You'll find beautiful textures, a good framerate, and very few polygonal error
So much has changed, in fact, that players with thousands of hours of Civ I or II under their belts would be well advised to read the entire manual and the Readme file before playing. Feel free to dive right in (as a certain overeager, unnamed gaming journalist did right until he got his derriere handed to him by the Germans), but little clues like 'settlers' and 'workers' being different units, cities having to be connected to certain resources by roads to build the best units, and the inability to irrigate off ocean squares will very quickly remind most players that this is a new game.
The heart of the game is still building a mere village into a globe-spanning empire that will endure for all time. As in previous games, this is done through building new cities, researching new technologies, building improvements in your cities, defending against and attacking your neighbors, and establishing diplomatic relationships where beneficial. Keeping your people happy while keeping up with the competing civilizations remains the key challenge of the game.
Unlike in the first two incarnations, however, players will have a very hard time using the same cookie-cutter strategy every time they play. Dozens of innovations make this possible, but the most significant is that the maximum size of a player's civilization is limited to 30-35 cities. Beyond that number, corruption becomes ridiculous. The resulting smaller empires mean trade and diplomacy are almost essential to survival, much less victory.
Just as culture has become more important, conquest is somewhat more difficult. Units face a movement penalty in enemy territory and city populations retain their nationality for centuries after they are captured (making them much more likely to overthrow your benevolent rule). These limitations, combined with the importance of culture and the robust diplomacy model, mean that even the most bloodthirsty Civ players will at least consider nonviolent strategies in certain situations.
Nevertheless, those who insist on swords over plowshares will not be disappointed by their options in Civilization III. Although the game is clearly about much more than combat, armchair generals will still have a wide variety of combined arms units available to send out to make the world safe for their despotic rule. Although veteran units are handled somewhat differently than in past games and barracks never (!) expire, combat will feel familiar to experienced players. Strong defensive units in all cities are essential, and mobility and attack strength will carry the day in offense.
Your ability to keep up with all the war, peace, diplomacy, happiness, construction, finances, and trade has been dramatically improved. The advisors' reports provide a huge amount of information in a single place. They are also interactive, allowing you to zoom to trouble spots and make change quickly. Even leaders of the most sprawling empires should have no trouble maintaining a bird's eye view of the status of their realm..
Sadly, these changes come packaged with a few flaws. Most notable of these is the inability to turn on or off the massive corruption beyond 30-35 cities. For many players, the great joy of the Civ series is building a truly massive civilization and trying to keep it running. They should still have the option if they want it (although it is nice to play a game with no ridiculously large superpowers). There are also significantly smaller problems like happy citizens who look just like content ones, advisors who can't remember the player's name, and national boundaries that take far too long to become useful.
God strike
The physics in the original were surprisingly good
Ever get caught in traffic when you were late to an important meeting? Ever have to sit at a crosswalk while a lady old enough to remember the last Ice Age feebly 'attempts' to cross the street? Ever get stuck behind a fancy new Mercedes because the driver is too engrossed in his cell phone conversation to realize the light has been green for nearly two weeks? The sensation of bitter anger and fury that races through your veins while driving is unrivaled. I've seen nuns screaming bloody murder because some jerk forgot to signal. May God strike him dead!
Well, European gamers SCI (Sales Curve Interactive), developers of the surprise hit Carmageddon, thought it necessary to continue their psychological foray into the realm of auto-massacre with this follow-up, the aptly titled Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now. With updated graphics, more bloodshed, and a strong physics engine, this one is sure to please the twisted maniac in all of us.
The physics in the original were surprisingly good, and, thankfully, they remain the same here. The cars handle fairly realistically, an odd feature for such an action-oriented game. You have to get pretty good at driving before you'll succeed. The control can be a bit wily, but it just takes some getting used to. The cool physics carry into the cool car damage modeling. Smash into a wall and you'll look like an accordion. Get rear-ended and watch your back fender fall off. Very neat stuff.
