5 comments about Baldur's Gate Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. This book is incredibly bad. Its mostly just the manual reprinted. Under the character section I didn't find how to make a good character, I found the exact same descriptions used in the game. People say this book is good because it doesn't hold your hand. This book just pretends your inept. The "walkthrough" was mostly the exaact same stuff that your journal gives you, with the other being the decisions that the person who played the game made.
   It just tells you some of what you need to know to beat teh game, and the rest it jsut hints at. The guide just names the side-quests, it doens't help with any of them, also everything is piled around so that you don't have a cohesive, chapter by game chapter guide, rather parts of the chapter all over the book. For crying out-loud, they made two seperate walkthroughs, neither of which is very helpful.

   Save your money, because this book is just an expensive manual.




2. This book doesn't even come close to giving away all the Baldur's Gate secrets. It seems as though it tries to help guide you without giving away too much. To me that defeats the purpose of a strategy guide. In my opinion, a strategy guide should list ALL the treasures, ALL the traps, ALL the hidden items, ALL the subplots, etc. This book doesn't, and I felt it was a waste of money. I found better strategy guides on the web.



3. Dude seriously whats up with these people and complaining about a book? First of All This Guide Is The BEst one realeased cuz like some one else said it lets you chose you own decisions and some idiot also said it didnt show how to find an ankehg plate mail, well Mr Idiot if you Had Actually Bothered To Play the game you would have found that there is a monster called just that.......no not idiot.....called ankehg and if you even maneged to kill him you would have found that you get its Shell...and once again if you had played the game you would have hear that thunderhammer smithy makes "special"armor and incase you didnt even know WHERE he Was Well He's Located In Beregost that building in the east just click on the door and open then you pay him money give him the shell wait a tenday and there ya go........and i hope this helped other people too who werent sure how to get this mail plate. And If Your Gonna Whine About A Book That This Person Maybe SO it could help you and all you do is cry well make a guide of your own then whine as much as you want if you even get to make a guide that contains 1/12th of the entire game:P So yeah to Those Interested In This Guide Give It A chance and Dont Listen to these guys who haent even tried playing every single quest i hope this was helpful to all you thinking about buying this book!:D



4. The Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Guide by Versus is absolutely brilliant. It gives you all the secrets, tells you exactly where everything is, exactly what needs to be done to get what, how much XP you get from each quest, etc. It's nigh on perfect.
   
   By contrast, this guide for Baldur's Gate tells you next to nothing. It has a "journal" where it tells you what there sample character did. I've always found such things to be useless. You have to comb through it to find any usefuyl information. The rest of the book is better. It does give you some good information in an organized form, but it's sparse. I want a guide to give me precise maps and give me all the little details of what it takes to do what and what's worth what, etc. This guide did virtually none of that.
   
   I suppose that this guide is better than nothing, but if you're looking for a good guide for Baldur's Gate, look online. For instance, http://www.pottsland.com/baldur/ has a good collection of useful info. It's certainly far better than this guide.
   
   In short, this guide is absolutely abysmal. Don't buy it.



5. Well, from all the reviews here, I must be the only one who actually likes and uses the book. I actually liked the journal form as well as the chapter sections. It actually shows what area you should be looking in without actually telling you the exact coordinates. I always prefer to look around the game world myself than have someone tell me the exact location. It has a list of all the quests and what area to find them in. For me at least, this guide was great.

5 comments about Mass Effect Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide.

1. I found the hint guide to be very helpful, While I only referred to it after finishing a section or when getting stuck for awhile. It has information on all equipment, powers, locations and charecters and maps for all locations too.
   
   The art book was nice, with lots of background information, though it lacked the depth that went into Half Life 2 Raising the Bar, its a good addition to any collection.



2. Considering the Art-work had been given as well I couldn't recommend this one enough, this was a great guide, informative and helpful if only a little lack-luster when providing alternative strategies and approaches to certain bosses and enemies.
   
   Still, if you're like me and like extended manual's that you can pick up and start reading wherever you go, this one is great.
   
   A recommendation though, even as it is a guide and should be obvious, more guides should implement "SPOILER" warnings before key plot element's are given away.



3. What I like the best of this game is the atmosphere, the art of the game, and in the Artbook I have had what I expected, very good.
   
   The guide looks very very very complete, but it has A LOT of text and tables. It's a complete guide but not a funny read



4. This collectible book is rich of a beautiful illustration set and show the creation process of a such great game as Mass Effet. If you consider a video game as a piece of Art, you will find this item as a must have. It give you the opportunity to continue the Mass Effect journey.



5. I got this for the art book, so I don't have a strong opinion on the guide. That said, the guide is useful for completionists like me. The "collecting" side quests may be quite hard to complete without any help as many of the objects don't show up on the maps until you get near them. This book will save you a lot of time by marking them out for you. Although you can get all the information you need online, it's handy to have a printed version while you're within the game.
   
