Ignore the other reviews

Okay, okay. So I bought thsi game despite reading a fair few bad reviews on here first. I've been playing Champ Manager/Football Manager in every incarnation since the thing was created. Here's a simple review -

1. Are there problems installing it? No, took 5-10 minutes without a hitch and it auto updates unlike any previous version - handy.

2. Any other bugs or issues after a week of playing it? No.

3. Is much changed from the last version? No - a few new nice add ons - press conference, improved in game view - but it's as detailed as you want want it to be, or you can revert to classic views and settings easily.

4. Is it bang up to date? About 95% - pretty good.

5. Would it buy it again? Sure. And in 2010.

Poor

Give this a miss. I say that as an ardent C&C fan too. It took me a dozen attempts to get it to work and when it did, sheesh, what a disapointment. It feels completely unfamiliar with silly graphics and game play, the movies are tedious and cheesy without being funny or entertaining. I seriously hope EA have a massive rethink on this series.

Simply Awsome

After playing CODwaw zombies i became addicted to killing zombies so i purchased this game and to keep it simple its"GREAT" everything is on max detail so it looks sweet and playing along side your clan m8's is more than hours of entertainment its a masterpiece of gaming well done valve....

Limited activations totally unacceptable business practice.

I bought this game unaware that it has limited activations.
Having upgraded my machine so as to run this game at an acceptable framerate, I have now discovered this activation limit.

I will never again be purchasing a product with Securom of any kind, from any publisher. If it has Securom & I want to play it, I will pirate it - plain and simple.

So much for piracy killing the pc games industry.... it's going to be copy protection that kills the pc games industry - idiot publishers.

The wait is over as the Lich King awakes

"Zranta stepped forward, her feet making a satisfying crunching on the sparkling snow covered land. It was a rare occasion to see one of the Forsaken smile, well with Zranta her smile was more of a smirking and wicked grin. One which exposed her rotten teeth and flesh, to some not a pretty sight. The grin not just from the sound and the chilling feeling of the snow beneath her, her grin was more for the things to come. The Lich King, Arthus, to whom Zranta would thank but then bring to his knees in the name of Lady Sylvanas, it was the time for redemption." Epilogue from Corrupted Shadows(Jase Howse 2008), it mirrors the smile i had when i hit the Play button knowing that at last i could move beyond level 70.

The lich king is back, awake from his slumber to finish what he began but this time there are new heroes to join the fight. Another review, the writer said that you really do feel as if your actions are going to make a difference, this is a statement i have to truely agree with especially when you reach the Waithgate cutscene and the following few quests (i'd love to say more about it but i'm not wanting to spoil the revelation of it to people).
This really is the best thing to happen to WoW, unlike Dark Portal you have a choice of 2 start areas which are more relaxed and easier to play in than what the single starting zone of Dark Portal was. The quests are varried and fun with nice rewards. There are some nice additions of characters from Warcraft lore namely Krasus and the dragonflights. Due to currently reading the War of the Ancients Achieve it was nice to interact with those i have been reading about.
The look of the new areas are great and with some fantastic design elements. One of the best elememts is the vehicles, some quests involve using vehicles or mounts like Dragons and Mammoths to attack tougher foes or multiple units. For me it was most satisfying to see my character on a Red Dragon and using it to bath my targets with its flaming breath.
If you are looking to buy World of Warcraft to find out what its all about, now is the time as it has become so much bigger, better and most of all, fun. Not that it wasn't fun before, far from it - a few million others would agree there :D

Amazing Game!

Firstly, why all the negative feedback? This game has hit a gap in the market no-one has ever done before. You start as a small cell and as time goes on you evolve the creature and build a civilisation! Soon you have an army, and space crafts, and all the things kids have dreamed of having in one single video game. Sure, you need a proper gaming computer or just one with a lot of hard disk space and a good graphics card.

Don't be put off by the reviews of people who are not seeing the brilliant side of the games. It is a warfare and stratigic game for people who don't like those boring ones which just are the same as each other. Spore has really hit a gap in the market and for that, I think EA deserve a pat on the back for making a game completely thought up and not copied off something else which has been made before !

All people who read this review, I hope you buy this game as you don't know what your missing. I for one have had it for just 3 weeks and I already love it. BUY THIS GAME!

Crashes all the time

This is a great game BUT it crashes every 10 minutes. I've followed all the Bethsheba tips, downloaded their patch, updated everything (but as my machine is new and pretty high end not much to do) but still it crashes. When they release a proper fix I'll love to play this again.

Good

COD5 has a very short campaign mode. Your team mates seem to just sit there and fire at the sandbags or whatever is in front of them. But I cant just say bad things about it, that wouldn't be fair. The CO-OP Nazi zombie mode is very fun. It will make you play it all day non-stop! The Co-Op campaign is also very fun because you can work together to fight the enemy or whatever. The on-line game play is also fun. Overall I recommend you buy this item straight away!