The biggest improvement is in the graphics. Unlike the pixely mess of the original (it was DOS based), Carmageddon 2 is optimized for full 3D acceleration. You'll find beautiful textures, a good framerate, and very few polygonal errors. The beginning FMV is a bit shoddy, however, though this has nothing to do with the game itself. Utilizing 3Dfx and D3D technology adequately, Carmageddon 2 is easy on the eyes.
This graphical overhaul also means that the pedestrians are much more realistic. You're no longer careening into little 2D people. All objects in the game are polygonal, which opens up a whole new world of pedestrian dismemberment. Arms go flying, heads pop off and roll into walls, and legs fall off and squirt blood on the ground. This game is not for the peace-loving hippie types.
It's this very violence that will determine whether or not you're going to like the game. Carmageddon 2 offers the most over-the-top brutality I've seen in a game since the archaic gore-fest Harvester. The amount of blood is prodigious, and it's not always human. You'll plow into enough dogs, cows, sheep, moose, and other animals to give Old MacDonald a coronary. I actually felt a little guilty after playing, like I had just done something very, very naughty. This is really a title that shouldn't be played by kids, and I NEVER say that.
But, as always, there's bad to offset all of the good. In this case, the bad is wrapped up in two words - NO MULTIPLAYER. Well, you can play over a LAN, but very few of us actually do that. The lack of Internet play in today's market is a grievous omission, particularly due to the nature of the game. The destruction derby format is tailored made for multiplayer, yet you're stuck playing alone.
I still wish someone would come up with a good story to complement the gruesome gameplay. A bizarre and twisted plot would flesh out the game immensely, giving the characters and cars more depth. (Think Death Race 2000 - Ed.)
Overall, I'm really pleased with Carmageddon 2. The absence of multiplayer, however, is hard to justify and brings the grade down a notch. But for the most part, it fixes all of the minor problems with the original, and adds some flavor along the way. Now go buckle up and kill the innocents - they deserve it.
As Carmageddon 2 is a sequel, go read the review of the original to familiarize yourself with the basic idea. For those of you too lazy to click on the link, the basic idea involves racing around various tracks trying to destroy other opponents. You also have the ability to squash pedestrians and other innocent bystanders for extra cash and big fun. In fact, the more you kill, the better you score. This is simply the most violent and brutal game in town.
For the most part, Carmageddon 2 is just an updated version of the original. Most gameplay elements stay the same. You collect power-ups (there are 90 different ones) and ram enemies, though the most fun comes from thinking up new and interesting ways to kill the pedestrians.
Like the original, the track design is excellent. The levels are huge and you don't have to stick to the roadways. In fact, you can drive just about anywhere. This means that exploration is a necessity and a great way to find cool hidden power-ups. In fact, I spend most of my time roaming around the tracks looking for new places to go (and turning innocent bystanders into mush).
One new feature is the salvaging. After winning a race (almost always by destroying other cars), you can buy any car you destroyed provided you have enough dough. You can then use that car in any race, as it becomes part of your stable. This adds a layer of depth and lets you drive different cars early on.
Another new addition is a mission format. You can choose any one of 4 races in a Group, but to open up the next Group you must complete the final race in the Group, dubbed the "mission." Missions require you to learn different aspects of driving and you're usually racing alone. It's a nifty feature and makes it difficult to just charge through all the tracks.
s
fascination
Battle Isle 2220
I've always had a bizarre fascination with those feisty Norwegians. For instance, did you know that the average annual precipitation of Norway is a whopping 29 inches? Or that the often neglected Norwegian Elkhound is an artful hunter of the often misunderstood Norwegian mountain bear? I know what you're thinking- 'Hey mister-reviewer guy, tell us something we don't know!' Okay. Were you aware that the Norwegian national anthem, better known as, "Ja, Vi Elker Dette Landete," bears a striking resemblance to the Yuletide classic, "Deck the Halls?" And if you haven't guessed, those delectably spunky Norwegians (who live under a parliamentary monarchy) have jumped headfirst into the great swimming pool of PC gaming with this unremarkable (but quite Norwegian) war simulation.
