[jacog]

ankh had a few awful bugs, mostly during the dual character bits... and i agree gs was a bit hard on keepsake

[Dasilva]

Originally Posted by JemyM

Oblivion have five attacks for melee if I remember right, left+attack/right+attack/forward+attack/back+attack and just attack.

I never focused on melee for Dark Messiah so I do not know them all. I just remember attack and powerattack.

I also thought the plottwist was fairly obvious.

Still, part from the annoying AI where "friends" kept attacking you instead of the monsters, I found the game enjoyable as a linear firstperson shooter but not so much of an rpg.

That doesnt count!! Its the same attack from different angles. DM had totally different attack stances.

[JemyM]

Originally Posted by Dasilva

That doesnt count!! Its the same attack from different angles. DM had totally different attack stances.

For each 25 you earn in your weapon you unlock a special ability that is executed when you use a special swing. I remember that forward+attack with a mace was a great way to disable a foe since it stunned them, while backward+attack was something I "exploiated" all the time (it knocked them down). The left+right swing was very fast. If you wanted to take down an opponent really quick you loaded a magic weapon with all three elemental damages and sweeped quickly from left+right, it was guaranteed to floor almost anything in seconds, even if the strike itself did minimal damage, the magic did full damage every blow. Took alot of souls to keep that up though.

[phankiejankie]

Originally Posted by JemyM

For each 25 you earn in your weapon you unlock a special ability that is executed when you use a special swing.

True. Oblivion offers one quick attack and relative to your blade or blunt skill four additional power attacks.

[Dasilva]

Originally Posted by JemyM

For each 25 you earn in your weapon you unlock a special ability that is executed when you use a special swing. I remember that forward+attack with a mace was a great way to disable a foe since it stunned them, while backward+attack was something I "exploiated" all the time (it knocked them down). The left+right swing was very fast. If you wanted to take down an opponent really quick you loaded a magic weapon with all three elemental damages and sweeped quickly from left+right, it was guaranteed to floor almost anything in seconds, even if the strike itself did minimal damage, the magic did full damage every blow. Took alot of souls to keep that up though.

Okay, you got me. But I still think Dark Messiah should get at least 8.0.

[Stain]

Originally Posted by Dasilva

Okay, you got me. But I still think Dark Messiah should get at least 8.0.

Yeah, but remember that Gamespot rates games before they are patched. They rate them right out of the box. Dark Messiah was pretty buggy for a lot of gamers until those 2 patches were released (and a third seems to be required for a lot of folks still).

Although I bought the game when it was first released, Gamespot's review and a quick trip to the Ubi Soft tech support forums lead me to wait a few weeks before playing it. I agree with your 8.0 rating for the patched game

Cheers,
Stain

[MdaG]

I seems like they've removed the adventure games from the voting.
http://www.gamespot.com/special_feat...x.html?page=11

[Lucien21]

Well So far

Dreamfall won best voice acting

and

Sam n Max won Funniest Game.

[charmed23]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw no Genre awards for Adventure games!! But well, I'm happy for Sam & Max.
You guys can now vote for the Reader's Choice Awards.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by charmed23

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw no Genre awards for Adventure games!!

Maybe it's for the better. Assuming they, indeed, were including only the games with a score of 7.0 and greater (which is IMO pretty ridiculous because: 1. being "the best" in the given category doesn't imply being among the best in absolute terms, 2. a review and score are ultimately one person's opinion the nominating comittee doesn't have to agree with*), they would probably round up the final five with some survival horrors like two years ago. And then of course Dreamfall would win.

As adventure games is not Gamespot's forte, perhaps it's only fair that they won't make judgments on which were the year's best.

*Of course, I highly doubt anybody except the reviewer played most of this year's adventures, so that's a moot argument in practice.

[Kurufinwe]

Then again, has there really been anything worth calling "best adventure game of the year", or just "least mediocre"?

[AFGNCAAP]

I think Scratches, Great Cow Race or Secrets of Da Vinci deserve better adjective than "mediocre".

[bysmitty]

^ I agree with you but Gamespot's adjective for Scratches is 'BAD'. I am a big Gamespot fan but they totally deserve the pan for that review. Scratches was one of the best games I played all year regardless of genre.

...bysmitty

[bysmitty]

Back on subject: I can't believe that Dreamfall didn't win best story and best new character! I can kinda' understand Neverwinter Nights 2 for best story but Delta Squad from Gears of War for best new character(s) has to be a joke! I have the game and those meatheads just bark war cries throughout the game. No meaningful dialog, no emotional connection, just guys that shoot along with you and get killed a lot. Sad.

...bysmitty

[Aj_]

I can't believe Dreamfall was nominated for best story or best character, although I have to be honest and say I've played very view games made this year. It's a poor reflection of games in general. I'm surprised about the voice acting award, since I liked Oblivion's so much more, but Oblivion didn't have quality dialogue, neither did Dreamfall... I really only expect one game with a good story each year, and I haven't played Neverwinter Nights 2 yet.

I've only played BS4 and Dreamfall this year, and they were both terrible, and in many similar ways. I couldn't bring myself to finish BS4, and that's probably because it was longer. I'd settle for a shortlist of five Adventures with Graphics from 2005, controls that atleast work, cameras that work, and atleast two good puzzles per hour of gameplay. If they set up an Adventure genre award, they'd also need to set up a suicide watch for the committee.

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by bysmitty

Back on subject: I can't believe that Dreamfall didn't win best story and best new character! I can kinda' understand Neverwinter Nights 2 for best story but Delta Squad from Gears of War for best new character(s) has to be a joke! I have the game and those meatheads just bark war cries throughout the game. No meaningful dialog, no emotional connection, just guys that shoot along with you and get killed a lot. Sad.

...bysmitty

Delta Squad -

They look like linebackers for the Chicago Bears and grunt commands. Where is the characters in that.

[Coop]

Hmm, I think Sam and max deserved best adventure game more than Dreamfall.

Edit:Oops I thought this said Gamespy

http://goty.gamespy.com/2006/pc/index24.html

[Dasilva]

I agree with Gamespy's Awards so far.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Gamespy

2006 wasn't a terribly strong year for adventure games. Of course, the genre's been on life support for a long time now with only a few excellent titles like Sam & Max: Culture Shock to break the monotony of mediocre and low-budget titles. Even so, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey stands so far out of the pack, we believe it would have been a stellar candidate no matter what year it was released.

In many ways, Dreamfall suffers from The Empire Strikes Back problem. Not only is it the middle chapter of a trilogy, but like that film, it's essentially "internal." Dreamfall isn't about plot points, it's about characters asking questions and discovering some painful truths about themselves. As such, it raises a lot of difficult questions and is told in an unhurried, almost circular pace that's sure to rankle those who prefer their stories to unfold in a faster and more linear style. If gaming is ever to be more than merely colored lights and sensation, though, it needs these types of experimental projects to move forward. Gaming may not yet be "art," but with Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, we're one step closer.

YAY for Dreamfall!

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by LeisureSuitedLooney

When Gamespot sent out their latest newsletter, where they talked about these awards coming up, they wrote this one part on the Introductory page about how they had trouble scrounging up enough nominations for "Best Adventure". So, out of curiousity, I did a search for adventure games in 2006, on their site. On the first page alone, there were something like 25 results. Hard to believe that translates into barely scrounging up a list, by their standards.

I think they meant good games this year. As far as I'm aware, there haven't been that many good ones.