Cheskitech

Utilizing a 7 hour trial of StarCraft 2 ultimately saved me $60.

Allow me to explain. I played the original and loved it. I have played SC2 for 3.5 of my 7 hours and can determine that Blizzard took an IP that worked... upgraded it to today's standards. There is nothing wrong with this. I appreciate an old friend coming back to check in on me... to have a little fun with a familiar face. I am happy that the IP wasn't revamped and destroyed in the process.

Having said that, since SC1 came out and laid a great foundation, many other RTS IPs have come out and improved upon that foundation. SC2 is nothing groundbreaking. I have to take the nostalgia factor out of this and review ths game subjectively. I respect the polish that is applied to SC2... a kind of polish Blizzard is known for, but there are so many other RTSs out there that give me a rich experience.

I'll buy the game when it hits $20 or when all three 'episodes' come out bundled together for a decent price. Until then, I will go back to my mountain of games still dying for my attention.

You should wait and buy it later... you'll still get to experience, but you don't pay $60 for it.

Prototype. Where do I begin... let's start by saying it isn't a bad game. It is a game that can be fun. CAN BE fun. The other thing it can be is a very frustrating game. The frustrating part broke the fun part for me.

I found myself sighing when I realized that I thought I was closer to the end than I really was. It meant more plot to endure. It feels like badly written games like Time Crisis(YouTube example). Don't get me wrong, I did say the game was fun, well actually, parts of it were.

The games shining moments are the growing sensation of being "badass" and the scale and detail put into the game environment, a very well fleshed out New York City. The best part I was drawn to was something I kind of did on my own. In the game you can "consume" NPCs to gain their appearance and abilities. While running around the city as a soldier equipped with an M16 and the city's infection had grown pretty far I noticed that the feel of infection was well pulled off. Through sound and visuals of non-infected, partially infected, and fully infected civilians... I spent a decent amount of time imagining I was playing a different game with a different plot. A zombie survival set in a full scale NYC.

I have heard some say that they enjoyed this game. Others... well they hated it. I am a little less than both sides and I found a review on MetaCritic that sums up exactly how I feel.

PC Zone UK

The plot is a bit of nonsense and the NPCs' AI is dumber than a bag of hair, but slashing up civilians with the Claw is always amusing. [Aug 2009, p.68]

If you buy this game on sale... play it in small doses, don't expect too much, and be willing to endure some pretty damn frustrating parts. I will say it is worth $5-10 in today's market, maybe. Rating: 5 out of 10. Part of me wants to tell you not to even bother though.

Having played through and been pleasantly surprised by  The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay(review), I figured that The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena would be worth the $6.79 I paid at the Perils of Summer Steam sale. I was right.

I was surprised to find out that The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay comes bundled in with Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena! Two games for $6.79!

First things first... when you start trying to tweak out the graphic because default is set to low and look HORRIBLE. Using the down arrow key, more graphics settings appear. Suddenly with the textures on high and the decals turned on, the game looks GREAT! Same cool rotating animated menus as before.

Environments are well fleshed out. Remember to think 3D and you should have trouble finding your way around. If you do.. the game will start flashing the item you are looking for, e.g. a vent cover. If you are still lost, the game offers "Press F1 for a hint". Nice touch on this Devs.

The enemies... well most are "drones". They are meant to be stupid. The non-drones put up about the fight I have grown to expect. Easy to tough depending on the weapon you are using. Once you figure out the fight mechanics... you become badass.

Canned one liners from Riddick were not removed. Dialogue overall is done well. Great voice acting. One the note of voice acting... a few of the lines from a character names "Jaylor", blew my mind. I couldn't believe I was really hearing what he was saying. The game is rated M, but daaaaamnnn the vulgarity spewing from this lunatic would make anyone in the room with you(read: spouse) wonder just what in the hell you are playing.

I didn't experience any bugs that others mentioned in the Steam forums. Overall the game was solid and stable.

It felt reminiscent of Thief or Splinter Cell at time with the lighting and stealth kills. Not bad games to feel like.

The game tapped out around 5-6 hours. You could probably stretch it out to 8 if you try... Kind of short, but not for what I paid.

Overall I have to agree with the general MetaCritic rating of 80/100. If it goes on sale again and it is below $10, snatch it up. If you need something to burn time on until a game you have been waiting for comes out, $15 could be fine since you get two games.