Rating Key
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Rank	Meaning	Rank	Meaning
0	Umm, hello? Isn't there supposed to be code here?	5	Well, it could be worse, but it isn't better
1	Pew! who did that!?	6	Say ... not bad
2	I didn't know frogs could write code!	7	Hmmm... pretty cool. It'll keep me amused for a while.
3	I think hiring 8 year olds may be financially sound, but maybe the product will suffer.	8	Cool! Now how'd they do that?!
4	The ship date is tomorrow? No problem! I work well under pressure!	9	*sniff* I dream of stuff like this!
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10	I am blinded by it's greatness!

Deymious' Game List
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Age of Empires 2	1CD	Real Time Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			7.5	8	6	7	8
An enjoyable strategy game in which you build a civilization and trounce the other guy(s). The campaign mode follows a couple different races through historic campaigns, such as the trials of Saladin and the emergence of Joan of Arc as France's greatest heroine. The graphics are crisp and clean for their size. No 3D required. The sounds are uninspired yet apropriate but the music I had to turn off after 5 minutes. The gameplay is quick and intuitive, the only beef I have is that the advanced army controls are NOT available until you play the beginner's campaign. Overall a good, solid game that has a nice grounding in historical events.
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Alien versus Predator	2CDs	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5.5	6.5	7	6	6
You are either an Alien, Predator or Colonial Marine and take part in species-specific missions ultimately racking up a body count composed of the other species. The graphics are nice and the species are well-balanced. A rather difficult game though. Personal resource management and stealth are essential or else you'll become a grease spot in no time.
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Arcannum	2CDs	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	6	6	6	6
Straight 6s... all the way down, in other words, unremarkable, but not bad. The Black Isle team (the makers of Fallout) tried to do something new with RPGs again, their successes with Fallout and Fallout ][ not enough, but they didn't quite have the 'gaming genius' tap on. Arcannum is set at some ambiguous time around the onset of the Industrial Revolution on some remote isle. The whole idea being that you can customize your character as you wish. You can have any kind of character, from a knight in shining armor to a 1800s MacGuyver to a herbalist/animal summoner. The story is there, but the most annoying thing about it is that you have to go and pursue it. It doesn't unfold from pure exploration as in Fallout 1 and 2. The graphics are the standard Fallout fare, barely different from anything seen before, the sounds are fine, the music is fine... but it really doesn't distinguish itself. Being able to play as any kind of character IS pretty cool, and allows a LOT of replay value. Play through as a knight and then try playing through as a mage or a technologist, facing the same problems, but having to solve them differently. This is a nice touch, but a game's value shouldn't have to rest entirely on replayability. Pretty cool... but that's about it.
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Baldur's Gate	4CDs + Install	Fantasy RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	6.5	6	4	5
I was quite excited when I had heard about Baldur's Gate, a well-established Fantasy saga transferred (at least in part) to a computer game! What could be better? Unfortunately, quite a bit. The story is decent although it really does drag if you can't find the next piece in a timely manner. Graphics are nothing to scream about, but they are nice. The sounds are okay and the music fits well enough. Overall though I found this one rather frustrating since the gameplay is a little TOO nonlinear and the location of the next next story piece is really never easy to figure out.
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Carmageddon	1CD	Car Combat/Racing	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			0	7	8	8	9
An oldie but a GOODIE! Win the race any way you can... get to the finish before the other racers, or just take 'em out. No story, just complete the race, preferably in one piece. You're on the clock and on a budget, but this is one of the few games in which mowing down innocent pedestrians is rewarded! An old game, very light 3D, but what they got they do a good job with. The pumping metal sound track is great for tearing apart your opponents with fender-monuted Titanium spikes while old ladies bounce off the hood of your car! The controls are a little tough to get used to, but after you do you should have no problems.
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Carmageddon ][	1CD	Car Combat/Racing	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			3	5	7	6	5
The successor to the acclaimed original. I think there's a story somewhere, but Carmageddon really doesn't lend itself to needing a REASON to ram into pedestrians. On whole actually rather disappointing. The original's graphics were gritty and pixelated, but that lent it some of its charm and set the mood. The sequel's graphics are just too clean and plain, almost cartoony. The sound is unimpressive, the original's is just as good, and it's pretty sad if you can't improve a LITTLE in over ten years. The only reason it got a decent rating is the Iron Maiden soundtrack. Once again the Carmageddon team got a good band to do the music. There is a certain thrill to plowing through pedestrians to the chorus of 'Aces High'. The gameplay is the same 'ol, with powerups and pedestrians and areas accessable only through use of powerups and some imagination. Overall a rehash of the original that lost the gritty evil aura and wound up just another driving game.
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Clans	1CD	Hack & Slash RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			2	5	5	3	4
An old game I picked up for about 5 bucks. Save the world, slay the monsters. The game becomes quite difficult after level 1 and you WILL die at least once by then. Good for its time, but its time has passed
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Command & Conquer	1CD	Real Time Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.5	6	7.5	7.5	8
The game that gave birth to the Real Time Strategy game as we know it today, and kicked off a billion spinoffs and bad imitaions. The story was worked rather well into the game with FMVs after every mission and actually flows well! The graphics are decent for the day, but that's about it. The sounds are repetitive, yet well done and the variety of the music is great. The game flows well and despite one or two missions that requite pinpoint precision the lack of fine control doesn't quite matter. Overall a good game, promising many hours of great military conquest fun.
