No comments about Far Cry 2: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

2 comments about Jak 3 : Piggyback's The Official Guide.

1. this guide is awesome i bought it 3 weeks ago it tell you exact info on every mission were to find all 600 precurser orbs and were the orbs on the mini missions orbs are the drawings are awesome!!!!!! they even show how jak would look like in jak 2 with his new powers this guide is so good there is no more words for it but awesome get this game guide now!! it helpful too



2. In this day and age, a guide as detailed as this is fairly hard to come by. Guides, recently have been lacking in the areas where they need the most strength. They need walkthroughs and basics with detailed screenshots and maps. Every now and then you really do get that decent strategy guide (like say... the BradyGAMES Kingdom Hearts Guide), but often you don't (like the Tales of Symphonia guide--see my review).
   
   Thank goodness that across seas there is Piggyback Interactive. They don't release too many guides in America, but when they do you're glad to have 'em! Nothing but the best information straight from the pros, with crystal-clear high rez screenshots and some of the most alarmingly detailed maps you could find! For their Jak 3 guide, they've more than outdone themselves.
   
   The guide opens up with a little talk about characters (and you'll see little blurbs pop up with Daxter "commenting" on these characters and whatnot), giving you some background information on them.
   
   We then break into the near 30 page game basics section. There has never been a strategy guide that has been so useful and helpful in getting you acquainted with the game. From telling you the basic controls to getting you able to use the vast set of weapons in Jak 2. There are also advanced tips for advanced gamers, and that's one of the things that Piggyback is useful for. The expert AND the beginner will get a use out of this guide!
   
   After the gamebasics you'll jump into the 100 page walkthrough! That's right, 100 pages of in-depth strategy, high rez screenshots and detailed maps. These maps aren't just handrawn maps either. They come STRAIGHT from the developers so you KNOW they're detailed! Beautifully rendered for your convenience and clearly marked with notes that will show you what to do. Think of how Nintendo Power writes their guides with the A B C. This guide is 1 2 3, and it works in divine ways. This makes the guide more organized several times over! No more reading the entire walkthrough just to find out what to do. And what's better? They actually tell you which screenshot you should look at! For example: If you can't understand what's in the text they'll have in nice little parenthasis (See Fig. 1). Now look at screenshot 1 and you'll know exactly what they're talking about! Never has a guide been so clear and concise.
   
   The strategies detailed are not just from developers, but also from experts. If you've seen any other piggyback guide (which for most of you will have been Halo 2, unless you import) you know they love to play through an area hundreds of times until they find the best route possible! It is no different here, and they're willing to share those secrets with you! And if you think that's boss, check out those boss strategies. More than just two paragraphs, they take up the entire page and leave no stone unturned.
   
   Following the walkthrough is an enemies list that will tell you all you need to know about them including how fast they are, how big and how many hit points they've got! Plus, insane secret beat down tactics!
   
   Speaking of secrets... this guide is chalk full of them. With over 25 pages worth of secrets, what have you to lose? Want to find all the Precursor Orbs? You'll do it with this guide. How about all those nifty bonus challenges? Revealed! How about the precursor alphabet? It's in here too! Not one secret left out, and not stone left unturned!
   
   Following all those secrets is the making of Jak 3. And not just the making of Jak 3, but the making of the entire Jak series starting with its cold roots back in the early days with "Jak and Daxter". You'll get so much info out of the developers themselves. Incredible!
   
   And lastly is the index. Yes, there is an index, and trust me, you'll WANT this thing! How many times are you tired of searching through the guides enemy list or you can't remember where to find that secret? Well, instead of fishing through those sections skimming every page... why not just head to the index? If every strategy guide had an index, page flipping would be less of a hazard (and the paper cut ratio might go down, even!).
   
   And if those maps are confusing, there is a fold-out legend so that you no longer will have to constantly flip to a legend. Just fold it out and set your guide down and you're all set to go!
   
   So when is a strategy guide actually worth the outrageous price tag? When you actually get everything from it. Friends, this isn't just a strategy guide, it's an ENCYCLOPEDIA! Is this worth shelling out the money for? YES! Totally worth it!
   
   So strap yourself into Jak 3 and use this as your navigation tool. No stone left unturned, no secret left out. Everything you need for Jak 3 is right here!

5 comments about The Sims 2: Nightlife (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. I hoped for more information about the game in general and less images of new products or objects from the game. There were not enough tricks and tricks included to make it worth the price.



2. I've avoided purchasing Prima's other strategy guides for the Sims expansions because Prima has a habit of devoting half of their guides to the base game and the rest to the expansion pack. In the guide for Nightlife however they've improved. More than half of the guide is devoted to Nightlife: new socials, new characters, new relationships, new objects..etc. There's still information on the base game which could have been left out however overall I do recommend the guide. I don't have to skip over the first half of the book to find information on the expansion pack with this guide. Well done Prima thank you!



