Sorry to post this on the Wizardry board but have valued your comments to my Wizardry posts in the past.

A local store is selling this 2nd hand and wondered if it was worth getting? The reason is that as a silver surfer (I'm 54) my reflexes aren't what they used to be. I've made some mistakes in buying such games as Arx Fatalis where you neeed good reactions and it looks from the cover like it may be an action game as opposed to turn based.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

hey, krull - it's good to see we make people feel so welcome! [img]graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

i did a bit of surfing for reviews on gothic 2 just a couple weeks ago. i found a site that compiles the reviews of other sites (sort of like a meta-review review ;) ).

anyway, the ratings were uniformly high, with the major complaint being that gothic 2 leaks memory like a sieve. so with all the graphics and real-time activity, you need at least 512mb RAM to make it playable - and you need to save often to protect you from crashes.

i've never played it, so i'm not sure how reliant it is on reflexes and such. however, i would recommend you post a question at the IW general discussion forum.

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...0;DaysPrune=30

there's 14,000 gamers that are members here, and you can be sure some of them will be able to give you learned opinions [img]smile.gif[/img] :D

Hi Krull

You definitely do not need fast reflexes for this game. It is not really about killing everything in sight but about strategy - how you use your spells and position yourself in battle, how you develop each character, and how you use what you've got. I prefer continuous play as opposed to turn based because that is what I got used to and it does not require continuous pounding on the keys. While there are a lot of battles (this is RPG) there is not a lot of tension about the game. It is truly a head game, and that is probably why so many people like it so much better than other, including Balder's Gate - which is also not really fast. At 52 you are at the tail end of the "baby boomers". I bet there are players on the list who are older than you but certainly aren't going to come out and say any such thing. Get the game and enjoy the board. It's a great forum!

opps! Sorry Krull about my previous post. Thought you were talking about Wiz 8.

Hmmm

I played gothic 2 fine with 256 mb memory. It is slow in the main city with all the people walking around though.

I also played arx fatalis....

I can say, they are of a similar theory. There is much more character interaction in gothic. However, fighting the monsters is in action.


I played Arx a while ago so I couldnt give you a fair estimate of which needs more coordination.

I think gothic 2 is a better game than arx fatalis though. It is much larger, arx is in a small little place.

A recent game that is turn based is Temple of Elemental evil. It has long combats. It is something like a party based FALLOUT. You may like that one more...

That said.... I think Gothic 2 is probably the best crpg to come out this year. Its great. I think youll like it, even though it has some action to it. Less so that Arx fatalis which is closer to say doom with swords.

[ 11-13-2003, 02:36 AM: Message edited by: the mighty stamar ]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

I have seen ToEE but thought it was like Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale, two games which I never really got on with. Mighty Stamar, isn't ToEE like these then?

I'll buy Gothic 2 and see how it goes.

By the way, are there other 'baby boomers' on this board then? I don't want to start a 'how old are you?' poll but it would be nice to know if there are other people in my age group frequenting these boards?

Thanks.

Baby boomers were born between about 1946 to 1965, the generation after WW 2. I'm one on the younger end.

I think I'm considered a baby boomer. I was born in 1963. I'm not that much younger than you Krull lol

There have been two age polls recently, one in general discussions and one in user created polls, so if you do a search you should find them easily.

i'm gen X, child of the 70s. 1970, actually. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Hate to seem like the Grim Reaper but

1. This thread doesn't belong in the Wiz8 forum, regardless if you get more replies or no.
2. Don't go offtopic with age here...

Sry to be so callous.

...not grim reaper... dracolich. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

happy 3000th post to you SM. even if it is a party pooper :D

Well... it is also like baldurs gate in a sense yes. It is dungeons and dragons and you have a party, five people.

However when you fight, when the monsters are there, it is all turn based. No coordination involved you take your time to figure out your strategy, and the combat goes on initiative order each round.
The pause go function of the IE games is not used...Fighting takes a great deal of time.... So in that sense it would be like wizardry 8... but youre right in assuming the game in general is more similar to baldurs gate, it is.
It is made by the same people who made fallout and steamworks arcanum.

To say fallout and baldurs gate are GREATLY different would be false, they are very similar. It is indeed THAT sort of game, an isometric crpg game with exploring and character stat raising...
I can see ur point but here is the other point. U want to hear what gamers think, but only the ones who like wizardry 8? Where do u go? Not many active wizardry 8 forums other than this one anywhere.

[ 11-14-2003, 01:23 AM: Message edited by: the mighty stamar ]

Mighty Stamar, thanks for the input and support!

I hesitated over ToEE because I've seen comments on it as being buggy and too short. I might invest in it then. Incidentally, the Fallout games are personal favourites of mine, as is Jagged Alliance, and have played them to death. I hear there's another JA game on it's way, can't wait!

To all, I didn't want to use this thread to be about age, I just sometimes feel guilty that I'm near retirement age and still playing computer games, so wanted some reassurance, I suppose, that there are others in my age group out there with a 'young' look on life and love computer games. Anyway, enough about age.

Going back to Gothic 2, I've bought it but haven't had a chance to play it, real life is a real drag sometimes.

Mighty Stamar, thanks for the input and support!

I hesitated over ToEE because I've seen comments on it as being buggy and too short. I might invest in it then. Incidentally, the Fallout games are personal favourites of mine, as is Jagged Alliance, and have played them to death. I hear there's another JA game on it's way, can't wait!

To all, I didn't want to use this thread to be about age, I just sometimes feel guilty that I'm near retirement age and still playing computer games, so wanted some reassurance, I suppose, that there are others in my age group out there with a 'young' look on life and love computer games. Anyway, enough about age.

Going back to Gothic 2, I've bought it but haven't had a chance to play it, real life is a real drag sometimes.

Ooops! Sorry about the double post I accidentally hit the 'back' button. perhaps I am getting old after all.... (lol)

I think a good CRPG like Wizardry appeals to all ages, more so than adventure games or shooters, IMO. I can't foresee ever getting tired of Wiz games, I can always go to earlier ones if I get tired of Wiz 8. I have zero guilt about it and know other people my age still into them. Of course, when Wiz 9 does come out my social life, little as it is, will end abruptly...

I also feel this is an open discussion, almost anything can come up. As long as 90% or so is about the game. There does have to be SOME link, however, as opposed to a chat room. It can be tenuous but sometimes its good to know something about other gamers.

I dont give toee necessarily great reviews but it is a recent turn based crpg. If you liked the fighting in fallout... theres a lot of that and its interesting. The actual story of it is a little boring, its sort of just heres the dungeon kill everything in it. I still havent finished it. Cant say I dont like it, but it hasnt drawn me in. I

If you liked jagged alliance, definitely check out this game http://www.nival.com/eng/s2_info.html

There is a demo for it, and it looks awesome. Coming out soon. Seems much cooler to me than a rerelease of jagged alliance 2 with new scenarios, which is what the new jagged alliance game ur talking about.
.
.
.


Gothic 2 is one of a kind. The people all have houses and daily chores. It takes a while to get used to the controls though I will say. I think if u give it time ull like it a lot its cool.

[ 11-15-2003, 04:50 AM: Message edited by: the mighty stamar ]