1 comments about Victory At Sea.

1. Victory at Sea (VaS) is a good introduction to World War 2 era naval wargames. VaS is designed to play quickly and easily and therefore it ignores a lot of details that other, more traditional games do not. I have played two games of VaS so far (with one win and one loss) and both of them have been entertaining. VaS is a great starter game for Dad's looking to introduce their children to naval wargaming or for gamers looking for a fast and simple naval combat game.

5 comments about Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. This is one of the many strategy guides by Prima and it definitely lives up to its name. Alone in the dark the new nightmare blows resident evil out of the water with its amazing fast-paced graphics and intruiging detailed and "pull you in" story line. With Prima's official strategy at your side you are ready for anything. As you take control of Edward Carnby or Aline Cedrac, you are faced by the minions of evil and the horrors that lie in the shadows. This guide has all the necessary tools for your survival in the mansion overtaken by evil on Shadow Island: -walkthroughs for BOTH characters. -complete character, monster, and item stats. -great training tips for enhanced playing. -exposed secrets, item locations and puzzle solutions. - and as an added bonus, it has the history of the Alone in the Dark series and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the game. Prima's guide sums up the term of excellence all game guides should have. This guide appeals to gamers of all ages, its extensive walkthroughs help each character unfold their destiny, and with all the exposed secrets and items, it will have you playing and guessing at every corner....NOT! With the revealing walkthrough you will know what is coming around every corner...but it'll still be scary trust me...the graphics make this game in a league of its own NOTHING yet so far can compare with this game, and with the strategy guide at your side as your extensive info companion, you'll be almost unstoppable...unless mom accidentally unplugs the playstation while plugging in the vaccuum...hope you saved! That's another good point...SAVE A LOT!!! and mark the page where you are in the guide...just incase it closes by accident...or was it Obed Morton??? Just kidding...this game will give you nightmares, well it makes sense since that's the title of the game..."its what you fear..." anyway I'm getting off the subject, (I'm playing the game right now, writing this review, AND looking at the strategt guide) well there you have it...get the game...then arm yourself with the power of knowledge with Prima's official strategy guide-"Alone in the Dark: the new nightmare."



2. If I didn't get this book, I would probably still be stuck in the office trying to figure out how to get that darn projector to work! Thankfully, Prima came to the rescue! It's a good book that gives away ALL the secrets, so if you want to keep on guessing this book is for you! The grreat thing about it is that it gives you a lot more background info on characters and plot. The bad thing is that it is a little confusing as to the organization of the info...and their is a lot of information to organize! Overall a good strategy guide and worth it if you feel like giving up!



3. You must buy this book if you want to finish the games. Both solutions to-the-finish are here for the Edward Carnby mission and the Aline Cedrac mission. All the secrets are here. You might even find some of your own. Item locations and what you need to get and what you need to do next is all here. There are over 1,110 photos of both games to help you get through each scene step by step. The skill and determination is up to you. It is possible to complete both missions. I highly recommend the book and buying a Playstation red, emerald or blue memory card for your Playstation PS One. You will get through Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare game alot quicker. The book is helpful for all systems you play the game on.



4. I picked this up at a game store for an insanely cheap price a few weeks ago. I don't get why it's going for over fifty bucks here at the Used & New section...I'll gladly sell mine to anyone who wants it and doesn't want to get ripped off.

   Anyway, as a veteran of the AitD series I didn't think that the fourth one would be all that hard. The first two games were pretty easy (but still awesome) and could be completed in less than 40 minutes each. The third installment took much longer, and I even needed a guide for it to make sure I was doing everything right. But The New Nightmare just plain kicked my ass. Resident Evil and Silent Hill didn't scare me one bit (I think they try too hard), but AitD4 definately did. I could only play for 15 minutes at a time. Running around looking for an item I missed, not knowing if the hallways would have zombies or not messed with my head. That was back in the summer of 2002. Just a few weeks ago I finally found the guide and bought it without hesitation. Now I had the courage to take on that damn mansion and its creatures.

   This guide isn't "unorganized" as others have put it. I found it easy to follow along with. There may be an extra box or two on each page just to explain a little more about the monsters you encounter, so I don't get how that could throw anyone off. It gives you great strategies for not wasting precious ammo, and quick ways to do away with some of the peskier creatures. Both Carnby and Aline's sections are thorough and help perfectly. I doubt I could've went through the game without this guide.