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Crusader: No Remorse	1CD	Third Person Shooter/Adventure	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4.5	7.5	6	6	6.5
Crusder: No Remorse is downright fun for all those of us who always wanted to be a ultra-high tech super powerfull whiz-bang assassin gone renegade. In other words, it appeals to all ages. An older game that holds you at the now-famous 3/4 bird's-eye view while you 'Crusade' your way through crowds of innocent scientists and the occasional guard (at least on easy mode). The story is somewhat clumsy, if you are determined to follow it you should be fine, it just requires a fair amount of work. Sounds are adequate and the music is repetitive (deja vu!). The movement controls are somewhat complicated with running, crouching, rolling, jumping, etc. On the whole an enjoyable shoot-em-up as long as you really don't want to do much other than blast a couple baddies.
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Death Rally	1CD	Car Combat/Racing	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4	6	6.5	7	7
Again, an old game, but good programming dies hard. I admire the attempt at a story: race, blast and otherwise claw your way to the top of the pack to have a shot at the big boss. The graphics are pre-3D but they rated so high because they are rather crisp and cartoony, much like the environment of the rest of the game. The cars look a lot like the little Matchbox cars, except with guns. The sound is good and blends with the game well to produce an overall light almost tounge-in-cheek feel. Also, the music didn't make me shut it off after a few iterations, which is a plesant change. Overall a decent piece of software that's still quite fun although it has passed its heyday.
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Descent: Freespace	2 + mission pack	Space Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.5	6.7	6.5	7.5	7.3
It's sometime in the distant future and Earth is fighting for its life against an alien race when another alien race comes in and starts whomping on everybody. The graphics are average 3D fare, although the texturing is obvious close up. Sounds are fine as is the music but again gameplay gives this one a good spin. The ability to configure your allies' weapon loadout before almost all of the missions is great and I personally love the ranks and medals which are sometimes awarded for meeting unadvertised goals. The medal system and multiple difficulty settings provide a good level of replayability to a game that can be completed over an afternoon. The Silent Threat bonus pack is excellent, with you joining up with the special forces and taking part in many dubious and blatantly illegal missions in order to serve the government's needs and preserve the human\good alien alliance.
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Descent: Freespace 2	2CDs	Space Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4.5	6.8	6.5	6.5	6
The successor to the original Freespace, I had my expectations pretty high, and they didn't do too bad. The graphics were nice, I particularly enjoyed flying through dense nebulae, lightening arcing everywhere. The sound was about the same but the story was incredibly bad. The original story was inspired and flowed very well with the game, I guess they lost the writers for this one. The story stutters and spits, hacking along, never really making enough sense. Every mission it seemed you need about twice as much story information as you get to understand anything. A lot of little gripes too... all the weapons are new versions of the old ones, fine, that's reasonable, but that's no reason to name them Avenger XM21321-123 B (Standard). The weapon names and functions really are needlessly complicated, and you get new ones too quickly. There's a deluge of new missles and guns throughout the game. I like the fact that the flight training is broken up and includes training in three different ship classes, but I would have preferred training in the weapons more than a subsystem targeting review. The game is also too short. If you elect to not participate in the 'exteremely dangerous' special missions, it's even shorter. I completed it, participating in one set of special missions, in less than half a day. That's nothing compared to the original. Too much 'get this out the door'-itiveness permeated the whole thing. Couple this with the fact that the publisher NO LONGER SELLS IT and I can barely recommend this one. Play the original.
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Diablo	1CD	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	6.5	6	6.2	6.8
The first really good computer-based RPG I've seen in a while. Not much more than a Hack'n'Slash, but it's wrapped up in a very pretty package. It uses the 3/4 bird's eye view with a mouse-heavy interface. In other words, it looks good and is easy to use. The story is better than most, in that it is there and it won't make you retch. You have to work your way from a cathedral's basement to the pits of Hell and take on the Dark Lord Diablo on his home turf and save the world by so doing. The journey is spiced up by quests, unique items and magical weapons and armor on the way. Overall pretty good, although it gets a little tired as you approach the end and it's more staying power than interest that usually keeps me there until the game's end.
