So it's a toss up between... 8 replies

Heya Guys,

Out of need for a new experience and distraction, I have come up with a possible list of games to purchase, and now seek advice. I won't be using digital download as we have shitty bandwith here in Australia, not unless it is Steam as I can force it to use GameArena servers, which are uncapped.

Civilization IV + Beyond the Sword Approx. $80 AUD This is a title I've always contemplated getting, and I'm more interested everytime I see it. However, while I found the turn-based aspect of the Total War series enjoyable, it was never really, well, captivating. That and since it is an older game, the price is still high which deters me.

KOTOR 2 Approx. $20 AUD Played the first one and loved it. For some reason it slipped under my radar and I never bought it, but the missing content and so on wasn't exactly convincing. Now there is the TSL project, how long until that get's released? Also, mod's seem to be what people suggest as the meat of the game, what do you suggest here?

Morrowind GOTY Edition Approx. $20 AUD This is the only gap in my Elder Scrolls series. I absolutely hated Oblivion as an RPG, while not a poor action/adventure game, the high system requirements and poor coding, along with incredible instability of mods really pushed me away. I've heard many great things about Morrowind, but once again with mods being the meat of the experience. I love freeform RPGs, especially fantasy ones.

Sins of a Solar Empire Approx. $70 AUD While I don't have much experience with 4X games, I enjoyed what I played. Also gave the demo of this ago and immensely enjoyed the experience, even though it was rather restricted by the demo itself. I'm slightly skeptical, but many emphasise how this is a must for my collection. One issue I've always had with RTS games is the lack of an incredibly deep tech tree, which this seems to have.

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Approx. $20 AUD I've been banned from a forum for stating this wasn't part of my collection (yea.. wtf). Apparently it is dripping in atmosphere and offers a brilliant FPS experience. I'm all for a great shooter, but what is it's replay value? Hmm.

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What I am fundamentally looking for is an experience I can delve into and find something different each time, a long lasting rewarding, well spent purchase.

Here is a current list of my games collection to give you some idea of what I already have:

Holy fluffing hell. I have a lot of games. But then again, that is over many, many years of purchases...

So please guys, any advice, input, or possible addition would be great. Thanks!

Well, given the price you posted for CivIV + expansion.... I'd either shop around some more if you can, or wait for the price to drop more.

As for Morrowind.... I haven't played Oblivion, so I'm not really in the best position to compare it, but from what I've read here and there, Morrowind's a better game.

KoTORII: The Sith Lords. Well, if you do get it, I implore you to patch it up, and find all the user-made fixes for it you can. Lucas Arts dropped the ball on it by pushing Obsidian beyond reason with deadlines.

The only bug that there doesn't seem to be a widely available fix for, concerns the companion influence system. For that, always quicksave after any alignment shifts you get, then reload it from there. A variety of mods and Restored Content mods will enhance your gameplay in good ways, but I'd recommend playing it through without Restored Content first, just to get a better understanding of the Restored Content afterward.

Still in the pipeline for KoTORII are a few large-scale restoration mods, most noteably Team Gizka's TSLRP (The Sith Lords Restoration Project). Their forums also have links to another restoration project that deals with things they aren't.

Last, but by no means least, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay! This is by far, one of the best games it has been my pleasure to play.

It is indeed atmospheric, and I'd even say that it surpasses most stealth games by leaps and bounds. For the majority of my playthrough, I found melee attacks to be the best method..... especially when doing a silent takedown.

Talking of silent takedowns, you will have the option of breaking someone's kneck slow and quiet, or loud and fast.

The level of freedom is truly a great thing aswell. You may not see it to begin with, but it becomes more apparent as the game progresses.

Obviously, there will be some things that cannot be taken down by hand, and for that there's guns..... lots of guns..... and some big mutha fu**in' guns aswell!

Be warned though, there can be some really tough situations, especially a potentially mind-boggling "puzzle" of sorts near the end.

The character animation, voice acting, combat, and the gaining of Riddick's trademark eyes are all excellently well done.

In summation, I would highly recommend getting Butcher Bay, especially for that price!

I must admit however, that being thrown off a forum for not owning it..... that's just overkill. Still, their loss is our gain;)

KOTOR 2 has a mod coming out that's going to fix pretty much all of the bugs that they can find in the game.

If you get into Morrowind, you will probably be sucked in and love it. It will take a long, long time to beat, not including the expansions. Now Sins, I just coulden't get into it. Can't get into 4x games.

Civ 4 is always a winner in popularity, yet, I'm not sure why I haven't bought it yet. :p

Escape from Butcher Bay, I haven't bought yet. But, I guess I have to now. :)

If you get Civilization IV, there are two mods that are loads of fun. Road to War is set during WWII and brings a huge amount of depth to the combat side of the game.

The second mod is what I play almost exclusively. Rhye's and Fall of Civilization simulates the birth and death of civilizations throughout history by adding a stability component. It changes gameplay a lot, but is very fun.

I also highly recommend Morrowind. There are thousands of mods out there for it, so replayability is virtually endless. Just make sure you don't go overboard, it can be hard to resist. ;)

morrowind

Here are some screens from Riddick(I put these over at trf for you). This is an excellent game. If you liked the Riddick movies, you will love this game.

Vin Diesel looks like he's on drugs... Nevermind, that's just how he always looks.

Flodgy;4552633 Morrowind GOTY Edition Approx. $20 AUD This is the only gap in my Elder Scrolls series. I absolutely hated Oblivion as an RPG, while not a poor action/adventure game, the high system requirements and poor coding, along with incredible instability of mods really pushed me away. I've heard many great things about Morrowind, but once again with mods being the meat of the experience. I love freeform RPGs, especially fantasy ones.

When I bought one of my graphics cards a few years ago Morrowind came free with it. I'm not really into RPGs so I never played it. I'm willing to give it to you if you want it. I'm in Aus as well so I can post it to you.

Sins of a solar empire. if you dont mind spending a few hours to finish one skirmish, its incredibly fun. the scale, it looks great, plays great. its great. though it can be a little slow at times.