   Go for it if you find it laying around somewhere, or just email me if you'd like it. Unlike the sissy and linear Resident Evil series, AitD4 has challenge, and requires you to use logic to take on some of the puzzles. Oh, and this seems to only cover the PlayStation version, but the PC and Dreamcast ones are the exact same, only have much better graphics. So this works with all variations of AitD4.




5. I totally got ripped off buying it here. I don't know much about game guides but I bought this book because I was desperate to get past a certain monster (in the beginning of the game no less!!!). Without it I never would have known that I had missed picking up the triple barrel shot gun that I needed to dispatch the nasty litle booger!!! I looked at the price and knowing it was rediculous I purchased it anyway. I've seen this book for $50 so I figured maybe they were rare or out of print. I paid for expidited shipping and it still took 10 days to get to me and the worst part was that it arrived with a $7.99 price tag on it under the $29.99 one!!! That just pissed me off! Other than that little rant the guide is great and I highly reccomend buying it. Check your local Game Crazy store if you have one near you before shelling out the big bucks!!!

No comments about Alien Races 2: Aslan, K'Kree, and Other Races Rimward of the Imperium (GURPS Traveller).

No comments about Way of the Ninja (Oriental Adventures/Legend of the Five Rings).

3 comments about How to Host a Murder : Power and Greede (Game).

1. My husband and I held this game back in 1991, and I can still remember this great time we enjoyed. Our friends were so enthusiastic that following the game when we all went out for dessert, we were still dressed and acting like our characters! (Needless to say the waitress staff at the restaurant was rather stunned to see a party of twelve people in full tuxedos and ball gowns walk in at almost 3 in the morning.) The game is engaging and truly a blast to play, and when you finally figure out whodunnit, you may or may not be surprised, but you sure do have fun! It is an absolutely incredible experience to step out of the humdrum life you live and suddenly become someone so exceptionally vile or unbelievably naive. The characters are very well written and are well worth the time invested for the game. If you're going to get this game and use it, make certain to have access to a good costume shop, costumes make the characters easier to remember when breaking for dinner.



2. I have done three of these with my friends, and this was by far my favorite. All the characters are very interesting, and this murder was certainly the most complex one we have had to solve. The plot is also a little more thought out than the other two, and the costumes for this were the best, provided you want something fancy and elegant and flashy. If you want to relive the excitement of Hollywood in the 1930's, then definitely get this game.



3. This game was sooo much fun. My friends and I loved it.

1 comments about GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 1 : Zhodani, Vargr and Other Races of the Spinward Marches (GURPS Traveller).

1. David Pulver is a marvellous and prolific author, a true credit to the game industry. It therefore comes as no surprise that Alien Races 1 lives up to his usual high standards of excellence. The Zhodani and Vargr are put under the microscope in this tome, examined carefully with a wealth of detail that goes far beyond the original Alien Modules. Homo Zhdotlas is scrutinized in all its psionic glory... the perfect society, carefully regulated by the helping hand of the Thought Police is examined in careful, and one could say objective detail. Utopian or sinister? Its written so well you'll be hard put to decide. The enigmatic, chaotic Vargr are also treated well. Here Pulver carefully explains the personal charisma and pack mentality of the 'Wolves of Space', giving a thorough and very believable overview of why the Vargr "rule" the sprawling, disorganized extents with a patchwork of independent governments, constantly rising and falling. Three other minor races are presented, including the Sheol and Clotho ... and a bonus section on psionics, firming up the Psi rules in GURPS Traveller, rounds off this book.

   What can I say? This is an excellent addition to the GURPS Traveller legacy, and an essential aid to any GM running a game in the Spinward Marches. 5 stars, no question.

3 comments about Rokea: Changing Breed Book 8 (Werewolf: The Apocalypse).

1. Well, this was going to be an interesting read. The brief description of the Rokea (weresharks) in the Werewolf Players Guide sounded intriguing, but problematic. The sharks are the only shapeshifter in the sea, limiting the potential for all-Rokea games, venturing on land is a capital crime amongst them, and weresharks born from humans are virtually non-existant. All of this made them one of the more awkward races to work into a Werewolf game. So does this book solve that problem. In a word, yes.

   The Rokean point of view is expanded on. Essentially, the Rokea have one directive: Survive. Until recently, they were happy to let the land-dwellers (pretty much every race in the World of Darkness) take care of themselves until over half their race were wiped out by a nuclear blast in 1955. Since then, they've been split into those who would live with the surface world and those who would live without it.

