The Money Grabbing Continues

[Guest JediIgor]

So I thought if everyone is making a list of games they played, why don't I? . The following will be a list/ratings of only PC games compared to other PC games.

 

Note: My ratings are relative to all the other games in the industry.. which actually means that an "Average" game (when comparing to all games) would be "Below Average" when comparing to only Star Wars games.

 

Underlined game names are ones that the above mentioned game could've followed to be improved (you will see what I mean if you played both games).

====================================

--Classics

TIE Fighter

X-Wing

Dark Forces

Jedi Knight

Rebellion

 

--Very Good

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (+BoP)

--Why not a classic? No campaign until BoP.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

--Why not a classic? Can't pick dark/light side, no multiple endings, no levels ported from Jedi Knight 1..

X-Wing Alliance

--Why not a classic? Can't play missions in multiplayer, didn't have any EU ships.

 

--Above Average

Knights of the Old Republic

--Why not better? Actually, it should be worse, if it wasn't for the stunning plot (and that most non-Star Wars games suck more). On the other hand the gameplay is quite weak, there is no multiplayer and no editor.

***Neverwinter Nights

Rebel Assault I/II

--Shame about the no multiplayer part.

Force Commander

--Somewhat flawed gameplay, at least it had multiplayer and 3d graphics.

 

--Average

Jedi Academy

--It was more of an expansion really, why should we pay for $50 for a level pack and a bundled JediPlus mod? No discounts for JKII owners.

***Mysteries of the Sith

Battlefront

--No real singleplayer, weak multiplayer. Trade Federation unbalanced. No capital ships, weak vehicle/fighter controls. No plot.

***Battlefield 1942

Shadows of the Empire

--Controls needed to be more like JK or Heretic II. No multiplayer.

***Jedi Knight

 

--Below Average

Battlegrounds

--What? An Age of Empires mod? No more needs be said.

***StarCraft

Rogue Squadron

--Too few ships, limit to how far up/down you can fly, shoddy controls, no multiplayer that I can remember. Too expensive for a port (I remember coming in to CompUSA and it was $20, XWA was $10.. what?!)

***X-Wing Alliance

Galaxies: An Empire Divided

--No "Stars" and no "Wars." Galactic Civil War is just a plot idea, you can't take over cities, etc. I'm sure some of this has been fixed by now but I'm talking about how good it was at release. Also, unrealistic to Star Wars (takes like 100 shots to take down a stormtrooper if you're a "newbie"). What I didn't like about it most is that there was no or little skill involved.

***Morrowind

Republic Commando

--Falsely advertised as a tactical shooter, instead a weak Halo clone. No replayability, single player is heavily scripted, poor graphics, small levels, stupid AI.

***Ghost Recon

 

Outright Crap

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

Starfighter

Battle for Naboo

===and the ones whose names I don't remember: the racing game, the gungan colony game

 

===============================

That's it, I haven't played Knights of the Old Republic II yet (nor Jump to Lightspeed, but I'm not playing SWG again, heh). Congratulations if you've actually read this far.

 

By the way, I actually noticed LucasArts doesn't even have some of these games in their store anymore (like Shadows of the Empire, or Rebel Assault, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, XWA, XvT)..!

Edited March 30, 2005 by JediIgor

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

I only dissagree with you on Republic Commando's graphics. I though they were pretty good. Not Half-Life 2 good, but well above average.

 

You're right about those games not being in the LucasArts store (except for XvT. It's there, but XWA isn't for some reason). I'm sure if you go to the web page (if there is one) dedicated to each game you'll be able to find it. Iguess we'd all better start holding on to our LA games, just in case they become scarce.

[Texas_Fett]

That's why I burned a copy of my Rebellion CD.

[Guest JediIgor]

I only dissagree with you on Republic Commando's graphics. I though they were pretty good. Not Half-Life 2 good, but well above average.

 

You're right about those games not being in the LucasArts store (except for XvT. It's there, but XWA isn't for some reason). I'm sure if you go to the web page (if there is one) dedicated to each game you'll be able to find it. Iguess we'd all better start holding on to our LA games, just in case they become scarce.

 

I guess by graphics I really meant the design architecture as well. The levels are really, really cramped, and the monsters all look alike . Sometimes a little substance is needed instead of pure style .

