The Elder Scrolls Chapter II: Daggerfall Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This game forever changed my ability to play console RPGs.I was one of those people who started with a game called Miracle Warriors on the Sega Master System and then converted to Final Fantasy when the Nintendo and Super Nintendo were released.

Imagine creating a character of your choice and then being dropped into a massive fantasy world with no boundaries.This is the element that TES - The Elder Scrolls brings to the table. You can follow the main quest or you can adventure and grow your character to the edge of godliness. There are no invisible walls or guided boundaries in your way. You can visit thousands of locations, join hundreds of guilds/factions, go on infinite quests, and create spells/magic items.

Anyway, thats a quick peek at the game.I could easily take up a hundred pages and fill them with vivid detail, but you should just buy and play it instead.

Why is a game made in 1996 selling for $70?Simple, it's totally kick a**!

Cons:
The graphics are a bit dated by todays account.Try viewing some screenshots on the web to get an idea.Think Doom style graphics.

This game can be difficult to get running on a modern machine for the novice. Often times it requires an Emulator like DosBox or heavy tweaking. In WinXP there is a bug that causes quest monsters/items to be invisible which pretty much ruins the game.There are work arounds, and it doesn't happen to everyone, but beaware of the difficulties of getting this to run. It WILL run though!

Hopefully that helps.Try:www.elderscrolls.com for more information.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine Review

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(More customer reviews)Being somewhat obsessed with Oblivion according to my charming fiance, I ordered this expansion pack from Oblivion the day it was released, skipped work on Friday, and played it non-stop until I had sucked every last bit of enjoyment from it. That, in a nutshell, is both the good and bad news. The expansion is very enjoyable. It can also be played through in a few hours.

This DVD includes not just the Knights of the Nine expansion, but all the previous expansion releases available online including the horse armor pack, the Orrery, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, Thieves Den, Mehrunes' Razor, and Spell Tomes. For what you get, the $20 asking price is not a bad deal at all.

Horse Armor: Well, it does make your horse look cooler. That's nice from an aesthetic point-of-view, but I thought it was kind of silly that you get it for free as a "marketing ploy". Items like this are always much more fun if you have to do a little work to get them, or at least cough up some serious dough.

The Orrery: This quest involves running around to different bandit camps, collecting items from the freshly slain carcasses of your foes, and delivering these to Bothiel at the Arcane University. Bandits aren't too tough, so this task doesn't take too long, althoug it does make you travel over some terrain you might otherwise have missed. This simple quest (ten minutes tops) gets you into the Orrery, the mysterious locked door in the entry tower of the Arcane University. Once in, you're treated to some neat graphics but the payoff is rather lame. You get to change your birthsign or something. I didn't want to do that so I didn't see much value in it.

The Wizards Tower: I like the Wizards Tower and found myself using it as my primary base for my loot. You inherit this big castle and it does cost you some gold to get it decked out. There are various neat aspects, including your own enchanting and spell-making altars and the ability to summon atronachs, but the real draw is that you have you own alchemical garden off your bedroom which provides you with an adequate supply of some of the rarer alchemical ingredients, including the Oblivion based ones. If you're a big potion maker then this expansion is worth it. Your bedroom includes an alchemical altar which raises your alchemy ability and a chest that can store your alchemical equipment until you need it, along with endless supplies of loot. If you're not a big alchemy person then you're missing a fun aspect of the game. Those paralyze+silence+fire damage+dame health poisons can come in handy some times!

The Vile Lair: This is a hang-out, much like the Wizards Tower, designed with the vampire character in mind. I haven't spent anytime as a vampire so the place wasn't all that appealing to me, but if you're into vampire characters then this is definitely the home for you. It takes some moolah to fix this place up and it can be stocked with your helpless victims, comes complete with a shrine to Sithis, and your very own blood spa. What more could a vampire want?

The Thieves Den: This was probably the best designed "home" for player characters. Tucked away beneath Castle Anvil this base for thieves has a very cool grotto with a very cool pirate ship. Unfortunately it's infested with leveled skeletons so you have to earn this home by cleaning out the foul undead denizens. Then you have to pay to spruce it up too. After all this work you get a cool pirate hang-out complete with pirates who will go out and raid and pillage for you. This would have been much more fun if you could have gone on the raid and pillage operations with them though. As a hangout, the thieves den has advantages over the other "homes" because your pirates also offer training, supplies, and spells in addition to swell companionship when you'd like to swap blood-thirsty tales of misadventure.

Spell Tomes: These books are found as loot on the corpses of your enemies and give you the ability to learn new spells by reading instead of paying a trainer. They don't show up that often, and the spells offered are random so you don't necessarily get anything you'd actually want.This works well however as this approach is balanced. It's fun to find them but they aren't likely to make you so uber-powerful you don't enjoy the game anymore.

Mehrunes Dagger: This dungeon is HUGE. Make sure you go in well-stocked with everything you could possibly need because you aren't getting out again until you make it through to the end. Those darn Telvanni Dark Elves ("Dork Elves" according to my fiance) are at it again and preparing to rebel against the empire, the fetchers. You have to take out their assembled army, hack your way through their slave-powered mining operations, solve various riddles, fight gangs of vampires, and battle a fearsome Telvanni Wizard, (who in true Mannimarco fashion goes so quickly it's a letdown. They should give these guys 10x more hit points so they have some staying power) and get the fabulous Mehrunues Dagger. I wouldn't trade Umbra for it, but as weapons go it's pretty decent. The fun part of this expansion is that it truly is a huge, sprawling place that will take you several hours to get through. The best part of it, and worth the entire price of the expansion, is the awesome Morag Tong armor you can get here if you play your cards right.

Knights of the Nine: This expansion plays much like any of the other faction quests. An evil Ayelid-Sorcerer king returns and you have to go clobber him. This "crusader" guild quest is fun, but it is pretty straight-forward without any of the well-thought out surprises and plot-turns that were part of the original faction story-lines. The plot is linear, making you have to assemble a special set of armor and weapons and then confront the uber-boss in his lair. There are some decent riddles involved which are easily solvable with a little patience. At the end you have some major magic weapons and armor, but frankly I chucked them in my storage chest in the Wizards Tower and put back on my Morag Tong and custom-built stuff. The quest is fun, but it only took me five or six hours to play through the whole thing. Do this quest and then go back and do some of the Dark Brotherhood quests for some amusing commentary from the NPC's in the world.

All-in-all this expansion has a lot to offer. There are some neat bases to chose from, a few cool effects, worthwhile new magic items, and another 10 hours of so of total game play. Hopefully we'll see some more new factions and expansions in the future to complement this one.