   The art book contains a lot of gorgeous concept art that really shows how much attention has gone into the design of this fabulous game. Mass Effect has one of the best game stories I've encountered, and if you love the story as much as I do, you'll enjoy reliving the game via the artwork and seeing how the design of the characters and aliens evolved into their final versions.
   
   The chapters cover the gamut: characters, races, environments, vehicles - there's even a "details" sections that covers miscellaneous stuff like furniture. The pages are dominated by the pictures, descriptive text is present but minimal; the way it should be.
   
   I would give the art book a 5 star, but overall the set receives a 4-star because the guide is pretty straightforward, and there's nothing really special about this so-called collector's edition.

No comments about Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides).

4 comments about Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. An utter waste of your hard earned dollars, this guide continues the slide in quality of the Prima guide series seen over the past couple of years.
   
   While stating on the cover it is for PC and console versions of the game, it is clear the only thing in the book that is PC specific isn't in the book - it's the proclamation on the cover. A minor detail, since after all the controls in the game are so simple one really doesn't need a key guide for the PC, but it continues the 'write-once reuse often' strategy that seems to have taken over the prima guides. When I pay this many clams for a paperback, I'd expect more than a rehashing of what you can find in the manual that comes with the game, mixed in with some pretty pictures and maps.
   
   There is *nothing* here that you can't get from the included manual, or on-line game guides and forums, except perhaps the brilliant glimpses of the obvious from the 'hag dolls', I mean 'frag dolls', like this gem:
   
   "Aim your reticle where you want your grenade to go...". Wow, I'm glad I read that, I thought I was supposed to aim where I *didn't* want it to go...
   
   Perhaps if Prima spent more time actually playing the game on different platforms, and less time at photo-shoots, they could produce a guide that added value to the free resources already available.



2. Been playing this game for the last month or so only for a few hours at a time. My first gripe was with the inability to better control your team (i.e.; deploy grenades, flashbangs, etc.) But then again that is a good thing as it keeps the controls fairly simple. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys FPS's.



3. Because i am a very mediocre player at best, the negative review above doesn't apply to me. The person that wrote the above is probably very good at gaming and doesn't need the help offered by this guide.
   Lots of good info on weapons and tactics. Good info on where the bad guys may appear. Lots of good (tho small) photos of situations.
   Because i am so lousy at shooters, i hesitate to go online, but the multiplayer section gave me some confidence to do so.
   If you are looking for help, this is a good buy. The internet free sites are few and inferior at this point, so save yourself considerable aggravation and get this book. I am glad i did.



4. The Prima strategy guides are always thorough
   If you are stuck in a game and you need a tip or a hint you are always able to find and answer in the Prima Strategy guides
   Great if you are stuck
   I look through them only if I am stuck or why I didn't get a certain achievement.
   Great Reference!
   Thanks Prima and Amazon for carrying the guides when the game store doesn't have them!

1 comments about Too Human (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. While the material in the guide is very excellent, the print is quite small at least to me. In Fact, I would have no problem paying a bit more for the guide if the print was larger. I would've liked to see maps for the cyberspace items as well.
   
   Still, all in all a good guide for the game.

1 comments about The Complete Guide to Torque X.

1. The Xbox 360 is one of the major players in today's console gaming market, and many people leap at the chance to develop for it. "The Complete Guide to Torque X for XNA" is a guide to using the Torque X framework for creating games for the powerful home console. A framework with many powerful and flexible tools for developers, mastering them is key to making an excellent game for Microsoft's video game juggernaut. With samples of code and finished work, "The Complete Guide to Torque X for XNA" is a must for any would be Xbox 360 programmer.

5 comments about Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. This guide was a HUGE help for me while playing the game. It provides a walkthrough with tips on how to defeat tough opponents, a guide to all items, and information on how to gain/lose influence with your party members, and what conversation choices will affect your Force alignment. I found this review to be a great help, although it's definitely not a necessity.



2. great. tells you all the tip and take advantage of all the character.



3. While this strategy guide can come in handy when you can't do the math for the computer puzzles, it fails to give an accurate description of where and what do to and see. The character guides and information is weak and often useless. If you played through the game once, the guide offers no additional use in changing your gameplay.



4. The game guide was in excellent condition, brand new even though it was no longer in print, and the poster was in brand new condition as well. It arrived quickly and the family is now enjoying it!



5. I wanted the one for the PC , but this one would have do just fine. very helpful

5 comments about Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides).

1. There's a lot of unknowns in Age of Conan: from the peculiar stat system to the actual numerical effects of certain buffs and skills. I purchased this guide hoping it would expand on the pitiful game manual -- suffice to say, it doesn't.
   
