Science Reviews
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List price: $44.99 (that's 78% off!)
Used price: $6.00
Buy one from zShops for: $29.99
B-O-R-I-N-G. What a cheesy game. Pathetic.
List price: $39.99 (that's 75% off!)
Used price: $4.25
Buy one from zShops for: $44.99
Not as bad as everyone says
Michael's review on T.R.A.G.
Yes, the wire isn't fun to set up, we actually just stuck the stars on the ceiling with the putty and it looks great.
Her room is a large-sized room, but this bundle more than covered it.
I highly recommend it.
I'm very happy with my Bundles (and will probably order more- I want to do my bathroom next), and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for an inexpensive gift for someone of any age.
List price: $32.99 (that's 39% off!)
Used price: $4.70
Buy one from zShops for: $11.34
The Force is strong with Jedi Power Battles
The best Jedi Computer game to date!!!Visually stunning, involving, and true to plot and character of Episode I, I found Jedi Power Battles far more playable than any of the Jedi Knight PC series, simply because of the 3rd person format and playablility of the characters: for any "Star Wars Saddos" who notice the combat manoevres in the film, the trademark moves of Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan are all faithfully reproduced and highly effective. So for anyone who wants highly involving, hard and fast action in the failing Old Republic, Jedi Power Battles provides all and more. A tried and tested master of this game, having played it fr nearly 2 years and done almost everything there is to do, my opinion is very simple - A total must.
Jedi Power Battles is cool!!! Danny(England)Like most games it takes a bit of time to get used to the controls and can be frustrating when first playing it. But once you master the jumps and moves it becomes very enjoyable!!
The levels are very inventive and well thought out. After each level you get special combo moves, but it is optional wether you want to use them. The handling of the characters is good and the range of moves is also good. The people who are critizing it probably have not learnt to play it!!!
The graphics look a bit dated compared to the newer stuff,but it is a must for a starwars fan!!
The only critisim is the Plo Kloon character is too slow and is impossible to beat DarthMaul on level 10!! I have been playing this game on and off for a year and would recommend it!!!!!!!
Used price: $5.50
Buy one from zShops for: $9.68
Star Trek: Armada is the first real-time 3-D strategy game set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe. In various campaigns, the player assumes command of the fleets of the Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Borg, using up to 30 starships in dynamic ship-to-ship combat as well as overseeing the construction, repair, and staffing of the ships.
A definite step in the right direction...What do you get when you have millions of trekkies or trekkers wanting to play Star Trek on a broad level but don't want to be restricted to one race? You get the latest game to hit the compters, Star Trek Armada. Now you can control multiple starships ranging from Federation, Klingon, Romulan and our favorite, the Borg.
Following some of the same guidlines found in Blizzard's Starcraft, you must play 4 chapters in the struggle with a fight to fend off the Borg. You mine dilitium moons and build starbases in space to amass huge armadas of ships to do battle with. Each chapter focuses on a specific race that you must control and successfully complete each mission. It does make for some fun game play and insight into a story created for this game.
The graphics are very nice and you do get a sense of what it is to control ships and manage space stations in space. Although alot of the screen is taken up by menu boxes that can be removed, the ability to zoom out my have you scrolling like crazy to manage your space battles. As for the cutscences, they are not anything to write home about, but they are nice.
The gameplay is a little awakward to get used to. You are limited on what you can build depending on your mission and even then it is time consuming to build up a sizeable force. This would have been taken care of if you were able to manipulate your ships more instead of moving near another ship and firing. I really wish they would have allowed you to allow your ships to make evasive manuevers rather than just sit next to enemy and exchange fire until one is dead. The ability to have more control over a few ships would not make it necessary to amass huge armies of ships to attack the enemy terriortory. Being able to target specific systems on ships with firepower would be nice too. Are you listening Activision? I hope so. At least enemy ships do the the brains to retreat when they become heavily damaged. But even so the AI is not too smart.
Overall this game is very nice and enjoyable to play. I especially loved playing the Borg (who wouldn't?). As for bugs others encounted in the game, I found none and you can download patches to add additional ships to build if you desire. The replay value is very minimal unless you focus on the multiplayer side. Activision has taken a good step in making this game. They have many of the basic conceptions right on the money. All they need to do now is add more functions and polish the game up a bit. I will definetly purchase any sequels to this game that might come out in the future. So Activision, plot us a course and "Engage!"