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Diablo ][	3 CDs	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			3	5.7	5	3.5	4.2
It's time for a rematch! The Dark Lord isn't quite out for the count and it's up to you to go in there and TKO the beast. Do it for the gipper! The sequel to the incredibly popular and incredibly good Diablo, a game that defined the mouse-based RPG. Unfortunately, I think the Dark Lord had a hand in the production, because frankly this game blows. The graphics are okay, but they are basically only a pumped-up version of the original's. I was expecting a little more after so many years. The sound was uninspired, and the music was basically fine. The thing that really killed this one was twofold; the utter lack of story and wretched gameplay. You would think that maybe there would be more of a story element in this one, no... you just progress from area to area, hacking and slashing different nasties. At least in the original you had SOME kind of story going on. I mean, it wasn't much, but it was SOMETHING. Plus you could get optional quests... this INVOLVED you in the game... hey, Blizzard, you listening? Besides the lack of story the gameplay is shit mostly because it was horrendously engineered. You go outside, you kill baddies, you go back to town, you rest, you come out... and THEY ARE BACK!?! Yes, that's right, EVERYTHING RESPAWNS! I mean, what, did they have Chuckles the Clown overseeing this one? Even the chests respawn, offering you treasure once again. So, basically, as soon as you start playing you have unlimited money and experience, as long as you have patience enough to go and collect it. The fact that items are so expensive only makes it more annoying, since you actually HAVE to use the respawn in order to build up enough cash to buy anything. Oh, here's another one, once you beat an area's boss you need to go to the next area, fair enough, and usually you have to travel through the area you just beat, fine. Now, you can only save in town, don't ask me why. So, after you beat a boss and save in town, you have to trek through all the areas you beat, slaying the SAME enemies you JUST HACKED THROUGH AGAIN! I mean, come ON Blizzard, don't you know the meaning of the word playtest!? I seriously didn't enjoy this one, although if you want blind hacking and slashing, more power to ya.
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Discples: Sacred Lands	1CD	Canned Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	5.6	5	6	5.7
You are one of 5 different races and one of 3 different leader types. Lead your race to victory, trouncing your enemies. Let me explain the genre, 'Canned Strategy' is when you are given bases or cities, build units and walk out to capture other buildings or cities. There are map icons that show you where the bases are, where the enemy is, and where 'random' monsters are. Basically it is a strategy game, but everything is already defined. The graphics are mediocre and the sound the same. The gameplay is fine... in fact I grabbed this thinking it was something else I couldn't remember the title of. It's an okay game.
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Driver	1CD	Driving	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.3	6.5	6.8	7	7
A very good game. You are an undercover cop who is masquerading as a getaway driver in order to penetrate deep into the underworld. You quickly get in over your head and there's nothing to do but ride it out. The story is actually pretty good, and present. The graphics are plain, but nice and the sounds and music are good. Driving at night in the rain looks like, well, driving at night in the rain! The only gripe I have is that once I moved from the beginning city to the next the game became unplayably difficult. Not only did I have a different car that handled, accelerated, and turned differently, but the city layout was different, the cops were MUCH more determined and the missions MUCH more difficult all at once! I ended up uninstalling amid a shower of curses and frustration... in order to reinstall and play the beginning missions again. A good game, until it just gets too difficult.
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Duke Nuke'm 3D	1CD	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			3	5.5	5.5	5	5
Well, aliens are trying to take over the Earth again and it looks like Duke is gonna have to reduce them piles of sludge again. The First Person Shooter version of the old Duke Nuke'm DOS games. The story really is not there, this is a pure shooter. The graphics could have used a little more work. The sprites only have a couple different states, and you can tell when they switch. The sounds are sad, and the gameplay is okay. The only really spiffy thing about the game are the deformable objects. Most of the objects in the game other than walls, ceilings and floors can be shot apart or blown up, which is definitely a gas. It's great fun to swing into an alien-infested bar and spray the bastards with machinegun fire while your stray shots shatter windows, bust up bottles and blow out TVs. A pretty average game whose appeal wears off after a while.
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Extreme Paintbrawl 2	1CD	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			0	2	1	1	1
Hmmm... can we say CRAP! I really am sorry I paid for this one. Even with my heafty graphics card, 750 Mhz processor and 256MB of RAM this game STILL crawls. Shoddy graphics, progamming and sounds that could be easily beaten down by the quality of the orginial Mario Brothers for Apple ][e! Two words: just don't.
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Fallout	1CD	Post-Nuclear RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			8	7	7	7.5	8
A story that makes sense and drives the plot? Incredible! Humanity retreated to immense underground vaults on the eve of a nuclear war. You are a vault dweller who has to find a Water Chip in order to replace the old one. This entails braving the post-nuclear world. A great game written with a definite tounge-in-cheek tone. The story proceeds well and is rather nonlinear. Not only can you go anywhere, but you can solve problems in your own manner. Not enough money? You could gamble it up, mug someone, try to fleece a trader or even just plug some poor fool in the head and grab his stuff. The graphics are nice and the sounds are good. The music is a little repetitive but not incredibly annoying. The elements blend well into a pulpy 'high tech' 50's feel which lends the game some great character. On the whole a good combination of excellent elements.
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Fallout ][	1CD	Post-post nuclear RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	7	7	6.5	7
There are very few GOOD game sequels. This one almost does it. Same good graphics and sounds. Same spiffy 'high-tech' 50's feel. Not quite as good gameplay. The game world was expanded and the number of quests was increased by at LEAST an order of magnitude! Unfortunately this made the game a little TOO nonlinear in that it is very easy to get distracted from your main quest and it is pretty tough to figure out what is necessary in order TO fulfill your main quest. The story is a little tired and smacks heavily of the original Fallout's main storyline. Overall still good, but the copy wasn't quite as good as the original.
