What games have people bought/acquired this year?

[Sophanthro]

Genaciv

Freeciv is a great game, Ill admit it's lacking in the graphics department, but I love the game. The source code is all displayed on the Freeciv website or you can download it. The game was originally design for Unix, and is now mainly developed on Linux, they have ported it to Windows. So if you run Windows make sure it you get the Windows version.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I just bought The Operational Art of War, Vol. 1 Elite Edition. Great wargame!

[Glak.]

I got SMAC sometime in spring, kind of pathetic (civ2 with some nice features) absolutely no multiplayer (and that is all I care about)

Got Quake 3. I've always hated fps games but there is something about this game that non fps players like. If you hated q1+q2 you might want to try the demo.

Got my brothers Myth: total codex (myth1+myth2+expansion) and umm I play it a lot. Very good game. Basically RTS but they cut out the economic part so you can focus on tactics. I can tell this game has depth.

As for Starcraft, that game is currently the best RTS ever. If you do not like it then you aren't an RTS player, not everyone is and not everyone has to be. But if you are looking for an RTS that *can* give you the best possible RTS experience then SC is it.

Note that I said *can*. 90+% of SC players play a horrible custom map that totally destroys the game and they play it on the fastest speed. Do not play non blizzard maps, do not play a map called "Big Game Hunters" or "Blood Bath" and avoid playing on fastest until you are a good player. Actually the best place for seminewbies to get practice is ladder since you are forced to play on a default speed and from a limited selection of quality maps.

Also most casual gamers who attempt to make the switch from AoE/AoK get frusterated. In the AoK the first miltary unit you get is worthless. Thus there is no reason to defend for a while. Some people need a five minute warm up period to get into a game, or they are used to it. Then they get into SC and they die in five minutes and call SC a rushing game. Well SC isn't. Sure newbies tend to lose a lot to rushing, but then again newbies tend to lose a lot.

So here is basically my appraisal of various RTS games (I play them a lot)

Starcraft: classic masterpiece. This is RTS, the depth appeals to the hardcore gamers, the ability to dumb the game down and the overall coolness of the game appeals to the idiot market. Recommended if you are looking to put time into it or for the single player campain

Warcraft II battle.net edition (oh yeah I bought this too): the old classic. SC is better in most ways but war2 does place more emphasis on tactics instead of economics which many consider appealing. Good but not recommended unless you haven't played it before. Includes the expansion campaing too. Cost 20$

Myth II, great game. This game is in a subgenre of RTS, no economy. Very good game. Costs only 20$! (since it is so old) so pick it up, the single player was good too. Warcraft III is going to be a Starcraft/Myth2 hybrid, I think that shows how good this game it.

Age of Kings. I've played the demo and talked extensively with people who played it. Basically the ideal game for the casual gamer. Very polished (has some nice features that SC doesn't) with one glaring exception: no attack move command! Amazingly they released the game without such a key feaure. Yes attack move is hard to program but couldn't you have just paid some other company for the knowledge?. Slow paced, less player to player interaction in multiplayer. A lot of people like that so I am amazed that this game isn't more popular. Although I would never buy this game I think it should be the best seller because of its mass appeal.

Tiberium Sun: considered a failure. Basically C&C but improved. RTS has evolved but Westwood didn't notice. I hear it had a good single player game. If you still play C&C or Red Alert you will want to buy this expansion.

TA:Kingdoms. Considered a horrible failure even by its fans. Modern Computers aren't strong enough to run this monster. The gameplay though... if you subscribe to the bigger and better, flashier and more random philosophy then this is your game. I thought it would be moderately popular but well I was wrong. I'd try the demo but I doubt I could run it.

Homeworld: heard single player was very good, don't know anything about multiplayer. Probably adequate

Dark Reign 2: not out yet. Looks like it is going to be a good game. Will it beat the current great games? Probably not but maybe. Has a new resource system (units come in on shuttles) and day/night.

[Hero Caesar]

Let's see:

Civ: CTP
Ultimate Civ 2 Classic Collection
Fallout 2
Baldur's Gate
C&C Tiberian Sun

They're all the brand new games I bought. I aslso got a few older games as well, but I can't really remember what they were now.

[Qilue]

I'll just put the most recent with some comments.

Pharoah, simcity in ancient egypt.
Ultima Ascension, complete lemon, design crew obviously on crack during it's development.
SMAC, need we say more.
SMACx, ditto.
CTP, I can't really say since I haven't played it much, but what I have annoyed me so much that I usuallly uninstall it 15 minutes after installing and playing.
ToT, ditto.
BotF, This was fun although the artificial idiot cheats like Bill Cl*****.
System Shock 2, Get it, a sound card with A3D or Eax, a good set of headphones and play at night with the lights off.
Might & Magic 7, not bad, graphics so-so, spell effects good, control interface same as MM6, ending lame.
Baldur's Gate, another must have if you don't.
Imperialism 2, No opinion yet.

[Hero Caesar]

Whoops - I forgot about Ultima Ascension. Got that too, and I agree with Mouse. Runs at 2 frames per second on my fairly up-to-date computer with all the graphics, resolution etc. turned right down. Thankfully I got a refund for it.