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Product Description:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Knights of the Nine includes all the Oblivion downloadable content released to date: Horse Armor The Orrery Wizard's Tower Vile Lair Thieves Den Mehrunes' Razor and Spell Tomes. There's also a new faction and quests for noble characters that will answer the questions surrounding the Ayleid ruins found throughout Oblivion. Battle against a sorcerer-king and his demonic minions while exploring massive dungeons and searching for legendary relics: The holy armor and weapons of the Divine Crusader.Format: WIN Genre:ENTERTAINMENT Rating:M UPC:093155119307

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The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the second best Role Playing Game ever made. Period.
Role playing has been deluded from it's original intentions, playing a ficticious character in a fantastical world with all the perks and hardships associated with it. Previous ventures (anything Diablo, Dungeon Siege, Everquest) have all been experiments in one of the fundamentals of Role Playing, character development. With Baldur's Gate, a cohesive, player-centric universe was created and a flimsy story along with it to increase immersion. Not until the advent of the best Role Playing Game of all time, Planescape: Torment, had a game captured the player with a beautiful, tragic story, colorful, detailed characters, and a fluid, easy to use interface.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is the only game since Planescape: Torment to grab my attention and make me actively participate in it's story. In Dungeon Siege the plot was based on leveling up to defeat the main guy, all well and good, but in Morrowind my goal is anything I want it to be.
I remember playing a level 4 mage in Daggerfall for months, just because there was so much to see and do that I never got around to the main quest. In Morrowind, you can either not follow the main quest at all, follow it, or follow it once in a while and explore the rest of the time. The amount of open-endedness in this game is only surpassed by it's feeling of soul, for some reason this game feels alive moreso than any other game I've played (sans Planescape: Torment).
Casual gamers will not be able to play this, they'll get confused, frustrated, lost and stop playing, claiming "it's too non-linear!" Die hard pen and paper RPGers will not be able to play this, "you have to use the mouse to see things!" But any computer game player with half a brain, half a memory and at least 100 hours to play this game will find an experience they will never forget.
Reno, layeroffrost.com

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Product Description:
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is an epic, open-ended single-player game where you create and play any kind of character you can imagine. Be the hero embarking on an epic quest or a thief rising to leadership of his guild. Be a sorcerer developing the ultimate spell of destruction or a healer searching for the cure to a plague. Your actions define your character, and your gameplay changes and evolves in response to your actions. The Collector's Edition comes in an exclusive black box and includes a Morrowind soundtrack CD, an Ordinator figurine by Rawcliffe, and a 48-page book called The Art of Morrowind.
Players can choose to follow the intriguing main story line or set off to explore the province of Morrowind and the many interesting people and exotic locations it contains. Vast cities and remote villages dot the landscape, each with its own unique look and feel. Hundreds of quests and adventures await as you interact with characters and learn more. Regardless of whether you play a murdering assassin or a noble knight, the game holds endless possibilities and allows you to revisit the main story line at any time.
With Morrowind, the Elder Scrolls character system is coupled with an increase in the world's richness of detail. Utilizing the advanced 3-D technology, Morrowind features hyperrealistic textures and polygon counts, real-time shadows, vast landscapes, skeletal-based animation, and a complete weather system. Gameplay is further extended with the inclusion of The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, which allows players to modify and add to Morrowind in any way they see fit. Change character or creature attributes and skills, introduce new weapons or dungeons into the game, or create entire new worlds to explore.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

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(More customer reviews)I've always been told the "good things come to those who wait." Well, in this case a GREAT thing has come.
Like another reviewer, I also just recently purchased my 360 (just yesterday!), though I'd had Oblivion on order for months. I suffered a little buyer's remorse seeing as the $400 for the system really wasn't budgeted at the time I dropped it, but the second I started playing this game, it all seemed to come together.
I'd heard alot about some of the 360's launch titles bombing, and how everyone was still waiting for the "next gen-ness" of this next gen console. So, as a die-hard "Morrowind" fan, my biggest fear was that the hype for this title would match it against standards it couldn't meet. Bethesda has stepped up to the plate and knocked the ball right out of its skin!
Visually, this game is amazing. The grass, the flowers, the trees, the statues, the rocks, the ruins, it's all breath-taking; there's truly no point in trying to describe the visuals here- words simply will not do. The character creation has got to be one of the most meticulous processes I've ever come across; I spent about 40 minutes tweaking my guy's nose, eyes and complexion to get them just right! Long story short, if you invest enough time (because there are tons of features you're able to adjust,) you can most likely make a character that looks disturbingly like yourself...
The combat system is much improved from Morrowind, not to mention more realistic. There's blood now and the 'rag-doll' mechanics are the perfect addition- I didn't even realize I wanted rag-dolls until I chopped a guy down at the top of a staircase who then proceeded to tumble down the stairs and lay beaten in a lifeless heap. My jaw simply dropped; it's the little things. I also like that the magic is a bit more accessible now; you need not toggle between melee and magic stances which made for some awkward moments in Morrowind...
The music is perfect. Unlike the sole score in Morrowind that permeated the entire game from beginning to end, Oblivion sports musical themes of mysticism, nature, dungeons, danger, heroism and a bunch others as far as I can tell. I have yet to feel any need to even think about utilizing the 360's awesome custom soundtrack feature with this game.
While all the reading that turned so many people away from Morrowind never bothered me, I must admit that the fact that everything is voiced over makes for a much more engulfing experience. And I do mean everything! No matter which direction you may steer a conversation, the people you'll interact with are on the ball with pertinent, AUDIBLE responses. And don't forget to eavesdrop every now and again; I've been told that you can even pick up some quest by litterally over-hearing NPCs talking amongst themselves!
That brings me to the NPCs (Non-Player/able Characters.) Unlike Morrowind and every other RPG since time immemorial, Oblivion's NPCs do not wander aimlessly, in predictable patterns or stay still in the same place day after day. These NPCs have been equipped with an AI of sorts that has them live there own life (based roughly on a 24 hour schedule, I believe) and interact with there surroundings! They sleep, they eat, they leave their houses to go to market or hang out in bars!
Oh, and the Collector's Edition IS worth the extra $10; very much so! The manual discussing the history of Tamriel is quite an interesting, descriptive read, and I'll admit a bit of childish pride in owning an authentic replica of a gold Septim! But the real gem of the C.E. is the second disc devoted strictly to detailing the making of this epic game. I'm a huge fan of "behind-the-scenes" stuff; I'm often made to consider things I might miss or take for granted without truly appreciating the labors and details that obviously go into creating games of this magnitude. I came away with an even deeper appreciation for the folks at Bethesda.
I could go on, but I've rambled enough. The game is truly amazing and is a worthy exercise of the 360's potential. Fellow Morrowind fans, if you haven't played this yet, you have no idea what you're missing; this is everything we've always wanted Morrowind to be and more. I'll close by saying that if Oblivion is what we've got to see in a next gen consle only four months after its launch, I get goosebumps imagining what we'll see in the months and years to come.

