Amazon.com Product Description

Now you can get the complete Heroes of Might and Magic III experience in one value package. This monster bundle will keep players building towns, raising armies, casting spells, and conquering foes for months. Look at all that awaits: 86 standalone missions, 14 campaigns, 38 single-scenario maps, quests for 138 magical artifacts (including 12 powerful combination artifacts), 8 town types to build and conquer, 16 hero classes, 145 combat units, and hundreds of adventure structures, including teleporters, neutral creatures, and special terrains with unique tactics. Missions can be self-contained single scenarios, linked together into multiscenario campaigns, or played as multiplayer scenarios against other human players across a network. As many as eight players can compete or team up via hot seat, LAN, modem, or the Internet. The random map generator lets you create unlimited battle scenarios. Create your own unique battles with a fully functional campaign generator and a map editor, ensuring customization for infinite replayability. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Absolutly Awsome!
This game is so much fun, and one of the mosty addictive games I have ever played, next to Final Fantasy X.At first it takes a while to understand how everything works, but it is worth it.I seriously could play this game for like 20 hours at a time, taking not pee breaks or for food.Buy it!!!

more addictive than... anything
I can play this game for hours on end.If I beat every map, I can just download more that other fans have made using the fantastic map editor.A great day includes playing this game with a few friends while drinking a Sobe and listening to Queens of the Stoneage.

I love it
I first played it at my friends house, me and my friend couldn't find the disc for civilisation 2 so we decided to play heroes 3, i thout it was real mad, now I want it.

One of the best computer games I've ever played
My short list of best computer games I've ever played:
Sims
Heroes III
Roller Coaster Tycoon

I am a 19 year old female who doesn't usually enjoy fighting games, but i do like fantasy. My only complaint for this game is that you need someone's IP address (or vice versa) to do multiplayer, and I've never quite been able to connect and play with someone over the internet. (I always get a message saying it can't connect) Maybe I'm just missing something obvious. But, I have enjoyed countless hours of fun with this game. its a great game to play with a friend or two, or three :) . this is a WONDERFUL strategy game, and has various difficulty levels (great for someone like me who doesnt want to deal with expert level, but doesnt always want it to be too easy). This game is well worth any money I paid for it. I have been playing this game for about four years now, and I still love it. Buy it!! :)

Heroes Of Might And Magic--and Beyond
Heroes III Complete is the best Heroes of Might and Magic game yet.This one has not only the original "Heroes III" (The Restoration of Erathia), but also includes both expansion packs (Armageddon's Blade and the Shadow of Death).

If you're new to the Heroes of Might and Magic series, then here's a quick overview.You start out with only one hero and only one town in a standard scenario.You can also hire more heroes once you've built a tavern.You can build different buildings in your town, but only one per day.Different buildings allow you to do different things, such as improve the fortification of your town, increase your weekly income in gold, learn different spells, and aquire troops for your army.Once you've built up a good army, you can go out and conquer land and other towns!

I like this even better than the Heroes IV game because it comes with a map editor and campaign editor.In the map editor, you can create your own world to play on, customizing everything down to the last little Gnoll Marauder.You can even customize the victory and loss conditions.The campaign editor allows you to string many maps together--custom and pre-made--into one campaign.This is a really good game. ... Read more

Product Description

Take advantage of enhanced visuals, richer tactics and strategic gameplay as you build your fleet and engage in 3-D space combat. ... Read more

Features

• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Genre: Strategy
• Mission: Lose yourself in the sequel to the groundbreaking 3-D real-time space strategy game Homeworld
• Platform: Windows 98/Me/XP/2000

Reviews (146)

Very good game
This was one of if not the most fun strategy game i have played. It has an amazing story, unbelievable graphics, and an interface that once you learn it is relatively easy to use.
Tbe only reason i didnt give it a 5 is because it is so hard as to exclude this game from some of the less hardcore stategy gamers. The game does take a hit as well from not being able to order your ships into formations (an important part of any space strategy game) but it is more than compensated by just generally being alot of fun. Now i am a fan of space stategy games and i thought that the toughness of the game was an asset because insted of just building a huge fleet and crushing your enemys (satisfing but doesnt take much brain power) you could manipulate the battlefield leaving your enemy crippled and unable to fight back (buy controlling recource spots ect.) I do have to admit i went through a few mouses because i broke a few in sheer frustration. So in conclusion i highly recomend this game to you if u enjoy a tough but satisfing game and your not one of the "gamers" who like to boot up warcraft and put in all the instant build cheet codes. This game is well worth $20 and it was worth it to me when i pre ordered it in 03 for $60. BUY IT PEOPLE!!!

Fun?
I just have one thing to say: this game is as fun as you can throw it underwater with your wrists chained to some wall.Also, the interface and mere gameplay feels like an act of congress (looking up how to do things in the manual!)To be frank, don't by this game even if they would give you money in return!

Loss of The Real Concept!
Look, I've been a Homeworld fan ever since I bought it when it FIRST came out, it was beautiful, the graphics were just delightful, and the stradegy was complex to a portion where I can sit in a room, for 20 hours of non-stop harvesting and planning of an attack with a lil' math and algebra on the side.

When I started to play Homeworld 2, I was hyped, and ready to complete the saga in my world of stradegy gaming other than StarCraft, WarCraft, Age of Empires, and all those other fun stuff.

I began by downloading the Demo from Sierra, and I was full blown by the new graphics it had, though my video card was really acting kinda messy since it was the summer time. (Yeah seasonal changes make items work slower or faster.) Anyways, when I started to play the demo, I used the mechanism of the keyboard and controls of what Homeworld 1 had, lemmie tell you this, TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I can't believe my eyes of what I felt and seen! Everything; the whole concept has changed, the keys and etc. Then I saw that the stradegies have changed, and there were only 3 formation patterns I could only choose for my fithers, I'm like, WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING!? I really wanted to bust a few chops with my strategic mind... so then I thought to myself, eh, not bad, lemmie get the whole game and see what it's really worth...

Bought it, it's totally the same concept, doesn't relate to Homeworld 1, doesn't relate to ANYTHING LIKE HOMEWORLD AT ALL! I thought that they would stick to their story, but the whole thing changed... I was really mad about it.

The game-play suddenly became boring, just traveling with no real dog-fight, "Some destiny this is..." ok, maybe a few dog-fights, but the game just gets harder and harder *like any other game* But I'm looking at it, I swear to you, I would've beaten all these fools if I had all those formation patterns. This game has less stradegy in mind, and the shipmaking, is just build in bulk, something that a gamer would NEVER LIKE. Listen, usually, it's always great to build ONE AT A TIME... WHY!? BECAUSE HAVING THAT FEELING TO SIT ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT WAITING FOR THAT SPECIAL OBJECT TO BE BUILT REALLY SHOWS THAT IT'S A GREAT GAME. This however, was truly dissappointing... No wonder it was 20 bux. Not many people like it! For God's sake even Diablo 2 is 20 times better than this and the graphics can be as horrible as they want, but their game play is just completely mind blowing as well as the story line.

For all kids that love graphics, I suggest this game as a STARTER, but for gaming stradegy and story lines, I suggest that you should TURN BACK, THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE BUT A GAME THAT TAKES 20 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE JUST SITTING AND WAITING FOR NOTHING, BUT RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR ENEMIES.

Even Homeworld Cataclysm is better than this. I wouldn't call this game trash though, but would've worth a lot of money if they knew how to bring back the story line as what they were before, but spiced up, with more allies and enemies, and probably if Sierra was lucky, deception.

Wonderful Game
Before I start, I would suggest anyone who gets this game be sure to download the patch that has been made available.This balances out units a little better (not too much, but a little) and also decreases the difficulty of several of the missions (they are possible to beat without the patch, but they are hard).

This game builds wonderfully over the orrignal Homeworld.It has made several improvements in how things are handled and also polishes up things in general.In addition, unlike the orrignal Homeworld the different sides have very different strengths and weaknesses that are readily apparent when playing them.

Some nice additions:

You no longer build single fighters, but rather build fighters in wings.So long as a single fighter in the wing survives you can send the fighter group back to a carrier or mothership or shipyard and have the unit returned to full strength.This makes fighter units much more useful and practical then the frail things they were in Homeworld.

Resource collection at the end of missions has been automized.You will no longer have to sit around for hours after missions sending harvisters out to collect resources for you.Once all enemy units have been defeated all resources in the map are automatically collected and added to your resource pool.

Subsystems.You can now build subsystems that give your ships interesting capabilities as well as target enemy subsystems.Large ships (such as battle crusers, carriers, motherships) come with some standard subsystems that cannot be completely destroyed but can be dammaged to the point that they no longer function.This makes hit and run type attacks much more useful then they were previously since you can use them to dammage enemy capabilities or cripple enemy ships, while allowing access to some nice abilities should you chose to build some of the more unique subsystems.

The ability to capture any ship in the game has also been added.That is right, capture ANY ship in the game.Including motherships.In addition, the units which capture enemies are much less flimsy so while they do still need an escourt they can be counted on to not die immediately.

Fleet formations have also been added.While there are really only 3 choises for fleet formations, they really do make it easy to use ships of different classes together.When used properly these formations are extreamly powerful, however you need to learn when to use a formation and when to break it up.

There are a few things I am less than satisfied with however.It is for these reasons that I am only giving it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The first major thing I was disapointed with was the reduction on the number of formations.I remember that with the orrignal Homeworld there was a large number of fomrations to chose from.I kept wishing I had access to some of those, particularly the claw and the sphere.While it may be argued that the addition of fleet formations makes up for this change, I couldn't help but wish that I had access to many of the old formations.

The interface is something I am not 100% satisfied with as well.While I will agree that it is definately a step up from what was used with Homeworld, it does feel somehow cumbersome.I guess it is a function of too many menues when it comes to building units and researching.Even in this respect it isn't too bad though.

Also, the 3D nature of space has largely been ignored.This problem still existed in Homeworld, though it was a little less noticable there since they did fairly often launch surprise attacks from above or below.Homeworld 2 largely just uses the horozontal plane when it comes to combat.Units controled by the AI simply will not try coming from strange directions, but rather take a head on approach.Thankfully I was able to find a group of people to play with online who were not burdened with this problem.

My final real problem with Homeworld comes with the addition of a new unit: the shipyard.The reason for this has to do with multiplayer where its importaince overshadows even that of the mothership once it has been built.It has more subsystem slots than the mothership.It is the only unit which can build battlecruisers.It has all the capabilities that the mothership has and more.From a stand point of game ballance I can see why this may have happened (the game designers didn't want players skipping ahead in the research tree right to battlecruisers), however I cannot help but feel that if anything the shipyard should be more of a smaller mothership with more limited capabilities.Somewhere between a carrier and the mothership.

All that said, the game is still a wonderful game.It contains almost all of the orrignal Homeworld's good points, and gets rid of many of its bad ones with the introduction of few flaws.If you like the idea of controling an intergalatic battle fleet then I would definately suggest that you pick up this game.The campaign alone would be worth it, but multiplayer is where this game really shines since that is where you will see interesting tatics that can be used once the pesky notion of 2D is forgotten.

