Dawn of Fantasy: Kingdom Wars

DoF is a massively multiplayer online real-time-strategy set in a medieval high fantasy setting with additional: singleplayer campaign, castle wars and a scenario editor. Its an Indie title and a Greenlit one so this review has ended up being a long list of rights and wrongs, goods and gruntildas so please bear with me.

The Bad: very basic path-finding and macroing, most of it has a very unpolished look and feel, the combat sounds are so loud its like they have stuck your head in a dishwasher from hell: the volume cant be adjusted but the sound effects are actually adorably quirky and comical. The narrative is a bit heavy on text, the interface is in general visually unpleasant and unintuitive. The extra game modes feel a tad rushed as they haven't quite mastered the gameplay yet and there isn't much consistency between the available modes given the online mode has an almost stagnant minion economy and the offline campaign has an automatic trickle economy. The other modes consist of castle scenarios which range from hard to very hard due to the almost vertical learning curve and seemingly brilliant Ai. I did like the accentuated narrative touch however: "Twould be both kindness and cleverness to train a horse cart". Back to negatives and I have nothing more to say because I have too much to say because for the most part I still think Reverie World Studios have a game hear. Reverie have possibly focused on providing too much of everything and should be focusing on what works and what works is what I wouldst like so very much to move onto.

This game works! Given the raw indie-ness of this game its impressive that it has actually been compiled. There are now 12 core developers and a long list of contributors in its credits so far and its all been done a budget as small as that of thy courts jester. The level design in this game is actually beautifully detailed and has a very strong aesthetic to it. Its music is also charmingly primordial both these elements combined are very original which makes the fantasy setting all the more potent and alive. The loading and cut-scenes have a lot of character and charm but the zigzagging camera that shows them off can be a little nauseating. The combat works just fine and your Humans, Elves or Orcs have some very interesting abilities for you to use but it all falls short if you want to command your army to do several things at once, which is one of DoF's biggest let downs. Its not like any other player would have any better controls then you online but it does mean the NPC's can actually out maneuver you incredibly well.

I found it hard to write this review there is just so much to like and dislike its not a finished game but a work still in progress. So I am going to cut this one short I like this game but its last-ability is about 2 days: the on-line mode is a great option but the pace is slower than a snail with no slime or peasant with no pickaxe. The steep learning curve encountered when navigating the UI takes up a lot of your time its also visually unappealing and there is no tutorial on how to use it. That said the basic tutorials that are there are excellent if a little loaded with text at times.

Overall DoF's poor usability and lack of player engagement in gameplay and progression can make one become very sour. Dawn of Fantasy is... missing its horizon.

Far Cry 3

The entrance was quick except I was tied up in a cage in the very heart of a pirate base. I had to escape in pitch dark, it, I mean me whimpered quite a lot I thought even the way it held a gun and ran was wimpish/ possibly realistic. So this is what I had been designated I wish it could of just made me focus on another wimp of an NPC it wouldn't of taken me out of the moment. Although I was a wimp I was told I could fix this by killing animals to grow tattoos but first I set out to collect some plants for crafting and after gathering a bunch a boar ran at me from some long grass and killed me after a hectic scuffle. I restarted having to go collect the plants all over again then a crocodile bit me... It was telling me to mash c I did but died. Full circle it happened again but I was ready I must have mistaken the c button for the space bar I now mashed the space bar and won. The crocs carcass was lost in the rivers murky waters and with it a prised leather hide, so I climbed out of the river only to look back thinking they had tried to maybe make it look a little to real as it looked too detailed and unreal but amazing all the same much like most of the Rook Islands; beautiful.

 I went on my first ambush crawling around and into one of the many enemy camps only to be pulled up with notification spam on my screen I didn't quite know what to do I mashed escape eventually it left me alone. I noticed a crouch icon telling me I was crouching I grew to ignore it as did I the swollen and neglected mini-map. After defeating the pirate encampment with much satisfaction I collected a quest to kill some rabid dogs with a shotgun that barely fit in my hands: I completed it satisfactorily escaping being mauled by the ravenous pack and noticed down the hill to my left there were three pirates. Bandaging myself up I crept in close and took them out systematically like cans on a shooting range only to be shot from behind whilst I was looting their corpses by a straggler. In one minute in one encounter this games gameplay had taught me everything it was trying to all along: this was survival. As for the levelling and crafting I didn't like it it felt almost tacked on and is just another mechanic nagging at me to play more and achieving that goal but leaving a somewhat bitter taste. Sometimes these things just don't fit and but they have gone to far down the road turn back.