Unoriginal but enjoyable realtime-strategy Star Trek gameWhile the game is still buggy, a patch has been released that adds a save feature for the Instant Action (i.e. non-campaign) games. No more losing an hour's worth of work when Armada crashes back to the desktop (which it still does all too often, although not as much as before). Armada users have also helped to improve the game, mainly by creating clever maps for online play, ones which emphasize fleet battles instead of base construction. Since these exciting skirmishes typically last less than 10 minutes, Armada doesn't have time to crash on you!
The AI utilized by the game has also been improved (it resorts to cheating on the higher levels - building units much faster than you ever can), allowing the computer to keep up with a skilled human player. Pathing is still an issue - ships routinely pick stupid routes when trying to get from point A to point B - but with the game's other annoyances mitigated or eliminated that's hardly a showstopper.
Armada looks nice - weapons bounce off of shields, the sound effects are all Trek-accurate, and it even features some of the actors from TNG and DS9. Still, I don't understand why the system is wasting horsepower on the useless ability to "zoom in" on the action. I always play the game with the screen "zoomed-out" to the widest field of view possible, as does everybody else. While zooming in on a battle provides some amusing eye candy the first couple of times ("Wow. Look what computers can do today!"), it can't possibly be worth burning a single CPU cycle on. Save it for a demo or something, because Armada often bogs down when there are lots of ships & stations in play, and that's where the processing power should be going.
I said before this would be the last Activision product I'd *ever* buy. Armada is now solid enough (and stable enough) that'd I'd seriously consider buying the upcoming sequel Armada II, provided early adopters give it a thumbs-up shortly after release, or alternately once all of the necessary patches have been released. But I'm certainly not going to go thru the "paying beta tester" experience again - once was more than enough (especially given Armada's high price). Look before you leap.
There are better RTS games out there, but Armada is still the best Star Trek game on the market. I probably wouldn't waste my money on Armada I at this point (or at this price) with Armada II slated for release this quarter, but once this puppy hits the clearance racks it'll represent a solid value, especially for those Trekkies who won't be able to afford Armada II this holiday season.
Star Trek Armada I
List price: $49.99 (that's 60% off!)
Used price: $34.99
MechWarrior 4 casts you as Ian Drusari, the nephew of a powerful duke, who returns to his home world from the Clan Wars to find it occupied by a rival noble family: House Steiner. You must launch a civil war and reclaim your birthright as you command a ragtag army of awesomely armed, 40-foot-tall, 80- ton, 90-mile-per-hour BattleMechs across the remote battlefields of your hostile world.
Not a bad tale to tell and Microsoft made sure the telling would play as well as it looks. The graphics are flat-out amazing. Lighting effects, smoke trails, smoldering Mech armor, laser discharges, and missiles all look incredible. You can fight in deserts, arctic regions, forests, and even on the moon: all look sci-fi-movie perfect. Mechs have more animations than ever before as well. They stomp across the battlefield and reel from weapons fire convincingly, and when the cannon fire finally punches through their armor, they light up like Christmas trees. Thermonuclear Christmas trees, that is.
The Mechs are faster than in previous games yet you still feel like you're piloting a lumbering, walking tank--this is a Mech combat simulator, not Quake III in power armor. The controls have been simplified, but this is a good thing. It used to take a long time to learn how to pilot 100 tons of armored death, but now the controls are much more intuitive. No longer will players have to cycle through weapons lists; now, each weapons group is controlled by its own button on the joystick. We recommend Microsoft's Sidewinder joystick, as the game's controls were written with that stick in mind.
The enemy Mechs in the single-player game play well. Both your allies and the enemy use their Mechs' capabilities wisely and provide a challenge throughout the game's long and entertaining campaign. Multiplayer is offered via Microsoft's easy-to-use Gaming Zone and there is also an Instant Action mode that'll keep you playing long after the campaign is over. MechWarrior is back and looming large over the gaming scene. --Bob Andrews
Pros:
- Immersing techno-feudal storyline
- Excellent balance between simulation and action
- Challenging, yet easy to learn.