 

I guess they dismissed XWA as a financial failure though, as I said earlier it was selling for less than the crappy Rogue Squadron at my computer retailer .

 

Wonder why..? Maybe cause they barely marketed it? Heh.

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

Yeah, at one point I wanted to trade my copy of XWA in at my local EB, but it turned out that they were selling it for a cent the day before (that's one cent Canadian!).

 

The level size did bother my in Republic Commando, as did the fact that the game only had three "missions" (really one long mission on each of the three planets). It could have been more. I also found the game a little scripted. There wasn't any room for improvization .

[Stellar_Magic]

I've owned a lot of Sw titles, but my all time favorites are as follows.

 

XWA-Excellent graphics and the mods only made it better, unfortunately it lacked a real damage engine and the controls are reverse that of most every other flight sim ever made.

 

XvT-Good Multiplayer, but I didn't play multiplayer much, oh well.

 

JK-Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight is one of my altime favorites, its unfortunate that the riddles kind of died off in the newer incarnations (MOTS, JO, and JA) My favorite level was the Fuel Pumping Station where you actually had to think to get anywhere.

 

SWR-The only good to decent strategy game ever made for Star Wars.

 

JA-Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy, well this game is here for one reason and one reason, it's easy as hell to add new npcs to single player, love that feature.

[SOCL]

On the original topic, I rather liked Battlefront. Actually, I've been adicted to it for the past few days and beat it today to realize I hadn't slept in 72 hours.

[Krytos]

@TF: MechCommander 2 aye? Are you a fan of the Mechwarrior and Battletech games?

LOVED playing tabletop Battletech. I have many fond memories of head-shots with my favorite Warhammer 'Mech...those were the days.

 

Mechwarrior always frustrated me. Being a Star Wars fan and having played the heck outta X-Wing, et al, I was disappointed in not being able to truly fight in three dimensions (i.e., I wasn't flying). I kept getting my butt handed to me. However, it was tons of fun playing multiplayer.

 

The Mechcommander series was more my speed. To this day I don't know why it more widely accepted than it was. Mechcommander 1 was pretty good, but 2 was simply awesome! The only thing that would have mede it better would have been for you to create your own 'mech designs or to have the ability to mod the game to include the 'unseen' 'Mechs. I want my Warhammer, dang-it! But I digress.

 

Re: Force Commander - I actually like the game, from what I've seen of the tutorial. So many of the RTS games are "build units; swarm enemy" type of strategy. Warcraft III kinda broke that model due to the 'governor' of resource maintenence, but for some reason I get kind of the same feeling from Force Commander.

 

Woo, I think you're the first person on the forum who has also liked Battletech (and not just the PC games like Mechwarrior).

 

Warhammer is a classic, and a shame that FASA got sued over it. More of a shame is the "reseen" version of the Warhammer The new Classic Battletech is good, though it has it's flaws (Like the upcoming Jihad and Dark Ages era).

 

I was a fan of most Mechwarrior games, starting from the MW1, 2 and my favourite 3 (Even if there was no difference between a Battlemech and Omnimech). MW4 was a real let down, even the latest "Mercenaries" wasn't that good.

 

The Mechcommander series was great, though there was something about number 2 that was lacking . . . I think they needed more movies to set the theme at the start of each campaign. Still, graphics, game play and story were awesome.

 

If you're still into Battletech, there's a game out called Megmek which is a simulation the board game. It's unofficial and allows a lot of adding on. It's only 2D ggraphics, and uses Java - so don't except anything flash. Still, it's the next best thing to the boardgame (unless you wont all level 3 rules) and it allows multiplayer over the net.

There was also a game my brother started making years ago with some others called Mech War 3D. He dropped out due to Year 12 and never got back into it, though I think it's still floating around somewhere . . .

 

Back on topic . . . ish . . . FoCom's unit limit (not on the Command points, thoguh also you could only have 60 units at once) meant that you needed stategy, even if the game limited it, though also meant you didn't get to call in many "cheap" units like Infantry which made most things annoying - especially for us Rebels who had too face down AT-ATs with T-3 Attacks Tanks.

[SOCL]

So when is Battlefront 2 set to release?

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

The article said that they are aiming for a fall release for this year. I'm assuming that they're hoping to play off of the popularity of Episode III, but it will also put them in the market for the Christmas season.