3. These guides are worth every dollar if you want to get the most out of your game.



4. As usual, this is the most wonderful, fulfilling, mesmerizing game out there! Thanks again, Sims creators! My daughter received this for Christmas, took it to her room, and we haven't seen her since. Just kidding! She loves it!



5. I think if you want to play the SIMS for all it's worth, you have to have a Prima Guide.

5 comments about Final Fantasy Chronicles Official Strategy Guide.

1. This is a well written guide covering two wonderful games. I found it very helpful, especially for Chrono Trigger, which I had not played in any form before.

   It's got all the basics covered, but there were a few tricks that it left out, such as the rather odd but very useful trick of slowing down the battle speed in FFIV to make the battles easier.




2. this guide is definatley one of the worse guides i have ever used. I foud items that weren't listed at the begining of each section mislabled items, a couple of their boss sugestions were poorly done, in the final fight it claims Zeromus is a counter atacke well he's not onc you hit him he dose't stop. Directions were poorly done, secret areas were not described. Their suggested levels were too high, up until the final boss fight wher they are pretty acurate



3. This game guide is one of the best that i have seen yet for chrono trigger...though the cover isnt very flashy it is after all what is inside that counts. With this guide you wont have to worry about getting lost in that annoying dungeon or get defeated by that darn nasty boss and have to keep reloading your game. not only that but with this guide you will be able to complete all 11 alternate endings of the game. yes it may seem like a lot of work but it is worth it everytime, trust me. rest assured this guide will bring you to the top of your game.



4. Product was clear and fully illustrated in a very helpful manner.
   When ever i got stuck it helped me right out. Plus it told you how to get all the endings to chrono trigger! A steal at fifteen for any one who knows role-playing games.



5. I have found that in several other guides written by dan birlew the items, magic, etc. are listed incorrectly. it appears he's done it again. if all you need is a map and some helpful items then this book is for you. however, i wouldn't be so generous as to call it comprhensive knowledge for the game. once again, locations, items, and other general mis-knowledge comes up several times throughout this book. for a real eye-opener as to how bad the author is, play this game and read some online faqs at gamefaqs.com and compare the knowledge.

3 comments about Medal of Honor: Airborne (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. A truely great Game! If only I could figure out why I can't keep the Broomhandle Mauser even after completing the mission?



2. CoD4 is by far the most visually realistic FPS thus far for us still playing Computer Games.
   The graphics and story line are excellent. I do not play mutiplayer , so I cannot review the wants or dislikes of mulfiplayers.
   What I can say is, if you like to play single this will not disapoint.



3. Remarkable free-form game that allows you to jump into any of a multiple of scenarios for any one operation.
   
   You can play a completely different game for the same operation simply by landing by parachute somewhere else on the visible area on the computer screen.
   
   One minus I would possibly give is that they don't allow the shooter to go into the prone position. When you're getting shot at, the tendency is to get your body as close to the ground as you can.
   
   Another is that when you think you have your own guys covering your back, you suddenly find yourself getting shot by the enemy coming at you from a direction you thought your guys were covering.
   
   All-in-all, this game is the best by far. I'll be looking forward to their next release.

5 comments about The Legend of Dragoon: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. Don't buy this book, unless its the only one you can find. Its not worth the paper its printed on. There is only two good things about this book, it tells you the stardust locations (but doesnt show up a map of where they are, most of my exporing of the towns was trying to find the one house a stardust was in out of 20 houses) and it gives you a decent strategy on how to fight the bosses. Decent as in if you use it youll bet the boss, most of the time.

   The book tells you what items there are to find in a section, but its incomplete and wrong. Most of the time there are at least 2 items i found that werent on the list, and at least 1 item on the list that wasnt in the game in that area.

   The walk through is good if all you want to do is go directly to the boss, but it doesnt take you to the weapon/armor upgrades neccesary to defeat the boss.

   The game is great, this book is pathetic.




2. I have bought alot of stragey guides and they have always been helpful until this one. It assumes too much and is of little or no help, I find going back to the little booklet that came with the game.



3. With this book you are almost certain to beat the bosses, Without it you won't find very much Stardust, it tells you where to go, and it even gives you a strategy for the last boss. It would be nice if the book had a few area maps, but that's okay. You will have a lot more fun with this book than without it.



4. This is the worst walkthrough I've ever read. The sections are incomplete and misinformed. The book gives the same item multiple names. Information is given twice on the same page and one of those times is always wrong. Weapons are not located correctly, if even told were to find them. Prices for weapons and items are wrong, and the enemy section has little information; not telling the HP or skills.



5. The reason why people buy official strategy guides in the first place is because they need in depth helps.

   This guide book is really brief hardly telling you where key items are and how to defeat bosses and the right team combinations and skills to use.