Superb!

I don't understand the negative reviews, it's a demanding game, but if you have a good PC with a good processor, plenty of ram and a good graphics card (8800 GT minimum and above) it is very playable on Medium settings.

I think this is the richest GTA experience yet, there is so much to do, and it's a huge improvement over the last one.

I would give it game of the year if Fallout 3 hadn't stole that crown, but it's definitely the 2nd best pc game of 2008.

Lock and Load!

I have played the earlier Call of Duty games. They were a lot of fun but became very"same-ish". They weren't very replayable. However, after playing CoD4 I immediately started again....and again! It is just as much fun every time.

It has an excellent story line. Surprisingly (and pleasingly for us Brits), the lion's share of the action is with the SAS. The acting is good (and amusing in a non-politically correct fashion at times).

I was stunned by the graphics. They are almost cinematic. Of course, graphics alone don't make a game but in this case it helps immerse you in the story. The realistic scenery, coupled with the physics make it feel real.

Bullets can now pass through some materials (eg walls). It's no longer possible for you (or your enemies) to take cover behind a sheet of paper.

There are two breaks from the all-out action. One is a stealth sniper mission. Normally, I find those pretty boring in a shooter game. Not this time. I loved it. There is also a mission where you act as a gunner in an AC130 Spectre. You sit in complete safety as you blast the enemy with an assortment of lethal weapons. Your only worry is blowing your own side to smithereens.

In the old days, I would always put tactical shooters ahead of FPS corridor shooters. However, the latest tactical shooters have been"dumbed down"(except, maybe Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior). CoD4 is linear with no direct control over squad mates. Nevertheless it's a great substitute for that feeling of reality that tactical shooters used to provide.

Better than it sounds

From the blurb on EA's site, I wasn't expecting great things from this expansion. It sounded as though you just get a new building type, but there's much more to it than that.
Sure, a large element is the apartments, but even those are better than I anticipated. If you've ever been stuck with a homeless family with low funds, or if your single guy is friendless, apartments provide the perfect solution. If your sim feels lonely, they only have to go and tap on someone's door (at a reasonable hour), and some apartments cost less than 1k a week.
There's also a hint of magic in the air, but I suspect that it takes more than the hour that I played to find that

Best PC game ive bought in a while!

This game is fantastic the gameplay is great!!
Graphics 9/10
Sound 8/10
Gameplay 9/10

Also i recived this version completely upto date therefore i just installed it and started playing withing a few mins.

this game runs smoothly at max settings for everything on my PC [Q6600 intel core2 quad - 4gb ddr2 800mhz - 8500gt 512mb]

I highly recommend this game it is a MUST buy in my opinion...
Anyway G2G need to carry on playing Civ 4 XD

Please be careful!

I came here to pre-order Sims3 when I saw it is due to be released in February. I then saw the DRM inclusion and I started reading up on this.

Now I will never play Sims 3. I am an addict with Sims. I played Sims 1 and have Sims 2 with a lot of additions and modifications. I love the concept, the game and the fun. But sadly, it stops here. The prospect of seeing billboards advertising the next president or a particular brand of washing powder puts me off totally. I don't want another person in the White House simply because he/she has the money to buy ads in Sims 3.

I want to buy a game - not rent it.

I want to play a game for fun - not being supervised and monitored.

I want to play how I want - not how the production company wants it.

I have seen some very bad and some very clever comments on the topic of how games today are marketed and I have taken an informed decision. I urge anyone else to get informed before taking a decision.

The software is yours, but the computer is mine. Respect my property.

Take your own decision after you read all the facts about a product.

The Sims 2 Double Deluxe

The same as the sims 2 deluxe only this time it has celebration stuff 10/10 cos all the sims games are good but it's a bit of a rip off.

May cause problems?

I`ve always been keen on the building side of The Sims 2 and thought this Mansion and Garden Stuff pack looked like a treat, I bought it as soon as it was released. It installed without problems and it has taken till today for me to realize there actually may be a problem with this expansion pack. I tried to make a coffee Bar and could not find the espresso bar in the buy catalogue(which comes with the University expansion pack I`d installed earlier). I then realized all espresso bars in all the lots I`d placed them were missing.
I searched some Sims 2 related forums online and found I wasn`t the only one experiencing missing content after installing this expansion pack!
Maybe there is an update patch on the way to sort this out.... I hope so....else I`m afraid I will have to uninstall it. I`m not going to fork out cash for what essentially seems to be a bug on the main Sims 2 game. Apart from that....
The items found on Mansion and Gardens are quite beautiful...from ceiling fans to flower laden fences. The new roofing `angle` tool is useful too. I would have given this expansion four stars if it were not for the buggy aspect and manner it has affected my game`s content
Here`s hoping to an update patch soon!