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Product Description:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. This new chapter uses next-generation technologies to create a fully immersive gaming adventure. After the mysterious and untimely death of the Emperor, the throne of Tamriellies empty. With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land. To end this growing darkness, you must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel. Special Collector's Edition includes: Pocket Guide to the Empire, Making of Oblivion Documentary and Septim Gold Coin.Next-generation graphics for lifelike towns, dungeons, and the most realistic forests ever created in a game -- optimized for high-definition TVs

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Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Review

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(More customer reviews)I sincerely hope anyone who has never played the Call of Cthulhu RPG or read any Lovecraft will give this game a shot. You've all heard of Cthulhu by nowand may not know what the Cthulhu mythos means. This is a great introduction. It's incredibly faithful to the original Lovecraft texts and to the RPG rules. So if you LIKE CoC:DCotE video/PC game, you should move on to buying the CoC RPG or going to the Chaosium (publisher of CoC RPG) website and downloading the free quickstart rules and giving it a whirl.

Someone said that you can't skip cut scenes which is untrue. Backspace on your PC keyboard will skip any of those long cut scenes. You can do it on XBox, too.

Some people out in the community have had technical problems with the game. These issues for the PC will never be fixed/patched as Headfirst, the developer of CoC:DCotE, went under and Bethesda, the publisher, will not hire anyone to fix the problems. I play the PC version and I have had only a few problems. In one scene you're supposed to shoot at blue lights; but my video card on my laptop isn't powerful, so the lights didn't show up. Luckily, the community for this game is currently very strong, even after 5 months of release. You can download saved games to help you get past sections that are too difficult or that you can't get past or technical reasons (see my blue light example above). One person at the Bethesda user forums has even offered to get you a custom saved game to get you past the section you're stuck on for free; just email him.

There is a scary factor to the game, but it cheats at this--it will cut to something scary and make a loud noise. That's fine. I was scared along the way, although nothing was as originally scary as the hotel level in Vampire: Bloodlines. The game is still dark and creepy and the architecture, lighting, weather effects, etc. do a lot to put you in a horror mood.

The gameplay isn't as bad as everyone says. It's just that the latter levels require more shooting which makes it less Lovecraftian. However, the game still requires you to do a lot of investigation (as done in the stories) and your character gives you lots of feedback so you aren't searching every pixel on the screen ("Just some old papers. It's not important.") And I had an absolute blast with the game as-is--not too much combat, not too much puzzle-solving. I'd consider myself an average-competent gamer and I found that level 2 difficulty out of 4 was just fine for me and the puzzles weren't too difficult. If you find them hard, there are walkthroughs available on the web.

Your character gives you feedback based on his mental state. If he's had a shot of morphine, the screen gets blurry. He's afraid of heights, so you'll get vertigo when you look down a drop and will need to look up for a few seconds to get rid of it. If he's terrified, the screen will start distorting as he loses his sanity. If he's bleeding to death, the screen will go black and white as he loses blood. If he's poisoned, there is a green film on the edges of the screen. It's all very cool.

Combat is neat too. No heads-up reticles to ruin the mood. What you see down the barrel of the gun in front of you is what you hit. And no ammo count either. You have to do that yourself. I like that; it adds to the realism. Also, if you hold the gun in the aimed position for too long your hands start getting tired and wobbling, making it harder to hit something. Very neat!

In conclusion, give CoC a shot and judge for yourself. Even if the game isn't that original (I happen to think it is), you will at least get the best multimedia presentation of Lovecraft Country out there.

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Product Description:
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a spine-chilling story with classic survival/horror gameplay, where you face evil that seems impossible to stop. Set in the 1920s, you'll be thrown headfirst into the world of H.P. Lovecraft's famous Cthulu mythology. The storyline brings to life all the unthinkable evils, psychic possessions, and mythical worlds it pioneered. Draw upon your skills in exploration, investigation, and combat while battling evil incarnate.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

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(More customer reviews)The title for my review seems to be about the best way to describe this game.It's considered an RPG, but it's more of a sandbox game in my opinion.That being said, it was the first and only RPG I have played and I absolutely loved it.If you haven't played Oblivion and you're thinking about buying it for PS3, wait a month or two.Bethseda is releasing a "Game of the Year" edition that will contain all of the expansion packs for Oblivion (Knights of the Nine, which is included in this reviewed PS3 version, Shivering Isles (not included in current PS3 version), and I believe there's more).Positive and Negative breakdown, shall we?

Positives:
- Fantastic graphics
- large world to roam about, lots to explore and discover
- Story lines are immersive
- No lack of tasks to complete (game guide is some 400 pages)
- character leveling provides incentive to practice skills, you also find better weapons, armor and magical abilities the higher your character levels.
- ability to craft your own magic spells, enchanted weapons and armor, make potions

Negatives:
- Some of the dungeon and cave crawling gets repetitive, especially the Gates of Oblivion
- Enemies level with your character.While it keeps the game challenging, part of the joy of levelling is becoming more powerful.With enemies that level with your character, you never really become "God-like" as the enemies become more powerful as you do.

Really, there isn't a lot not to like.the game is at least 200 hours long, with all of the side quests and such outside the main story line.The Dark brotherhood quests, especially, are very fun quests.I highly recommend this game, but like I said earlier, wait for the Game of the Year edition if you plan to buy.

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Product Description:
After the mysterious and untimely death of the Emperor the throne of Tamriel lies empty. With the Empire ready to crumble the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land - laying waste to everything in their path. To turn the tide of darkness you must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.Format: PS3 Genre:NO GENRE Rating:RP UPC:093155120600 Manufacturer No:12060

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Fallout 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)I never played the original fallout games, but I have always been an elder scrolls fan.Oblivion is one of my favorite games that I have ever had the pleasure of playing, news that the same team bought up and was working on this game made me very happy, if it could just be oblivion with guns, I would be sure to find much enjoyment.However it is SO much more.The game is epic in scope, when you are "born" you crawl around, and you find this book (which is very cool) that teaches you about the S.P.E.C.I.A.L System, and you get to choose how you will be.I love the whole way this game is presented, everything seems very realistic, the environments are of the best I have ever seen.

The voice acting has to be heard to be enjoyed.I finally beat this sucker, after many late night gaming sessions (who needs sleep?)its crazy how many times I would say, ok, a few more minutes then its time to sleep, and the next thing I know the suns coming up!

One of the cool things about this game is the Pip-Boy 3000, it is how you manage everything, stuff you pick up, your aid, your ability to check your radiation level, as well as letting you check your maps, choose your quest, and the coolest feature of all, the ability to listen to the in game radio.

The radio features music from the 40's and 50's and its all real music, very unique, and fits perfectly into the world this game has created.I love it.It adds so much to the experience.

Since your reading this review, you may wish to know about the "Collectors" features.So lets get into if its worth you dropping another 20$ for.