Visually stunning but shocking game play
In light of completing Homeworld 2 twice, the review is a brutal truth of what the game is---a game so challenging, so hard, it just simply isn't worth your bother. Ordinary gamers will derive no enjoyment from this. In a manner of words: this is a game with spectacular graphics, breathtaking naval fleet warfare, all hampered by arduous game play.

Fifteen missions long, the average player will find themselves struggling by just the fourth, if you finished the third by the skin of your teeth. Rapidly changing mid-mission objectives, wave after wave of enemy forces, you'd better be up to the challenge of preventing your shipyard from hostile takeover to graduate to the real fun.

Then mission 4 hits you, hard and heavy.

Players are simply not prepared so early in the game, after such breezy missions, for one of such difficulty. Continual enemy attacks never leave you alone, never giving you a breather, to collect resources, to replenish your ragtag fleet. Don't grin that smile yet, that massive frigate assault will wash it away. There's no time to get a feel for ship classes, what works best against which enemy unit, to experiment on new technologies. Took a stunning number of weeks to beat that mission alone. Just concentrate on bombers and pulsar corvettes and she'll be right mate. Homeworld 2, it seems, is one heavy mission after another, broken up by occasional missions so quiet you could sleep through them. Those restful missions would be ideal to build your fleet to full strength and maximum unit numbers.

A detrimental mistake!

An unbelievable attribute of the game---the stronger you are, the heavier the next mission's enemy forces will be. The astounding stupidity of this is simply shocking. Try full unit limits from the tenth mission onwards, when enemy forces are already considerable, you'll see. This isn't so bad, really, but it makes hill into mountain.

Homeworld 2 is a RTS game of its own, nothing like Starcraft-type games. Even the hardest Starcraft mission gave you time to rebuild a weakened army, fix your base up. You could explore the darkened map, tease the enemy from different sides. H2 won't let you do that. This game demands strict obedience to the mission objectives. You play to fulfil them, not your own agenda.

Even more absurd, whatever forces you have left you begin with next mission. Scrape a mission too finely, and what are your chances of survival, really, when come the enemy hordes, and come in numbers they will.

What H2 steals from you is enjoyment. This is for the determined player. Who doesn't want a challenge in a game? But it's not fun. Move! You can't sit idle at any time; you can't split your fleet up, to feint at an enemy base from different angles. You want to live, keep all eggs in one fleet.

The menu controls are shocking. Mouse scrolling doesn't work in H2. It takes valuable time to position and drag the tab down the page. You can't even press ENTER or ESCAPE keys, only mouse commands. Such is the Idiotic Intelligence of the developers, that you can't authorise commands with an ENTER tap. The screen panels where you click to load or save games are so slim you really have to position your mouse precisely over them.

The method of saving is a joke. Strict alphanumerical order, the starting letter or number determines its placement in the list. It's better to save games chronologically, like Starcraft and Jedi Outcast. In-game auto-saving works against you; replay a mission, and you might re-save over it.

Where in the game booklet does it say docked strike craft automatically repair? A tiny offhand mention in the Vaygr Battlecruiser. How would you think to dock your fighters when you need them active at all times?

Absurd to target warship subsystems (engines, weapons, etc) when destroying the ship takes just as long. Absurd to capture an enemy ship, not only from your strict unit numbers, but the ship will always target your marine frigate. Played game twice, still can't get cloaking technology.

Like viewing a sphere of blinking red and green dots all game long? You'll spend considerable time looking at your radar screen; it's the only way to see enemy units and positions, and easier to select targets.

Graphics are awesome, ship details commendable. Mouse-wheel scrolling permits easy panning and rotation of the camera angle. Fun to follow a bomber group on their attack runs, or zoom right in at besieged warships about to be missile volleyed. High comp system will avert the occasional slowdown when camera-close to a ship going nova; exploding capital ships are cool.

Mid- and inter-mission cutscenes are simple but satisfactory. Fleet Command voices sounds too similar; Makaan is chilling as the Vaygr warlord, smooth and polite.

Game music will become repetitive. Only two tracks stand out: the oriental Hindu-like music of the Keeper missions, and that brief heavy battle track in missions 9 and 12. Hammered by endless Vaygr fleets, your heart pounding as you brawl for survival, why the damn hell did they finish after two minutes? Superb and haunting, they rapidly faded back to that mundane battle music.

There is nothing special about mysterious Sajuuk, the one hope of your homeworld. Can't spoil you here, but the game designers are criminal fools to make the guy just that. And if that doesn't inspire your outrage, behold the short, simplistic final cutscene of the game.

This is Homeworld 2. Visually stunning, rigid game play design. You'd do well to think long and hard before sampling this farce of fun. All fine and fancy to spout rave reviews and the shine the five-star flag, but honest and informative feedback goes a long way to whisper the truth. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Unless you really, really love either the Wizardryseries or role-playing games in general, this package likely isn't foryou. If, however, you don't mind configuring cantankerous old games orstaring for hours at antique graphics, The Ultimate WizardryArchives represents one of the best overall gaming values everassembled in one box.

For the uninitiated, the Wizardry series began in 1978 with therelease of Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and that game,along with the six sequels that followed, is included in thiscollection. All of the games are presented in their original format,meaning the first four use simple text and stick figures to representthe entire gaming universe. Dungeons in the first few games consist ofstraight white lines bounding pure black walls.

Only purists and game collectors will appreciate the first five titlesin the series, but nearly anyone who enjoys crawling through dungeonshacking up monsters should like Bane of the Cosmic Forge andCrusaders of the Dark Savant (along with its enhanced version,Wizardry Gold). The graphics in these games are vastly improvedover those in their predecessors (though of course surpassed by moderngames), and the keyboard interface of the older games was exchanged foran easy-to-use mouse interface. Just looking at the evolution of theseries is a treat, as it shows how much computers and games havechanged in 10 years, but the real pleasure comes from the addictivehack-and-slash gameplay this series has been delivering for over twodecades. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• A great way to see just how far game technology has come
• Wizardry fans can finally fill all the gaps in theircollections
• Will provide hundreds of hours of entertainment--if you can takethe graphics and interfaces of the older titles

• Older DOS-based games won't appeal to the average gamer
• Some of these titles don't run well on modern systems

Reviews (5)

revolutionary!
Some players to whom graphics is all important should not bother with this game, with extremely few exceptions, every wall in this game looks the exact same.that can lead to some confusion so the automap feature which was included in wizardry gold was a huge bonus.the neat thing about wiz 7 (the greatest rpg of all time) is that your maps become more detailed as your character's skill in mapping goes up.
these are the most extensive rpg titles ever created.to this day none (well maybe one or two) titles offer the extensiveness of character development offered by wiz 6 and 7.there are plenty of races to choose from, and plenty of proffesions to enter, in the end it offers immense replay value as each party of 6 characters can be compromised of any proffesion you choose.you may choose from fighters, samurai, ninjas, monks, thieves, bards, valkyries, lords, rangers, bishops, alchemists, mages, priests and psionics.each race has different strengths and weaknesses and is more inclined to enter certain proffesions than others.each proffesion also has a plethora of skills to learn, from four classes,weaponry, physical, academic, and personal.
combat is unique, you assign commands to all your party members and then start the round.it requires you to have a strategic mind to be succesful... should i Slow this group and Blinding Flash this one, or the other way around?the spells as well are quite numerous, i beleive there are a total of 96.each spell can have up to six power levels (seven in wiz 7) allowing you to tailor the spell for what size or strength monster you are fighting.
the storyline is nothing short of amazing and highly engrossing, and completely non-linear.it is possible to 'lose' at the grand finale of the game, its also possible to semi-lose or semi-win.i beleive there are 5 endings.if you play through wiz 6 you can import your party into wiz 7 and get a special beggening and i beleive three special endings.
a great feature of the game is that there is no level limit for your characters, even in higher levels the game is still challenging.monsters do not simply get more hp and lower armor class as you go up in levels, they actually get smarter and some may have more special abilities to counter your party's.combat is beautifully balanced out so that it is not too tough, but certainly not too easy!even towards the end there are plenty of extremely (but not impossible) battles to be had.

another of the game's challenges is the acquisition of equipment.you EARN better equipment, for some it may be discouraging how hard it may be to get better equipment but others realize that it is beautifully balanced with how powerful your spellcasters become.when you find a treasure chest it usually contains well earned items, though only after disarming a tricky trap.this is where your thief/ninja/bard comes in.as they gain skill in skuldgerry they make it easier to ID components of traps.
the monsters are extremely numerous, i've played the game since its original release and still haven't encountered all.
the game does have flaws however, though none which marr the gameply much if any.one of the main flaws is that in wiz 6 every wall in the game looked the exact same, even if you were in the middle of a swamp or a castle.this makes it easy to get lost so the strategy guide complete with detailed maps (included in the game) is a MUST have.wiz 7 made a leap by including different wall tiles for different environments.yes, every town looks the exact same but at least trees are actually trees now!theonly environmental effect in the game is night/day cycles but don't despair, if something happens or if there is anything out of the ordinary on a wall the game will tell you.
the combat realism of the game may upset some, especially when their level 1 fighter is averaging six misses per hit or when their level five mage attempts a seventh level fireball that backfires and incinerates the party.your characters build up their skill levels through practice and level ups (levels are hard earned and precious!)therefore don't expect combat to be a walk through the park.in your very first fight your mage may very well run out of magic and pick up his stick to start beating some froggy plants senseless.
character creation may very well be a very frustrating for even experienced rpg'ers.you must select a sex and race and then the computer generates a random number of bonus points with wich to boost your initial stats (strength, speed, dexterity, vitality, intelligence, piety, and charisma).if the bonus points don't allow your character to raise his stats to the minimum entrance requirements for a class, your outta luck, try again.you want that felpurr samurai or faerie ninja?hope you got patience...
wizardry is an extremely well balanced and must play game for true rpg'ers.it provides hours and hours and hours of gameplay (just a single title!).the world you are free to explore from day one is immense and offers quite a few surprises which are not included in the game's strategy guide!from a tyrannosaurus rex to hidden treasure, there is plenty to discover.so polish off your breastplate, oil your boots, fork up 30 bucks and get out there and explore!

They can do better
I'm one of those people who grew up playing the original Wizardry (Proving Ground of the Mad Overlord) and wanted to have to same thing on my IBM computer.I was really disappointed because the graphics were worse than the old apple version, i can't figure out how they could do that but they did.Overall it was more difficult to use and just didn't have the same mystique that the original apple version possessed.The CD i bought didn't come with any instructions or anything so i didn't figure out how to play the other game so i can't comment there.I wouldn't go looking for this disc unless you liked the entire series.Fortunate for me i still have a working Apple II GS so i can play the original Wizardry.

