Look Ahead to the RPGs of 2005 56
RPGDot.com is running a series on Upcoming RPGs for the year 2005. The first part covers major releases from US developers, while the second piece concentrates on European and Russian games that haven't had as much press coverage. From the article: 2004 was widely considered to be one of the best for PC gaming in years, with a number of highly anticipated titles generally hitting the mark. From Rome: Total War to Sims 2, City of Heroes to Half Life 2, 2004 put PC gaming back in the gaming headlines for all the right reasons. Unless, that is, you were a fan of single player cRPGs."
Good list. (Score:3, Informative)
(I do in fact prefer singleplayer RPGs.)
Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: LucasArts
Release Date: Feb 2005
Dungeon Lords
Developer: Heuristic Park
Publisher: Dreamcatcher
Release Date: 1st Qtr 2005
Freedom Force vs The Third Reich
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
Release Date: 1st Qtr 2005
Dungeon Siege 2
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: Spring 2005
The Bard's Tale
Developer: inXile
Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Release Date: Spring 2005
Gothic 3
Developer: Piranha Bytes
Publisher: JoWood Productions
Release Date: TBA
The Fall: Last Days of Gaia
Developer: Silver Style Entertainment
Publisher: TBA
Release Date: TBA
The Witcher
Developer: CD Projekt
Publisher: TBA
Release Date: 2005
Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: TBA
Re:What about..... (Score:3, Informative)
A lot of Matrix Online's success is going to be dependent on the staying power of World of Warcraft.
Re:what about... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:KOTOR2 (Score:5, Informative)
I have to say I'm impressed. There's some nitpicky things I don't like (inventory doesn't have an "only new" filter, for example, I've seen a graphics glitch on the equip screen, and load times get obnoxious but that at least is to be expected), but as far as the story and length of play goes, I'm *very* impressed, it's a better story than KOTOR1 (IMHO) and I'm pretty sure it's longer - I'm 55 hours into the game according to my latest savegame, and I'm at least not "quite" at the end yet - it's a little hard to tell how much more I have to go.
I'm tempted to call the combat too easy - 3 Jedi towards the end-game are nearly invulnerable on the normal setting. But that hasn't really bothered me as much as it might. The relatively 'narrow' conversation trees are a little noticable sometimes (often multiple of the response options lead to the same place instead of branching out like you might expect them to), but for the most part it's a well written and compelling story.
Some of the new features - far better item creation/customization for example - are nice, but mostly gravy. The ease of combat has made that seem less critical to 'max out' than it might otherwise, and (just as in the first one, imho) most of what you pick up is either already useless or soon will be - too much medium and heavy armor and non-upgradeable guns.
But as I said, that's all stuff to point out for the sake of completeness. I've enjoyed it moreso than the first, which truly surprised me.
I wanted to wait for the PC version (mostly because Patches Are A Good Thing), but getting it sooner on XBox was still worth it - the graphics look at least as good as the first, no hassle setting up and enjoying 5.1 sound is nice - only the load times are a draw back and I'm not sure how much better that'd be on the PC.
Xentax
Jade Empire? (Score:3, Informative)
That's certainly one RPG that I'm looking forward to this year.