- High system requirements
- Sometimes cheesy voice acting
Fantastic - Awesome Tactical Depth!Couple that with beautiful, smooth, realistic graphics and extraordinarily accurate physics, and what do you get? Ladies and gentlemen- I give you *du du daaaah* MechWarrior 4: Vengeance. This game really deserves the 5-star rating I've given it. Kudos to Microsoft for making such a deep and engrosing tactical simulation.
Ryoken.
Heck Yeah...Read on!!!
this came ROCKS!The weapons totally rock. There's long range missiles, long tom artillery, lasers, LBX's,(which are like a series of shells), gauss rifles, ppc's, (my favorite beam weapons), which are lightning bolts that make your screen all wobbly and shaky when you get hit by them, and lots of others. one of the best primary weapons is when you combine clan machine guns and pulse lasers into one weapon.
some weapons, like the NARC beacon, flare, autocannon, flamer, and short range missile, kind of stink
well, anyway, all this to say........Mech Warrior 4 ROCKS!!!
Used price: $45.95
Buy one from zShops for: $90.29
The default view has you in the big chair. Everything is '80s-era beige, confirming that this is indeed the Next Generation. In front of you is the famous view screen. Your engineer, science officer, first officer, tactical officer, and navigator/communications officer are where you'd expect to find them. As events unfold, you can click on these officers and an orders menu opens up. This way you can quickly order your com officer to hail that ship, or the science officer to scan a nearby target. During combat you can order your tactical officer to target certain enemy subsystems (like the warp drive), or you can take control and do your own targeting and firing if you want. Your engineer can be ordered to prioritize repairs or boost power to the weapons. This lets you play like a real captain in that you're hearing reports, giving orders, and taking as much personal control as you like. You can even take a walk about the ship with the keyboard in the optional (and breathtaking) third-person view.
It's very clever how all this works and thankfully the artificial intelligence is more than up to the task. The story here is very deep and very Star Trek, and so are the music, sound effects, and voice acting. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner (Captain Picard and Commander Data, respectively) are even on hand to give advice during two different points in the story. The missions are very linear and you can only save between them, but there are plenty of branching points that let you handle things your way. Though the main plot doesn't encourage a replay once you finish it, you can extend your enjoyment of the game through full multiplayer options and a handy Instant Action simulator that lets you set up any battle you like.
The graphics are stunning, except when it comes to the people. The stiff character graphics look like something out of 1997's Jedi Knight, rather than real people, and the lip-synching is awful. But you won't be watching people talk nearly as much as you'll be watching Klingon vessels trading punches with massive Romulan warbirds, as the Cardassians and Ferengi skulk nearby and your crew looks to you for your orders. Never has an episode of Trek come to life quite this well. If you winced when Riker piloted the Enterprise with that pop-up Thrustmaster joystick in Star Trek: Insurrection, you love the smell of spark-spewing bridge consoles in the morning, and you've ever wanted to listen to a crewman's so-crazy-it-just-might-work suggestion and reply "Make it so," then this game is for you. --Bob Andrews
Pros:
- Perfectly re-creates Star Trek adventure and combat
- Unique control system works perfectly
- Bad lip-synching
- Can only save between missions
Space: The Final Frontier?Graphics Score: 8.9
Star Trek Elite Force 2 Roughly is based on the aging Quake 3 arena engine, though, has heavily enhanced it, provides stunning visual detail in both characters and environments. It's defintely colorful and exceptional, but isn't that incredible, but is good enough for what it has to offer. Full Screen Antialiasing, precise lensflares, stencil shadows, dynamic lightmaps and dynamic lights, realistic physics, detailed surfaces, detailed textures, Wall decals, high level curve detail, high level view of distance, high level of special effects, advanced deformable geometry, opengl extensions support, anisotropic filtering, 32-bit color, resolutions up to 1600x1200, V-Sync support, and more, to name a few. The typical. Really. The game performs decently under my 9500 pro with all advanced settings( except full screen antialiasing) maxed at a 1024x768 res with 32-bit color, usually I maintain around 20-200frames per second, usually 40, 50, 60, it changes frequently, etc. On anything inferior, the game will run sluggish. Believe me.