Quick Review
I'm an RPG nut.I grew up with the early keyboard-interface games with CGA graphics and fell in love with the style of game.As far as I'm concerned, the games could still play like that or could even still be on pencil and paper.The graphics don't matter to me that much.I like collections.I also have all the Ultima games in a CD-ROM collection and the King's Quest Series.It's worth it to get all the games at once.I bought this collection because I played Dark Savant.In my opinion, that is one of the BEST RPGs ever made.It takes at least 6 months to complete and is so detailed and so wonderful.This set of games is worth it for that one game.The other ones are still awesome.Of course, if all you care about are graphics and sound, you might not find their charm.But, they are all great RPGs.

A few interesting features, but limited play and very dated.
First off, I've just gotta ask what's up with the first review on this site?A glowing review that's logged more than 100+ positive votes?That's a lot of traffic.Not that I would accuse anyone of having ahundred friends and employees drop by the site to plug a product, but . ..

As for the game itself.Wizardry Gold, the most complex game in thepack, does have a few very nice features.In particular, there are severalgroups of NPC's running around trying to accomplish the same quests thatthe PC's are, which provides a nice sense of urgency that most computergames lack.Also, the magic system is very good.Since each character'sspell points are distributed around between six different schools, you'reforced to employ a bigger variety of spells than in most RPGs.

That said,the game is VERY DATED.In spite of the 1992 date on Wizardry gold, itlooks and plays like something from the mid 1980's.The graphics areextremely primitive, to the extent that they actually impede game play. Because every wall and every tree looks exactly the same, it's hard tonavigate.Also, you can't see monsters until you are actually in combatwith them, and many special features (alcoves with urns, panels of blinkinglights, etc.) have no graphical representation at all, so you have tophysically step on every square to see if there is somethingthere.

Interaction with NPC's is also extremely rudimentary.Most NPC'swill only talk about three or four subjects, usually say only one sentenceon the subject, and usually repeat the same thing that every other NPC sayson that subject.This makes it hard to figure out what is going on in theworld, and to get a handle on the backstory behind all the quests andNPC's.The NPC's in this game are primitive compared to those in Might andMagic 6,7, and 8, which are in turn primitve compared to the NPC's inFallout 2. (A game with the best written characters that I've seenyet.)

All in all, I think modern players will find these gamesfrustratingly primitive.Those looking for a good RPG should try Fallout2,Might and Magic 6,7, or 8 (they're basically all the same), or the Baldur'sGate games, in that order.

Archives justifies playing older games.
Although you may prefer to pick up the similarly priced 'rpg archive' offered by Interplay which contains Wizardry Gold (Wiz7 for Win95) as well as ten other rpg games, for Wizardry die-hards, there is simply nothingthat could compare to this set.Contained on ONE cd-rom is Wizardry 1through 7 plus Wizardry Gold AND a demo for Wizardry 8 (forthcoming) andBaldur's gate.But the real question is, why should anyone except a smallhandful of weirdos who actually played these games (Wiz1 dates back to1978!) want to pick up this pack?

Well for starters, I think the Wizardrygames have consistantly had one of the best role playing systems for acomputer game even all the way back with their innitial entry.You havecomplete control over 6 characters and the success of your party (which youcreate) will depend on how well you select the different races, classes,alignments, spell choices, equipment, etc... All of the games feature largeareas with many puzzles, but while the early games focus on completion ofone dungeon (making game progress relatively linear) the real gem of thisset is Wiz 7/Wiz Gold, which is reason enough to buy this set.Beforeexpounding on Gold though, I should mention that there is a continuitybetween the games so that you can import characters from one game directlyinto the next.Also, Wiz6&7 are parts 1 and 2 of a trillogy of which 8is the conclusion.Also (and perhaps to some detriment) many of thesegames (other than Gold) may run strangely on your machine--but fortunatelya program called slo'mo is included and should help slow down yourcomputer.

As to Gold, this in in my opinion the best computer rpg yet. Forget Final Fantasy and all those other games; Wiz7 is huge with an entireworld to explore, various cities, forgotten ruins, dungeons, towers,castles, crypts and temples.There are both sub-plots and major plots, ofwhich you can chose a side or play both sides against the middle.So someguy pays you to assasinate one of your friends.It's completely up to you,and the rest of the story will reflect your decisions.There are at leasta dozen major non player characters who you may or may not become friendswith.From them you can ask whatever you want, or buy rumors off of them,or even steal them blind. As to spells, there are almost 100, with severalspell casting classes including mage, priest, alchemist and psionic, andseveral combination fighter/spell-casting types.There are elite classessuch as Samurai, Ninjas, Monks, Lords and Valkries which although difficultto generate when you are first making your character, can often be obtainedlater as your characters skills improve. Weapons:There are hundreds ofthem.Everything from the lowly throwing dart to unique magical weaponsand everything in between.And of course for every way of implimentingdistruction there is a monster to perform it on.I imagine someone knowshow many monsters there are, but I don't.Everything from creaturesintelligent or more intelligent than you to giant bone crushing lizards!And of course what would the game be without puzzles?Wiz7 has been calledthe most difficult computer rpg yet, but fortunately WizGold comes with asubstantial help file and maps--and if that isn't enough, now that theyears have passed, you can now find the every spoiler you'd want on theinternet. In short, WizGold (which is only one of the games sold in thispack) will keep you playing for months (I have heard estimates that knowingfull well what you are doing there is over 100 hours of role play here, Ithink the game may prove longer for those though who have not read the hintfiles).It is amazingly addicting, and that is why even after 7 years,people are still anxious for Wiz8.Sure, the graphics are aniquated (thiswas way before doom!) and it can't be played over the internet, but I can'tthink of a single newer game which offers the depth of role playing you'llget here (as an example, if you are slow in getting to a particular point,you'll find one of the NPCs may have gotten there before you and got theprize you were after.)A lot of this is because games have sacrificedmultiple characters as too complicated for newer 3-d games and hence goneto single character games (don't worry, Wiz8 will still have 6 characters),while other newer games seem to be mostly just hack and slash or are toolinear.Wiz7 shares none of those problems, and is as addicting as it wasback in 1992, for a substantially cheaper price.If you are at all a fanof computer RPGs, especially if you've been looking for something a bitdeeper than all the Final Fantasy games, I cannot recommend the WizardryArchieves more, though you may consider purchasing the RPG Archives packalso sold by interplay for a broader sampling of older CRPG games. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Star Trek: Armada 2 is the sequel to the Star Trek real-time strategy title Star Trek: Armada. An innovative RTS, Star Trek: Armada 2 adds a new level of strategy and realism to the original by allowing players to command from a 3-D tactical view. Set in The Next Generation universe, the game's story unfolds through three single-player campaigns from the Federation, Klingon, and Borg perspective. Additionally, the Cardassians, Romulans, and Species 8472 will join the fray throughout.

The sequel also features more armada than before. Sweeping 3-D gameplay immerses gamers in a universe of space, supremacy, and survival with more ships, longer campaigns, and all-out battles. You can arrange fleets in many different 3-D formations with up to 16 ships, which dramatically affect strategic and tactical decisions. The outcome of every encounter depends on the player's ability to manage resources, crew, and fleets of ships across the galaxy.

Players command the fleets of three different races through three separate single-player campaigns for a total of 30 missions. Additionally, gamers can take control of six separate races in multiplayer mode. Each has divergent combat styles and tactical approaches. Other noncombatant aliens such as the Ferengi make for willing trade partners. Gamers become fully immersed in the explosive battles with the addition of the tactical view mode, a ship-to-ship combat viewer that allows you to control fleets from on top of the action. ... Read more

Reviews (261)

DO NOT BUY FROM VINDOR
this was a waste of money getting this game so far i have had to get this game replaced twice because the cd keys does not work do not buy this game you are throwing away your money

the best game ive ever known!!!!!!!!!
this game is almost the best game ever it all start's when your the federation and you have to beat the borg and find out how they got so deep into the alfa qoudrent without being detecded but when your klingon's you find out that the federation have been atact by the cardasien's and when your klingon it's time that you give them payback but i havent fineshed the game yet i bought it last year it was 50$

STAR TREK: STARFLEET COMMAND 3
Star Trek Starfleet Command 3.Could there ever be a better game?After you play this game, you will answer that question the smae way I did.No.In SFC3, you can play as Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Borg.From the sleek Soverign class vessel (U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-E) to the massive Borg Cube.Fire a variety of weapons, including Quantum Torpedoes, Phasers, Disruptors, and Gavemetiric Torpedoes.Beam you troops over on hit-and-run raids to disable enemy systems, or to attempt the impossible: take over the entire vessel.
Create fleets of up to five vessels, and gang up on small vessels.Invade enemy territory in missions ranging from Planetary Scan, Assulting defensless stardocks, or taking a suicidal run on an enemy starbase.
Launch Probes, cloak, use an anti-cloaking scan, launch specialized shuttles, an perform eratic manuvers.Manage your sheilds to prevent enemy boarding parties from completeing their mission.Name your ship, and create ships from the shows like the U.S.S. Defiant, and visit noted locations such as Sector 00,01 (Earth), Romulus, Remus, The Borg Homeworld, and the legendary home of th klingons, Q'ronos.
Engage in 4 epic campagins, icluding for all major star empires, The United Federation of Planets, The Kligon DefenseFleet,The Romulan Star Empire, and the Borg Collective.Or, you can just ignore polotics, and go on to conquer the galaxy.
Anyway, you can count on SFC3 being the best STAR TREK game ever.It is not worth the $90.00 it's being sold for, though, so buy it at a computer game store.Good Luck Conquering the galaxy.You can e-mail me if you have any questions about the game at comderbashir@yahoo.comJolan Tru

Star Trek Bridge Commander.
I've been playing Star Trek Bridge Commander for a while now after I purchased the game just a few years ago. The computer graphics are great if you like to take the Captain's Chair. This game requires some stragety and it's often difficult to play. I have to play this game a number of times before I can get through the next level. But if you are a extremely better gamer and love Star Trek this game is for you. If not don't buy this game if you are not satisified.

J'aimerais bien avoir ce jeu
Jai lu que le jeux était discontinué.

Je voudrais quand savoir ou je pourrais avoir ce jeux ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Toga party, anyone? Now your Sims can do that and more withThe Sims: House Party Expansion Pack, which makes it easier thanever for characters from The Sims to make friends and quicklyrise to the top ranks of their professions.

They'll need all the extra money they make from promotions to pay forall the cool goodies included in this expansion. Party themes rangefrom Wild West campfire cookouts to Hawaiian luaus and room-shakingraves, with plenty of objects provided to keep guests entertained.There's a costume trunk to guarantee everyone will be dressed for theoccasion, and it's even possible to hire a caterer to keep the food anddrink flowing. If you're really lucky, a famous star may pop in for aguest appearance. Every party is packed with surprises, and theinclusion of extra neighborhoods ensures there's always a bash to plan.This is one expansion that no fan of The Sims should be without.--T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• More than 100 new objects and characters
• Guaranteed social interactions can really help a Sim's career
• Great music and fun themes
• Plenty of surprises

• Takes time away from real parties

Features

• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Genre: Strategy
• Mission: Party hard with your Sims using a dance cage, mechanical bull, and hookah
• Platform: Windows 95/98/Me/XP

Reviews (197)

Having a big bash!!!
It's cool to have parties when a lot of people come.I have a huge party room where people dance and be the D.J. It's fun when you get a big cake and hire a male or female dancer and they pop out of the cake and do a dance,but watch out because sometimes they come up to you and make out with you or flirt with you.If you don't have this game you should buy it.

