Imagine a world dominated by multinational corporations. A planet subjugated by profit margins, where global trade routes are fiercely battled over and lone pirates raid cargo-ship behemoths. That’s right: East India Company’s focus is on the years 1600 to 1750.
Although El Matador may look and sound like a new action title, it plays, acts and even smells like a familiar old game that didn't age very well. You're Victor Corbet, a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special mission agent tasked to take down Columbian drug thugs. Said crime lords evade the law by hiding behind behind thin yet impenetrable wood tables.
Computer-controlled buddies who should have your back constantly get in your way, shoving you aside and standing directly in front
Weve put over 60 hours of our lives into Oblivion. Weve cured ourselves of vampirism, cleaned the world of the Daedra, and pranced around on the equine equivalent of a Ferrari.
Now, after the near-extortion that was the Horse Armor mod (a whopping 200 Gamer Points!) and more reasonable additions like Mehrunes Razor and the Wizards Tower, here comes Knights – the first genuine expansion (if PC owners are wondering about that $19.99 price tag, its because their version also includes all
There are more than 160 missions in the original Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but the one everyone remembers is the errand you ran for the Daedric prince Sheogorath, also known as the “Mad God”. Why? Because it starts with a bunch of people in the woods wearing only their underwear, moves on to the planet's stinkiest cheese, and ends with – SPOILER ALERT – a hailstorm of flaming German Shepherds. There were other great missions, but this was the one that everyone talked
The third installment in the long-running and extremely popular Elder Scrolls series, Morrowind establishes a new standard in role-playing games. It's astonishing in its depth and detail, and also sets a new benchmark in graphics.
Morrowind's extreme open-endedness sets it apart. Despite the linear story, the way the other characters in the world interact with you changes based upon your actions. There are various guilds within the game, like the Assassins Guild, and whether or not they see
Elemental: War of Magic is convoluted and ridiculous and sometimes fun. Part of this convolution (and most of the fun) can be attributed to the genre, which is called 4X (it stands for explore, expand, exploit and exterminate. Get it? 4X?). If you’ve never played it, well, it’s sort of hard to explain; suffice it to say, there are multiple things to juggle and multiple ways to win...
Elements of War takes place in a near-future America where weather-based weapons research has resulted (predictably) in disaster. The experiments have spawned a massive storm system that has destroyed the American infrastructure, left the country in chaos and altered the world’s weather patterns. As members of a remnant force of the American military, you and your allies must piece the country back together while discovering the secrets behind the disaster. Standing in your way are foes intent on claiming the weather weapons and the remnants of America for themselves...
Visually striking battles, intricate maps and an intuitive interface make this a cerebrally satisfying and accessible fantasy strategy. Pleasantly non-linear, it offers hours of fun as you quest to retrieve a stolen spell. There’s some party micro-management here, but Legacy is mainly about turn-based combat.
Blasting the bulwarks off a medieval galleon using modern guided missiles seems strange at first, not to mention hideously one-sided. But if you've ever enjoyed pitting ants against a kettle, then you'll soon come to embrace the amusing inequalities of Empire Earth II.
From sticks and stones, to phalanx and arrows, to tactical lasers and the dreaded nuke, this game will take you on a crushing march through the history of warfare.
Taking the thematic thrust of Civilization, and wrapping it in
You can have too much of a good thing? What nonsense. Money, cake, sex, houses, cars: you find us someone who has too many of these things, and we'll show you a happy guy. But here's something you can have too much of: generic real-time strategy games. Since Age of Empires, new games and sequels alike have hopped on that bandwagon, waging their myriad wars in a way that makes you realize that history really is just deja vu all over again.
Empire Earth II was a hidden gem. Playing like the
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