There is no definitive Yes or No.If you work in the game industry, this is one of the best things you can buy, you get a 100 page art book that looks really good, you get the concept art for the creatures, character armor, and environment landscapes.This book makes others such as gears of war seem quite inadequate, this book alone was worth the price for me.The very cool looking lunchbox which houses everything only sweetens the deal, it is very well constructed, and looks awesome, that's all i can say.If you enjoy the retro type advertising of the game (and in game) you will love the lunch box, it is very cool.You get a making of dvd, which I'm planning on exploring later on after I beat the game again. You also get the bobble head which is currently "bobbling" right now as I type.I love this guy, he looks awesome, I'm somewhat disappointed we didn't get the version with him giving a thumbs up, but this is still cool nonetheless.

This is a very good game, much more mature than oblivion due to the language and themes (one part has you visiting a virtual world, where you break up a marriage, beat up a little kid to make him cry, then proceed with murdering all the inhabits while wearing a mask scaring them all away -- though you can avoid it, if you figure out how to get out on your own!)

Speaking of which, I must mention the cool perks system.If you want to play the game as being evil (my next play through for sure!) you can use the "Sandman" Perk and kill people in their sleep, if that's not enough, there is a perk that lets you eat people!Also whenever you pick pocket you can replace what you stole with a grenade and watch as they die (you get an achievement for this too!)

The game is so good, so slick, I really hope they treat this game like oblivion and offer some expansions, maybe one taking place in NY, LA, or something, that would be very cool.

The new VATS system is pretty cool, you can use Attack Points and use your weapon in a cinematic view that lays waste to your enemy, weather your slamming a sledgehammer down on a demon dog, or shooting off a raiders head with your hand gun or rifle (think resident evil type animations), with that said, this game had me jumping several times throughout, it is very good and you get very involved in this game.

Lastly, I must mention the graphics are the best I have seen.They surpass Oblivion, and look better than any game out on the 360 right now.

Bottom line, pick it up, you will be playing this more than 1-2 days, it is a very good game, a game that requires repeat visits.It combines the best of all my favorite games, GTA's seedy underground environment, Resident Evils Character design, boss strength, and the gun play and horror, oblivions fantastic engine and how everything goes together.It has to be played to truly enjoy.

Also, the guide is NOT necessary, the game is pretty easy to figure out on your own.(though not an easy game)

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Product Description:
Fallout 3 from the creators of the award-winning Oblivion, featuring one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders and other dangers of the Wasteland. Prepare for the future.

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Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack: Operation Anchorage and The Pitt Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't have xbox live myself, so the Game Add-On Pack is great (allowing me to get dlc that I'm not able to anyways). The Pitt and Operation: Anchorage are both great expansion packs (although they're fairly short). I really appreciate Bethesda putting this out there for those of us who can't get the dlc anyways. I'm really looking forward to August to get the Broken Steel and Point Lookout Add-On pack.

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Product Description:
Requires Fallout 3 to play.The Pitt Description:The Pitt allows you to travel to the post-apocalyptic remains of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and become embroiled in a conflict between slaves and their Raider masters.Explore a sprawling settlement ravaged by time, neglect, nuclear radiation, and moral degradation. The Pitt is filled with morally grey choices, shady NPCs, new enemies, new weapons, and much more.Story:The Pitt opens with a desperate radio message, and a meeting with its sender, an escaped slave named Wernher. Wernher claims that the leader of "The Pitt" has created a cure for mutations... and he needs you to go in and retrieve it. From there, the player can proceed in a number of ways, in true Fallout 3 style. Do you fight your way in, or disguise yourself as a slave? Ally with the slaves, or join their Raider overlords?The Pitt is very morally ambiguous - there's no real right or wrong, just choices to be made, sides to be chosen, and a mystery that could send shockwaves throughout the entire Wasteland.Operation Anchorage Description:Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe - the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. Gain access to unique armor, weapons, and exotic gadgets while you build and command interactive Strike Teams to win the battle and defeat the Chinese base.Story:The Brotherhood Outcasts are trying to acquire advanced military technology, and the only way to open the vault containing these relics is by completing a tactical simulation only you can enter. In Operation: Anchorage you will re-live the epic Battle of Anchorage from Fallout lore. Find your way into the simulation, stripped of resources, and survive within the rules set up by the simulation's creators. The Chinese red army is everywhere, so secure the surrounding mountain side and fight your way into the Chinese base.

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Fallout 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)Fallout 3 only appears to use the disc validation aspects of SecuROM 7.36.0006. I used System Mechanic to perform some "before and after" system scans to ensure nothing sinister was happening with the install. All I could find was the usual license and CD / DVD entries in the Registry. There were no activations or installation hiccups. The installation does take quite some time though, so I advise people to de-clutter and defrag before they install.

I don't want to issue any spoilers, but what I will say is that the graphics are revolutionary! The world feels very immersing and the character interactions are very realistic. The controls are very similar to Oblivion too, so it wasn't hard to dive in. The game is very, very polished and when you exit Vault 101 for the first time, the scenery that greets you is astounding! You can see objects in full clarity right out to the horizon and the environment looks very much like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, albeit under a very gray palette. I maxed out the in-game detail settings and my single slot GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB handled it perfectly. This is first class!

My biggest gripe with DRM is limited activations, which also infer spying on your machine. This game does indeed use the "evil" SecuROM, but it's just the usual SecuROM disc-checking that we have in tonnes of games prior to this. There are NO LIMITED ACTIVATIONS. I'm a big anti-DRM person, just look at my posts for Spore, but this, in my opinion, is an acceptable use of DRM and I recommend people get the game.

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Product Description:
Fallout 3 from the creators of the award-winning Oblivion, featuring one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders and other dangers of the Wasteland. Prepare for the future.

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Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind Expansion Pack: Bloodmoon Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This game should have been the first expansion pack. It makes Tribunal look like a joke. True, the game is a little buggy, but not as much as Morrowind was when it first came out. A good gamer saves often. It has lots of new enemies, weapons and armor. You can even influence the growth of a large mining settlement while you watch it grow from the ground up, and get your own estate there.
Graphics: They haven't changed much, but the addition of snowfall is a nice. It isn't like the ash storms, the snow can be blizzard-like or it can be big slow falling flakes, which makes the scenery look great. Some of the Nordic armor looks very sharp also.
Sound: Well, no great changes here. I haven't noticed any bugs either.
Story: In this expansion pack you can work for the enemy for a while, or stay with the good guys. The story has a point where you are infected with the werewolf disease automatically (instead of trying to become a vampire in Vvardenfell by fighting them and getting lucky), then given a choice to either become a werewolf or become one of the "Skaal".
Being a werewolf is different than being a vampire because people will treat you normally as a human, but at night you turn into a werewolf and people will try to kill you wherever you go. After 6 hours you will become a human again. A nice twist to this "infection" is that if anyone sees you turning into a werewolf, you will be known by everyone as the beast and attacked whether you are in human form or not.
This expansion is a great buy for fans of Morrowind.