House Party!
The Sims House Party is one of the few expansion packs that I can't do without apart from Hot Date and Livin' Large (And to some extent Vacation, and Superstar). It truly enhances Sims' lives by inviting each other for costume or themed parties, but it has it's disadvantages as well.

You want to make sure that your Sims really know the people around you for the party to go well or the dreaded Mime'll arrive. He doesn't do much apart from get in the way and annoy people. While on the other hand, if your party's a success you get a surprise visit from a celebrity! It's never happened to me yet, but then again I've done the sad mistake of signing up with the Talent Agency too quickly.

Also, if your Sim isn't on good terms with any other Sim in the neighborhood, using the phone to declare a house party'll automatically invite them as well. This can get nasty sometimes. In cases like these, it'd be "safer" to use the phone and manually select who you want to invite over. Then of course, you can always buy the turkey and the Christmas tree.

Parties are even divided into adult or kiddy parties, with dance entertainers popping out of cakes for the former but a purple gorilla usually stuns the kids for the latter. Some of the additional items that come along with this expansion pack are DJs, Caterers and costume wardrobes!

Recommended.

Great New Stuff!!!
Want some new skins, objects, walls, and floors for your Sims?Look no further than House Party!There is some great having-fun-potential here!!!Whether you want an entertainer to pop out of a cake or you want to sit around a campfire to sing songs and roast marshmallows (this is so cute... when they sing around the campfire, someone pulls out a guitar and they all sing real melodies but with Sim lyrics), House Party is for anybody!
Don't stay up too late! And go easy on the alcohol! ;)

One of the best expansion packs.
If you love the Sims you'll love this expansion pack. If you want all the Sims expansion packs make sure you purchase Livin' Large first so you don't have to uninstall House Party and any other expansion packs. House Party is the third one in the series. This game is GREAT. It allows you to have a party. Depending on if your party is good or not you may get a visitor. If you party is bad you will get a clown who will not leave you alone but it is fun to slap him. If your party is good than certain celebrities will visit you. I have had Drew Carey visit. The game gives you more options and more neighborhoods. Enjoy the game!

Funest toy ever
It is very fun because you can make people that are fanous,make people that look like you, or just make a stranger. You can also make your dream house or you can marry your crush!
... Read more

Features

• PC Products
• ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
• Action/Adventure

Reviews (45)

Writing that makes you wish you were in Soviet Russia
Oh man, where do I begin?First of all, I have never written an amazon review.Reason being that I am usually pretty indifferent, or i should say on the level and feel that the customer can choose for him or herself without listening to my opinion which is many time different from theirs anyway.However, this game was so utterly and painfully terrible that I feel it my duty .... no, my crusade, my jihad, my mission and my ka to warn anyone, ANYONE no matter your usual preference of games to avoid this embarressmet at all costs.Do not take this game even if someone offers YOU 20 bucks to take it off their hands.This curse, this abomination may quiet possibly signal the doom of mankind and any further intelligent thinking on the part of mankind.The writing is terrible on such a level that I felt sick listening to the dialog .... which is impossible to turn down other than adjusting you own speaker volume because this game offers absolutely no game options what so ever.I am one of the few people who still love playing adventure games and i state this so no one gets the imppression that i am a first person shooter who's first forray into adventure gaming was this.I play adventure games for story, writing and thinking .... this monstrosity of a game gets a F in every category.I'm serious, do not waste your money on this game, do not waste your time or even 2-3 days of your life on this game .... go outside and feed bread crumbs to ducks or drill an enormous hole straight through your eyeball, just do not play this game.It is a curse that will stay with you.After witnessing this you will never ever buy an adventure again without first reading 30 reviews at least.After playing this game, which i might add I did not have the stomach to complete, I now no longer believe that mankind as a whole is evolving upwards toward some form of perfection.I now believe that we are de-volving at an unparrelled rate and that soon we will be swinging from trees again or living in caves drawing stick figures of deer and bears and such and calling those stick figures works of unriveled artistry.Please, unless you are considering all the pros of tolitarian censorship, then avoid this game as if it were a rampaging rabid grizzley in heat.

Corny and made little sense to me
This game was just bizzare. I rarely laughed at the corny humor that saturates the gameplay--I usually rolled my eyes. I thought the navigation was illogical and frustrating as well. This is one of those games that I forced myself to finish, and was glad when it was over. Still, it had enough challenge in it to keep me going, so it wasn't a total waste. I've definitely played worse games (like Conspiracies).

Save your money unless they come out with a patch
This game has done nothing but misbehave. First it did not want to load my saved game so I started over again. Second time around it was OK. Then the game blacked out on me at the same point every time, I uninstalled and installed again but the same thing kept happening. The Adventure Company has no on-line help, you have to e-mail them. I could not find a patch either. I am probably going to e-mail them to see what happens but basically I have written it off. I have all the requirements needed according to the box(XP etc.).

The little I played was disappointing and very confusing, the best thing they could do was to give a solution guide along so you can check if you are really just confused or does the game go somewhere?? I never got past the 2nd chapter so who knows?? Graphics are very cartoon like but then I am used to Myst, Syberia and other top of the line games. I could live with that if other features would make up for it, but that is not the case.

Dreadful
Had a heck of a time trying to run it on XP which only added to the unavoidable realization that this "adventure game" is a complete waste of a person's time and energy. I couldn't tell you much in the way of storyline because my computer would freeze up every 10 sec. I gave up trying to go past the 1st chapter. Who needs this aggravation. Root canal is more pleasant.

My Kind of Exploring
This is not for people who like shooters or blowing things up. You can easily get lost in the jungle for a while if you don't keep track of where you have been. Then there are the 6 doors that all look the same. They have a beautiful butterfly pattern on them, but you have to keep track of which door goes to which room. I really like this kind of exploring. I haven't scene a game like this in years. Once you find your way around, then you have to have found the right inventory items and figure out where you need to use them. Some of these are hilarious. You are in for some surprises. Then you can also explore areas out of sequence which adds to the confusion. There are doors in the middle of nowhere that are dimensional portals. Let alone you keep looking for the same guy, well, at least he kind of looks like the same guy. Actually the Doc is different versions of himself in past lives. These can be funny too. One time he is in a gorilla suit, then he looks like a sailor from a corporate office and then he is locked up in something - but I don't want to give that away. If you like taking your time trying to figure out a whacky world this is the one. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Collection of four games with bonus preview and soundtrack in Quest for Glory adventure series. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Play these on your new computer with VMWare
I truly miss all of the old Sierra games. While I would never trade my first person shooters, I would love to see these games come back. The entire Quest For Glory series is a work of art to be enjoyed by everyone, even kids.

Someone gave a low rating because of the price. The price isn't set by Sierra. These games are out of print and are now collectors items. The price has to do with supply and demand.

Lastly, in order to play these games you can do one of several things. The first thing is to invest in software called VMWare that allows you to run other operating systems from Windows. Install Windows 98, and play these games with that OS. Again, you won't need a dual boot system; Windows XP will be a "host" for Windows 98. Or you can do a google search and find a good emulator that allows you to play these games with full sound. Believe it or not, there is a large community that loves these games.

Tongue in cheek humor, creative storyline.
These games were revolutionary in the early 90's, and the format (choose from 3 different battle types; thief, wizard, or fighter) made the series versatile. Fans of the Kings Quest series should love Quest for Glory. Be careful though--if your pc is very new, you will not be able to run this game. If your pc is from around 2000 era, you may be able to run it, but w/out sound. Depends. If sound is important to you, double check! You may want to look at fansites to see if anyone has made a patch or has figured out how to run it. Good luck!
-ha

The games are great, but...
I'm a little bit in shock looking at this title.When the Quest for Glory collection vol 1 first came out back in the day, it cost about thirty bucks, but it had all the games that vol 2 has.The downside to vol 1 was that it was riddled with bugs throughout different games.I'm imagining they cleaned that up for vol 2, but how in the hell does that warrant a price tag that's through the roof?!I love the games, which is why I gave it five stars.But this overpriced collection gets zero stars, and I'm severely disappointed in Sierra for screwing their loyal fans like this.

A lost breed
I played these games from ages 7-15, and I will always remember them.They are all very immersive and enjoyable.The graphics are not up to today's technology, but the gameplay definitely is.I would recommend this collection to anyone willing to devote their time to an adventure.I doubt there will ever be games in the same style as these.

Pls re-release for newer computers
I miss these games and games like it that Sierra used to make, pre Half-Life.I played Space Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, and Kinq's Quest, but my favorite has always been Quest forGlory, which I played when it was still Hero's Quest.Of these, my favorite is number 2 "Trial by Fire" because it is such a long, involved story with many interesting Zelda-like quests.Except Zelda never had a button that replaced townsfolk with clowns!

There are no games like these any more.Please bring back the puzzle adventure game Sierra! ... Read more

Product Description

Take a glimpse into the future in Space Colony, a Space Sim from the makers of the award-winning Stronghold.In a groundbreaking combination of a People-Sim and a World-Builder, Space Colony allows players to manage and nurture an unruly bunch of dysfunctional space dwellers.Explore the planet, establish industries, and improve the colonists living conditions in a world swarming with over 20 unique alien species.Get to know your peoples strengths and weaknesses, train them, bring th ... Read more

Features

• Manage your space community - Over 20 unique personalities. They brawl, argue, get depressed, go crazy and fall in love.
• Contend with 20+ alien species - They hunt, socialize and get on with their weird and varied daily lives. But be ready to allocate power to your force fields as they may turn their eyes on you!
• Choose your priorities - Use the many robots and androids at your disposal to establish profitable extraction industries and hi-tech factories... so you can spend more time at the slot machines.

Reviews (12)

Outstanding and Unique Game
If you like sims, this game is perfect for you.Especially if you are a space nut like me.

You get to build and also control the people.Besides building and keeping your people happy, you also have to protect the colony from aliens and meteors.As if that isn't enough, you need to make money all the while.

The game has lots of really unique little things about it that make you want to keep playing just to see them all.One of my favorites is the space golf cart.

If you like these types of games, DON'T pass this one up!!

Another bonus, you can download extra campaigns from the maker and other users...or you can create your own campaigns!!

Good Addition to "Sim Style" PC Collection
This sim type game is very well thought out.It offers four forms of gameplay, all of which run smoothly.The campaign mode is excellent because it does a good job of allowing the user to become familiar with all of the features of the game.If you like the Sims, or any other tycoon style games, this is a must!

Space Colony
This game is great.I only have the demo but I plan to go buy it in just a few minutes.