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Final Fantasy VII	3CDs + install CD	Fantasy RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			9	7	5	8	8.5
SquareSoft's towering Saga tops off in its 7th installment. The background, FMVs and magic graphics are very nice, but the character graphics leave a bit to be desired. The resources are not heavy, but a decent 3D card would help. The music and sounds are appropriate but do become repetitive after a while and downright annoying by the end of the game. The story however is rather good, albeit somewhat twisty at times. Overall a great game with a large world to explore and quite a bit to uncover.
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Galaga	1CD	Shoot 'em up	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	6.2	5	6.4	6
The Swarm is back and now it's in 3D. It's the same old Galaga, dodge and weave and blast away while the bugs flit around and do the same. The biggest change is, of course, the 3D, which doesn't do a ton. The game periodically flips perspectives in bewteen boards from head-on 3D to side scrolling and such, which is fine, but aiming and navigating in the head-on 3D is really rather difficult. The game was given a little more depth by adding missions where you have to shoot a certain number of targets that scroll up as you go. Mostly this was just annoying, as navigating to the targets, tryig to hit them, and defend yourself was just a little too much. An okay game, but whoever put this one together should have not tried to fix what is in my opinion one of the best games of all time.
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Grandia ][	1CD	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			7.8	7	6.2	5.2	7
A thoroughly enjoyable RPG, mostly. The story is very good, albeit very predictable, no real surprises, but a lot of drama and emotionally-charged issues. The combat system is new and interesting, altering the effects of your 2 basic types of attack based on when you employ them. The graphics were nice and blended well with the other elements, and the music and sounds were pretty nice. The only thing that annoyed me, and annoyed me a LOT is one element of the gameplay. Throughout the WHOLE GAME you can only go forward or backward. That's it. You are forever on the right path, one path, go forward or don't play. This frankly pissed me off to no end, since I really like to poke around everywhere, explore, pump levels, and everything else associated with RPGs. The story was good, but not so good as to sacrifice your ability to do your own thing. Another problem I had... the characters all develop through the story and change, which is nice, but the big crazy dumb beast guy somehow transforms into a noble Socrates with a battle ax and fur! This was just too much of a character reversal for no reason for me, and it rankled me through most of the end of the game. If you don't mind those two peeves though, an excellent RPG.
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Halflife	1CD	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	6.3	6	7	6.5
You are Freeman, a scientist at the Black Mesa Facility. Some crazy project goes really wrong and wierdo beasties start pouring in from another dimension. (Whoops! I think I put the decimal point in the wrong place!) Now it's up to you to plow your way out to the surface and save your own skin. A pretty good shooter. I didn't rank it for a Story, but it does actually have some plot elements, which was a plesant surprise. The graphics were good and the sound okay. The game was fun, but it felt like it just went on too long. After slogging through alien after alien I just opened up the console, went to the last board, beat it, and called it a day. It seemed like the game would never end. It does have some neat elements though. Along the way you can interact with cargo carts, heavy machine guns and other game elements which makes it much more immersive. Overall a good game that just didn't have enough momentum.
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Imperium Galactica ][: Alliances	3CDs + install CD	Real Time Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	9	6.5	8.5	8
Conquer the galaxy from your very own room! By far some of the best graphics I have seen in a game for a while. With stars twinkling, nebulae and dust clouds flourescing and floating across your screen as well as the incredible flexability of the camera the main view screen is downright pretty! Expand your colonies, research new technologies and bulid up your invasion fleets while keeping tabs on your neighbors with spies and playing the delicate game of diplomacy. One of the few space strategy games that has you occupy the planet and fight a ground battle after you rout your enemy's fleet! The stories are pretty thin, basically they are boxes of special events to pop into a single player vs. computer game. The sounds are okay and the music isn't incredible. The spying, trading and diplomacy options fill up the dead time in between the action and before you get a lot of money rolling in to build with. Overall a great game that starts off slow, but cranks up the action as you go.
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Independance War 2: Edge of Chaos	2CDs	Space Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.5	6	6	7	6.8
You are Cal, a boy whose father is killed by a ruthless corporate raider whose subsequent attempt at revenge fails and lands you in the slammer. After escaping, you find an old pirate's base of operations and mount your own irregular war against your father's murderer. A very nice space sim that actually FEELS like a space sim! Unlike 'Wing Commander' type games, if you thrust in one direction, you CONTINUE going in that direction until you apply opposite thrust. Of course your ship's flight computer can help, but you can always turn it off to pull off some crazy maneuvers. The story is decent, and I love space piracy, it's just too much fun. The controls and intricacies of space combat take a LOT of getting used to, so expect to play the first couple missions a double handful of times before you figure out which end is up. The ship and in-flight graphics are EXCELLENT, as well nebulae and debris fields. The only reason the graphics recieved such a low rating is that the character graphics are SHIT! They are simple wireframes with base color or low-grade 8-bit textures stretched over them! On one guy you can see where his mouth was drawn on the texture, just above where the wireframe mouth is! There's NO excuse for such shoddy work, I mean, even the ORIGINAL Wing Commander had better character graphics, and THAT'S SAD! Add to this the fact that there IS a lot of dialogue through these character graphics and you are constantly reminded of the developers' one shortfall and you get a great game that constantly picks its one hangnail.