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Product Description:
Will you stand against the werewolves or becomeone?Product Information[Requires The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to Play]Bloodmoon takes you to the frozen Island of Solstheim where the Empire isestablishing a new mining colony - a venture being threatened by the prophecy ofthe Bloodmoon and rumors of werewolves. You will find an untamedwilderness to explore populated by dangerous creatures and new dungeons likeice caves and Nordic burial tombs.Your journey north from Vvardenfell by ship will bring you to a whole new worldwhere the ashlands and rainy coasts of Morrowind give way to forests and hillscovered with snow and ice. In the huge wilderness of Solstheim you'll experiencesnow blizzards and new creatures including frost trolls ice minions andwolves...just to name a few. You will have a choice of stories to followand have the opportunity to defend the colony take control over how the colonyis built up and eliminate the werewolves. Or you can decide to join thewerewolves and become one of them opening up a whole new style of gameplay.Product FeaturesBecome a werewolf and indulge your thirst for the huntExplore the forests caves and snow-covered wastelands of the island ofSolstheimFight new creatures including wolves bears ice minions and spriggansDirect the construction of a mining colonyExperience new weather types including snow and blizzardsCan be experienced by any player at any point during Morrowind andTribunalWindows RequirementsRequires The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to PlayWindows 98 Me 2000 XP500 MHz Intel Pentium III Celeron or AMD Athlon processor256 MB of RAM1 GB free Hard Drive space8X CD-ROM / DVD-ROM driveWindows swapfile32 MB Direct3D compatible Video Card with 32-bit color support and DirectX8.1 compatible driverDirectX 8.1 compatible Sound CardDirectX 8.1 (included on disc)KeyboardMouse

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine Jewel Case Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)Most reviews of the Knights of the Nine (KotN) expansion to The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (TES:Oblivion) are generally to greatly positive.I agree that it is a great add to the Oblivion experience.What I LOVE about this particular item... JEWEL CASE Edition... is the low cost compared to the retail box price.
If you like The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and, like me, bought the Game of the Year (GotY) Edition long after the downloadable content (DLC) became difficult to obtain, this is a great and inexpensive way to get it (I'm unsure if there is a Deluxe version available now of the GotY with all the DLC).The Knights of the Nine is a fun expansion to Oblivion but already comes included WITH the GotY Edition.What DOESN'T come with the GotY Edition is all the EXTRA DLC that you can get if you buy the KotN separately.The small DLC packs with a couple side quests, houses/"lairs", and little add ins are worth the price of essentially "rebuying" the KotN if you only have to buy it as a Jewel Case.

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Product Description:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Knights of the Nine includes all the Oblivion downloadable content released to date: Horse Armor, The Orrery, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, Thieves Den, Mehrunes' Razor, and Spell Tomes. There's also a new faction and quests for noble characters that will answer the questions surrounding the Ayleid ruins found throughout Oblivion. Battle against a sorcerer-king and his demonic minions while exploring massive dungeons and searching for legendary relics: The holy armor and weapons of the Divine Crusader.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

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(More customer reviews)By now, you have heard the hype surrounding Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.I am here to tell you that the hype is real.The game is fantastic.The graphics are unreal-they really took them to the next level.The play mechanics are straight forward for the average PC RPG fan, but there is enough depth to make any hard core gamer happy!I think the designers hit a perfect balance for any type of fan.

As computer owners, we are constantly reminded that it is expensive to upgrade hardware.Every once and a while, a game comes out that justifies those expenses.I think this is the game that should make people upgrade.And, if you do it now, you won't have to worry about upgrading for the next generation of games.My computer is plenty powerful enough to run it (Alienware Area-51 5500 with 1Gig Ram, ATI x850 256megs Ram, S-ATA 80 gig HD, Viewsonic VX924 Monitor).

However, if my computer was too slow, I know I would upgrade in order to play this game, it is that good.Even after a few hours of playing, I am confident in saying that this game is fantastic!Any money you spend on your computer will be well worth it!

The beginning level acts as a tutorial. Instead of being ordered how to do things, the game starts open ended (a clue that the entire game will be this open ended as well).It gives suggestions on things, such as how to use the bow and how to cast spells.But if you choose to not be an archer or a magician, you can still proceed.You customize your character at different points based on how you were playing.I think that is an original design for character creation, as opposed to creating a character from scratch before ever playing the game.

I have walked through several large cities, talked to citizens, obtained quests, finished quests, bartered at the shops, changed my equipment, leveled-up some skills, used swords, hammers, bows, magic, etc.-that was all in the first few hours.I am taking my time walking through the game. Yes, the graphics are that good, and you may want to take the time to admire the world that you are walking through.Personally, I sometimes rush through games and forget to look around at the world.This game makes you want to look around, to see what is around the corner, to explore the areas and see what is next.

Oblivion is going to be huge!I have read that the main quest is about 25 hours.If you explore the entire island, and attempt the side quests, the game is hundreds and hundreds of hours.I still know people playing Morrowind-I expect Oblivion to last as long, if not longer.

Yes, my computer is setup for games and the gaming experience. So far, Oblivion has proved to be a worthwhile experience.Even for those computers with lower setting should still enjoy this game-the designers made sure that the game was just more than graphics. How it looks should not stop you from buying this game-it is the game experience you should come for.The fact that it is possibly the best computer RPG ever should make you want to play it no matter what.

The bottom line is: combat is fun, and I look forward to unlocking skills that let me target with my bow, roll out of the way of combat, and summon creatures to help me fight.The game play is deep and accessible.There are more items, weapons, magic combinations, character types, NPCs, quests etc. than you know what to do with!The graphics are outstanding.The voice acting is some of the best in any game.The game wants you, the player, to be involved.You play however you want and whoever you want to be.

And truthfully, the game is just fun.What more can you ask for in a computer game?
Note: The Collectors Edition is the same game, but this box comes with a collector's coin and a book that give you detailed background of the world of Oblivion, incuding characters, places, and story.

UPDATE: Someone wrote earlier (in other reviews) that you can only play in 1st person. This is not true. Use the mouse wheel to scoll back and you can set the distance you want to view your character in 3rd person. Also, you can hot key 8 items (both on the PC and XBox 360) with keys 1-8. I wish there were more, but it seems to be a strategy type thing set by the designers. What is important to you? Well, you get 8 things to hot key. The keys F1-F4 call up your charater page, inventory, spells, and map/journal. This should make inventory management a snap. Hopefully, those who are making comments about these things either read their manauls or try things out before making it a negative complaint about the game.

I started a new character already and I am enjoying the game so much more with this custome Battle Mage! This game is great because it encourages experimentation and exploration. Enjoy!