 

I didn't mind Battlefront, but there were alot of thing that were wrong with it. There wasn't anything new to the genre. They ruined the Dark Troper IMO. Not because of its jump pack, but because of the shotgun-style weapon he uses. That was fixed in a mod, where it was replaced with an E-11, but it shouldn't have happened.

 

If the starfighters had been a little more useful the game certainly would have gained.

 

There was also an issue with an imbalance between sides, and even within classes on a certain faction (I don't know how many people I saw as Jetpack troopers for the Clones!)

 

With any luck these swill be improved upon in BF 2, but I'm still going to stay a little wary.

[Texas_Fett]

Woo, I think you're the first person on the forum who has also liked Battletech (and not just the PC games like Mechwarrior).

Rather surprising, no? But, that's why I created some battlemech cards to replace some of the troops in Rebellion. Haven't used 'em for awhile, though...

 

Warhammer is a classic, and a shame that FASA got sued over it. More of a shame is the "reseen" version of the Warhammer The new Classic Battletech is good, though it has it's flaws (Like the upcoming Jihad and Dark Ages era).

What's even worse is that they could have won the case, given that they had legal right to use the images, but they didn't have the cash to go to trial. I was hoping Microsoft would have revisited the issue when they bought FASA out, but no dice.

 

I was a fan of most Mechwarrior games, starting from the MW1, 2 and my favourite 3 (Even if there was no difference between a Battlemech and Omnimech). MW4 was a real let down, even the latest "Mercenaries" wasn't that good.

 

The Mechcommander series was great, though there was something about number 2 that was lacking . . . I think they needed more movies to set the theme at the start of each campaign. Still, graphics, game play and story were awesome.

I liked the campaign editor feature, too. I toyed around with it some, and it could have been a bit more user-friendly, but there were some people who worked wonders with it. I think if you'd been able to mod the 'Mechs themselves, it would have really taken off...

 

If you're still into Battletech, there's a game out called Megmek which is a simulation the board game. It's unofficial and allows a lot of adding on. It's only 2D ggraphics, and uses Java - so don't except anything flash. Still, it's the next best thing to the boardgame (unless you wont all level 3 rules) and it allows multiplayer over the net.

There was also a game my brother started making years ago with some others called Mech War 3D. He dropped out due to Year 12 and never got back into it, though I think it's still floating around somewhere . . .

Yeah, I ran across that program awhile ago. Trouble is finding time for it, Rebellion, et al.

 

Back on topic . . . ish . . . FoCom's unit limit (not on the Command points, thoguh also you could only have 60 units at once) meant that you needed stategy, even if the game limited it, though also meant you didn't get to call in many "cheap" units like Infantry which made most things annoying - especially for us Rebels who had too face down AT-ATs with T-3 Attacks Tanks.

Hmm...I'll have to keep that in mind should I start playing it in earnest.

[Krytos]

Woo, I think you're the first person on the forum who has also liked Battletech (and not just the PC games like Mechwarrior).

Rather surprising, no? But, that's why I created some battlemech cards to replace some of the troops in Rebellion. Haven't used 'em for awhile, though...

 

Funny that, the other day I was thinking about modding Rebellion to make it Battletech - with the Empire as the IS and Rebs as Clan. Though considering that BT's warship fleets are extremely small, and generally rely on dropships, I doubt a decent mod could be done.

 

Warhammer is a classic, and a shame that FASA got sued over it. More of a shame is the "reseen" version of the Warhammer The new Classic Battletech is good, though it has it's flaws (Like the upcoming Jihad and Dark Ages era).

What's even worse is that they could have won the case, given that they had legal right to use the images, but they didn't have the cash to go to trial. I was hoping Microsoft would have revisited the issue when they bought FASA out, but no dice.

I wasn't really that surprised at Microsoft's lack of responce. It has always struck me as curious, however, that shortly after MS bought out FASA, FASA shut down

 

I was a fan of most Mechwarrior games, starting from the MW1, 2 and my favourite 3 (Even if there was no difference between a Battlemech and Omnimech). MW4 was a real let down, even the latest "Mercenaries" wasn't that good.

 

The Mechcommander series was great, though there was something about number 2 that was lacking . . . I think they needed more movies to set the theme at the start of each campaign. Still, graphics, game play and story were awesome.