Battle Isle 2220 is pretty much your standard hexagon-based strategy thang. The plot revolves around the fictitious struggle between two fictitious factions of a remote world (fictitious). The Drulls represent the "bad" guys, the empire which has GREATLY mistreated the underrepresented Kai people. You are thrust into the role of Caro, a rebel leader who has crash landed on an 'uncharted desert isle' (go ahead, hum the tune). You discover an ancient race of Kai rulers who rather ungraciously demand that you carry out their orders to emancipate the bedraggled Kai. Seizing the opportunity, you are commissioned to commandeer legendary war machines and violently eradicate any and all resistance. To put it simply, you make them all go BOOM!
The gameplay involves the point and click system. By clicking on a unit you can obtain information regarding ammunition, movement capability, and ranking. Movement and attacking are the bread and butter of the action, this being the hallmark of strategy gaming. Thankfully, the creators of Battle Isle have developed a fairly competent artificial intelligence system; that is, the computer plays like a veteran opponent. This increases the difficulty (I've yet to get past the eighth level - there are twenty) and makes for a well-planned game with a high replay value.
The graphics in the actual game are surprisingly simple. The combat sequences look good at first glance, but become increasingly repetitive, repeating in a repetitious and often repeated manner. The opening video is LONG. In fact, video sequences abound and while this may seem like a plus, the acting is straight out of a Susan Powter infomercial training seminar.
By far the most rewarding and electrifying aspect of this game is the dubbing. That's right, the dubbing. The game designers employed a crack squad of Norwegian actors and actresses, after which they dubbed in English-speaking voice-overs. This gives the game a nice Kung-Fu effect (though the script is slightly more elaborate and Norwegian). One wonders if anything was lost in the translation, like DRAMA.
The sound is exactly what you'd figure - tense sonorities elaborated in an alternation between minor and major modes, utilizing some aspects of Schoenberg's twelve tone system to create a haunting and thoroughly chromatic mood. In other words, snappy little tunes thrown together on a Casio. The main theme is performed by the all-Norwegian metal group, Still Patient (a mix between Judas Priest and ABBA).
Let me be honest. There's nothing particularly wrong with this game. However, there's nothing particularly right with the game either. Battle Isle 2220 is as standard a strategy game as I have ever seen, with bonus points for difficulty and minus points for blandness. To get the full affect, I advise dusting off those old Norway travel books and learning a little about the country. While this won't achieve anything concerning your success with the game, it's better than wasting your time surfing the net (he says with a sly grin and a pint of frothy Norwegian lager).
If you haven't had the privilege of experiencing the original, you're missing out. Brought to you by Pyro Studios and Eidos Interactive, the Commandos series is an extremely challenging action/strategy game set during World War II. You lead a bunch of elite soldiers on impossible missions for the Allied cause, leaving a trail of enemies in your wake. Everything is set in a top-down perspective with stealth as the key to victory.
Each mission requires you to discreetly disable throngs of enemy soldiers in order to accomplish your objective. This is definitely not an easy task when the bad guys are on guard for any noises or abnormal occurrences. Solid Snake ain't got nothin' on these guys.
If it were any cooler, a snow jacket would be one of the minimum requirements. Well, go grab a parka - Commandos 2 adds plenty of cool new stuff to an already cool series. The original team of six (Green Beret, Sapper, Diver, Driver, Spy, and Sniper) returns to the front along with the expansion pack's Seductress. New for this iteration is the Thief (who can climb walls & hide like a 4-year-old) and the Dog (who does, well, dog things).
flavored cheesy
the commandos have also gained some new toys
Life is full of challenges. First there's that whole "being born" thing, which really doesn't seem like a very pleasant experience. Then for the next 18 years, it's all about getting a good education. And finally when we become adults, the challenge is simply to find a job that supports the never-ending Mountain Dew and Doritos habit with enough time left over for video games.
I'm happy to say that I passed my birth test with flying colors and somehow finagled a college degree. I've even found a way to keep the cupboards stocked with plenty of Dew and artificially flavored cheesy goodness while playing video games for a living.
The commandos have also gained a few new abilities to make their jobs easier. First off, anyone can don an enemy uniform for a limited amount of time, except for the the Spy and Seductress, who are able to use this feature indefinitely. Some members also have the ability to climb walls and poles, duck in and out of windows, and even swing their way across cables. Looks like these guys have been training hard since we last saw them.