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Product Description:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. This new chapter uses next-generation technologies to create a fully immersive gaming adventure. The Emperor of Tamriel has been assassinated and the killer still runs loose; meanwhile, no heir sits on the throne. With no Emperor upon the throne, the gates of Oblivion open wide and demons invade. Your quest is to find the lost heir and place him on the throne, before demons destroy the land. Special Collector's Edition includes: Pocket Guide to the Empire, "Making of Oblivion" Documentary and a Septim Gold Coin. Next-generation graphics with pixel-shader effects for high-definition TVs, creating lifelike towns & dungeons, and the most realistic forests

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Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind Expansion Pack: Tribunal Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first went to Mournhold, site of the Tribunal expansion, I was a bit disappointed. After all, it appears to just be a single city, roughly the size of Balmora and arguably less interesting! Suffice to say that this is NOT all there is to it. A bit of patience and a few quests will go a long way to fulfilling your every desire in regards to exploration, enemies, and rewards.
The expansion largely takes place in the city of Mournhold, but if you are journeying in normal Morrowind you will also see Dark Brotherhood assassins that will trigger the expansion plot. A bit of a warning- they do come quite early and can get pretty tough, so be careful where you rest. The expansion is definitely geared for higher level characters. There is a mercenary you can hire to tag along and help, but you'll need to be upwards of level 30 if you expect to play straight through the new areas. Of course, you don't have to do it all at once, and you can return to Morrowind at any time.
The lack of new items in the early part of the expansion can be disappointing. All I can say is to be patient, because there's certainly some VERY nice ones to be had. Mournhold also has some useful things for sale, such as adamantium weapons, glass armor, and a smith that will make glass, adamantium, or ebony armor if you bring him raw materials. There is also a museum where you can sell artifacts for up to 30k gold (if you aren't patient enough to use Creeper or Drunken Mudcrab) and a mage that sells unlimited quantities of grand, greater, and common soul gems.
The expansion includes at least 7 completely new creatures, as well as some very tough unique opponents. There are a lot of extremely cool new areas and puzzles, and dungeons that make the biggest ones in Morrowind look drab and puny. If you've liked the main game, then this expansion is a sure-fire buy. It adds a great deal of extra play, and is definitely worth your money.

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Product Description:
In Tribunal a ruthless new king has taken the throne of Morrowind while an aging god drifts deeper into madness. Into this chaos you are thrust with deadly assassins close behind you and Morrowind's uncertain future ahead. Your journey will lead you to Mournhold capital city of Morrowind to the Clockwork City of Sotha Sil and through massive epic-sized dungeons.Strange and deadly creatures await you in Tribunal including goblins lich lords and the mysterious Fabricants. Powerful new armor and weapons will aid you in your survival and your adventures will be documented in the improved journal system and an annotatable map. The fate of Morrowind is in your hands...again.System Requirements:Elder Scrolls Morrowind IIIMinimum System Requirements:Windows Me/98 128 MB RAM 500 MHz Intel Pentium III Celeron or AMD Athlon processor 8x CD/DVD-ROM Drive 1 GB free hard disk space Windows swapfile DirectX 8.1 (included) 32 MB Direct3D Compatible video card and DirectX 8.1 compatible driver DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card Keyboard Mouse NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or ATI Radeon 7500 or faster video card.Recommended:Windows XP/2000 256 MB RAM 800 MHz or faster Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor 8x CD/DVD-ROM Drive 1 GB free hard disk space Windows swapfile DirectX 8.1 (included) 32 MB Direct3D Compatible video card and DirectX 8.1 compatible driver DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card Keyboard Mouse NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or ATI Radeon 7500 or faster video card.Supported Video Card Chipsets:NVIDIA GeForce4 NVIDIA GeForce3 NVIDIA GeForce2 NVIDIA GeForce 256 NVIDIA TNT2 ATI Radeon 8500 ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 7200 ATI Radeon ATI Rage 128 Matrox G550 Matrox G450 Matrox G400Format: WIN 9598 Genre:ENTERTAINMENT Rating:UPC:093155117501

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Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Review

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(More customer reviews)I was truly suprised at just how good this expansion turned out to be. Not only does it introduce a completly new realm full of fantastical scenery, objects, and characters, but it also introduces a broad range of vibrante and involving quests.

Upon entering the Shivering Isles, you are automatically presented with two sides of a coin - mania or dementia. The manic half of the Isles are vibrantly colored, producing wacky landscape and crazy characters. The dementia half, however, is more suited for the darker characters with its gothic scenery and clothing. As you begin to explore, you'll encounter a variety of new creatures, including an uber-goblin-like creature that makes its home in extensive, bellow ground networks. It is also of note that the newly introduced creatures of the Shivering Isles are really tough to beat, even at a higher level. To some extent, even with the leveling system, Oblivion's creatures had become rote kills - one or two blows and your done. Not so in Shivering Isles - a nice change. New items are also present, including some kick butt weaponry (which are overall much better than those found in your earlier adventures), as well as the opportunity to harvest certain ingredients and have weapons and armor custom made.

The quests are extremely enjoyable. For instance, in one side quest, you have the option of completly trashing another characters home - havok's real world physics made this a real treat. In addition, nearly every quest following the main storyline presents a new and creative opportunity to create a little chaos. In one quest, you're given the opportunity to torture uncooporative suspects, and in another you are able to choose a life of insanity or a 'dead end' for a band of unwary adventurers.

Overall, Shivering Isles introduces a realm that is built upon fantasy - a nice break from the more realistic style of Cyrodil. It is a truly involving game, making for a very fun play. I might even be tempted to say that its a bit better than Oblivion itself...

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Product Description:
Enter the realm of madnessProduct Information[Requires The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion To Play]A door has opened in Nibben Bay. Within is the torn realm of Sheogorath- a world where Mania and Dementia reign. Do you have the strength tosurvive his trials to tame a realm fraught with paranoia and despair and wearthe mantle of a god? Play the official expansion for Oblivion.Shivering Isles features more than 30 hours of new gameplay and allows you toexplore an entirely new plane of Oblivion – the realm of Sheogorath theDaedric Prince of Madness. Shivering Isles adds to the existing world ofOblivion so you can continue playing with your existing save game/character orcreate an all new character just to explore the new content. Within the Realm of Sheogorath players can explore the two extreme sides of thegod's madness – the sublimely creative and the completely psychotic.Something is happening to the Shivering Isles and Sheogorath himself looks toyou to be his champion and defend his realm and its inhabitants fromdestruction. Do you have the strength to survive his trials tame a realmfraught with paranoia and despair and wear the mantle of a god?The Shivering Isles features a bizarre landscape split between the two sides– Mania and Dementia –filled with vast twisting dungeons mirroring theroots of the trees they are buried within. You'll encounter more than a dozennew creatures including hideous insects Flesh Atronachs skeletal Shamblesamphibious Grummites. Throughout your adventure you will discover all newitems ingredients spells and more and have the talented craftsmen ofCrucible and Bliss forge new armor and weapons just for you.Product FeaturesThe Shivering Isles is the realm of Sheogorath the Daedric Prince ofMadness. It's a place unlike anything you've seen in Oblivion.Includes approximately 30 hours of new content including an all new

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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This edition of the game comes with all the expansion packs so it's definitely worth picking up. Also as soon as you have it, goto Bethesda's site because they have some free content to download which adds some new pieces to the game (this was before they started selling content).