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Interstate '76	1CD + install CD	Car Combat/Adventure	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	7	7	5.5	6.5
Anyone remember Autoduel? Well, resurrect it, clean it up and pump in a whole bunch of '70s funk. A rather enojoyable car combat game with a tried and true 'rescue the damsel in distress' plot. The plot is there and is an excuse to riddle other cars with .50 bullets, but if you actually want to follow it, it works. The graphics are light 3D but any PCI video card can handle them. The sounds and music blend well with the game offering it some identity. The only real beef I have is with the gameplay. You HAVE to use a gamepad or external controller to play the game. This is a rather odd requirement which quite frankly pisses me off. I am a die-hard a la DOS game keyboard freak. I never use external controllers, the closest I ever came before this game was using the mouse for aiming in Quake. It's fun for a while until your driving skills can't keep up with the enemies'. On the whole not bad.
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Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen	1CD	Adventure / RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	6	6.5	7.5	7.5
A rather old game that has weathered the test of time and had a sequel made almost a good 10 years after it was released. The graphics are blocky on the lower resolutions and the sounds are actually kind of good, but the storyline and gameplay are what hold this game together. You were a brash nobleman who bit off a little more than he could chew. After you die a necromancer offers you the opportunity to go back and kill your attackers. You jump at the chance and they end up diced, but you end up undead. Now you have to unravel the mystery of your being so your soul can rest. This involves a lot of hacking, slashing, dungeon-tromping and gaining powers. Overall rather fun and of a distinctive character. Be prepared for a lot of puzzle-solving and such.
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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver	1CD	Adventure	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	6.7	5	6	6.3
You are Raziel, a vampire and child of Kain. Vampires rule the land of Nosgoth under Kain, and you piss him off and are chucked into 'the vortex'. You are "resurrected" by some annoymous force of nature thousands of years later to go and kill all the vampires. Obviously, a weak story, but a decent game. The graphics are very nice. There are a few views that are just incredible. Take a look at the waterfalls in the first area you get to outside and you'll see what I mean. The sound is okay and the controls are rather cumbersome at first, which is why you basically have to pass an obstacle course testing each of the major skills you'll have to master in order to play the game. The only real gripe I have is that you can SO tell that this game was made for Playstation and then dubbed into a PC version. The way the controls work do not lend themselves well to a keyboard and the puzzles are ALL block flipping, which is about all you can do on a Playstation 1. All in all it is okay, but it would have been a much better game if it was developed for PC.
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Legacy of Kain: Sould Reaver 2	#CDs/SIZE	GENRE	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			un	r	a	t	ed
Comments
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Lords of Might and Magic	1CD	Canned Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	5.6	5	6	5.8
You're a leader, you got people, there are bad people, kill 'em all. Yadda yadda. Looked much more interesting than it is. The graphics are okay if not uninspired, the sound is there and the gameplay is fine. The only thing is in order to really build up an army takes way too long. By the time you have, your enemies have beat the crap out of each other, have taken over each others' lands and resources, and you're left with the short end of the stick. An okay game if you HURRY, otherwise pretty pedestrian.
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Lords of the Realm ][	1CD	Medieval Real Time Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			3	5	5	6	6
Overall pretty pedestrian. Build up your town and fortress while massing an army and conquering the neighboring fiefs. After the first campaign or two the game becomes impossible, your enemies are just too strong. A somewhat clumsy blend of real time strategy and medieval combat. It's fine, for a while.
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Max Payne	1CD	Action / Third Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.7	6.8	6.5	7	7
You are a good cop who the bad guys don't like, instead of hitting you they hit your family, and you decide it's time to take out the trash. A very good shoot-em-up with an actual story that unfolds as you go. One aspect I like is that fact that you can't just run around blazing away at anything that moves. You need to be careful, if you walk into a hallway without checking it out, and a thug with a shotgun opens up on you, chances are you'll get aced. Although the game isn't entirely realistic, it's a whole load more realistic than most shooters. You also need to conserve your ammo. Sure it may be fun to run around blasting away with dual berettas, but when the chambers go 'click' you're outta luck. A game very much like Terminator: Future Shock, unless you actually think like a lone guy going up against heavily-armed mobsters, you'll get venthilated in no time. Thoroughly fun.
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MDK2	1CD	Third Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6.3	6	5.5	6.6	6.5
Dr. Fluke Hawkins and his mild-mannered super-armored janitor-turned-reluctant-world-saver Kurt are at it again. Big, nasty aliens want to destroy Earth, again. Aw geez. The dynmaic duo are joined by the Doc's creation, Max, an artificially-intelligent 6-legged bipedal gun-totin' dog cyborg and together they try to save Earth once again. Now, c'mon, you can't tell me that this can't be good. One of the quirkiest and most fun shooters I've played since the original, side-scrolling, 2D, DOS versions of Duke Nukem. During the course of the game you get to play all the characters as they battle the big bad space aliens. Delightful and light, MDK2 is a shooter that can make you chuckle... odd but fun.