In addition to new abilities, the commandos have also gained some new toys. Sleeping pills are useful with the right vintage of wine and gas grenades are great for taking out groups of enemies. There's even a blowtorch and rocket launcher should you want the situation to get messy. And of course there are several vehicles to take for test drives, including tanks, jeeps and hot-air balloons.
Like before, the joy of Commandos 2 is its non-linear strategy. You are given a specific set of mission objectives, but it's completely up to you how the job gets done. Let's say you have to get past the main gate of an enemy base with four guards at the door. You could (1) Have your Seductress go undercover and distract them while your Green Beret clubs them over the head one by one; (2) Send the dog out to steal their attention while the Spy sneaks up from behind and drugs them; (3) Drop a few sleeping pills into a bottle of wine and leave it in a conspicuous place for the thirsty guys to find; and even (4) Toss a few gas grenades in to send them all to sleepy land. So many choices, so little time.
To add depth, there is a bonus objective to complete. If you are able to locate all of the "puzzle" pieces scattered throughout the map, you'll unlock a bonus mission that leads to a medal if completed.
Unlike the original game, an emphasis has been placed on just how you accomplish your mission. Your performance is graded with respect to time, injury sustained, areas visited, detection, and the manner in which you neutralize your enemies. So to get the highest rating and a 'promotion', you'll need to cover ground fast without being seen or injured. You'll also need to use non-lethal means of disabling enemies for maximum points. I think that's why the Green Beret looks so pissed on the box cover. He hasn't been able to use his knife all campaign long.
Graphically, Commandos 2 looks better than ever with its new 3D engine. Now, players can rotate the environments a full 360 degrees as well as zoom in and out. The textures are fantastic and the definition of the buildings and locations is superb. The zoom feature really helps the gameplay, though things get pixilated when you get in too close. Got a Geforce 3 card? Good for you, but the game doesn't care as it doesn't utilize 3D hardware. I wish the developers would have taken advantage of this, but as it stands, software mode is pretty darn good.
We've been waiting a while for this game, which makes it even more irritating that it comes packed with a few nasty bugs. Most common are the random crashes that spit you back to the desktop. I also experienced a bug on the mission called "White Death" where the Sapper got cloned and followed the real Sapper around. I even had to call tech support for one of the bonus missions. Turns out it wasn't a bug, just bad directions. Escape in the amphibious vehicle - NOT the truck. Sheesh.
Commandos 2 is a hard game. Those without degrees in strategy gaming will find their task daunting and, in many cases, too hard to accomplish. Lucky for me I'm well versed in the ways of the special forces.
But even with these annoyances, Commandos 2 provides hours of strategic fun. The high difficulty level may discourage those with little patience, but if it were any easier, it wouldn't be as much fun. Grab your momma's army boots and get ready to put some serious hurt on the enemy.
Although the nearly transparent interface works very well with practice, it is counter-intuitive at times. The inexcusable absence of a quick reference card for keyboard commands makes this particularly true. Likewise, longtime fans will be disappointed to know that the days of huge posters listing military units and technology advances are apparently a victim of increased production costs. The outstanding Civilopedia compensates well for this, but it's still a noticeable absence.
With all that said, the minor improvements alone would still make Civilization III a must have for any strategy gamer. The game is still frighteningly addictive, constantly dangling new accomplishments in front of players who, at 3 am, are still planning on playing "just one more turn." Sid's huge revision to the core gameplay, however, allows the game to finally reach the potential first hinted at by its predecessors.
Players now have the opportunity to fully explore and experiment with the complex factors that make a nation great or forgettable. Civilization III offers a gameplay experience that, while fun and addictive, is also profound and thought provoking. It excels as a history lesson, as social commentary, an intellectual puzzle, and an infinitely replayable, highly enjoyable game.
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Espionage is the one exception to this. For some reason, despite its key role in the game, it gets neither its own advisor nor its own summary/management screen. Unlike diplomacy, espionage is managed from the map screen, which is the main interface for the game.