Audio Score: 9.0
Elite Force II provides the typical rich 44khz sampling rate sound effects with up to 7.1+ surround sound support and reverb effects, which is very nice. The real nice thing is that it ranges from 11khz to 44khz, 2 speakers to 7 speakers support, 8-bit to 16-bit sound quality(or 24-bit if supported), and support for EAX, EAX 2, A3D, or EAX 3 sound cards, or just plain ol' good software sound. THe sound is very "treky", you know, but better than the last game, and indeed deserves a superb score.
Game-Play score: 8.5
Game-play wise, Star Trek: Elite Force 2 is very good. There is new open-ended game-play, you can beat a level multiple-paths, explore all kinds of levels, use all kinsd of weapons against aliens, fight all kinds of aliens, the usual range of multiplayer head to head modes except new models, maps, and a new game-type named bomber, and more. Although there is a lot of puzzles, hard bosses, and at times can be disturbing and not so fun to experience. The game features many realistic locations, and characters and friendly in this game. The single player game is twice as long as the last one, but doesn't feature support for both female or male choices. And isn't perfect. But oh well. It's still more than just good.
Story-line score: 8.6
Interesting, it takes off right after Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force ended, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you star trek fans out there ;), but you'll end up liking it!
A.I score: 5.5
Uh, poor in certain ways. A.I isn't so good, they can be dumb, and has a few glitches, but are OK.
Pros:
+Very Good Graphics
+Superb Sound And sound options
+More treky and open-ended game-paly
+Interesting storyline
+Both singleplayer and multiplayer
+Two new multiplayer models and a new game-type
Cons:
-Poor A.I
-It isn't perfect
-Performance could have been more optimized
-Some frustrating puzzles in levels
Overall score: 8.5
Final notes:
Elite Force II, Star Trek, is more than a good sequel to Elite Force 1. But didn't pass my expectations in all ways, infact, totally featured horrible A.I and wasn't quite fully optimized, and at times featured fustrating puzzles that didn't bring Elite Force II to happyness, but is a great game and well worth the purchase, especially for star trek fans. I recommend it, and is an excellent example of it's genre. Beam me away, scotty! :)
A step forward and a step backwards...
Great Game.
Used price: $39.95
Buy one from zShops for: $44.95
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.
Space: The Final Frontier?Graphics Score: 8.9
Star Trek Elite Force 2 Roughly is based on the aging Quake 3 arena engine, though, has heavily enhanced it, provides stunning visual detail in both characters and environments. It's defintely colorful and exceptional, but isn't that incredible, but is good enough for what it has to offer. Full Screen Antialiasing, precise lensflares, stencil shadows, dynamic lightmaps and dynamic lights, realistic physics, detailed surfaces, detailed textures, Wall decals, high level curve detail, high level view of distance, high level of special effects, advanced deformable geometry, opengl extensions support, anisotropic filtering, 32-bit color, resolutions up to 1600x1200, V-Sync support, and more, to name a few. The typical. Really. The game performs decently under my 9500 pro with all advanced settings( except full screen antialiasing) maxed at a 1024x768 res with 32-bit color, usually I maintain around 20-200frames per second, usually 40, 50, 60, it changes frequently, etc. On anything inferior, the game will run sluggish. Believe me.
Audio Score: 9.0
Elite Force II provides the typical rich 44khz sampling rate sound effects with up to 7.1+ surround sound support and reverb effects, which is very nice. The real nice thing is that it ranges from 11khz to 44khz, 2 speakers to 7 speakers support, 8-bit to 16-bit sound quality(or 24-bit if supported), and support for EAX, EAX 2, A3D, or EAX 3 sound cards, or just plain ol' good software sound. THe sound is very "treky", you know, but better than the last game, and indeed deserves a superb score.
Game-Play score: 8.5
Game-play wise, Star Trek: Elite Force 2 is very good. There is new open-ended game-play, you can beat a level multiple-paths, explore all kinds of levels, use all kinsd of weapons against aliens, fight all kinds of aliens, the usual range of multiplayer head to head modes except new models, maps, and a new game-type named bomber, and more. Although there is a lot of puzzles, hard bosses, and at times can be disturbing and not so fun to experience. The game features many realistic locations, and characters and friendly in this game. The single player game is twice as long as the last one, but doesn't feature support for both female or male choices. And isn't perfect. But oh well. It's still more than just good.