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Monopoly Tycoon	1CD	Resource Management	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	4.6	5	5.6	5.5
In the greatest traditions of capitalism buy up property, build stores, and force your opponents into Chapter 11. A game of capitalism gone wild, based on the board game. You can buy properties and utilities from the game and can build stores to raise cash. If you own a monopoly not only do you get some specials, but you have the power to build the infamous hotel, which will gain you money if people live there, then they will give you money when they go to your stores! An okay game, although a little too slowly paced and a little too easy. You do have to manage many different aspects of your corporate empire; what kind of stores to build, how much to stock, how much to order, how big to make the stores, but you get all kinds of market research and can change many of the options as you go, and can demolish buildings. So if you make a mistake it is easily fixable. The computer opponents aren't too tough, mostly because they don't build fast enough. The best thing to do is to basically corner the market on an upscale commodity, i.e., be sure you're the first to build all the electronics and clothing stores, and leave your opponents to squabble over the leavings. This works since the little sims that buy your stuff have brand loyalty, and once they start going to a certain store, it's hard to draw them away. On the whole okay, but it would have benefitted from better AI.
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Moto Racer	1CD	Motorcycle Racing	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			0	5.5	6.5	6	6.5
Motorcycle racing.... ummm, motorcycle racing and motorcycle racing? The graphics are pretty basic and the sounds are as well, however the music blends well and the announcer in the dirt arena is great. Controls aren't tough, but racing in modes other than automatic transmission and 3rd person view require too much button pushing. Not a bad game, but you have to run through a course perfectly in order to have a chance, which can get incredibly frustrating.
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Nox	1CD	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	6.4	6	7	6.7
You're a normal, everyday Joe... who gets sucked into a magical world and now has to stop the evil witch-queen who accidently pulled you in from taking over... so you can get back home. A great game, I watched the opening movie a few times, it's hilarious. A unique combination of mouse and keyboard make this one rather unique. The controls are a little cumbersome at first, but you get the hang of it quickly. Choose one of 3 classes and you're off to the races hacking and slashing your way home. The story is so old that it ranks low, but it has elements of humor, so that saves it. Graphics are nice and crisp, sounds are fine and the game is rather fun. A nice RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously at times.
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Oni	1CD	Anime Action / Third Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	6.7	6.5	7.4	7
I found this one on the discount rack and grabbed it for considerably less than it's worth! You're Oni, a super-powered ultra-cop on the trail of baddies and your own identity. If you have ever watched anime before, you WILL be able to guess out the story in about 3 seconds, the only reason it rated decently is that at least it IS a story and it DOES drive the game. The game is rather unique in that you can use both guns and fists & feet as you plow through mounds of nastys. Know going in though that if you expect to play it like Unreal Tournament, running around guns blazing, you'll probably never pass the first level. Ammo is scarce, so don't use your weapons unless you have to, or you'll be going *click* *click* a lot. You really do have to master the hand-to-hand aspect of the game, which is well done, if not somewhat difficult. As you go you learn more moves and combos and as long as you don't advance too quickly you should be more than fine. Spend some extra time in the initial training area honing your skills. Once you beat the game you can go back and play as ANY character in the game, even bosses, which is a blast! I enojoyed the realistic shortfall of ammo and the fact that you can carry only one weapon at a time. The hand-to-hand system was fun and well done and the whole thing was really very good... except for the uninspired and rather thin story.
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Prince of Qin	1CD	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
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Privateer	1CD	Spaceflight Sim/Adventure	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	5.5	5	6.5	6
You are a privateer scraping out a living any way you can in the Wing Commander universe. The story isn't bad (once you go out and find it) although the graphics are pretty beat and the sounds blow (some energy weapons sound like someone saying "PISH!" into a cardboard tube). The thing that saves this game is it's nonlinear gameplay. As a privateer you can earn your living any way you wish. You can become an interstellar trader, bounty hunter or pirate as it suits your taste and means. Pretty fun, especially once you get up enough cash to outfit yourself for piracy.
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Red Baron	1CD	Flight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4	5	6	6	5
You are either a German or Allied pilot yanking and banking through the skies of WWI. A rather simple but not bad flight sim. The graphics are simple, almost crude, but workable. The sounds are appropriate. This game basically rated well because I didn't expect much of it and it delivered more than I'd hoped. A decent, flexible game with multiple settings you can toggle to make the combat (and navigation!) more or less realistic. Fun for a while.
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Red Baron ][	1CD	Flight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4	6	6	4.5	5
Better graphics and controls than the original, so what's the problem? The gameplay BLOWS! Just TRY to find your way to the target and then once you get there, just TRY to find out what the target actually is! The briefings read like 'Cliff's Notes' of what they should have been; they seem to give you the basics but you quickly find out that you really don't know anything you need to know. The game's focus obviously was graphics and interface and not gameplay, which is unfortunate. If you think a lot you can play the first mission or two. Overall a disappointment.