Would give it 0 if I could
I purchased this game new 3 weeks ago (not from Amazon)and still haven't been able to play it because it's stuck on "create a user".I have been back and forth w/ tech support, tried all their suggestions and have gotten nowhere.I suggested they refund my money, but they haven't acknowledged that.

A nice addition to the sim genre
If you're a fan of "god games," Space Colony is a must-have. It's a great combination of building, resource management, defense, and, well, for lack of a better word, let's call it HR. People management. Social experimentation. You'll find other games that are more sophisticated in one of those areas (like The Sims, for the latter category), but overall Space Colony has a great mix. The building options are varied, though some more options for bio-dome decor would be nice and I'd really like to be able to rotate items. Resources include both raw materials and industrial products that have to be created by trained colonists. Threats to the colony's health come in various forms, large and small. Some are easily overcome (such as illness). Others, like the protoraptors, can be more difficult to defeat. Space Colony probably won't appeal to gamers looking for a really challenging military sim, but for my taste there's just enough to worry about in the defense sphere to add interest to the game.

The characters are one of the best parts of the game. There are twenty characters to get to know -- most important, the protagonist Venus Jones, who's probably the only truly sane character in the colony. Each character has a unique set of skills and liabilities. Tami, for example, is a social pariah and a drinker, but she can sweep floors like nobody's business. Vasilios has either brain damage or a deep-seated psychological problem that gives him a sort of catatonic, shell-shocked quality, but this character will work like a machine at whatever task you set him to. There's a lot to balance in the social management department, especially when you consider that, as in The Sims, relationships can degenerate over time. In other words, your colonists will fight. They'll shove each other, trash talk, and generally give you a real good reason to send them to the counseling robot for some stress management. Overall, the most wonderful part of the social side of this game is how varied the "talk" is. The colonists speak in English, not gibberish. You can overhear their comments on the decor (add some plants and you'll never hear the end of it), their small talk with each other, and even some longer dialogues during their "time outs" to resolve arguments. A lot of the comments are just plain funny, which really ads to the personality of the characters and the game as a whole.

Space Colony compares very favorably with other sim games I've played. I'd put it up there with Tropico 1 & 2 (also a Gathering title), Pharoah/Cleopatra, Civ III, with elements of The Sims thrown in. Actually, the game it's probably most like is the excruciatingly buggy StarTopia, only with more individuality and more social interaction. And many fewer bugs. In fact, I've been pleasantly surprised by how seemingly bug-free the game is so far, especially since I actually installed it on a machine that's slightly less than the recommended system requirements (P3 450 instead of P3 800).

Overall, this is a great addition to the sim genre, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys sim games. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The complete, bestselling, award-winning Heroes of Might and Magic series in one great package! Explore and conquer over 100 different exquisitely designed maps and scenarios. Play on your own, or take part in gripping multiplayer action. The unique turn-based game play allows everyone to play at his/her own pace. Perfect for novices and experts alike! ... Read more

Reviews (12)

3DO made a failure and a waste of money by making this game
Why did I buy this game? I need to find a good game,but when I turn to 3DO, I get a game which is ultimately boring, and is hardly understandable. This is why I would rate this stupid, dumb, game as a 1 (if I could I would make it a 0) out of 5.

The best game ever!!!
HOMM is awsome!A great strategy game.If you like Starcraft you will likely like this game.The game also has good graphics.The battles are very fun because you can't always move far enough to attack your enemies.I liked the turn part too.It makes it so you can't build a lot of troops to rush or something because you only can build one building per turn and you can't build unlimited troops because you can only build so many each week.Overall: A great game!

A fantasy on your computer.
This is a very cool set. I tried the first one, but it's not very good when you look at HOMM2 & HOMM3. The graphics, gameplay, and units that are available are much better than the first one. The gameplay is very challenging and if you sit back and try to build up your forces, they are doing the same thing, and since they always have a head start on you, you are just settign yourself up for disaster. There are many scenarios to play and you can also just play a map against the computer if you want. Has map editor so you can make your own maps to play. This game can be replayed time after time.

Be careful, time really flies while you play this GREAT game
I have played many games with my kids and on my own in the past -- including the great Zelda series.This is by far the BEST of any role playing game!My son and I started out with the first HOMM game and we purchased every single installment upon release!

Fantasy lovers will especially love this role playing/strategy game!The graphics are fabulous!The scenarios and campaigns are fascinating.My favorite games are the campaign senarious where one successful, hard-won conquest builds upon another. You have to really think and plan to build up your heroes' abilities as well as their kingdoms.

One caution, this game can be hazardous to your time -- you become so absorbed in it that hours pass in a flash!

One of best strategy games
Besides HOMM 1, 2, 3, and Expansion Pack for HOMM 2, the Millennium Edition also includes "King's Bounty", an early DOS game from the same designer that bears great resemblance to HOMM.This package is worth more than it costs considering the older games have become hard to find.

Much of HOMM's success I think is due to its ingenious combat system.Combats in many turn-based games are often dull and repetitive (a major reason why real-time strategy games have become so successful).But combats in HOMM offer *endless* possibilities.Your every attack depends on a large number of factors, from little things like the order of your troops' alignment to big things like your hero's morale, luck, strength, etc, to the intangible factors like the roughness of the terrain, and the timing of your and your opponent's spellcasting.If game design could be called an art form, then the design of this combat system would be a great example.

If I have to carp, the computer AI for HOMM 1 and 2 could be better.Computer opponents would stubbornly go after ranged attackers during combat (something you could use to your advantage).And sometimes computer opponents would build the most advanced castle, and then just walk away with you nearby.Thankfully, all 3 HOMM games offer multi-player options. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Advanced Dungeons& Dragons has inspired more computer games than any other. You canget 13 of them in one package with the Forgotten Realms Archives:Silver Edition. Like most collections of this size it has its shareof hits and misses, but if you don't require cutting-edge graphics andmodern interfaces to have fun, you'll find many hours of enjoyment inthis vault of role-playing game history.

All the famous Gold Box games are included, from Pool ofRadiance, the game that started it all, to the high-level adventurePools of Darkness. It takes some doing to get them runningproperly, but the rewards are worth it for old-school role-playing fansthat never had the chance to complete these great games. The ground-breaking Eye of the Beholder series--three terrific games--isalso included. "Newer" games include the acclaimed Underdark adventureMenzoberranzan and Blood & Magic, a poor real-timestrategy game that is by far the most disappointing title in thispackage. Even hardcore players likely won't get much satisfaction fromthe boring Dungeon Hack or Hillsfar, which has too muchcombat and too little depth.

Don't expect too much from the graphics in these games. Some are morethan 10 years old, and they can be cranky on newer, faster machinesrunning Windows 95 or 98. If you have the patience to get them running,however, this collection is one rewarding time machine. --T. ByrlBaker

Pros:

• Plenty of classic role-playing games
• All titles are set in the popular Forgotten Realms

• The uninitiated will balk at the poor graphics and outdatedinterfaces
• Can be difficult to get these older games running properly on amodern system

Reviews (8)

Excited but confounded
I somehow installed the oldest game of this collection (Pool Of Radiance) yet can not figure out how to install the rest of the games. Judging from some of the other reviews I've read I'm not the only one who has had this problem. I can't believe that the oldest one would work but not the 11 more recent games. Can't anybody provide some advice? I'm on Windows XP.

price??!!!!??
ok... i have this game pack, and i bought it at a gaming boutique in the mall for 14.99, so why is it so much??? it really shouldn't cost this much!! it doesn't even include the book with all of the journal entries and passwords and such..... which still wouldn't cost you more than twenty some dollars...... just thought i'd put my 2 cents in......... cause i saved much more than that at the mall for this game!

These are the best of the best of the old RPGs
When I was younger, first getting into RPGs, my mom got me Might and Magic: Darkside of Xeen and a set of AD&D games with Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and Secret of the Silver Blades (3 of the 13 games in this set).Unfortunately I was too young to understand the complexities of all of the games, and never ended up getting very far, except in Might and Magic.A few years later I rented Eye of the Beholder (it and its two sequals are in this set) for SNES.I instantly became immersed in the enourmous environment provided, the Sewers of the city of Waterdeep provided great entertainment, and frustration, since there were no people to sell me potions, rations, or weapons.Once again I didn't make it very far, and always had to return the game before I got to the last battle.

Then, about a year ago I was in a certain store when I spoted a shelf of $10, two for one games.I looked through them while waiting for my mom to come from shopping and spotted this set in a smaller box, no instructions, only the decoder for entering some of the games included.But I instantly grabbed it, eagerly anticipating my mom's return so that I could purchase it.I bought it, brought it home, set it up on my older PC, and got right to Eye of the Beholder.

It is now one year later and I have gone through the entire Eye of the Beholder Series, completed Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure bonds, and am now working on Secret of the Silver blades.These are great games if you have an older computer (these may be the best games you can buy AND run on it), or even if you don't.

I have to admit, I wasn't happy with Blood and Magic and Hillsfar, but those are only two out of thirteen games (actually, Menzobaranzan doesn't seem to work with my computer, so that brings the total games I won't play to three out of thirteen).These games represent a wonderful range of styles.Eye of the Beholder is mostly like Baldur's gate, except first person (like the old Shadowgate games, or, I suppose, Myst) and with no shops, everything you use is found.Secret of the Silver blades is first person in the same way, untill you get into a battle.Then it goes to an overhead view with true turnbased combat.Blood and Magic is mostly like a strategy game.

If you like modern AD&D games, then this is probably a nice set of games for you.However, if you are new to the series, you should try some of the newer games, such as Baulder's gate and Icewind Dale.

This would be better if I could get 3 quarters of the games
to work.Okay I have four computers the first one I ever know with windows 3.5 a pentium 1 with 95 and a laptop with 98 then pentium 3 with Me the first one since it did not have 95 it would have not been the first to try though it had the correct speed.I tried the second computer with this I could not get most of the games to work.

Old school baby!
I remember playing Pool of Radiance on my Tandy 1000 HX.I love these games even more than some of the new high power games of today! If you are a true RPG fan than these games are for you. ... Read more

Features

• Gather armies, raise fortifications and lead the charge against false priests and prophets
• Use combat tactics and incredible magic together, to conquer new territories and hold them against reprisals
• Create prophets to spread your gospel to new lands -- and empower them to work miracles in your name
• Develop castles and forts to defend new conquests, and craft powerful magic items to give your strongest defenders
• Beware of your rivals -Other gods will create strange beasts and mighty heroes to stop you - the more they beat you, the stronger they get

Reviews (8)

The most addictive game since Civilization
This is truly an amazing game, especially considering it's made by a small independent developer. There's a virtually infinite number of different unit types, spells and magic items so the game never gets repetitive (and this is possible *because* it doesn't rely on massive amounts of graphics). The different nations each have their own style of play. The AI is challenging even when set to "easy". You can download new maps and other modifications from the internet.

I only reduced the rating to 4 because of problems with the interface. It has a sort of unfinished feel to it. For example when the game ends, it always exits to windows rather than the main menu. Also, running a multiplayer game is very difficult and requires executing two instances of the game simultaneously.

