Bah, you don't know what's good !
The Gamestop here in the Bustling Metropolis is down to a single 3' wide rack for PC games. Last time I was in there (buying the Diablo Battle Chest a few months ago), the clerk told me to special order any titles I wanted with them because they weren't planning on stocking more than a dozen PC titles in the future. How far we've fallen from the days when Best Buy had 3 complete aisles of PC games. (and another 2-3 for business/utility/DIY junk)Gamestop has PC games in the discount bin (and another half shelf gone)
GoGamer.com has Sacred 2 for $32.90 and Dead Space for $34.90 as part of the current 48hr Madness sale.
If you get 2 games (Priced 9.99) and another one (at 5.99) on GOG.COM in a single order (promotion until Dec 9 - this Friday), then you'll only need to pay the first two games.
Oh the end date for the promotion is Dec 8, next monday.
Looking forward to the release (hopefully soon) of System Shock series and Planescape: Torment. They are top three most voted games.
Archimedian Dynasty
Space sim genre has many good games, from Freepace to Tie Fighter, Privateer to Freelancer. Though Archimedian Dynasty's universe is set underwater, it plays most like space sims.
The setting is a mixture of Mad Max and any pirate movie. Archimedean Dynasty takes the best parts of the best games in the genre: A Tie Fighter-like mission design, Wing Commander-like game design, Freespace like atmosphere (where you don't mind sacrificing yourself for your friends) and a little commerce.
The graphics were really good at that time, especially after the 1.20 patch (which added transparent explosions). If you had a 3dfx card, it was even better. Also, the underwater setting gave the producers an advantage over the the games relatives that are set in space: Underwater currents could really affect torpedoes so you had to think twice and learn the environment before firing one (if you don't want to spend your torpedoes you bought with hard earned cash that is).
Though its successors (Aquanox series) lacked the quality and atmosphere of this one, Archimedean Dynasty is an absolute classic. If you value atmosphere over the technology, it's worth playing even today.
I still remember the day when I got it. I was still a kid, back in that long gone 1997.
Local game store had only one copy of it and apparently no one wanted to buy even that one. Since I had little gaming experience than and was looking for any game to kill my time (and it was very cheap), I bought it... Best gaming move in my life!
Came home, installed it and began playing. First impression: 'nice graphics!' (compared to sidescrollers and top-down sport games I played most of the time). One hour passed, two, three... The game got me locked!
Story is incredibly immersing, which has you on the edge all the time and wanting to play just that one more minute to see what happens next. 5 different, pilotable submarines and hundreds of weapons and upgrades for them make sure you never get bored with same old stuff. Large variety of enemies and unique missions constantly test your submarine piloting skills. Great graphics and music (dark, techno tunes) make for perfect apocalyptic atmosphere. And it all culminates with a truly epic ending!
10 years later, I still play it. In fact, I played it every year since I got, just to remind myself of this truly unique masterpiece. And I will continue to do so.
Gamespot user review average 90%
Not quite the quality of the first one though. Still I liked AD so much that I bought both AQ1 and 2. The third (and last) AQ called Angels Tears for ps2 was cancelled but som firm is selling them through amazon. I didnt take the risk of buying though, it must be a mistake.The follow-up is Aquanox.