   Legend of Dragoon is a complicated game and the guide book does not help by briefly describing on the dragoon power, how to boost it up .......

   It could have been better

2 comments about Purge the Unclean (Warhammer Dark Heresy).

1. The production value of the book is well worth the price. I am amazed by the high-quality of what has been put out by the DH line so far. This is not an FFG reprint, but the original Black Industries printing distributed by FFG. This has more new backgrounds to create characters. It also had package deals for starting characters, alternate career paths, elite advance paths, as well as a new career . Furthermore, the equipment section is to drool over...A must for PCs and GMs alike!



2. This book contains THREE excellent adventures for the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy role-playing game. All of the adventures take place in the Calixis Sector (i.e., the setting from Dark Heresy). The first adventure, Rejoice For You Are True, is an investigation into a heretical cult. The second adventure, Shades of Twilight, is a fast-paced adventure full of combat and danger within the corridors of a warped space hulk. The characters are even assisted by a Space Marine! The final adventure, Baron Hopes, is a horror-filled look into the corruption of Chaos and rebellion against the Empire.

2 comments about The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond.

1. If you're like me and you are looking for a book that provides a comprehensive, authoritative history of video games...keep looking. This is not it.
   
   Starting on page 10, where the chapter's author (and editor of the book) Mark J. P. Wolf cites Defender as an example of a vector arcade game, I found myself stumbling upon inaccurate information sprinkled throughout the book.
   
   Because there are a number of different authors, the chapters tend to vary rather drastically in quality. Some chapters, like Chapter 14 (The Rise of the Home Computer by Bob Rehak) are well-written and very interesting. Another contributor is noted video game historian Leonard Herman (whose own "Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Video Games" is a far superior book on the subject of video game history). Herman's space must have been limited by the publisher or the editor in this case. For example, his chapter profiling Atari, the most prominent company in early video game history, is a mere three pages long and covers the formative years of the company, the 11 years when Atari was at the height of its success(1972-1983), in only three short paragraphs!
   
   Unfortunately, the well-written and informative chapters are in the minority here. For example, Wolf's chapter profiling the adventure game genre somehow manages to mention neither Infocom (developer of the most popular text adventures ever published on home computer systems) nor World of Warcraft--the online multiplayer adventure game played by millions around the world and considered by most to be the peak of modern adventure game development.
   
   In addition to glaring omissions like these, the research behind the book is extremely spotty. It is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the subject that the information in arcade game chapters is primarily drawn from the Killer List of Video Games [...], an informational site that lists thousands of arcade games. The game names are peppered through these chapters in shotgun fashion, with often questionable release dates but little elaboration on the nature of the games themselves. There is also an obvious unwillingness throughout the book to follow up on games whose histories are hazy (read: not fully documented on KLOV)--in numerous cases game titles, which were probably just culled from a list of a company's games on KLOV, are mentioned but then said to have "possibly never been released." Video games haven't exsisted nearly as long as most other forms of entertainment, so the people who made them are still around for the most part. While you might not be able to ask a 17th century writer if he had ever released some rumored manuscript, one CAN contact video game manufacturers/designers/programmers from the 80s and ask them whether a game was ever released. (I know...I've done it myself. Video game developers are very approachable and, for the most part, easy to find.)
   
   Anyway...the bottom line is that you should save your hard-earned money. If this book had been well researched and consistently well written, I would wholeheartedly endorse dropping $[...] on it. As is, you can pay a fraction of that for Leonard Herman's book or Steve Kent's "The Ultimate History of Video Games" and learn a whole lot more about video game history.



2. I thought Wolf's book had a lot of interesting historical information and useful product information. Being a mom of four school-aged kids, this was important to me. We thought the in-depth information about how games were and are actually made was especially intriguing. I really liked the specific information on the Nintendo and PlayStation games and thought the information on the online role-playing games was truly informative. The layout of the book (detailed table of contents and index) allows a reader to easily find the subject of video games he or she is looking for. The endnotes section contains numerous useful Web site locations to find certain types of games or information on games. This book is a good source of a lot of information in one convenient place.

5 comments about Grand Theft Auto 3 Official Strategy Guide.

1. Before I go into the review, what you have to understand about the game is that most of the missions have more than one solution (which is one of the best things about the game.) If you think that the guide will give you the only, or even the best, solutions for the missions, you will be disapponted. Besides, the fun part is to come up with your own unique solution, and to learn from your mistakes.

   That being said, the book offers some great things. The maps were very helpful, especially for finding rampages, hidden packages, weapons, and other goodies. Also, in certain missions, where getting around quickly is a must, the strategies included maps of where to go and how to get there the most quickly.

