Ah, that is one thing that you have to watch out for with Oblivion. You need a really high spec PC to run the game properly.

ps
thanks to stephen at genesis systems for lending me a copy of the 64 bit OS

I lived inside Morrowind for about a year. Thing is, it was far too easy to simply become ridiculously powerful, drink a few hundred intelligence potions, and craft weapons that could take out dremora in one whack. Have not risked oblivion yet, but if they've made it so that monsters also "level up", can only be a good thing really.

they have
the monsters use magic to heal themselves as well...so gets harder as you go ...also very easy to make mistakes/judgment errors early on in the game that cause you shed loads of problems later

And you can become a vampire in Oblivion as well...

and you can spend real proper spondies on buying houses and shit to store your various belongings (swords, magic cloaks and the like) in during the game - or so i've been told, anyroad

http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/when-play...ge#contentSwap1

Addicted gamers are flocking to a detox clinic that helps them regain control of their lives

That is what I was afraid of but the graphs look awesome and it is the kind of games I love.

Just bought Morrowind III and love it. I will now buy Oblivion the trailer for it looks too good.

You can turn down some of the graphics levels a bit should your PC have problems running it smoothly.

Jesus I made that statement the 28th and I am still playing Morrorwind. That game is addicting. I just came off a six hour session ( sad I know but just got a fresh...).

Has anyone tried out the new Lord of the Rings PC game that was just released? It is suppose to be the best one from theLOTR series.

I can currently give a big thumbs up to Burnout Revenge on the xbox360. I have always disliked driving games, they bore me rigid, but Burnout rewards you for driving like an arsehole, so all good with me. Online play is ace, but bloody frustrating at the beginning, because everyone beats you by miles.

Also super awesome is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, although it has a really tupid name that just took me far too long to type. Its a tactical shooter, so you cannot just leg it about firing off bullets randomly and hope for the best - its all commanding your little team to bust down doors and shoot shit. I like it. Lots actually. First Tom Clancy game I've ever got into.

i also got vegas but never tried it, maybe time to give a shot. Gears of war is also pretty cool i must say

God of War 2 made me think of buying a PS2.

Got some extra cash looking for some ideas for software/games to bring back to Germany.

Supreme Commander is definitely worth a bash.

Just started playing Bioshock and it's imo the best game I've played since Half Life 2.

As far as normal gaming, I'm still with Civ IV

However, as far as online gaming, I've been racing a lot. Project Torque
(I'm NOFXmike on there too, if you want to race me)

All I've been playing lately is starcraft... looking forward to the next version!

Heroes of Might & Magic 3... all time favorite

Red Ochestra - Awsome

Based on the demo I played yesterday of it, I won't be buying The Darkness. But don't take my opinion for it, take Yahtzee Croshaw's

I've played the demo of BioShock, the opening scene looks great on HDTV. Gameplay isnt too bad, I'm just not too sure about it. I get delivery of Halo 3 this week, so I'll be mostly playing that.

Finished Stalker, great game.

Yeah, Stalker's great - but it did promise a whole lot more than what it actually did and sometimes the AI bugs are absolutely hilarious/ridiculous. Gameplay's really solid though.

Just bought World In Conflict for the PC too, and I'm looking very much forward to playing it - apparently it's bloody darned amazing online.

Medal of Honor Airborne its the bolloks

It's ok, but it's not all that good compared to the old Medal of Honor games, the original Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms.

Company of Heroes is definitely a game I can get behind. One of the most cinematic RTS games I've ever played.

I played that all this weekend - its pretty damn entertaining. A good mixture of RTS elements but focuses on a smaller scale with the # of units you control. A game with alot of players gets pretty intense.

And it has the coolest mushroom clouds i've seen in a game

Bioshock was a blast but way too easy.

I've still yet to play Bioshock. From what I've heard, it's pretty but not especially deep in terms of gameplay - unlike it's spiritual predecessor System Shock 2.

Just completed Bioschock being the nice guy. Want to complete it again as the bad guy. Great game... some seriously scary moments.

Sam N Max has some good laughs in it now thats its released fully.

After that I find that most new games dont appeal to me anymore. Its all been done before that I can see. Currently working on "Command and Conquer - the first decade". They just dont make em like they used to anymore do they

Nope to me it seems they make them exactly the same as they used to but with just sexy new graphics.

There's some great, charming games out there, they're just not being marketed as much as the big hitters, ala Halo. Also, they don't have to be innovative all the time to be fun.

I'm looking especially forward to Assassin's Creed, which looks like it could be a delight to play seeing as it's being made by the same team that made Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (and not the other two).

Have you been reading a marketing dictionary?

Oblivion is excellent, Sub-command is incredibly complex (U.S Navy use parts of it as a training vehicle). Stalker is good if a little short and easy. Commandos strike force is excellent and quite old so a real bargain, Medieval total war II is excellent and one 1 keep coming back to (along with Commando strike force).

Going to order Bioshock plus one that I cannot remember now that is released this year (not helpful, I know)

Team Fortress 2??? That game is going to be amazing!!

Next big releases I'm waiting for are Resident Evil 5 and GTA IV, both are pencilled in for next year though.

I am looking for a game that will be released later this year. It is about some bloke that is involved with the occult and has disappeared but is thought to be involved in some murders. I saw it on Sky Tv games review and cannot remember the name of it. I think it is part of a series and it looked really good on the review (my wife jumped and said she was scared, but she is a Sims player)

Got it, it is this...

http://www.gameplaymonthly.com/screens/darknesswithin.php