Even the loading screen with its flashing flaccid symbolism gives me a headache. The tacked on crafting/levelling and overall unfullfilling story experience are the two things that trouble one of the best functional FPS I have ever played and as they slash it with their maniacal pandering and stomp on its beautiful corpse I cant help but wonder maybe its just me. I keep playing. I have been told you need to let it grow on you... which points out its main flaw its presented unfinished but after you "happily" unlock everything it gets better! Oh what a drudgery...

Once you get used to and familiarise yourself with the way Far Cry 3 operates it does get better much much better there is truly a brilliant game here, its in the sense of omnipresent caution and awe you experience in your engagement with the world in general. You feel a worldly sense of gravitas, if only they would make a Jurassic Park like this oh joy! Grr I hate the horrible stalked prey icon that looms over animals u have targeted its just not hunting; I imagine my prey stopping to stand there holding up a shoot me sign instead. I guess it is nice to have a tactical edge seen as it usually is 1 vs 8 or even triple that when engaging the enemy: Plan A, B, C and grenade launcher on standby!

There isn't much I can say about the story other than it has wonderfully (I use the word wonderful lightly) rich characters and mature subject matter that suits just about every context of the game. The plants you craft are scattered in the wild and have an iridescent like skin which is so obvious it makes you feel as though you should be wearing a bib its not as if they didn't look distinct enough already they also show on the mini-map like singing oompaloompas in a gothic horror its just not quite working for me. I thought one of my quests was broken where I was supposed to meet up with a negotiator I heard his screams coming from the jungle I started running and upon arrival I found his body strewn across the ground in a pool of blood a pack of Komodo Dragons got him the real mission it turns out was keeping them off the carcass, its things like this I don't mind, I don't mind at all.

Forge

Forge is a great game but is one that fails to capture that capability of transitioning our interaction from a physical world to a virtual one i.e. it really needs a control pad... There is a lot of depth to your champions abilities, pretty much on par with the likes of Bloodline Champions. You may find a bit of a hurdle trying to get to know how to play this game well which is also going to be a hurdle for its popularity and unfortunately its not like its a single player game.  There is a lot of detail in this game both visually and mechanically which make it enjoyable. There is no doubt it could be brilliant I mean if PvP style arenas work in mmos why not stand alone? Why this hasn't been done sooner is perplexing or maybe there is something behind it... Unfortunately Forge doesn't have a large enough community to make it a popular game but oddly enough this hasn't stopped it from being a viable one and although it is compared to its counterparts a bit lacking in last-ability its overall indie and fun appeal is what keeps it afloat, that and the constant stream of updates from its developers and awesome community.

Kingdoms of Amalur

Kingdoms of Amalur is one of the most emotionally compelling games I have ever come across it just has this feel about it like your in a fantastic fantasy book and there is a reason for this: R. A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane were involved :) but I dont want to say to much yet its such a big game and I have only scratched the surface so far so I had better get back to it! <Post awaiting further updates>

Dragon Age II

This game so went under the radar for me! But I was eventually compelled to pick it up after finding it was so cheap and hearing the combat had been slightly improved. There were a few hefty complaints laid against this game and although I can see the justification for them I found it hard to fault this game it was probably one of the most enthralling experiences I have had in gaming and apart from the more adventure inducing settings in its first instalment it was a big improvement on the first. The only major qualm I had was the killing every quest; go here kill this kill that kill some more what's for desert death with a peppering of slaughter... they mixed it up a bit at the end but it was short lived, overall the game just got a little tiring/ brutal. DA II a fantastic, compelling RPG romp I recommend it.

Torchlight II

I am still not a fan of the Hack'n'Slash genre and to make it worse the story of Torchlight II is very vauge and as such is basically pointless. I can imagine a younger audience having a really great time with this though, it does have a very convenient multi-player. Picture: The Thinker with a mouse in hand that's me at the moment - boring-fun and dare I say mind boggingly repetitious. This genre needs an overhaul before if I am ever to say something nice about it. NO wait it gets better after 50! The whole world seems to of been given a new coat of paint with the love and attention that would rival Okami, maybe I will play through to the end after all, now that I can massacre pleasantly deadly beautiful creatures! PS: the modding community for this game is very strong which is worth noting.

Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Defenders - brilliant but lacking in the slightest of ways. If you have played Orcs Must Die its exactly like this game albeit DD has its own distinct strengths and very solid ones at that. Its overall atmosphere, content and gameplay are fantastic. There was something annoying me though and it was the pace, maybe this was to suit all demographics r the target marget of kids but still it was just too slow; the timing of the waves of enemies, the enemies themselves and last but not least you the player. To slow or not to slow?
In giving the game a little more depth part of the gameplay is you have the opportunity to upgrade your stats as you play which is more often than not something that can ruin a game as fast paced as this should be... but in this it works fine. It the pace of this game that has been implemented incorrectly to great detriment of the experience. DD is a really great game but slow like a record with a finger on it.