Alright, now for the review, this has to be one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played. You take the role of a recently released prisoner (species, class, and sex of your choosing) and immerse yourself into an exciting storyline filled with plot twists and side quests to keep you busy for endless hours.

The game is much different than Oblivion (the next game in the Elder Scrolls series) so people who enjoyed that game may or may not like this one. A lot of the mainstream added content to Oblivion wasn't present in this game. This being that the auto leveling of enemies, horses to ride on, and a few other smaller changes were not present in the game.

So you'll spend a lot of time either running to your next location (and the flying birds are the most annoying thing in the world) or you'll take a ride from city to city using the instant travel public transportation available (boats and this animal that you ride).

The greatest thing about this game (besides the endless hours of quests) is also its worst quality for fans of Oblivion: the non-auto leveling will leave you in a state where the enemies become extremely easy to defeat. You often also run around for long periods of time without finding any. Why is this great? Well the thing is as you progress as your character what was once a dangerous road to travel on becomes a simple process. You really feel the effects of your leveling. Also weapons are often specialized and are not as generic as the ones found in Oblivion. While a sword is a sword you may be using a Holy Relic of the Church or you may be using just a plain sword you found off an enemy it really depends on your choices and the weapons you discover.

The thing is that once you reach a point, however, you find that all the enemies in the game are too easy to beat. Bosses on the main quest still are hard but this point is way too easy to get to, especially if you play a class like a thief where your main skills are often improved just by spending time in towns. There aren't too many forms of enemies either so it's very repetitive in that sense as well.

It's still a challenge though to attack a town (which you can do if you choose to) so even after you do reach that level you'll find things to do.

I liked not having the auto-leveling but it doesn't really match the needs of most mainstream console lovers so you may or may not like it. I'd say the only true drawback to the game I found was that even though I ignored the main quest it was possible to by mistake force the story forward by entering main quest areas (one for example I bumped into forced me to near the end of the game). It would have been nice if you had no met previous requirements not to have to load the last save to not put myself in that state.

A quick note on the expansions: they both are fun albeit Tribunal felt really short and you are isolated to the main town for the most part with a dungeon under the town --- there are new enemies as well including some new Dwarven constructs so it is fun just seemed quick. You do find lots of new items to add to your character, however, and some of the quests are really fun to do. All in all Bloodmoon felt more challenging and had a lot of new interesting enemies that made the combat more engaging.

Still the game is solid and you'll have fun. Some quests are outright goofy, other tedious, but all around enjoyable. Worth buying since it's so cheap these days and you can decide if you enjoy it as well.

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Product Description:
You arrive at the port of Seyda Neen in the waning years of the Third Era with nothing but the name of a contact in Balmora.

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Fallout 3: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)I really hope that the publisher of this strategy guide can provide access to digital search.Since Fallout 3 is a very open ended game, the strategy guide has 7 chapters with nearly 500 pages with no INDEX but only a Table of Contents.This makes this guide hard to search for the exact information you need because the side quests are not in sequential order so the guide has to split them into Ch4 and Ch5 in terms of zones on the map.

Chapter 1 teaches you the basics of the system, background settings of the Fallout world, and some stats.Chap 3 tells you all kinds of strategies in detail for the actual main quest including all the conversation selection and consequences after the choice, but the main quest has only less than 1/4 of the entire book pages.The rest of the chapters are side quests.This book while able to provide all the details, it does overwhelm me that i can't even search fast enough to look for a specific small quest from an Index.It's really difficult for me to go through the entire Table of Contents to look for a key term to search for a small side quest.

I really really hope that the publisher should provide us all the access to an electronic search engine so we can find the pages on the guide a lot more efficient, or add an index at the end of the book.

I recommend anyone who has purchased this book to see if you can find any electronic version of the exact book to search for the pages, then go back to this physical book and read it.

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Product Description:
• Every major ammo and health cache, Bobblehead, Skill Book, Unique Weapon, Weapon Schematic, Mini Nuke, and more!
• A gigantic tour of the Capital Wasteland with over 100 maps.
• Multiple tactics and tips for every Main, Miscellaneous, and Freeform quest.
• Karma flowcharts plus everything you need to know about completing all endings.
• Expert tactical advice on V.A.T.S., combat techniques, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. abilities, plus which skills to pick as your adventure progresses.
• Damage and health statistics for every weapon and enemy.

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Fallout New Vegas Review

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(More customer reviews)War...War never changes.But Fallout has over the course of its long-winded history.

It started as a spiritual sequel to 'Wasteland', CRPG that started 'Post-Apocalyptic' gameplay back in 1988 by Interplay, whose division Black Isle is behind seminal CRPG classic such as 'Baldur's Gate' and yes, you guessed it, 'Fallout' and 'Fallout 2'.

After Interplay was disintegrated, some of the people went to Bioware, some of them went on to found Troika, talented but unfortunate developer who met its demise after three original and interesting but very buggy CRPG with dissimal sales.Some of them went on to found Obsidian, yet another talented but somewhat disappointing developer whose track record includes 'Knights of the Old Republic 2','Neverwinter Nights 2', 'Alpha Protocol' and upcoming 'Dungeon Siege 3'.

Why am I reciting a history lesson here?When Bethesda acquired the right for 'Fallout' IP from Interplay and released its biggest financial success yet with 'Fallout 3', fans were divided into two distinctive factions and has been feuding over which is better.

Faction Red: Bethesda ruined the memory of the greatest CRPG of all time by dumbing down everything we loved about our precious franchise.It's 'Oblivion with guns'.

Faction Blue: Bethesda successfully resuscitated the dead franchise by streamlining many archaic elements and implementing new refreshing elements.It retains all the core elements from 'Fallout'.We love it.

I personally love all of them and none of them are perfect to feud over petty differences in semantics.

After court-feuding over who's got the right to the entire 'Fallout' series, Bethesda settled with the right to all future single-player Fallout game and right to license the right to Interplay to the development of 'Fallout MMORPG'.So both 'Fallout 4' and 'Fallout Online' are coming; both will be published by Bethesda and 'Fallout 4' will be also developed by Bethesda.

So with the help of creative minds behind the original 2D isometric Fallout games using the same engine and costruction set Bethesda did for FO3, can Obsidian right the wrong by Bethesda?(Bethesda still owns the IP and publishes it.)That has been the question by Faction Red.