An playable multiplayer turn based strategy game
Difficult to learn and an awkward user interface - besides that, this is the best turn-based strategy game I ever played!

It is ideal for Offline-Multiplayer (Serverbased or via PBEM), since all players take their turns simultaneously, which allows PBEM games to be finished within reasonable time. Highly customizable. OS independent.

Disappointed by WalordsIV, I am now very happy to finally have found a cute, playable, turn-based fantasy strategy game.

If you're a fan of the old classics...
If you aren't daunted by a little detail in a turn-based strategy game, and you don't mind graphics that fall short of the "latest eye candy test", and you're willing to spend some time bringing yourself up the learning curve, you'll LOVE this game.

If you find any of the above 3 make you doubt, you probably shouldn't get it. But for me, a turn-based strategy junky to the core, this game is an absolute gem. Probably the best I've bought in the last 5 years. For a specific niche of gamer out there, this one is extraordinary.

Try for yourself.
Dominions 2 is a fantastic leap into TBS on an Epic scale. Huge Gods battling for supremacy by any means possible. Genocide, reckless magic, and disregard for humanity to be the last god of the panthenon.

A steep learning curve, especially for perfectionists it provides you with a simulation of fantasty combat as opposed to actual historical combat.

Low end graphics are balanced with the fact there are so many of them along with additional abilities.

A must for those who love 4X and TBS games. Not for everyone and documentation that does not do the game justice, it is hard to get into, but if you can get past the "I'm LOSING and I don't know why!" feeling, you will be well worth it.

this is a STRATEGY game!
I emphasize strategy. What you will not find are fancy graphics, studio sound, arcade action, cheats, or a killer strategy that will win every time. This game is wonderfully balanced with 17 nations (another in the works), 1100 units, 400 spells, 400 magic sites, 250 magic items, and much more. But the neat thing is that they give you what you need to play in YOUR style. Berserker, defensive, researcher, swarmer, sneak, diplomatic, whatever. Instead of feeling like you are learning the strategies that the developer had in mind for you to learn, you can actually develop your OWN tactics and surprises. There are people who have played it over a year and still come up with new things to try. (and yes, its one of those games which will ACTUALLY survive on your machine for a year) ... Read more

Product Description

Battle your way through the strategy card game environment in the classic Magic: the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalker. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Duels of the Planeswalkers on Windows2000 and XP.
For those who have stumbled across these older reviews of the game where the incompatibility with Win2K and XP was listed as a downside, note that there is an unofficial patch that was released some time ago that let it run under NT based versions of windows, and slowed the 'shandalar' campaign down to normal levels on modern machines. It also replaces the serial networking option with a TCP/IP LAN/Internet direct connection for multiplayer(so it can still be used online), and has tons of tweaks and bugfixes to the game. Just search for 'Unofficial manalink patch 1.3.2' to find it and once again enjoy this wonderful game.

I never played much of the 'shandalar' campaign style game, but I must say that the actual card game within the engine is a top notch representation of the physical card game, and I really prefer it to the more modern and free options such as Magic Workshop, which to me was more of an interactive Magic-themed shared whiteboard, where anyone can do anything, wether it be an actual legal action or not.

top of my list
I began playing the card game several years ago, and when the PC software came out, I knew I had to have it. I have just about worn mine out playing it over and over again. I would say it is a must have game, but since the online version was released they have shown no interest in upgrading this version. Therefore, if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, or plan to upgrade soon then you are out of luck as far as enjoying this marvelous game. I recently upgraded to XP and now I wish I hadn't. Only the oline version works on a newer OS, but you have to buy electronic cards. This really ..., especially for those of us who started out playing the original game and spent hundreds of dollars on the cards already.

In closing, the game is awesome and if you have Windows 95/98 and plan to stick with that OS for a while then definitely add this to your gaming collection. Windows 2000 & XP users, on the other hand, are just out of luck!

Pick a card...any card--no, not that one!
Magic: The Gathering is a fantasy-themed card game--as I like to joke, the world's most elaborate form of "Go Fish"--which is, of course, more fun to play against a human than a program. But this game turns out to be a lot of fun and a great way to learn the game, which has its share of subtleties and nuances. Although it will take a while, you'll learn the game well enough from the program that you eventually spot the flaws in the computer's playing as well as the numerous bugs in interpreting cards.

Around the solid mechanics of the card game, Microprose built a spare but interesting gaming premise. Your avataar wanders around the mythical land of Shandalar running errands and fighting monsters. (Said fighting occurs, of course, as MtG duels.) What makes it interesting is the tweaks of the MtG rules that occur in Shandalar. In a "straight" duel, which this game allows you to play outside of Shandalar, you and your opponent have exactly 20 life points and the deck of your choice. In Shandalar, you start with a weak deck, fewer life points, and (by doing specific errands) you can build up to 20 points (and somewhat beyond). Other errands allow you to collect cards. Special "dungeons" themed around the game's five magic types allow you to fight certain creatures "in their element" for a chance to collect rare cards. (Not required, but fun.) Some of the creatures of Shandalar have "meta-powers", and can go into a game with certain advantages, like a card already in play. One kind can actually swap your deck for another (decent) deck. You can obtain similar bonuses by defeating these monsters, or through various "world magics" as they're called.

You're in a race against the five wizards of Shandalar, whose job it is to take over X number of cities, at which point they'll have the power to cast the Ultimate Magic Spell. In other words, game over. As they capture more cities, they get stronger. As you defeat their minions, they get weaker. In the final analysis, this game is rife with good ideas and a still too buggy implementation.

To make matters worse, retro-PC-gaming is a difficult and often unrewarding thing. Microsoft has never been much for backward compatibility and you'll have trouble running this on Windows 2000, though it can run on XP with some tweaking, I'm told. It'll run on your Windows 95/98/ME machine, but for a near fatal flaw: It'll run WAY too fast even on a 400mhz machine. (Note the 100mhz Pentium "minimum".) Shandalar, grievously, was made into a "real time" game, and your quests have time-limits. You can use a utility (MoSlo, Throttle, CPUKiller) to slow your entire computer down and make Shandalar go faster--but the kicker is during the duels, your computer opponents will take proportionally longer to decide their moves.

The "real time" aspects of the program were an unfortunate design decision ironically and irritatingly out of pace with the rest of the game. Shandalar could've just as well been set up like a board game.

With all its warts, though, this is a fine game. The real tragedy is that it wasn't maintained and updated. I'm not big on on-line games, and I don't like the MtG Online pricing scheme even if I did, but I'd shell out three Hamiltons yearly for a new version of this game, with new cards, new world "tweaks" and increasingly improved AI. It's a shame we'll never see it.

Finally, the timeline for these games, courtesy GameSpot: The original was released in February of 1997, followed in September of '97 with "Spells of the Ancients", followed at last by this version, "Duels of the Planeswalkers", which has all the new cards, bug fixes, and multiplayer. This is the last version, the version you want if you're going to play it at all.

The new Online, pay-per-pack version is not related to this game, nor is the older 1997 "BattleMage". (The latter only takes place in the MtG world, with no resemblance to the card game, so beware!)

A grand game.. that STILL holds my attention...
"Duel of the Planeswalkers" is a GREAT game.It was released in 1998 AFTER the initial release of "Magic the Gathering" (for PC) and the expansion pack "Spells of the Ancients"."Duel of the Planeswalkers" includes BOTH of the initial releases and also allows you to play online or via LAN.There are even a few "cards" that were designed specifially for playing on the PC... you will never find this in an actual MTG deck, they have random effects assigned by the computer when you play them!

My biggest complaint about MTG the CARD game was that it was impossible to keep up with all the rules... banned cards... and if I use this card with that card in this particular circumstance this will happen... MIND boggling problems.Its true MTG was the "father" of all other card games since 1992, and most are a far cry from MTG... but trying to seriously play and keep up on every expansion set was insane!!THUS MTG Duel of the Planeswalkers was born and is the answer to every "causal" MTG player's Prayers.

My 2 complaints about this game are as follows:
1) On today's 1.5+ Gigahertz machines this game needs to be slowed down if you play the "single player" theme game.Not a problem at all during actual DUELS, but in the "Shandalar" world everything moves WAY too fast. No big deal, just find a CPU reducer utility on the internet.Older machines might not have a problem in the "Shandalar" area, but might bog down in the middle of a duel where over 20 cards are on the "table".The CPU really has to do some massive computing to figure out it's next move....(newer machines DON'T have this problem!)

2) This game hasn't been updated/added on to since 1998... great game... an expansion would be exquisite!

I have yet to take advantage of the online/lan playability... and I wonder if anyone is STILL playing this online... I'm not sure.

It's 2003 and I still find myself going back to this game... fun to play, easy to walk away from when necessary, no long term monatary investment.

If you are a casual player or fan of Magic the Gathering, this game is an excellent purchase.Serious players might find the game slightly old and outdated... but may yet enjoy it.

Keep the gam listed
This is a great game. It is good to have this game listed.I pre-ordered this game back in Oct/Nov.Two weeks ago, someone in CA had an UNOPENED copy of the game to sell thru the Marketplace for 24.95.Since I we listed as a pre-order, the game was automaticly sent to me!It was truly an unopened copy! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

WarCraft II isn't exactly the freshest real-time strategygame on the market, but that doesn't mean it's any less fun than it usedto be. For those of you who missed it the first time around, WarCraftII is set in a fantasy realm where knights hack at trolls withswords, deadly spells crisscross the battlefield, and powerfulfortresses dot the landscape. The game pits the evil orcs against thehumans, letting players choose whichever side they want in a series ofbattles over the world.With the WarCraft II: Battle Chest, players can experience themagic of the original game along with the added enhancements of theBeyond the Dark Portal expansion pack. Rounding out the BattleChest is a complete strategy guide that will walk beginners throughthe basics and provide more experienced players with advanced tactics sothey can master the game. That's good, because players will need all thehelp they can get challenging other WarCraft II fans online. It'spossible to challenge one to eight other players on the developer's freeBattle.net servers, while more solitary gamers can immerse themselves inone of the fun single-player campaigns or stand-alone missions.WarCraft II's finely balanced gameplay has lost none of itscharm, even if the graphics are aging. In most missions you start with asmall force and must gather enough resources to build a strong base ofoperations that can field a formidable army. We had the most fun withthe set-piece battles, where we had to shepherd a few beleaguered troopsacross an enemy-infested map to either link up with a larger force onthe other side or protect a hero on his way to some goal. Blizzard isfamous for delivering games with terrific production values, timelessgameplay, and lots of extras, and the WarCraft II: Battle Chest isan inexpensive reminder of why the company has such a terrificreputation. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• A true classic with timeless gameplay
• Multiplayer mode is a lot of fun
• Plenty of campaigns and scenarios to satisfy the single-player set

• Graphics are showing their age

Features

• Support for Win95/98/NT and Macintosh
• Multi-player support for as many as 8 players via Battle.Net or IPX network
• Battle.net. play features Unique User IDs and a ranking system for worldwide challenge ladders
• Play as both Human and Orc in over 70 explosive missions across 4 epic campaigns
• Over 100 Blizzard signed and approved maps, newly built or redesigned and specifically balanced for multi-player games.