Get Pinnacle Game Profiler!

I always found the Playstation controller easier, until my hands got too big. Preferred PC games but the easy of console gaming was too much to ignore. Was a PS2 user for its lifespan, then"High Definition" gaming happened. Was unsure which to go for xbox360 or the PS3... both of which turn out to be happy with HD Ready/720p graphics, I am not.
Found the perfect solution, custom built(by me) gaming PC, with the ease and comfort of the Xbox360 controller.

One problem, joysticks and PC games never got on. And there is limited support for this controller with PC games, of the many games I own only Crysis has built in support for it.
To use the xbox360 controller with your other games i recommend purchasing the profiler. You get a trial period, and if you decide to buy there is fantastic support for a lot of other games. Profiles are made by Pinnacle themselves or by other gamers, or you can customise and create your own.
Costs about £12.

Am now happily enjoying STALKER, FEAR, The Witcher and Oblivion without the fear of hitting the Windows button.

The Greatest Game!

WoW is undoubtably the greatest game created so far. I have to agree with those who warn of possible addiction. It will take months to get to level 70 (soon to be level 80) and that is where the game really begins. You will then meet people who will really show you what a noob (novice) you are and this is after several months of playing! The game is so time consuming that at the top level you haven't got time to do both PvE (player v the environment) and PvP (player v player) so you have to specialise to become really good in one or the other.

The game reigns supreme but it does have its competitors. Warhammer Online has just been realised and may prove to be as good (doubtful as I find the combat ponderous). The next expansion for WoW is just around the corner and the game will be even better and more time consuming.

So in summary: fantastic game but be prepared to put in a huge amount of time if you want to reach the level of the top players.

Friends great game!

Orange Box is a very good value system

Basically, it includes a series of VALVe's most popular games

I dont not own, it, but my friend is on it most of the time I am at his house
The ones I know it includes, are...
Half Life 2: Half Life is a series where an experiment goes wrong, and an alien species is relesed onto earth, but I dont know how the other 2 species came to earth
The species are Headcrabs, Antlions and Combine
PORTAL: You are a test subject in a labratory, named"Aparature Science Enrichment center, where the main computer"GLADOS" tests your physical, and mental strength through many over 17 test chambers with more she doesnt know about
There is also a program to make your own test chambers as well
Team Foretess 2: Sorry, but I havent played this one

Orange box also includes a system called Steam, which you can put almost any game onto, and then it will not require a disk
Note, in oreder to use this, you will need a relatively fast Broadband system

Sorry, but I dont know anything else

Orange box is definately for someone who enjoys a mix of first person shooter, adventure with a hint of small horror

Great game but a camera with a mind of its own

I've been playing this for a couple of weeks now and because I string my gaming out (as I have other things to do) I've still only got three-quarters of the way through. It's a huge amount of fun, a really superb and great-looking game in the whole with a few small drawbacks. The graphical presentation is quite stunning, with some breathtaking backdrops and fantastic animations. There's nothing to complain about with the music, either, which is really atmospheric and adds to the experience.
Another TR, another Lara, this time she's even more sharply rendered and despite all the gargantuan baddies and great scenery, there's no doubt who the real star of the show is. Her moves are well-conceived and combat is a real hoot - and, unusually, not the most important part of the game.
The plot is pretty typical of the series and carries the game along well, as well as allowing for some more original non-combat sequences, such as escaping a sinking ship.
There are some drawbacks, though. While experienced Tomb Raiders will probably scoff, those of us for whom this is our first game might find a couple of the necessary moves pretty tricky and while no-one wants a game you can complete in four hours, it can be frustrating and spoil the flow of the game to have to attempt a jump/challenge 30 times to achieve it.
In addition, the camera is completely insane. It will change angles without being commanded, suddenly shifting Lara's centre of balance or direction of running. Coupled with some of the more difficult maneouvres, this doesn't help the blood pressure. There are also some bugs evident in the gameplay, although these can mostly be overcome by reading player forums.
Overall, a great game, especially for those who haven't tried Tomb Raider before. I've now ordered TR Legend and Anniverary to see what I've been missing.

DRM breaks another good game

It's becoming common practice for me when I want to play a DRM/Securom protected game, to buy a physical copy, leave it shrink-wrapped, and install from a pirated download copy.

As this insanity is wasting my own time & bandwidth, EA & others will (as of 2009-01-01) be losing my £'s when I stop buying their products.

Publishers need to realize Sony's DRM technology achieves nothing but alienating their loyal paying customers.