If you are a fan of 'Fallout 3', rest assured FONV is exactly like FO3 with nothing taken away with some newly improved elements added.You will feel right at home with the game.Control, menu, movement, combat, Pipboy and VATS are all identical.What's added are new perks system, new aiming system and new NPC companion command system.

Unlike FO3, there are tons more factions now in play and you can choose to side with certain faction with consequences.Faction dynamics play much more intimate and important role, and are tied directly to the choices you have to make (think Morrowind).You cannot possibly satisfiy everyone in FONV.You'll have to actually play multiple playthrough to experience everything.Choices you make will definitely make the differrence in character interaction and will give out whopping 27 unique important quests all littered with different endings with each ending giving you various permutations (think Gothic and The Witcher), unlike the cookie-cutter, same-difference 5 endings FO3 offered.Every time you make someone beneficiary, you will make someone else unhappy.All of your choices will resullt in some type of consequences.There is no more good and evil morality play here.This time, it is a wild wild west.Everyone is a cutthroat.In fact, style of the game is reminiscent of old western movie and FO3 rolled into one.

Dialogues are much more sarcastic and darkly humorous.Voice-works are well-done by many celebrities.Characters are wackier.General tone of the game is morally even murkier and overall darker, albeit humorous on par with the first two games (especially Fallout 2).

Soundtrack once again retains the signature feel of the series by utilizing slew of retro 40s and 50s classic pop music.Orchestral score is once again done by Inon Zur.

While level-cap has been increased to 30, leveling up needs more attention because you cannot be a jack of all trade in FONV; especially in light of new 'Hard-core' mode that is included in the game.You need to hunt and cook / harvest / steal and eat, you need to drink and you need to sleep to survive or pay the consequence.You cannot carry infinite amount of ammo either.You can freely choose whether you want to play as 'Hard-core'.

You can now mod your own weapons on the work bench with more variety and freedom than you were able to in FO3.

Graphics are still competent but are aging fast now.The general tone of the color scheme is changed from green to orange.While Obsidian claims graphic is slightly improved, I think graphically everything looks little bit uglier overall, probably stemming from mismatched color schemes throughout the environment.Sometimes, the world feels like messy crayon artwork from kindergarten wall.But the world is much livelier and you now see some level of active civilization represented by glowing neons of Vegas Strip.

So it sounds like I am trashing FO3 and praising FONV to no end.Not so fast.FO 3 is still a great game but I like FONV slightly better in terms of the improved gameplay.However, FO3 is much better in depth of contents, presentation and storytelling.Morrowind and Oblivion is still my king of CRPG with much stronger community support.So what is wrong with the game?

Welcome to the bugfest 2010.It's a grand feast of technical mess; frame rate stuttering issue, game crashing and freezing, characters stuck in the environment, disappearing act of characters and items (even save-game files make the cameos in the act) are some of the widely reported bugs across the all platforms.Yes, CRPG and nonlinear, free-formed, open-ended game in gigantic scope as big as FONV will always be buggier than linear, focused games like Halo and Modern Warfare due to virtually impossible task of QA stemming from endless in-game possibilities, and yes, nothing gamebreaking,But there are tons of minor glitches that are annoying and tiresome when you play the game that gives you anywhere from 40-200 hours and upward.This is the buggiest Fallout entry.

Here's a helpful site to alleviate your potential problems.

[...]

Another thing is everything in FONV is awfully familiar with FO3, not necessarily a bad thing in itself.Just don't expect the same kind of awe-inducing wow moment like when you came out of Vault 101 for the first time in FO3 or cinematic end-battle.

If you are not a fan of CRPG or you hated FO3, there's nothing new for you to see here.Just like FO3, this is not a FPS, even with enhanced aiming mechanics.Hit points and damage are governed by your stats.This game will be just as boring as FO3 to you.

If you are a fan of open-world game such as GTA, be warned; FONV is not a open-world action game.It is open-ended, nonlinear, free-formed CRPG that focuses on traversing and finding new places, engaging with different characters, performing quests, dungeon-crawling and "role-playing".There are tons of small, interesting and quite often excellent depiction of personal conflicts and backstories, but there's no 'save the humanity' type of grand plot and cinematic cutscenes between each level.

And if you think 'Borderlands', which is by the way solid and entertaining action game, is better than FO3, stay away from FONV.Customization of stats, leveling up, armors and weapons by themselves do not make action game like 'Borderlands' a RPG.You'll be wondering why your excellent marksmanship repeatedly proven via endless hours of online multiplayer session is not effective in Nevada / Mojave wasteland.

Last, but not least, PC version of FONV utilizes Steam, which is the most popular DRM and the least intrusive DRM currently available in the market.It offers many incentive, convenience and great pricing for older games compared to other DRM, but Steam is still DRM.Convenience of not having to worry about the actual gamedisc by using Steam is nothing compared to not having any DRM so we can install the game and put away our game for display and collection.We won't be worrying about gamedisc if DRM doesn't check the disc every five second during the gameplay if the disc is authentic in the first place.Dual release with non-Steam version after initial release or guaranteed future DRM deactivation patch will surely pacify every morally just legitimate paying customers who genuinely want to support developers but are turned off by hands-on DRM.

So why did I still choose PC version over console version?;GECK, easier patching and community support, because I expected that game like FONV would always be buggy.To Bethesda's credit, the game looks and plays exactly the same on either PC or console, barring framerate, graphics and resolution, so the experience will be identical unlike other CRPGs like 'Dragon Age: Origins', 'Two Worlds', 'Sacred 2', 'Divinity II', and 'Risen' on consoles to name a few.

But to Steam's credit, it's 'one-time only' activation through Steam and it doesn't require for you to keep the disc running in your optical drive once the game is installed.There's no constant Internet connection requirement while you play your game and there's no installation limit.And if you are into social-networking aspects of Steam, you won't have much problems.But if you are turned off by anything other than disc-based DRM, you are warned.I found myself grudgingly and reluctantly giving up to the spell of Fallout series this time but this is only...Read more›

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Product Description:
Welcome to Vegas. New Vegas. It's the kind of town where you dig your own grave prior to being shot in the head and left for dead...and that's before things really get ugly. It's a town of dreamers and desperados being torn apart by warring factions vying for complete control of this desert oasis. It's a place where the right kind of person with the right kind of weaponry can really make a name for themselves, and make more than an enemy or two along the way.As you battle your way across the heat-blasted Mojave Wasteland, the colossal Hoover Dam, and the neon drenched Vegas Strip, you'll be introduced to a colorful cast of characters, power-hungry factions, special weapons, mutated creatures and much more. Choose sides in the upcoming war or declare "winner takes all" and crown yourself the King of New Vegas in this follow-up to the 2008 videogame of the year, Fallout 3.Enjoy your stay.

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