   I did notice a few bits of wrong information (such as, what time the BF Injection Buggy would be available,) but overall, it's a worthy purchase. Just don't buy it thinking it will solve all of your missions for you.




2. Grand Theft Auto 3 is a fun game to play. It's not as great as Vice City, but it is still one of the better games out there. But, unlike Vice City, which I enjoyed reading about, GTA3 isn't as much fun to read about. The missions are fairly simple, and there are multiple ways to complete them, so the guide isn't the end all be all that it is in games like Metal Gear. You do get good desriptions of weapons and vehicles. And what I find most valuable are the maps to the hidden treasures, rampages, bribes, armor, life, etc. If you are having trouble completeing the game because you can't find all your hidden treasures and rampages, then this guide will solve your problems.



3. What can I say. I bought Vice City & the guide before I bought GTA3, the VC guide is really great with lots of info, cool pictures, & lots of helpful stuff.

   This one isn't, it is really that simple.




4. Grand Theft Auto: Popular, violent, and in need of a strategy guide. A very good strategy guide that gives details about weapons, characters, general tips on things like police and shooting. It gives pictures and good advice on all 73 main missions and the side missions like Taxi Driver and Vigilante. It also gives maps and details on where all 100 packages are. The only flaws are it seems slightly dated with money totals and mission names being different. The other flaw is that the hidden packages are on a map from the game. The problem is the only in-game map is a small circular one in the corner of the screen. Overall, this strategy guide will help you out but you can probably beat Grand Theft Auto 3 without it.



5. This is a review of this product: Grand Theft Auto 3 Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2. Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assurred that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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   This is one of the worst Official strategy guides you could ever buy. Sure it covers all of the missions, but some of them are not covered any more fully than what you get from playing the game itself. It briefly covers SOME of the side jobs and non-mission tasks, but an Official guide should cover ALL of them! There is no detailed information on the Rampages and Unique Jumps, and the Hidden Packages are only covered with a map and short sentence. Some of the other reviewers here go into detail about the deficiencies of this book, so I really don't need to say much more. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE GOOD REVIEWS THIS BOOK RECEIVED, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DESERVE THEM.
   
   I own this guide and the one released eight months later for the PC version. Although the PC guide is smaller (but much thicker) and in black & white (there are color maps in the back), it covers EVERYTHING (except cheat codes) about the game and with much more detail. Even if you own the Playstation 2 version of the game, you'd be better off buying the PC guide. The only difference gameplay wise are the controls mentioned in the book and a few little things like rewards for some of the vehicle missions.
   
   To wrap this up, here is an excerpt from the author in the Acknowledgement's section of the PC guide: "Beyond the satisfaction of playing the game a few more times, I was even more delighted to add features to this guide that I didn't have time to include in the PS2 guide. And with Tim Cox's phenomenal assistance, as well as his passion for the game, time was no longer the enemy. We are proud to bring you the most comprehensive Grand Theft Auto III guide in existence." So, that explains why this guide (PS2) sucks. The author was rushed to complete the book, in time for the release of the game, no doubt. Right there in black & white the author of both guides tells you that the PC guide is the most comprehensive guide, and thus the best one. (I have no idea if the X-Box Double Pack guide is based on the PS2 or PC versions, so proceed with caution when getting that one.)

5 comments about Game Programming Gems 3 (Game Programming Gems Series).

1. The Game Programming Gems books are fat and full of good ideas. Unfortunately, these ideas are only really useful to beginning programmers; anyone who has programmed seriously for more than two years will know 90% of the material in the book series.
   The remaining 10% of the book is remarkably good, with innovative ideas on how to approach problems. But Charles River Media decided to lengthen the book with such trivialities as how to use the C++ Standard Library and using Direct3D. Most of the material in the GPG series is covered better, and in more depth in other books which don't have the word "game" in their title.



2. I've noticed several scathing reviews from folks who admit in the review that they aren't even game programmers. Am I missing something? How in the world could this book be at all useful or interesting to someone who admittedly has no interest in programming games? Unbelievable.

   For anyone specifically interested in actually using this book to develop games, you're going to get your money's worth.




3. If you are a software developer this series should be somewhat mandatory reading. While the focus is on games much of the material should be common knowledge for software engineers. I did however like all of the book because it really shows that these authors are "in the trenches" so to say. For the seasoned developer it may be somewhat a waste of time but I would be surprised if everyone did not take something away from this book. The low level compiler examples for instance, using Lex and Yacc was pretty interesting but it left me wanting more and I ended up researching it on the Internet.
   
   The first two books seem to pack more for the punch.



4. It's a little high-level, but it contains many useful ideas and uses of different algorithms for game programming.



5. I got his book for my husband, who is a programmer, and this one is his favorite of the series. He refers to it on a regular basis, and he says it has saved him valuable time. The graphics sections are especially usefull. A handy reference book for any programmer.