I liked the campaign editor feature, too. I toyed around with it some, and it could have been a bit more user-friendly, but there were some people who worked wonders with it. I think if you'd been able to mod the 'Mechs themselves, it would have really taken off...

I played with it a bit too, though I wasn't really into modding when I played both, and not having any modelling skills back then never bothered to see if there was a way to add more 'mechs. If I get time (so next year probably ) I might look into it. Hmm, maybe some old school Sucession Wars or anything that involves the Combine

 

If you're still into Battletech, there's a game out called Megmek which is a simulation the board game. It's unofficial and allows a lot of adding on. It's only 2D ggraphics, and uses Java - so don't except anything flash. Still, it's the next best thing to the boardgame (unless you wont all level 3 rules) and it allows multiplayer over the net.

There was also a game my brother started making years ago with some others called Mech War 3D. He dropped out due to Year 12 and never got back into it, though I think it's still floating around somewhere . . .

Yeah, I ran across that program awhile ago. Trouble is finding time for it, Rebellion, et al.

Yeah, that's half the reason I've never completed a BT game - I'd start and finish it for the day and then never get time to finish it. MegaMek at least is faster to play.

 

Back on topic . . . ish . . . FoCom's unit limit (not on the Command points, thoguh also you could only have 60 units at once) meant that you needed stategy, even if the game limited it, though also meant you didn't get to call in many "cheap" units like Infantry which made most things annoying - especially for us Rebels who had too face down AT-ATs with T-3 Attacks Tanks.

Hmm...I'll have to keep that in mind should I start playing it in earnest.

Another game I wouldn't mind modding - nothing special, fairer costs, a higher unit limit and more skirmish/multiplayer maps. Four maps is just not enough

[SOCL]

If the starfighters had been a little more useful the game certainly would have gained.

They were a tad difficult to pilot and use (esp. the snowspeeder), but beyond that, they were pretty useful once you got the hang of flying.

 

There was also an issue with an imbalance between sides, and even within classes on a certain faction (I don't know how many people I saw as Jetpack troopers for the Clones!)

I don't know what you find wrong with the Commando Clonetroopers that had jetpacks, but I do agree there was an inbalance between forces. I mean, playing as the Empire, it didn't take very long to destory the Rebellion 100%. And at Hoth, fighting as the Rebels is a near hopeless struggle! Then again, though, you have the Clonetroopers versus the droid army, which turned out to be quite even if not more in favor of the droids.

[bobandrubert]

sorry if this has been posted but

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/swbattlefrontii/

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/starwarsbattlefront2/preview_6122653.html

[Guest JediIgor]

Yes, and we care about Battlefront II because..?

[bobandrubert]

wait wasn't the topic about BF2?

[ImperialJoe985]

I thought bf was amazin at first but i got bored and traded it in but now ive seen previews of bf2 i want that game it has so much the old one doesnt!!! Has a presise date been given for the release??

[bobandrubert]

no only fall

[Mad78]

I must say that game seems cool.

[kaja]

If Battle Front 2 is better than 1, it will be a great game. One was fun, but it lacked.

 

The problem about LucasArts is that instead pf making great games for everyone to buy, They make a crappy game and use the Star Wars Title for people to buy it.

 

New, or small companys have to make a great game to have people buy it.

 

They have to a good combonation of Gamplay and Storyline, the more good games like that, the higher there reputation gets.

 

But LucasArts have a high reputation from making good games like, SWR, Jedi Knight...

 

And they use that reputation to get people to buy there games.

 

So instead of making a great game, they use there reputation, and make a crappy game, paste Star Wars onto it, and sell it.

 

And people will buy it, just becuse it's Star Wars.

 

I'm still argry that Republic Commando onlyu had about 6-9 hours of gameplay.

[Darktrooper]

Hear, hear.

 

I finished in a 3-day rental. You can see how disapointed I was.

[Mad78]

For those who can I sudgest you grab a copy of this months UK PCGamer.

There is a very interessting about Lucasarts on pages 24 and 25.

[Darktrooper]

What is saying there?

[Mad78]

I quote:

to warn gathered development chiefs and publishing lackeys that the game is up unlesds they start encouraging creative designers.

[Darktrooper]

you left me the same as before.