Reviews

BySteven Carter
OnJanuary 28, 2006

Space Hack Review

A basic action-roleplaying game, Space Hack was clearly made on a tight budget. As such, it lacks many of the bells and whistles you'd expect from a title with high production values, which becomes very apparent over the course of the game's protracted and repetitive campaign. But with that being the case, at least it's stable, easy to play, and inexpensive.

BySteven Carter
OnJanuary 5, 2006

The Bard’s Tale Review

InXile Entertainment's The Bard's Tale has very little in common with its dungeon-crawling predecessors. Instead, it's a character-focused action-RPG that's smart, funny, and well acted. Somewhat surprisingly, it really succeeds there, to the point that even the game's basic mechanics, lacking choices, and short length feel palatable when seasoned with a thick layer of jokes.

ByVal Hull
OnOctober 6, 2005

Dungeon Siege II Review

An overall improvement over the original Dungeon Siege, Dungeon Siege II should be right up your alley if you like games like Diablo or Sacred. It brings plenty of new features to the table, multiple new pets, missions, randomized loot, competent party AI, and balanced classes. But if you're looking for a thoughtful and challenging CRPG, then you better look elsewhere, as Dungeon Siege II is just too linear, repetitive, poorly written, and has some awful puzzles.

BySteven Carter
OnAugust 4, 2005

Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast Review

The latest premium module for Neverwinter Nights - Pirates of the Sword Coast – is both longer and more expensive than its predecessors. But while it shows an impressive use of the Aurora toolkit, it's often dull to play both in and out of combat. And that makes the module's built-in replayability more of a chore than anything else.

ByVal Hull
OnMay 2, 2005

Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich Review

With its near perfect comic book storyline, great skirmish and multiplayer options, and good replay value, Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich is an absolute blast. A must-play for any comic book or RPG fan out there even despite the weak default character attacks and the fact that some heroes have repetitive in-game banter.

star wars knights of the old republic ii review featured image

ByVal Hull
OnApril 14, 2005

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords PC Review

While Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords improves on its already verbosely-titled predecessor in a lot of ways, both big and small, it also feels rushed and downright unfinished, which greatly sours the complete package. Still, if you enjoyed KotOR the original, chances are you'll also enjoy the sequel.

ByVal Hull
OnMarch 28, 2005

Fable Review

While Fable can't quite live up to the unreasonable expectations set up by its promotional campaign, it's still a gorgeous, fun, and smart game where a lot of your choices do matter and replayability is more than just a marketing gimmick. It is, however, a bit on the short side, and its obnoxious saving system isn't helping either.

ByVal Hull
OnMarch 21, 2005

Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption Review

A captivatingly quirky title, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption is varied, imaginative, and can be downright funny without trying too hard while masterfully mixing its medieval and modern worlds. And with that in mind, it's easier to overlook the game's clumsy combat, linear and straightforward quests, and party controls.

ByVal Hull
OnMarch 12, 2005

Gothic II Review

An engrossing RPG that addresses many of the shortcomings of its predecessor, Gothic II may suffer from slightly dated graphics and mediocre AI, but it still very much deserves a spot in any gamer's RPG library. After all, it offers us an intricate fantasy world to explore, improves the first Gothic's controls, and has plenty of replay value.

ByVal Hull
OnFebruary 24, 2005

Sacred Review

Even though it lacks a lot of the elements required to call it a proper RPG, Sacred still manages to be engrossing thanks to its stunning art and great graphics, ease of play, hundreds of quests, and open nature. Just keep in mind that it offers more action than role-playing, is limited to six pregenerated character types, and can be considered repetitive by some gamers.