   We also get an insight into the somewhat primal mind of the wereshark. Their directives are simple: Protect the oceans and do whatever you have to to survive. Everything stems from that, and as usual with these books, provide fodder for the method actors among us (how would you see the world if you were born as a tiger shark?)

   As usual for the 'Breedbooks', there are a collection of new Gifts, Rites, Merits and Flaws (the funniest of which is 'Tonic Immobility' which means that like normal sharks the Rokea will lapse into a torpor if placed on their back-even if in human form!)

   The artwork bears especial mention, capturing the sleek brutality of sharks well (and reminding you why 'Jaws' was so scary) Standouts are the monstrous Black Shark, a horde of Rokea attacking a Soviet submarine and the demonstration of the five Rokea forms (human, muscular, hunchbacked human, the shark-man war-form, the prehistoric giant shark and shark)

   At the end, we're given a sample adventure which includes some possibilites for bringing werewolves and weresharks together

   Lastly, there is some miscellaneous information on sharks in the real world, the varying perceptions of sharks in mythology and pop-culture and information on the evolutionary role of sharks (they predate even the dinosaurs and the Mokole werereptiles)

   Overall, it's an impressive book. Well worth the purchase if you plan to send your Mage / Werewolf / Vampire party near the sea any time soon.




2. Well I must say Rokea, the Werewolf:The Apocolypse supplement about weresharks, was a much better read than I'd anticipated. The opening story draws one in, and I think it covers it's topic rather well. Their take on the Triat is interesting, if a little too long. That said, I'd gone in terribly skeptical about it. I mean, werewolves are one thing, but weresharks? I wasn't hopeful but ended up pleasantly surprised by it. It's very interesing, and gives the Story Teller good ideas on how to use them in a Chronicle. Might even be fun to run an all-Rokea game!

   Per usual though, I was not terribly impressed by the artwork. If you like stiff or over-exaggerated (bad) comic book stuff, you might appreciate it. Being a fan of one or two of the artists in the White Wolf stable (John Cobb and Steve Prescott, to give you an idea on my tastes) I am disappointed that those that get the most play are the poorest. In my opinion of course.

   So long as you're not interested in the pictures, I highly recommend this book.




3. Absolutely worth the dough. Everything from both the role-playing and rules sides of playing weresharks is in this book.

1 comments about WoD Shadows of the United Kingdom (World of Darkness).

1. White Wolf's new and revised 'World of Darkness' game line has been full of creative and useful ideas, and this first book to highlight the 'World of Darkness' beyond the US is nothing short of brilliant. The authors, mostly Brits themselves, do a wonderful job mixing the nation's rich cultural heritage, folklore and myth with thematic material, mysteries and the outright bizarre.
   
   The first chapter gives a wonderful overview of the British Isles as they exist in the World of Darkness, paying full attention to Vampires, Mages and Werewolves (though there is a strong focus on werewolves), along with other stranger things like alien big cats, the owl man of cornwall, great lake worms, fox-spirits, djinn, ghosts and tantalizing hints of the fae. Things like the blood farm and 'the other city' of Glasgow are outright brilliant, but equally interesting are cultural changes that make British Vampires, Mages and Werewolves unique from their American counterparts. Notes are given on social changes, prominent individuals, rumors and even a few Bloodlines and Legacies, like the Pakistani Brothers of Sadr-Ud-Din and the 'chav' Tanners, though none are actually written up. As I said before, many of the writters on this book are Brits themselves, and it shows. Gone are many of the stereotypes that older books sometimes suffered from.
   
   Like I said, this book is really aimed at the Werewolf audience (though others will get use out if it too), and the second chapter highlights this. It focuses on the Uratha of the region, even goes as far as to make write-ups for each Tribe, mentioning things like how British Bone Shadows study human ghost lore and take tokens from fallen foes, or how the British Iron Masters have adapted to the cities. Several new Lodges are written up, like the Lodge of the Howling Death, who fight the Pure to the death over territory, and the Lodge of Scavengers, who are cunning urban survivors. A small number of lesser Lodges are also mentioned, but not written up, like the Lodge of the Baital, Bone Shadows who study Asian myth. There are also a number of British Totems, Fetishes and Rites given, even some cultural notes on Klaives.
   