Reviews (68)

One of my all time favorite RTS games ever
Although Warcraft 3 and its expansion have come out within the last few years, I still prefer Warcraft 2 a bit more. Yes the game looks kinda dated now, but it is still a blast to play. The game was fun in that it never got too complicated or anything so that newcomers could always have a good time. The map editor was easy to use and the online play in the Battle.net edition will keep you busy for a while. Anyways, if you've only played Warcraft 3 then it might be difficult for you to enjoy this game since it is so old, but if your willing to look past the graphics then you'll find a real gem.

Oops
Great game.It looks like amazon actually posted a screenshot of warcraft I: Orcs and Humans, instead of a picture from this game.

Aging but still good
This game has definitely been around for awhile, but there's a reason it's still played.It's fun!The interface is easy to use, and the 'tech tree' aspect is fairly simple so that even people who haven't played other rts games should have to trouble learning it.

There are a couple of downsides to this game, though in my opinion they aren't much of an issue.One is of course that the graphics are definitely aging and nothing spectacular.It's nice to be able to quickly recognize your units so that you can make the best use of them (high detail can get in the way of that) but don't expect the graphics to wow you.Also, this game runs on a 2D engine, rather than the 3D engine that more recent games are using.

Secondly is that I wasn't incredibly impressed by the campaigns.They tend to get a little repetitive, so most of the time I find myself just playing a custom game.

Another similar game I might recommend instead of this one would be Starcraft.The graphics are slightly better, and the game is just as interesting.Then of course there is Warcraft III out now, which has a 3D engine and a couple of additional races besides human and orc.Aside from the things I mentioned, this game really is very good.I've been playing it for years and haven't gotten tired of it yet!

Best Game Ever- period!
Warcraft2 is an awesome game that has been around a lomg time...a classic. While some say that its graphics are aging, I love the undetailed, squat Orcs, among other things. Welcme to the World of Warcraft!!!

RTS legend.
This game is the first RTS game that I have played along with Starcraft and Lords of the Realm 2. But Lords of the Realm 2 (Starcraft is a whole diffrent stoty) didn't have what Warcraft had. The easy to get used to gameplay with great graphics in terms of running smooth, the very low system requirement, and the satisfaction of the Battle.net. I have not played this game since 2000 (Because my dad broke my CD. Read my Starcraft Battle Chest review.) so I don't know if anyone plays online now but all I know is that I had the most fun playing this game back in 2000. I remember the satisfaction that I had with my friends after beating the opponent with my ogres and the dragons. This game ran fine when I used to have Intel Celeron 400MHZ, 64mb ram, and 56k modem. So if you get this game right now, you shouldn't have any technical problems. Also this game is very easy to get used to with easy gameplay and great graphics for an outdated game. This game is definitly a must have if you are a RTS fan. You should know that Warcraft started it all. It started the great RTS gaming genre. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Create player and nonplayer characters and update them using the rules in the Player's Handbook or Skills & Powers. Many rules can be overridden to support the many special cases that occur in real-life AD&D games.

MapMaker II has been redesigned from the ground up. View overland, city, and dungeon maps, then print them in full color, flat color for ink and bubble jets, grayscale for laser printers, and black and white for dot-matrix printers. Maps can range in size from one piece of paper to a massive five-foot-by-five-foot poster.

Character sheets have been redesigned to be more paper efficient. Customize character sheets to specific user requirements. Create custom races, kits, psionic powers, spells, weapons, armor, equipment, magical items, monster, and more.

The interface to the program has been redesigned, taking user feedback from the first Core Rules CD-ROM into account. Directly access specific screens in character update.

Extensive online help is available at the touch of a button. Simply right-click on almost any item, spell, ability, or race to bring up details. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

It could be better
For those of you us who owned version 1.0 of the AD&D Core Rules CD-Rom, a revision is a long time in coming. Version 1.0 was a mess, with inconsistencies, broken programs, and a general feeling that TSR rushed it out as soon as possible without a whole lot of quality control (not an uncommon theme with TSR pre-WOTC takeover).

I'm happy to say they fixed a few problems. They also created a few more.

There are some staple elements that make you wonder why you ever bought any rule books. There's no less than nine of them, even more than version 1.0. Of course, that led me to wonder where the other ones were. Where's the Complete Book of ? The Wizard's Spellbooks? It doesn't matter. That's for Version 3.0.

Something seems to have happened to the Monster Manual, however. The pictures are no longer neatly displayed next to the descriptions. Instead, they're crammed into the RTF documents like the rest. Who wants to look at a monsterful of naked text?

What you will find is a hand-dandy number crunching program that allows you to make sense of all those Player's Option rules. I actually enjoyed this system, even if it was a bit awkward, because the Player's Option rules can make creating a character a much more complicated process.

Then there's the database. This database allows you to customize various objects, from magic items to monsters to encounters to kits. Which is neat. But only kits, and kits in the Players Option sense. Which means the kits are very weak. Also, there's a bit of confusion between giving a kit a bonus to a proficiency, a free proficiency, a preferred proficiency, and a required proficiency. Forget customizing classes -- THOU SHALT NOT TOUCH THE CORE RULES! Okay, so it's not THAT customizable.

I forgive all that. Having the cash equivalent of over $100 on a CD makes it worth the investment, especially if you're fond of hacking up the rules and want to insert your own house rules. To me, one of the biggest benefits of having AD&D rules in electronic text is what you can do with them.

What I can't forgive, however, is the mapping programs.

They tried. They tried very hard by including the Campaign Cartographer, which proved to be exceptionally dense and not particularly effective in mapping anything at all. I suspect it can be used by someone capable who wants to sit down and read the instruction manual, only there is none that accompany the CD. But that's not all! There's also another mapping program, the original mapping program that came with Version 1.0, Map Maker II.

That collective groan you're hearing in the background is from anyone who ever bought the first version. The reason they're groaning is because that sorry excuse for a mapping program didn't work. The good news is, it works now.

That's about it though. Worse, it's not exportable to any useful graphics format. No .pds, .bmps, .gifs. or jpgs. What good is this map? It works, but it's not even compatible with the Campaign Cartographer on the same CD!

Ultimately, the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Core Rules CD-ROM 2.0 does what it's supposed to do: it's a solid reference that would make a valuable addition to any Dungeon Master's collection. But it could be better.

A Good Idea but NOT user friendly
I got this product a couple of weeks ago because I am not converting to 3rd edition D&D rules .I found it useful.However, it has a lot of bugs and requires a lot of time if you want to specialize your gameany.

First the good things that this product provides: *access to thehandbooks is nice especially if you don't have one of them. *charactergeneration is quick *ability to make maps on the computer *speeds upmonster encounter creation

Now the many drawbacks! *NO KITS; which is what makes 2nd Ed so fun theversiblity. The product does have some kits but I don't know how they gotthem. The kits provided are not class specific (i.e. not from the completehandbooks) and turn out to be pretty useless.What's worse it is extremelyhard to create kits that work correctly because the program is vary limitedin adapability. *Specialty priest are a pain to set up. Program won't allowweapons not normally allowed to priests and sphere conflicts. *basically ifyou don't want a core character straight out of the player's handbook youare in for a real nightmare; however, it is possible given time. *becareful buying equipment. There is a bug

*The mapprograms are not easy to use.It is probably better to do them by handunless you will be adjusting them and reusing them (i.e. campaign atlas orregional map) *monster creation can sometimes gooff up. But the results canbe changed and the tables are adjustable (again if you have the time it canmake your life easier in the long run) *when making treasure it just rollsgp values.It does not create art objects you still have to do that.

ICOULD GO ON AND ON. HERE ARE THE KEY FACTS. IF YOU ARE NOT CONVERTING TO3RD ED IN AUGUST THEN THIS PRODUCT IS STILL USEFUL (IF YOU HAVE THEPATIENCE TO CUSTOMIZE A LOT OF STUFF) HOWEVER, I HAD THE SAME FEELING ASTHE LAST REVIEWER.

THIS PRODUCT SHOULD DO MORE!

5 Stars with a lot of qualifications
After deciding to get back into D&D after a long layoff I went to a store to see if there were any new books I might want.I got this (AND the expansion) instead.As a DM, I can't get over how much time it saves me.It is great for generating NPC's and encounters, as well as maps.Sinceall the basic D&D books are available, looking up stuff (if you knowwhere to go) is handy.And maintaining characters and printing out newrecords after going up a level (or other significant changes) is reallywonderful (especially for my kids who aren't so good at keeping records). I am able to develop and maintain a much more detailed adventure world in alot less time.And another big plus - there are quite a few web sites withstuff that can be downloaded and imported (npc's, monsters, magic items,maps, etc.).Doing it is easy.

Now for the drawbacks: First, it ispretty buggy.I downloaded the latest patches and upgrades from the web,and that helped a lot.But there are several places where it crashes, ordoes dumb things (like generate 2000 mind slayers for a randomencounter).

The documentation is pretty useless.Most of the stuff is sostraightforward that documentation is hardly necessary, but not so forCampaign Mapper.I can now say I like CM, but it took quite a bit ofexperimenting and correction of mistakes to get the hang of it.

This isNOT a game.It is simply a tool, primarily for DM's.

There aren't enoughcharacter portraits.You can add your own, or perhaps find some on the webto download.But given that most characters start young, there arescarcely any portraits of youth.

I have this vague feeling that it shoulddo more.It doesn't really do anything that I can't do without a computer. But it sure does it faster and neater!

For quality, I'd only rate this 2stars.I'd have been pretty embarrassed (I'm an applications developer) toput something out with this many bugs.I'm going to be checking their website with some regularity for patches (and upgrades, hope, hope).But asto overall value to me as a DM, definitely 5 stars.It could be a lotbetter though, so if there were competing products I'd probably have torate it 3 to 4 stars.

Signed, Karen's hubby

If you are a DM this is a must have.
The Core Rules CD-ROM is a great utility for DM's. If you are a player, most of the stuff contained in it will be practically useless, except for the player creation and the books. If you are a player, the best thing to do is show this to your DM because it will be a bigger help to him thanyou. Actually, having your entire gaming group pitch in for this, so the DMcan have a copy would probably be the best idea. The player creation isgreat. It simplifies the sometime long procedure of creating a character.And if you'd rather roll up your character with pencil, paper, and dice,you can still enter your character for a hard copy rather than having thecomputer roll it up for you. The map making utility is practically useless.The maps don't look that good, and there are too few icons. The DM toolssimplifiy the DM's life a lot. NPC's, random encounter tables, and the likecan be created in a matter of minutes. The books that it comes with arenice to have, but they will never replace the original hard-bound paperversions. Who wants to go to their computer to look up a rule in the middleof a game, when they can have their book right there on the table withthem? Not me. If you are new to D&D, don't buy this as a replacementfor the books. Buy the Paper version of the Players Handbook. If you are aDM and are looking for a time saver, like I was, this is the thing for you.