Like everything else in Civ III, the main map has been significantly improved to allow the player ready access to key information. Likewise, players can make important changes to cities and their units without having to switch to the "city" screen. This is an enormous time-saver and allows players to spend most of their time looking at the map.
Other new features include user-operated powerups, auto-save, and a deeper car upgrade system.
In one of the coolest flashbacks ever, the music in Carmageddon 2 includes three songs from legendary rockers Iron Maiden (insert head-bang here). And it rules. There's nothing quite like slamming a fat guy through a telephone pole and into a brick wall while 'Ace's High' blasts out of your speakers. Whoever thought of using Maiden deserves a beer. 'Nuff said.
In addition, each civilization plays differently. Some civilizations are more inclined to war, others to research, and still others to trade. Although these characteristics can be turned off, civilization-specific units cannot, and the early-game impact of the Persian Immortals or the late-game devastation of the German Panzers cannot be overstated. The uniqueness of the different civilizations virtually guarantees that, even on the same map, each game plays differently.
They've also made alternative victories much more viable. Although the first two games claimed to offer alternative paths to victory, the reality was that almost every game amounted to keeping the population happy enough to allow the player's huge armies to conquer the world. That is certainly not the case in Civ III. It is actually possible for a relatively small civilization to take over rival cities (and win the entire game) by building a civilization that is far more culturally advanced than their neighbors.
Fortunately, the map is easy on the eyes. As mentioned in the GR preview, the overall design elements are built around Pieter Bruegel's Tower of Babel. The painting's influence is particularly obvious in the city view, but the buildings and colors on the map are also clearly inspired by Bruegel's work. In addition to being pretty, the map screen looks more realistic than any randomly generated land-masses in previous games by any publisher. The rest of the graphics in the game are also attractive, consistent with the design theme, and a significant improvement over past games.
The other upgrades and improvements are too numerous to list. To name just a few: workers can now be automated to specific tasks; there is no need to build freight/caravan units; military units can be upgraded collectively; the "city view" screen and palace have returned, and city governors actually work (if you configure them properly)
That God, as universal Creator, is Sovereign 101 Lord and proprietor of all created things or existences, visible or invisible, is certain; for the maker has the absolute right to the thing made; it is his, and he may do with it as he will. As he is sole creator, he alone hath dominion; and as he is absolute creator, he has absolute dominion over all the things which he has made. The guaranty against oppression is his own essential nature, is in the plenitude of his own being, which is the plenitude of wisdom and goodness. He cannot contradict himself, be other than he is, or act otherwise than according to his own essential nature. As he is, in his own eternal and immutable essence, supreme reason and supreme good, his dominion must always in its exercise be supremely good and supremely reasonable, therefore supremely just and equitable. From him certainly is all power; he is unquestionably King of kings, and Lord of lords. By him kings reign and magistrates decree just things. He may, at his will, set up or pull down kings, rear or overwhelm empires, foster the infant colony, and make desolate the populous city. All this is unquestionably true, and a simple dictate of reason common to all men.
So much has changed, in fact, that players with thousands of hours of Civ I or II under their belts would be well advised to read the entire manual and the Readme file before playing. Feel free to dive right in (as a certain overeager, unnamed gaming journalist did right until he got his derriere handed to him by the Germans), but little clues like 'settlers' and 'workers' being different units, cities having to be connected to certain resources by roads to build the best units, and the inability to irrigate off ocean squares will very quickly remind most players that this is a new game.
God strike
Ever get caught in traffic when you were late to an important meeting? Ever have to sit at a crosswalk while a lady old enough to remember the last Ice Age feebly 'attempts' to cross the street? Ever get stuck behind a fancy new Mercedes because the driver is too engrossed in his cell phone conversation to realize the light has been green for nearly two weeks? The sensation of bitter anger and fury that races through your veins while driving is unrivaled. I've seen nuns screaming bloody murder because some jerk forgot to signal. May God strike him dead! 
Well, European gamers SCI (Sales Curve Interactive), developers of the surprise hit Carmageddon, thought it necessary to continue their psychological foray into the realm of auto-massacre with this follow-up, the aptly titled Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now. With updated graphics, more bloodshed, and a strong physics engine, this one is sure to please the twisted maniac in all of us. 
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