Story-line score: 8.6
Interesting, it takes off right after Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force ended, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you star trek fans out there ;), but you'll end up liking it!
A.I score: 5.5
Uh, poor in certain ways. A.I isn't so good, they can be dumb, and has a few glitches, but are OK.
Pros:
+Very Good Graphics
+Superb Sound And sound options
+More treky and open-ended game-paly
+Interesting storyline
+Both singleplayer and multiplayer
+Two new multiplayer models and a new game-type
Cons:
-Poor A.I
-It isn't perfect
-Performance could have been more optimized
-Some frustrating puzzles in levels
Overall score: 8.5
Final notes:
Elite Force II, Star Trek, is more than a good sequel to Elite Force 1. But didn't pass my expectations in all ways, infact, totally featured horrible A.I and wasn't quite fully optimized, and at times featured fustrating puzzles that didn't bring Elite Force II to happyness, but is a great game and well worth the purchase, especially for star trek fans. I recommend it, and is an excellent example of it's genre. Beam me away, scotty! :)
A step forward and a step backwards...
Great Game.
Used price: $64.95
Buy one from zShops for: $59.90
Space: The Final Frontier?Graphics Score: 8.9
Star Trek Elite Force 2 Roughly is based on the aging Quake 3 arena engine, though, has heavily enhanced it, provides stunning visual detail in both characters and environments. It's defintely colorful and exceptional, but isn't that incredible, but is good enough for what it has to offer. Full Screen Antialiasing, precise lensflares, stencil shadows, dynamic lightmaps and dynamic lights, realistic physics, detailed surfaces, detailed textures, Wall decals, high level curve detail, high level view of distance, high level of special effects, advanced deformable geometry, opengl extensions support, anisotropic filtering, 32-bit color, resolutions up to 1600x1200, V-Sync support, and more, to name a few. The typical. Really. The game performs decently under my 9500 pro with all advanced settings( except full screen antialiasing) maxed at a 1024x768 res with 32-bit color, usually I maintain around 20-200frames per second, usually 40, 50, 60, it changes frequently, etc. On anything inferior, the game will run sluggish. Believe me.
Audio Score: 9.0
Elite Force II provides the typical rich 44khz sampling rate sound effects with up to 7.1+ surround sound support and reverb effects, which is very nice. The real nice thing is that it ranges from 11khz to 44khz, 2 speakers to 7 speakers support, 8-bit to 16-bit sound quality(or 24-bit if supported), and support for EAX, EAX 2, A3D, or EAX 3 sound cards, or just plain ol' good software sound. THe sound is very "treky", you know, but better than the last game, and indeed deserves a superb score.
Game-Play score: 8.5
Game-play wise, Star Trek: Elite Force 2 is very good. There is new open-ended game-play, you can beat a level multiple-paths, explore all kinds of levels, use all kinsd of weapons against aliens, fight all kinds of aliens, the usual range of multiplayer head to head modes except new models, maps, and a new game-type named bomber, and more. Although there is a lot of puzzles, hard bosses, and at times can be disturbing and not so fun to experience. The game features many realistic locations, and characters and friendly in this game. The single player game is twice as long as the last one, but doesn't feature support for both female or male choices. And isn't perfect. But oh well. It's still more than just good.
Story-line score: 8.6
Interesting, it takes off right after Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force ended, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you star trek fans out there ;), but you'll end up liking it!
A.I score: 5.5
Uh, poor in certain ways. A.I isn't so good, they can be dumb, and has a few glitches, but are OK.
Pros:
+Very Good Graphics
+Superb Sound And sound options
+More treky and open-ended game-paly
+Interesting storyline
+Both singleplayer and multiplayer
+Two new multiplayer models and a new game-type
Cons:
-Poor A.I
-It isn't perfect
-Performance could have been more optimized
-Some frustrating puzzles in levels
Overall score: 8.5
Final notes:
Elite Force II, Star Trek, is more than a good sequel to Elite Force 1. But didn't pass my expectations in all ways, infact, totally featured horrible A.I and wasn't quite fully optimized, and at times featured fustrating puzzles that didn't bring Elite Force II to happyness, but is a great game and well worth the purchase, especially for star trek fans. I recommend it, and is an excellent example of it's genre. Beam me away, scotty! :)
A step forward and a step backwards...
Great Game.