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Roller Coaster Tycoon + Loopy Landscapes and Corkscrew Follies	2CDs	Park Management	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	6.5	7.6	7.4	7.3
Umm... build a park. Sounds easy, right? Well, guess what, it isn't! A thoroughly enjoyable game from start to finish! You can choose from one of the many scenarios with different starting parks, goals, and locations and try to fix them up into mega tourist draws in the time specified. Besides the fact that you can build anything from macadam walkways and your own lakes to tilt-a-whirls and concession stands, you can also design and buid your own roller coasters. Will you go for gentle, fun coasters, or will you build one with 80 foot drops and 19 loops? If you do though, you better hire some more sweepers, put in some benches, some more bathrooms and a drink stall or you'll be up to your eyeballs in virtual yack! You can also choose from a decent library of prebuilt coasters if you're not feeling too creative. The graphics are cartoony and appropriate, the sound is excellent. As you scroll across the park the sounds of the rides and attractions will fade and grow accordingly. The crowd sounds are right as well as the sounds and music on the rides. Hmmm... sounds actually making a game more interesting and immersive... incredible! An entirely addicting game, before you load it up clear your schedule for about a week.
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Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator	1CD	RPG	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	5.6	5.4	6.2	5.8
You are a junker living in the world of Septerra, where 7 layers of floating continents are held in space by the 'Core'. According to the prophecy whoever opens the Core will basically become a god... and guess what someone is trying to do? A very mediocre game. The graphics are fine, the story is something I could think up in an afternoon and the sound is pretty ho-hum. The gameplay is somewhat interesting, the longer you wait before attacking, the more powerful attacks, and more options, become available. Some of the characters have nifty combo attacks that you can only enable by taking them certain places, but such a last-gasp kind of attempt at game depth really does nothing for it. Basically a rather flat RPG, pretty fun, but don't expect to be wowed.
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The Settlers: Fourth Edition	1CD	Resource Management / Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	6	6	6	6
Build up your civilization from nothing into a vast military machine and turn your enemies into goo. You start out with nothing and must basically build up your military. Want a soldier? No problem, all you need is a willing citizen, a weapon, and a keg of beer. Well... the weapon needs to be produced by a smith, who needs iron, that needs to smelted from ore that needs to be mined, oh and the miner needs to eat, and they like ham that comes from pigs that need to eat grain that comes from wheat that comes from a farm that........ on and on and on. You need to be sure all your dependencies are covered and all your peoples' needs filled. I was introduced to The Settlers with the second edition, which was MUCH better than this one. The computer is blazingly fast in building up its army, and often rushes you early on in order to keep you from building all the things you need. Overall it's fine, but very annoying. If you can find the second edition, it's MUCH better.
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SimCity 2000	1CD	Resource Management/City Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			0	6	4	6	6
In a nutshell, just like the original SimCity, only with more options. No story to speak of, unless you choose a scenario, and then the limit of the plot is to fix some specific problem. The graphics are pretty pedestrian, the best part of them is when buildings merge to upgrade to larger buildings when their use skyrockets. The sounds are pretty crappy and the entire setup gets rather boring after a while. Not a bad diversion from everything else, for while.
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SimCopter	1CD	?	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	3	6.2	6.8	6.7
You fly a helicopter and ... do things. As you get messages from dispatch you need to help the police find criminals, medevac wounded people, pick up high-powered corporate types and put down riots. This one really defies definition, and it is for some reason really fun. The graphics blow... hard. The sound is pretty normal, but the music is great, plus the fact that it is made out to be a radio station, complete with goofy commercials! You can also change radio stations, which is fun. When you complete a mission, whatever it is, you get money. Save up your dough and buy upgrades for your chopper, or a new heli altogether. I don't know why, but it's great fun.
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Space Invaders	1CD	Arcade	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	5	5.3	6	6.5
You're out testing the new and improved hovertank, and all of a sudden the invaders strike again... and there's the story. A remake of the Atari original, thankfully not a lot changed. Bob and weave through levels of invaders, blasting as you go. Additions include powerups for blasting 4 of one type of invader in a row and bosses at the end of every ten levels. An enjoyable little shooter that doesn't take very long to run through. Once you beat it, you can unlock the retro mode and take on the invaders 1970s-style!
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StarCraft	1CD	SCI-FI Real Time Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			8	7.5	7	8	8
Command and Conquer, Y2K-style! The first successor to live up to the example set by Command and Conquer. First of all the story is not a hackneyed wad of crap, which already puts this game quite a few rungs above its competition. Not only is the story good, but the manual is well made and the story background in it is VERY GOOD! It seems someone had an idea for a SCI-FI novel or two, but made it into a game instead. The graphics are very nice. Crisp, clean and well made. The sounds for the different races are rather distinctive and appropriate (although personally, I found the Zerg screeches too much to take at times). The gameplay is excellent. I like the fact that the races have like units (tanks, infantry, vehicle infantry, etc...) which still differ quite a bit between the races. On the whole a great game that was carefully thought out and put together well.
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Sudden Strike: Forever	2CDs	Military Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	6.7	6	7.4	7
No story to speak of, just accomplish your objectives. This one is purely military strategy, no resources, no bases, no weenie harvesters. Just get out there and kick some ass! The graphics are nice and clean, each vehicle LOOKS like the actual vehicle and the resulting fountain of dirt from an artillery impact is great! The game actually plays rather realistically too! Line of sight, ease of attack, size of weapons versus size of target are all factors that come into play here and are often absent from other military sims. For instance it is possible to garrison any house with soldiers, and this works great against normal bullets, but if the enemy rolls up a tank, some artillery or runs up a bazooka team, you better evacuate! Overall a great WW][-era military sim.