   The third chapter gives some more setting information for Great Britain, including notes for American players, historical games, and bringing foreign characters into the UK. Once again, there is a strong focus on the setting for Werewolf, showing different cultural variations on typical foes such as the Beshilu (the idea of the Rat God thing is horribly creepy) and the Pure (such as inbred, aristocratic Ivory Talons who hunt two-legged prey on their estates, and Fire-Touched with a different fervor from their American brethern). Theres more ST material in the fourth chapter, which includes information on prominent NPCs and antagonists in the British Isles, and other useful crunch (like a new Cruac Ritual). All in all, theres alot of good stuff to throw at players, and for developing the United Kingdom as a unique supernatural landscape. But the creepiest stuff are the unexplained and bizarre things that have no real connection to other supernaturals. Things like the Drowned Men, who may or may not be the Fomori of Irish legend, and the hints about the Fae.
   
   Like I said before, the authors have a deep sense of what's 'British' and really draw on alot of obscure regional folklore - like the Green Children of Woolpit, alien big cats, ghost stories, and the like. They also do a good job making mention of material from other books that can be brought in - like the Bron and Melissidae from Bloodlines: the Legendary, or the Sodality of the Tor, Daksha and Pygmalian Society from Legacies: the Sublime (and Wood's signature character Lucy Sulphate even gets mentioned). I was a little disappointed we didn't get write-ups for the Tanner or the Brothers of Sadr-Ud-Din, but theres always room for me to make up my own stuff for that. The vague hints and allusions to the Fae are also a great tie in with the forthcoming Changeling game (if the ST is so inclined that is). So yeah, this is a great book, an essential for Americans planning on running a game set in the UK. Even so, Brits will still get a kick out of many of the things in this book too.

3 comments about System Guide to Aegis (Alternity Sci-Fi Roleplaying, Star Drive Setting).

1. The System Guide to Aegis was a very informative book on the governments and powers that run the system and a few adventure hooks too. All in all a rather good book to add to your shelf of alternity books, it provides much information about bluefall (the system's water dominated planet) and the deepfallen (bluefall's sentient race). If you have the cash, then get the book. The only thing i didnt like was the art, but the info was great.



2. Not mind-blowing, and the scenarios at the back seemed thrown together in a bit of a rush, but the core of the book worked well and was useful to me as a GM. The background history, geography and political scene were good, easy to use and had plenty of fun game hooks in them. The individual islands and their inhabitants were well-described and colorful. I have used Aegis as a base for my players and was delighted to be able to flesh it out better with this source book. This and 'Planet of Darkness' make a nice pair of opposites (in terms of contents, not quality).



3. I'm new to the Alternity game line, so maybe that's jaded my taste for this product a bit. This book seems to approach the game from a much 'harder' science viewpoint than I cared for. While there is a broad overview of the Aegis system, much of the info about individual planets is pointless mathematical detail that I couldn't have cared less about. It felt like I was reading a college textbook. Instead of fun, interesting descriptions of the planets that I could use for crafting adventures, a lot of space is spent telling me about axial tilts and planetoid density. Snoozarific. Players don't care about that junk. They want to know about cool places to visit, daring adventures to be had, nifty lost civilizations to explore. Not what degree of arc some clouds cover on a planet's horizon. Unfortunately, this book has very little of the former, and a lot of the latter. If that's what you're looking for, then, hey, this is for you.
   
   Granted, there is a lot of info about the waterworld "Bluefall" crammed into the book. It's just that much of it is boring, and I found my eyes glazing over, and that I was skimming large portions of each chapter trying to find something interesting about the other planets and people being described. Even though there's a rather lengthy adventure scenario included, it too was not very exciting.
   
   I suppose if you plan to base your campaign out of the planet Bluefall, then you can certainly find use for the NPCs and the map of popular islands and the history chapter, but unless you're a die-hard Aegis system fan for some reason, I'd say give this product a pass. Aside from some descriptions of scuba gear and water craft, which are just about necessities on the water planet that the book focuses on, there isn't enough generic material to even try exporting it into another more generic system of your own. Perhaps the information of the system's culture and government could be a useful example for designing your own system, but at the very least I'd suggest picking up the cheapest copy of this book you can find, because there's not enough to it to make it worth your while otherwise.

No comments about The Good, the Bad & the Guilty with Book and Cassette(s) and Envelope and Other (How to Host a Murder).