If you are into d&d don't think twice on buying this.
This is a must have if you are into d&d. t is great with or without the expansion pack. You can look up just about anything, and the mapmaker is a lot better then it used to be in version 1.0 . The graphics arebetter, and the charecter creation is a lot easier then before. But forthose of you who are not very good at using computers you might have sometrouble at first, but as you use ut more and more it is a lot better. Mostpeople would say it is out of date, but I waited 20 days for this presentfrom christmas of 1999 and it was well worth the 20 days of boring waiting ... Read more

Features

• Uncover vast caverns and alien technology that will give your empire a victorious edge
• 6 new massive underground war zones; unique alien complexes to explore and conquer
• New underground environments from volcanic lava flows to ice caverns
• New ancient-technology vehicles and weapons which can be used by all Empires
• Head-to-head urban-style combat in subterranean cities

Reviews (11)

A year on and still no improvement
I first started playing Planetside about a year ago, deciding that after reading all the marketing blurb that this was the game for me! - great graphics (and they are great graphics), the lure of huge online battles and lots and lots of vehicles to throw around and do some damage with - oh yes!!

However, I soon tired when the huge battles failed to materialise and any major battles you did manage to find to get involved with was decided simply by who managed to turn up in the most numbers on the day. No amount of skill or tatics on your part part could make a difference - its all down to numbers.

Now if this was a game with some sort of goal, a common target which you and your allies were all aiming for and once achieved, was rewared in some way; then this wouldn't seem so bad. But Planetside is perpetual war; you join battle, kill and get killed, gain some experience points, respawn, start again and never really get anywhere. Just logon, join in with what ever struggle happens to be going on at the moment and then logoff, thats the game. And you pay for this too - yes, a monthly subscription applies.

With the lack of anything comparable (except Tribes2) I'm disappointed to come back after a nearly a year to find that even with an expansion pack, nothing has been improved. It still looks great, but is still a totallay unsatisfying experience.

Buy it at Outpost.com for $10
Find the cheap addition on Outpost.com (Fry's Electronics)

Good idea, poor implementation, horrible community
Whenever getting into any SOE game, beware. The community is the low point by far. SOE forums are known for laughing over the deaths of pets and even players. Recently when a player of planetside had a brain hemmorage and died, the customers thought it the funniest thing in the world. You would be horrified to hear their position on the death of a pet.

And that is usually the problem with SOE products. Although they have the technology and the financial resources to back up creation of top of the line products, they continue to fall far short in customer service and community management. In all internet forums there are jerks, the difference is that other forums (such as Atari's Unreal Tournament forum) actually get rid of the filth and manage the forums. The only things that disappear from SOE forums are posts that decrease sales of the product through exposing weaknesses in them.

As for the game itself, it is a great idea and poorly implements. Client side hit detection in the game is a hacker's paradise. Furthermore, the company seems more interested in slowing down the achievement of players than making an enjoyable experience. Their recent expansion, Core Combat, was yet another example of their incompetence.

There are many players in the MMOG industry. The days of the EQ monopoly are over and I suggest you check out their compeditors instead.

ok but still not worth the price, give it more time
I have played Planetside and have heard about the caverns. Basicly people tell me its:

The home of the snipers

Desserted

Has no affect on bases you own

The good points to it though:
The flail, capable of putting a base under seige from another base. That is approximatly 15 kilometers or so, depending on drive time at 60kpm. A note on the flail: it has immense firing power, can hover (don't believe it can go over water though) and has an insane firing range. Good with multiple when trying to weaken a bases defenses and keep them hiding inside.

Modules. These give your base, only one base, advantages. Such would be like the Health Module. This lets you respawn with 120 health instead of normal 100.

Pain module induces pain into anyone that enters the control room (the places that you must get into the hack the control console to thus turn the base to your empire) or even gets too close to the control room.

The shield module which is extremely usefull in keeping fire out of your base. Though tanks and such could shoot over your wall, the shield module puts up a shield at your base gates (two in a base) so that no enemy fire can enter, and no friendly fire can escape. Thus they must enter your base to actually attack you.

Modules can be countered by destroying them.

The weapons are also good. If you're New Conglomerate and don't like the short range of the JH (though MANY of players from opposing empires will tell you its range is still too strong at long range) you can get the maelstrom. I might be wrong, because I forgot the name. But it is only found in the caverns and allows you to shoot an energy type beam.

Basicly, at its current price I would say that there aren't enough good things about this expansion to encourage me or any of my friends to buy it. If there were more vehicles, more weapons, and could let you go higher in BR and/or CR, I would surely recommend it. But there aren't. I say the only good thing in this expansion is the Flail and the Shield and Pain modules. But since there are plenty of other people with the expansion, you don't need to worry about it. :-)

nope not for 30
The game itself was on it's way out because of the lack of content and buggy environment.Many servers there is difficulty find a battle other then the one cluster where all the worlds people are and even then it's not that much.

Core combat split that up further.With more place to go explore, and more things to dig up, it has improved the content... at over half again the game price.That's 10$ per new vehicle.Sorry but that is just not worth it, the game is on it's way out and the developer time seems to be going to Star Wars Galaxies, the fair haired child of SOE. ... Read more

Features

• try to buy, outsell or outprice your competition, as you fight to become a recognized name the world of food!
• Go on a thrilling adventure in the culinary world, facing 18 realistic scenarios
• Choose from over 30 playable chefs, and get a feel for running a restaurant in Paris, Rome or L.A.
• Decide the strategy and tactics that will make your restaurant popular -hire the waiters, select the menu and even create the decor thatgets people inside
• Master nearly 200 recipes in French, Italian or American cuisine -- appetizers, soups, main courses & desserts

Reviews (1)

Resturant Empre: Bring on the food!!
I got this game a couple of days ago and it's really fun! You choose your chef, hire waiters/waitresses, pick what's on your menu, and off you go! Here are some pros and cons of this game.

PROS

You get to choose he kind of cuisine you want in your resturant.
You can have input on how to decorate your resturant and you can redecorate at any time.
The game is fun because there is no limit to the amount of resturants you build.

CONS:

It's so hard to make money!
There is only one scenario.(there may be more, but I've only found one!)
In sandbox mode, where you start from the ground up and build your own resturant, you can't enter the cooking contest!

If you like food, this is a good buy. For young kids this game would be very confusing. I am 10 and I still have trouble with it!This game is really addicting. Once you start, you can't stop! If you have lots of free time, this game is best. If you can only play for, say, 10 min., it would be hard to get into the game.

I'm done, and I hope I helped! ... Read more

Reviews (17)

moon tycoon
I first bought this without looking at the reveiws at amazon, but i found i thoroughly enjoyed it.It was the first tycoon game that was in 3d which was why i bought it.I really like tycoon games.This one was great!The missions are clearly possible, the graphics are great, the gameplay is great and the structures look really cool.Even the inflatable houses look neat.There are some cons though.Such as:The screen movement is choppy and it's VERY hard to keep your budget in tact.In the reagular version you start out with 50000 dollars to build your entire colony.When you finally finish you can look back at your work and enjoy it because the layout they made is beautiful, a real eye opener.I too wished when i was playing this game that i could just settle in one of my colonys.It is clear how any sim would want to settle in on someone's colony.
Recommendations: I would recommend this to anyone who is good at keeping good budget at these games.
Not recemmended to: Gray Davis

Awesome
Absolutely great the whole family loved it. They especially loved to own the Lunar colony.Out of this world excitment.This is the best out of like 15 tycoon games i have ever played

Move over SIM city you've been replaced
Moon tycoon is HOT!!Make you own Lunar colony!! Control every aspect of life on the moon.Control the number of tourist attracttions and much more!!Even control mining and scientific industries!! Buy this COOL game and you wiil be hooked on it for hours!!You've never regret buying plus it's very cheap!

moon tycoon
This game is very interseting, and fun. Takes a little time at first to get things moving, and you frequently run out of money. But has awesome grapic features. I would really recommend this game for a "tycoon" lover

fun BUT
My grandson (6) and I love the Tycoon games, however, leveling out the ground on this one is REALLY tedious since you have to do 1 block at a time.
We found a trainer to keep our money up and everything else is not only doable but fun if you like to build.
Justin really enjoys the Zoo Tycoon series, we have all 3 and at 6 years old he told his nana he wants to be a anthropologist when he grows up.Now he's excited about this one and who knows???He may want to be a space colonist when he grows up :-) ... Read more

Product Description

Own, Train and Manage your own Thorough Bread Race Horses juggle your funds to purchase new Horses, hire new Jockey's and even have the ability to bet. ... Read more

Features

• Juggle your funds to purchase new Horses
• Hire new Jockeys
• Have the ability to place bets
• Windows 95,98,ME,NT,2000,XP PC
• Has ESRB rating of E for Everyone

Reviews (1)

stable masters 2
Somewhat disappointing and difficult to play.Horse racing games are few and far between, and even fewer of them seem to focus on what I find fascinating...the selection, raising, management, training and breeding of the horses and the understanding and development of good bloodlines for racing in the fictitious world of the game.You don't even get to have the fun of naming your own horses in this game. The races and betting are fun, but you seem to have little power over what kind of horses you end up with.There is no mention of bloodlines or anything, and the only horses you can buy are ones that have been racing or are about to be raced and inexplicably are put up for sale by other "owners".The horses you start with in the game are awful (can't even win a maiden race to save their lives), and the decent ones for sale are far too expensive to afford, and even the cheap ones are selling for far more than it seems they are likely to ever win.Realistic, I guess, but not very satisfying, as there seems to be no way to raise money except by betting....which is somewhat random, obviously.The game does not have a tutorial, and there is no manual in the box.The manual that is available as an adobe file is very limited and gives no details on the mechanics of playing the game.I found instructions on line that were better.

It would be nice if the selection, raising and breeding aspect were part of the game.Worst of all, the training buttons don't seem to work the way they're supposed to and I can't get the downloaded patch that is supposed to fix this bug to execute.I keep getting a message that some graphics file is an "unknown version" so the patch can't run.I tried reinstalling the game, as suggested on ESP software's website, but to no avail. ... Read more

Features

• Our young hero Skip is walking along, minding his own business, when the Bully Bees steal his backpack! Skip has to go on a quest to get it back!
• Explore the different areas of Bugdom and interact with other characters
• Perform mini-quests to get the clues you need, like helping Sally The Chipmunk gather acorns
• Get help defeating the enemy bugs by getting to know the Buddy Bugs
• Gorgeous graphics and fun gameplay that's sure to draw in players of all ages!

Features

• Set in the Valley Of Wonders, where a human army overthrows the Elven Emperor. Choose a race and become its leader -- then lead them to their destiny, whether glorious or tragic!
• This thrilling game is a blend of classic role-playing and strategy -- explore a world of mythical creature and build an army to command
• Battle your way through 22 unique new scenarios as you collect gold & mana to spend on each mission
• Master the magical forces of creation & use them to lead through dangerous perils and exhilarating challenges
• Take your rightful place at the head of the Circle, and become the chosen leader of a nation