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Syndicate Plus	1CD	Third Person Shooter/Adventure	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	6	6	8	7.5
Build up your cadre of cybernetic agents, researching new technologies and running missions for cash in order to take down rival syndicates. The story may be present, but doesn't give a strong showing. The graphics are very good for the time, although it is easy to get lost behind bulidings and tough to get through corridors sometimes. The sound is okay and there is no music, although this is an improvement over the original in which there was NO sound. The gameplay is great. The city is fully populated, just waiting for you to depopulate it with stray shots from your miniguns. The Persuadatron is oodles of fun... in no time you can round up an army of brainwashed civilians, cops and even enemy agents to glut your ranks. Both the mission and research/resource management parts are well done making the entire game quite good.
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Terminator: Future Shock	1CD	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			1	4	4	8.5	7
The story basically doesn't exist, the graphics and sound are crappy, but the gameplay is top-notch! You have the role of a single human resistance fighter in the Terminator-infested future. The thing is you have to think and act like a resitance fighter or the machines WILL rip you to shreds. When you hear the telltale hovering whisper of the airborne Hunter/Killers you have to bolt for overhead cover and whittle them away. When you hear the whirring of a Terminator's servos you pull out the biggest gun you have and pray you have enough ammo. You often have to inch forward, constantly checking your scanner and running from cover to cover in order to stay alive. If you try to play it like Doom or Quake and just run around plugging your enemies you won't go more than 20 paces before you're taken down. Great fun for those who want a taste of post-Apocalyptic Earth under the control of killer machines!
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Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition	2CDs	1st-person shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			-	7.4	7	7.8	7.8
Blast the enemy... that's it. No story, pure deathmatch... sure they explain it away in the opening movie, but forget that. Dispatch your opponents with any of 10 weapons, each having a primary and alternate fire mode in one of 4 game modes. Besides the core game the mods out there are OUTSTANDING! The game also has multiplayer, of course, so hook up and frag your friends! Great fun for the whole family!
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Wing Commander: Armada	1CD	Space Sim / Strategy	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
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Wing Commander 2, Deluxe	1CD	Spaceflight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			6	5	5	6	6
Now this is OLD school. The space sim that defined the key layout and general pattern for almost all to follow. Although not an incredibly good game, it still has merit. The graphics are pretty primitive and even were unimpressive at the time. The story rates so high because the developers really tried to put the whole thing in a good framework, in other words an 'A for effort'. You will find yourself skipping the cutscenes to get to the action sooner or later. The gameplay is good and the game is entertaining all the way to the end, and through the special missons, and next mssion pack, etc. Overall a good space sim to crack out every once in a while, or to play on a machine that can't handle some of the higher-powered stuff.
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Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger	4CDs	Spaceflight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			?	6	5	3	4
Well, can't say I know anything about the story in this one since I havn't gotten past the 5th mission! In all seriousness and fairness, the gameplay sucks donkey balls... and that's a favorable evaluation. The fighter ships handle like a pregnant yak in a coma. If you slow down enough to turn well, you get pummeled by the enemy. Can't say I have enjoyed this one at all.
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Wing Commander: Prophecy	3CDs	Spaceflight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			4.5	6	6	6	6
A pretty average game. The story IS there, but it doesn't really invite any scrutiny. Evil aliens are trying to blow everything up into little bitty pieces. This is basically a revamped Wing Commander, nothing new, but better graphics and sound. A decent shoot-'em-up.
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Quake ][	1CD	First Person Shooter	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			3	8.5	6	6	8
If it weren't for the numerous mods, I would drop this one. The successor to the Original Quake, a gaming masterpiece of the day, which doesn't quite live up to its younger brother's reputation. GREAT graphics, especially if you have a good 3D card. OpenGL with this game is a BLAST! However, the story is for crap (kill the aliens) and might as well not be there. After about the first 4 levels, you keep on getting the same monsters and the same kind of puzzles and levels. Overall I found single player incredibly dissatisfying. The sounds are good but nothing inspired. Still, a solid game that smacked of 'get this thing out the door!' gameplay. Download some mods and play multiplayer, or with bots, to get the most out of this game.
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X-COM: Interceptor	1CD	Real Time Straegy/Space Flight Sim	Story	Graphics	Sound	Gameplay	Overall
			5	7.5	8	7	7
Blast the aliens, save humanity. You are in command of a single outpost on the furthest human frontier and have to protect mining stations with your bases... translation: pure resource management. The story progresses very slowly and is about as thin as tissue paper, but if you are Anti-Microsoft there are some hilarious news updates throughout the game. The sounds are well-chosen for the campy sci-fi look of the controls which does somewhat match the gameplay and plot. The music is repetitive, but fades to the background well and is actually a nice addition. The controls are very much the old 'Wing Commander' pattern and rather easy to pick up if you have played space sims before. Overall nothing incredible, but all the elements mesh very well and the overall effect is immersive and enjoyable. Again, old but fun.

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