Im sad to hear that PoA2 isnt quite complete,maybe the game will need additional time.
And besides I also found out that this game will also be very hard for me to get :(
"Juergen, What are your favorite five games and why is each your
favorite?"
Well,there are(this might take longer,I will sticking to 5 games
):
Alpha Centauri (+Exp Pack)
I played this game very often,alone or together with friends whenever the time was available.
Unlike Civ3 it is really the continuation of a series,it really IS an advanced Civilization.
Custom Units and a kind of custom government provided a lot of different playing styles and strategies.
And the world wonders (called Secret Projets in AC) also were original and had meaningfull effects.
They along with the plot,the available factions (really different civilizations),the planet and the setting were really convincing.
At recent times games "look" like they were made for kids,but not so Alpha Centauri,it is a product made for "us" serious strategy gamers.
And last but not least AC also had the most potent WMD in any strat game available that time....I remember when I build my first "Nuke",the smallest of the available warheads by the way and fired at an enemy unit sitting atop a hill...and wondered if the units would get killed by such a small warhead...the unit was gone...and the hill was FLATENED!
The real big ones blow holes in continents....awesome.
Yes,Alpha Centauri also featured a "real" 3D terrain that have different stats depending on ther height.
As I said they were (actually are since Civ3 is a looser) many reasone to like Alpha Centauri.
Operation Flahspoint.(+ Resistance)
This game hasnt left my hardrive since I first got and it sucked up an unhealthy ammount of my time.
And playing it together with friends on a LAN party is a blast to say the least.
This game is more a simulation than shooter and in my opinion has captured the most important realistic aspects.
More realism if of course always better but OPF has a good ammount of it and much more....
From an infantry man armed with just a pistol to an A-10 you can play almost any type of unit.
And you can command them.
Men,tanks,jeeps,ships,helicopters and planes.
OPF is a real working virtual battlefield...no matter what role you want to play on the field of battle.
And the mission editor is one of the finest I have ever seen...while even a beginner will find it easy to build good scenarios advanced user have the option to easily write and insert custom scripts into triggers.
And the scripting language is eays to learn too.
In short: No matter what you want to do on the battlefield,wether you want to command,follow orders or just play Rambo OPF will get the job done
Fallout 2
Another game I played very often...I guess I have seen most possible endings.
The character creation worked quite well,there were many usefull combinations of skills and stats and just a few "useless" ones.
And there were many ways to play your character,you decide with whom to ally and who to kill.
You can be a good guy or a bad guy just as you please.
I know this doesnt very convincing but its hard to describe the many possibilities of the game,lets just say there were many ways to complete a quest and many different people who provided said quests.
Among other things you can transplant the brain of a (cursed) dog into a cyborg...now isnt that
?
Another example:During combat you can decide where to hit the enemy and your choice can have a great impact on the battle.
If you hit someone in the groin and score a critical hit then this combatant will fall down (making it easier to hit him) and might pass out for a couple of turns.
And the game if huge...there is always more to be done.
Another thing which I very much liked in FO2 and in FO1 was its "maturity" in both language,characters and the wonderfully explicit death animations.
At least I felt that this content had its rightfull place in the world the game wanted to show,and by showing me these aspects of life after the bomb I feel like Im treaded like an ADULT and not like a kid who shouldnt be seeing this.
Sub Command (and 688 Hunter Killer)
I like sims in general and especially submarine simulations...provided they are as realistic and of the same quality as the sims mentioned above.
And I like driving moderm submarines more than WW2 or 1.
Both Sub Command and its ancestor modelled the ships and its systems in great detail and provided a very playable game with scalability for beginners and a good scenario editor.
Driving a submarine is quite a lot of fun because you are the hunter and you can choose how to hunt the prey,what weapons to use and eventually you might be the hunted and then you also have the choice how to escape.
You could dive deep,drive slow,maybe even fire a snapshot to distract you hunter.
Again,a lot of options.
The Harpoon Series
Not the only wargame I own but one of the most beloved and played.
As I said I like ships and submarines and commanding a whole fleet of them can also be a lot of fun.
And there are so many toys to play with...from Patrol boats armed with but a few MGs to SSBNS armed with SLBMs.
Sensors,weapons,engines,detection profiles...everything is modelled and you can play with it and intergrate the technology into you tactics.
Do you use active or passive sensors?
Thats up to you,read the capabilities of your systems and choose wisely.
The scenario editors is great and you can create any conflict you like.
If you just want a "punchbag" or a challenge is up to you.
Speaking of challenge the AI is sadly none :( the units just seem to follow their preplaned orders and do not deviate from them.
Has anyone found proof for the AIs sentience yet?
I just discovered this thread. I'm new to the Battlegoat forums since I've been totally obsessed with the RTW release (totally worth the wait, BTW)
Go figure.