Since Games Workshop has really not supported Blood Bowl for the last 10 years or so, it’s been tough to get miniatures and gear for the game. As the fans of Blood Bowl are absolute fanatics, it stands to reason that they would make stuff to be able to play the game, but this is crazy awesome. Cubes for every position with their stats on the top of the cube. No idea where skills are at, but this looks extremely playable– though still no replacement for miniatures. I have a massive BB collection along with ‘storing’ teams of other people so I don’t have the issue of needing to hunt and peck on ebay for models at whatever expense the market will bear, but if I did, this looks like a great alternative (and I remember still as a kid playing with the cardboard stand ups from first edition).
Maurice!Bastard posted this link about Diablo 3 and I think this concisely expresses what a lot of people (people that played the game a shitload more than I did) feel about Diablo 3’s failure as a game and I don’t know if this dude coined the phrase originally, but I think the term “Gear Check” game is something we’ll be able to use going forward forever to refer to what Diablo 3 and games like it are (sort of like calling people Nazi’s– everyone understands what you mean).
As boring as Starcraft 2 is (to me at least) and terrible as Diablo 3 is, I think Blizzard should stop making games entirely. Doing a crappy online CCG is just another indication that they have no idea what players want (outside of the MMO space– but what normal people would ever play an MMO in the first place?).
And of course, likely there will be no MAC port of Torchlight 2 any time soon, which is sad but when your player base on a platform is less than 5% of sales, it’s tough to justify a big expense there. A far better game it is for everyone.
I contemplated staying up until midnight to give it a start through but failed due to retinal burn on Saints Row 4 mostly. I should have worked on my Netrunner decks or played a solo game of ASL or something instead of hitting the computer and burning at the eyes. Rome is going to be quite a time suck so I best get started right away though right?
I’ve gotten a couple hours in entirely with the tutorial (which is actually a really cool mini-campaign against the Samnites) and the feel of the game already is better than Shogun, and by feel I mean the combat between units– it is amazing. I don’t know if it’s just the way the Roman units fight (in this campaign it is very early Rome) but it is so much more visceral than the other versions of the game it’s shocking– units press together in a horrific mob and the slaughter commences. It’s a gorgeous thing to behold.
Dense
I’ve just scratched the surface region–what am I looking forward to over all? The last really good Total War game was Empire which was literally world spanning and had some fantastic combat. Moving from a period of time when pikemen and cavalry charges were still viable forms of attack to the era of artillery domination was amazing to see. While I liked Shogun 2– there was something about it that I just couldn’t get into. Possibly it’s the whole Samurai thing that feels tired to me– all these dudes in their ornate lamellar armor fighting each other just seems so clean and controlled compared to the rest of the games (which is very Japanese in a way)–in Rome, there are a few bastions of civilization surrounded entire by teeming hordes of hunter gatherer tribes and barbarian nations, wherein Shogun, everyone is dressed…so nicely. Also in Shogun, the battles seemed to go too fast– when two units hit one would rout extremely quickly compared to other games in the series. This gave you little time to react: I found myself pausing a lot more than any other Total War game. I was barely able to finish a campaign and only played multiplayer once. Since Rome 2 is heir to the greatest strategy game ever made–what am I looking forward too?
Better graphics / animations — this goes without saying and it’s already there
Bigger map /different stuff around — Shogun suffered because one clan was the next clan was the next clan– it all seemed the same. After seeing some of the phalanx fighting in Rome 2, this seems absolutely impossible in the new game that things will be too small or samey.
Better AI in the campaign – this was my biggest gripe in Rome 1 and Barbarian Invasion. The AI just wasn’t too smart and you could win the campaign really easily (especially as an island nation). This has been getting vastly better in the newer games but always seems to need work
No skill trees for characters — these were lame in Shogun. We’ll see what happens in Rome 2.
Putting cities to the sword – due to the xenophobic nature of the period, the different societies weren’t too friendly to each other when conquering. One thing I loved in Rome was the ability to put cities to the sword to gain max value and reduce population (since extra population is usually very unhappy with everything). This allows control of revolutions as well as providing much needed cash. While this may not be realistic (Caesar did this all the time in Gaul).
Better multiplayer — I’ve had issues connecting with my two friends that play the game for years now and it would be awesome if that were ameliorated forever anon.
Reviews so far have been positive, reviews of Total War players on reddit and the like have been extremely positive (knowing the burrs and all that naturally come with a Total War game) so here’s to 6 months of playing a single game on the computer!
I work near one of the busiest intersections in the city and there are Harley’s everywhere. I’m in an open office so I get to hear people complaining and saying things like “fuck my life” and “I come back and there’s all this fucking noise outside” or “I should have stayed home to work with all the kids there — it would have been quieter.” The worst thing about it is not the constant 1930’s technology bikes driving around with no mufflers, it’s the COP and ambulance sirens that blare out when some bullshit is happening— and it’s gone off twice and it’s only 10AM.
In terms of actual danger or getting beat up wandering around (which my mom seemed to think would happen)– there’s just no way as these people are fucking OLD. I’d say that off their bikes, they wouldn’t be able to catch anyone running at all– or even be able to chase after someone. Granted there are some big people that could punch you through a school, but pushing mid sixties as an average there’s not going to be a lot of sprinting after people to beat them from this crowd– though they are probably.
One of the best game designers at Games Workshop during it’s 90’s heyday (though I would argue in terms of game play design, we are in it’s heyday now) has an interview over at Realms of Chaos. A great read for all of you old fuckers who remember this stuff. And it has pictures of his awesome Skaven army to boot.
It is one of the greatest games ever made. At first it seems like more of the same from SR3 but shortly it proves to be something wholly different, terrible and awesome. I’ve been waiting for a game like this for MANY years (a fun open world superhero game) but had no idea it would come in this form of total insanity.
There will be some awful Co-op gameplay videos posted soon by maurice!bastard.
Oh Eclipse is great, but the ship pieces are a bit shite, especially since they came from some other game years ago. The company is planning a couple of ship packs in the colors for the races and here’s the first one:
