Guild Wars: Eye Of The North Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)This expansion pack requires that players have at least one of the previous Guild Wars campaigns and at least one character at level 20. If you want to play Eye of the North (EotN), you must already have Guild Wars: Prophecies, Guild Wars: Factions, and/or Guild Wars: Nightfall installed or purchase at least one of them now.

PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS
(1) Guild Wars: PROPHECIES has a good story line and is also the most natural "prequel" for the story in Eye of the North. However, leveling to level 20 in Prophecies is comparatively slow and reaching the city of Lion's Arch (where you can access the new region in EotN) will take you many hours of concentrated (though enjoyable) play.
(2) Guild Wars: FACTIONS is the quickest of the campaigns in which to level up to level 20. It also has the best story of the three campaigns, although some players did not like Factions as well as the other two campaigns. I enjoyed the campaign's Asian theme and locations, although I found the missions in Factions to be much more challenging than in Prophecies.
(3) Guild Wars: NIGHTFALL introduces Heroes (customizable non-player characters), which are very helpful as you level your character, but has the weakest storyline of the three campaigns (it is still a good story, however). I also found the leveling to be a bit slower in Nightfall than in Factions.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT EYE OF THE NORTH
Everything that I appreciate about Guild Wars is in EotN:
(1) It has an intriguing story, punctuated by entertaining and often amusing cut scenes (mini-movies). The story is also divided into three main "arcs", allowing players to go this way or that in the story line, as they so choose.
(2) It has additional Heroes (you get a monk, elementalist [mage], and mesmer almost from the get-go, and more Heroes come soon after via questing).
(3) Once again, Guild Wars is packed with extraordinary landscapes, monsters, and battle effects. I spend a lot of time just snapping gorgeous landscape "photos" (Print Screen) to use on my desktop.
(4) Numerous multi-level dungeons have been included. The dungeons are challenging and often fun (but sometimes extremely difficult if not downright impossible [see below]).
(5) The option to play in groups of "real" players or alone (with henchmen/heroes) or in any combination of real players and henches you want. I LOVE the fact that the Guild Wars campaigns accommodate so many playing styles. As for me, I like to play on my own or with a friend most of the time but I do group up with others occasionally. Grouping is also a great option for normally solo players that are having particular difficulty with some mission or quest.
(6) The story arcs involving the new races--Norn, Charr, and Asura--are entertaining and the associated missions are challenging, occasionally humorous, and creative.

WHAT's NOT GOOD ABOUT EYE OF THE NORTH
(1) Guild/Alliance interface--It would be helpful to be able to "see" not only who is online but where and what they are, for both your guild and alliance, but you cannot.
(2) Polymock/Dwarven Boxing/Norn Fighting--The new "minigames" introduced in EotN are not very fun in my opinion but, since they are optional, this is not a big problem.
(3) Hall of Monuments--The Hall of Monuments is a place where you can display past campaign achievements. As other reviewers have noted, the Hall is a letdown but, like the minigames, is incidental to the story.
(4) Dungeon Difficulty -- A number of the dungeons and associated quests are irritatingly long and/or difficult (at least with henches and heroes). I wish Guild Wars offered a more reasonable range of dungeon difficulty settings to choose from. Online sites such as guildwiki do provide helpful information and tips for defeating these dungeons and bosses. (With the right heroes and skill sets, many of the dungeons and end bosses can indeed be soloed with henchmen and heroes, but several of the dungeons [see Comments for dungeon list] are, in my opinion, too long, too difficult, and/or NOT WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT with hero/hench teams. In ratcheting up the difficulty to such an extent, ArenaNet has inexplicably opted to post, in effect, a "Keep Out!" sign for a substantial portion of this expansion for many of its more casual/solo players.)

Overall, however, I am still pleased with and greatly enjoying EotN. It is a welcome addition to an already great game series, this time designed as an Expansion Pack tailored for veteran level 20 players. For new players, Guild Wars is a great game and it's easy to get started. One can jump in via any of the previous campaigns listed above and have a great time with it.

[*This review was updated 10 October 2007]

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Product Description:
Guild Wars Eye of the North is the first expansion pack to the Guild Wars product line thatplays with ALL 3 Guild Wars games (Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, and Guild Wars Nightfall). Play in cooperative group combat as your existing character stands side by side with new recruit allies to delve deep into the perilous dungeons of Tyria. Win or lose, your game play will set the stage for Guild Wars 2.

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Disney's Toontown Online Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been playing ToonTown Online for close to 2 years now. A co-worker got me hooked on it after her child got her hooked on it after seeing a commerical for it on The Disney Channel. Yes, it is an online game (hence the name ToonTown Online) and it very specifically indicates on the packaging that a recurring fee is necessary to play it after the initial 2 month game time has expired.The game is downloadable from the ToonTown website and the retail version is NOT a necessity to have. The game is a HUGE download and the CD is great to have if you have dial-up internet access like I do.

As for play value, it is great.I have 2 active toons (you can have 6) on my account that I play on a regular basis.Yes, it is geared towards kids but many of the players I encounter are adults that were hooked by their children.It is safe for kids as there are pre-made phrases that you use for your toon to communicate with other toons.There is the option for real-life players to "code" with each other so they can speak freely with each other.Even with the free speech being available, it is heavily filtered for bad language.I have tested many different "bad" words in various spellings and even inserted spaces and other characters to attempt to get it to let it come across but it won't.Kudos to Disney for being proactive in anticipating what lengths some people will go to spoil kid fun.
The concept of the game is not different than any other MMOG like EverQuest, Final Fantasy etc.You are given quests to complete for jellybeans (money), gags (weapons) and laff boosts (strength). The only difference is that this game is designed for children.

It is well worth the $10 a month and the game is always expanding. Since I have been playing there have been 2 major updates and a 3rd is scheduled for sometime in April or May, giving toons an additional neighborhood/Cog HQ to play in with new tasks and rewards.

Happy Tooning.

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Product Description:
Created especially for kids 8-12, but enjoyed by all who are young at heart. Players are Toons who join forces to save the world from Cog's, humorless business robots who are attempting to turn the colorful, happy world of Toontown into a dark metropolis of corporate monotony. Because Cogs can't take a joke, Toons use their favorite weapon-humor-to save their world.

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MechWarrior 4 Compilation Review

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(More customer reviews)The MechWarrior 4 series of games has been around a very long time and has a very active online support community. League play still goes on. In fact, I am a member of one online team (Lords of Destiny) and was a member of a team playing the old NetMech version of MW2, the Northwind Highlanders). However, be warned: Microsoft does not support this franchise, having put all of its MechWarrior work into the Xbox and abandoned the PC years ago. The two latest Mech games are Xbox only. This is not that bad since they are not as good as the older PC games in graphics, game play, or customization of mechs. Also be warned - the two additional Mech Packs of Inner Sphere and Clan Mechs are NOT included in this package and still must be purchased separately - M$ is squeezing every dime out of the franchise that it can. On the other hand, the MekTek community has supplied dozens of additional Mechs, weapons, and maps, so you can get a lot more for free (contributions cheerfully accepted, of course!). Still, if you like SF games, and especially if you like the giant mech concept, this package will give you the "pick of the litter." Grab it while you can as undoubtedly people will continue to play this game for years to come.

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Product Description:
MechWarrior 4 Compilation brings you thrilling high-tech combat action, in a future where it pays to be brutal. This collection includes MechWarrior 4: Vengeance and the Black Knight & Mercenaries expansion packs.

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Everquest 2: Kingdom of Sky Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)Kingdom of Sky is the second expansion for Everquest 2, and while it's not perfect, and many of the changes take getting used to, I like it.While some other games will possible release a near-perfect expansion in the future, how long will it take for them to release it?In the meantime, we have more content, an increased level cap, and some needed changes.

The Good:
1. More content.The new content is stellar.I love the views from the sky, and while I haven't been able to get into a lot of the content, what I've seen so far has been top notch, expanding the mythos of Everquest 2 plausibly.

2. The Tradeskill Changes.I definitely like the fact that even at lower levels you can craft useable items without going through iterations of making the smallest part for an item- they still have those too, but the other items give a good balance to make tradeskilling seem less tedious, and it appears that the use of skills against progress in tradeskill has been made more uniform- I see less of the endless periods of -50s with no chance to counter them on items that match your level.

3. The Harvesting Changes.I love the fact that you can actually tell with almost a certainty what you will get from a harvest point, instead of it being totally random.Imagine- you get coffee beans from a coffee bean bush!Who would have thought?

4. The New Class System.I liked the idea behind the branching class trees, but given that your city allegiance indicated in most cases what you were by 10th level, the implementation left a lot to be desired.If they were not going to change this, then a unique experience for each character was highly more desireable than the generic approach that levels 1-10 had become.

The OK:

1. Alternate Adventure XPs.They approximate talents in WoW, and I like the fact that they exist, and like the fact that you don't automatically get AA XPs.I like the abilities themselves, but I like the implementation of the trees in WoW better- these appear too static and linear for my tastes.

The Bad:

1. The Server merges: There are too many people on servers waiting for the same instanced monster to spawn.I've experienced very little lag, but waiting for monsters to spawn really sucks.

2. Broken Brokers: I was preparing one of my alts for Betrayal, and couldn't buy anything.My crafter couldn't sell anything.And there was no communication from SOE on the exact problem, except one little posting by an apparently insignificant member of SOE.Thank you for that little information.I hope SOE can learn from your skills at communication.

3. PvP servers full.I could already tell from their proposed 'plan' that this was going to happen.One Station Exchange and one normal server?For all of North America?Right.Can anyone say short-sighted?

The Ugly:
1. Broken quests because of changes.Test your existing quests before rolling out changes.Please!In the just annoying case, I completed an element of my profession quest only to find out that the quest giver would not speak to me, and I can't finish it.In the worst case, you had my level 17+ doing a betrayal quest and sending him to talk to not one, not two, but three NPCs in places guarded by level 25+ guards that were still aggro to him.If I had to sneak in and grab something, that's fine.But it ruins immersion to have to talk to people from across the room so that guards don't immediately attack you.Please!

In conclusion, I agree that this expansion is not perfect.But I can say that at least SOE is releasing something rather than just promises of an expansion- I'd rather have something solid that needs a few tweaks than waiting for perfect software.

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Product Description:
EverQuest II: Kingdom Of Sky chronicles the battles Norrath's warrior will face against the Overrealm, a previously-unknown mystical territory, made up of islands floating high above the land. Discover strange new creatures, powerful new objects and items, and a world filled with unseen wonders. Travel to the Overrealm and battle the creatures who intend to enslave and conquer Norrath. Four new arena champions and two new arenasAll new Heritage Quests allow players to gain amazingly powerful items, personal status, adventure experience and much more Signature Quests reward large experience bonuses, entirely new items, and advance the lore of EverQuest II Over 30 new Collections expand on one of the most popular features exclusive to EverQuest II Challenging new zones, both below ground and high above it Brand new pieces of armor, such as Profession Hats, Helmets and Pauldrons, will make your character look more distinct Over 30 new items to put in your player house

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Everquest II The Shadow Odyssey Review

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(More customer reviews)For everyone who loves online fantasy games. There is something for anyone. From beautiful adventuring zones to house decorating. This expansion is an all in one pack, so if you buy this you get the original game plus all expansions. You get a nice bear mount which levels with you. There is both an exciting adventure part to the game, a very well developed tradeskill part, there is thousand of quests and very customizeable house decorating part from little inn rooms to giant guild halls. Creating your character also gives you a lot of posibilities with so many different races and classes to choose between. When you have chosen your race and class then there is almost endless possibilities for customizing their looks. This game is fun and challenging for both teenagers and adults. The only downside to the game is the high requirements for your computer which must be up to date with lots of ram for being able to run the game smoothly and enjoy the fantastic graphics.

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Product Description:
EverQuest II The Shadow Odyssey is the latest EverQuest II expansion pack from Sony Online Entertainment, and follows the award-winning Rise of Kunark expansion. New and veteran players will marvel at the massive expanse of the new journey through an unknown realm. With new quests, stories, deities, and more, The Shadow Odyssey will provide hours of fresh gameplay.


Explore Ether and its 20 new zones, including the overland zone of Innothule. View larger. Special Pewter Bear Figurine Included in Box
A special pewter dire bear figurine is an included bonus with this set. The bear is a new addition to the game, either a pet or mount depending what level you are, and gains experience and levels with you. This collectible pewter replica will look great on your desk as a reminder of your digital friend.
New Worlds and Nostalgic Places to Explore
At the heart of The Shadow Odyssey is a new realm called the Ether, with 20 new zones including a new overland zone, Innothule. Players will enjoy the added pieces of nostalgia with familiar dungeon themes from EverQuest such as Najena, Mistmoore, and The Sebilisian Empire. There are also five new Heritage Quests, and more than 18 goal-based dungeons such as Befallen and Ruins of Guk.
The story unfolds along with the hundreds of new quests and dozens of new creatures. As you fight, you learn a little more about this new world and the challenges that must be overcome in it.
New Mounts, New Deities
Players will now be able to ride new mounts such as a bear and a unicorn. Two new deities have also been introduced into Norrath: Rodcet Nife and Anashti Sul. Players can also now ride airships to travel between distant lands.
A New Group of Erudites Offer New Loot
Along with the new realm and new enemies are new equipment, weapons, armor, and other loot. Players can get them by bartering the void shards earned during your encounters with a mysterious group of Erudites who have powerful new armor and equipment.
Legends of Norrath Online Card Trading Game Included
Legends of Norrath, a strategic online trading card game, is included in The Shadow Odyssey expansion. The card game tells the story thousands of years before the events in The Shadow Odyssey, giving players a chance to learn the realm's history. Players can gain new loot cards for EverQuest II, including rare items, new mounts, cloaks, consumables, and baubles.
All-In-One Compilation Pack Includes Previous Releases
The Shadow Odyssey is an All-In-One expansion pack that includes all previous expansion and adventure packs for EverQuest II. This means that you'll have access to the entire EverQuest II world and have a chance to catch up on any adventures you might have missed.

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Big Bang Board Games (Mac) Review

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(More customer reviews)When the Deluxe Board Games was the best there could be, the Big Bang Board Games! It uses the iChat application to play 7 (I think) fantastic games. With the click of a button you can send your "game key" to anyone on your buddy list. Even if your friend dosen't have it, you can send the whole game to him/her with the click of another button. The games are great and the interface is amazing. The backround music is very pretty. Overall, this game is completely worth it.

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Product Description:
Finally, a suite of board games made just for the Mac! Checkers, Reversi, Mancalla, Backgammon, 4-In-A-Row, Tic-Tac-Toe and the Apple Design Award Winning Big Bang Chess are all included in this collection. Play solo against the computer, with a friend via iChat or email, or make new friends on the GameSmith game matching service. These OS X-only games integrate seamlessly with your iTunes, Address Book, iChat Buddy Lists and other Apple technologies. Fun and beautiful board games, made for the Mac, and made for you!

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SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo Review

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(More customer reviews)THis is truly a good game for the PSP.I was amazed at how well I was able to control this game.I could command my teammate almost as easily as I could control myself.Zooming in and out was easy.Aiming was easy.Weapon selection was easy.But here is the problem.The game is easy.The single player game hardley ramps up with any difficulty.Even when you drastically change the dificulty level.The graphics could possibly even be called poor.Finally, there is no major creativity here.Over and over again you do a very similar thing.Go in and take out the bad guys, or go in and save a good guy.Though this is fun, creativity is appreciated.All of that said.This game does have online multiplayer in a big way, and yes it does support voice chat and microphone headset use.Incredible that a PSP game can do this.

Bottom Line:Great game with minor drawbacks.

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Product Description:
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo offers fans of the best-selling franchise all-new single-player and wireless multiplayer gaming missions. Travel to 4 different Areas of Operation (AO), while tasked with completing 14 unique, realistic international single-player missions. Multiple players will be able to form clans and take on their friends for team based high-action gameplay in SOCOM Fireteam Bravo via a Wi-Fi connection. Over 30 authentic weapon and equipment options offer players the ability to customize their fireteamsMultiple save points eliminate having to replay a failed mission from the beginning Special crosstalk feature enables players who successfully complete cross-title objectives to advance more rapidly and affect mission structure, in both this game and SOCOM 3Multiplayer action - team up and compete with friends in Ad Hoc and Infrastructure Modes through a Wi-Fi connection Associated with U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, ensuring authentic and realistic SEAL gameplay and mission designs

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Seasonal Snack Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)Diner Dash Snack Pack is a blast.Flo and company are back again, only this time with a seasonal theme.There is a water park, a scary crypt cafe for Halloween, a ski resort for winter, a pumpkin farm for fall, etc.There are new customers with new challenges and of course, there are bonus challenges once each restraurant has been completed.Flo also is sporting a new wardrobe that goes along with the themes of the restaurants, with a variety of clothing to choose from and many different colors.Upgrades are also available in the way of scenery and also within the restaurant.I love this game and played through the first two restaurants the first day I opened the box.This game is indeed addictive, but it is also fun and well worth the money.

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Product Description:
Are You Ready for a new Series of Snacks?Stroll down memory lane with Grandma and Flo as they reminisce about their favorite seasons, including stops at five new restaurants! There-s NEW Customers, NEW Challenges, and even MORE Customization than ever before! With 5 Exciting, Sensational, and Seasonal Themed Restaurants:

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Diner Dash: Hometown Hero Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best game of the series... you can even add more restaurants online as well as play others online.Really fun!

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Product Description:
Flo is back and ready to serve up more Strategy fun in the fourth edition of the blockbuster Diner Dash series - Hometown Hero!

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Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War - Iron Cross Review

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(More customer reviews)This is not a full review, just my impression of this simulator. I don't have the ICE edition, but the previous one. ICE is actually a repackage of the previous version, with more planes available by default (when planes appear, you buy them - if you want to fly them, otherwise they are in the game, but only for AI). So if you don't have the previous version, this one is the better deal. This model (pay/buy what planes you want) helps with making the new patches free.

It has the best flight models, graphics, plane models and a very detailed mission editor. A lot of work was put into it. You do need a good computer (try an i7 or a Phenom x6, this one is pretty cheap for the performance you get) and you have to be prepared to spend time configuring it - because it is a simulator, not a game. Nevertheless, it has a lot of options to help the new user (including guided shooting). It does run on 64 bit all right, unlike what a previous poster implied (i have it running on a win7 x64 with phenom II x6 at 3500GHz). While not 'theoretically' required, you really need at least a good joystick (pitch, roll) with twist option to also control the rudder, or in addition - pedals (much better). Multiplayer offers 'cooperative mode' missions (everybody starts at the same time, dead is dead), dogfight mode (everyone enters when he/she can, you can respawn when dead) and also a 'conquer the flag' mode. The mission editor is very powerful, with lot of triggers and 'logic' stuff. The sim also offers a quick mission builder for single player, a (dynamic) campaign mode and a 'career mode' (scripted campaigns). So you can fill the skies with planes, or fly under bridges, or get medals and promotions flying campaigns or multiplayer.

It is very addictive, if you are a serious simmer and/or aviation fan. Some people only play this sim.

Check the Rise of Flight sections of these sites for best info: [...]
Salute!
Gabi/Laser

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Product Description:
Iron Cross edition for PC:The award-winning WWI flight-sim Rise of flight is back and its bigger and better than ever with Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition! Rise of flight: iron cross edition comes chalk full of new features, exclusive content and numerous game play improvements. Rise of flight: iron cross edition brings intense WWI aerial-combat to your computer like never before with enhanced graphics, new modes of game play, new campaigns, new terrain, new special effects and twice the flyable planes! Its never been a better time to pick up the most realistic WWI flight sim ever created and take to the virtual skies! Do you have what it takes to be an Ace. ROF still includes all the features which made it an award winner, such as an advanced flight-model, adjustable difficulty, complex physics engine, progressive damage model and super powerful Mission Editor. And don't forget the gorgeous graphics, awesome special effects, beautiful 3D models, detailed terrain and challenging artificial intelligence. Rise of flight: Iron Cross edition has something for every flight-sim fan, from single player campaigns to multiplayer dogfights, but one things is for certain, the aerial combat in intense and brutal. Grab your goggles and silk scarf…come join the fight above the trenches! In Addition: Rise of flight from Russian developer neoqb is a state-of-the-art PC flight simulation title that sets a new standard in fidelity, beauty and realism. You can fly eight legendary WWI fighter places alongside or against over a dozen other beautifully rendered aircraft including scouts, fighter, bombers and recon planes. Fly the Spad XIII, Fokker D.VII, Albatross D.Va, Nieuport 28, SE.5a, Pfalz D.IIIa, Sopwith Camel and deadly Fokker Dr.1 into aerial combat over the western front.

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