   Everything in the guide can be read from the game tooltips, and there's no in-depth explanations at all. Class descriptions are sanitised and mostly the same ("an excellent solo class, but don't forget to buff up before a fight blah blah"). The back of the guide even devotes pages to "maps" of hyboria that are simply screenshots of the game... just press the "m" key.
   
   A total waste of money, especially considering the massive patch changes that Funcom continues to implement.



2. This was sort of helpful in picking what class to play, but didn't really give in depth guides to anything.



3. This guide is incomplete, its a rush rush job with very little help full detail. Maps are blank with no important details.
   
   you can't get updates from the website either.
   
   Wait for V.2 of the book to be released.
   lvl 45 ranger
   Wishbone



4. Complete waste of time and money. This "guide" frankly isn't any help at all. Most of the graphics are just screenshots and are very small and fuzzy. I can't believe that this is "official."



5. Worthless guide. Save your money! Not only that but I am very
   sorry I bott this game. Thott I would enjoy a change from WOW which I have played for about two years. It is a change alright. Be careful voting for change, might get an unpleasant surprise as I did. Actually the game is about par with Guild Wars which one can play without cost online after the purchase of the game. I will not pay to continue playing Conan. It is back to Wow. After my initial 30 days of free play ends it will be goodbye Conan.

5 comments about Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games.

1. Dungeons & Desktops is a comprehensive and thorough history of the Computer Role Playing Game genre. It's basically a more fleshed out version of the author's earlier four-part series on the Gamasutra website, maintaining the same format of dividing the games into different ages (Dark, Silver, Gold, Platinum) and devoting some time to each game, explaining key gameplay features, release information and sometimes the author's thoughts on the game's merits.
   
   The book's greatest strength is in cataloging both well-known and obscure games in the genre and explaining how each was innovative in some way or representative of a trend in the genre. In this way, the book gives a fairly good outline of the history of this wide-ranging genre. Even hardcore fans of the genre may be surprised by some of the very early examples Barton was able to unearth. As the book moves into the more familiar modern age, it becomes less interesting in this regard.
   
   Although the book covers an impressive number of titles, there were spots were I felt the writing was bogged down by the repetitive nature of looking at game after game, a result of being an expanded Web feature article. Although Barton pauses at times to discuss major trends, I thought this was inconsistent, and the bulk of the book reads like Mobygames summaries of dozens of games. At times, I wanted more about the people behind the games, and voices other than the author's to break up what amounted to a series of opinions on various games.
   
   This isn't helped by some questionable choices in organization and selection. A thorough look at console games like the Final Fantasy and Zelda series should have been reserved for another book, while Gothic, a well-known modern PC RPG series, gets nothing more than a few paragraphs as a footnote to the downfall of the Ultima series (ironically, the author states that the series has been unfairly overlooked). There are also issues that arise from attempts to lump the games into different "ages." Why one game is listed in one age and not another isn't always clear, and it leads to a confusing chronology.
   
   I spotted a number of minor errors in the text, mostly related to chronology. A few examples: Oblivion was not released simultaneously on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Also, Vampire the Masquerade was released before Half-Life 2, and was the first Source Engine game released. While these may be minor, it left me wondering how many more I didn't catch. Also, the printing quality of the screenshots leaves much to be desired. Most look like dark blotches.
   
   Barton's articles, from which much of this book comes from, are still a great read and catch nearly all the key games in the genre. I felt that this book did little more than add games that are of far less importance, and therefore of little interest to most readers. This book may be valuable for those who want a very comprehensive catalog of computer role playing games, but I would recommend that most readers stick with the free online articles.



2. I ordered Dungeons and Desktops hoping for some insight on the development of the computer RPG genre. Unfortunately, after slogging through 436 pages of disjointed, superficial game summaries, I had gained insight only into the book's low quality.
   
   To start, the book has all the professionalism of a photocopied high school book report. Besides being littered with typos, the writing is bland and clichéd: "We've got a lot of great CRPGS to cover in this chapter, so let's ready our trusty Longsword +3 (+4 vs. critics) and charge into the fray!" The book's screen captures are mostly dark black rectangles with some light black highlights, which is a shame--half the captures look like they're supposed to be title screens, and I really wanted to learn more about video game title screens (as opposed to, say, video game interface and mechanics).
   
   A similarly high-schoolish aspect is the footnotes, which are rare and whimsical. Chapter 8, for example, describes 50 games in 63 pages. Just about every description includes a judgment on the game's quality or a sweeping assertion that "most critics liked this" or "few fans enjoyed that." The entire chapter, however, has footnoted references to just five outside sources. (My favorite is on page 268: It basically says, "For more information on BBS door services, see the Wikipedia article on BBS door services.")
   
   The chapters themselves are organized roughly by game release dates, and they read like detailed descriptions of an Excel Spreadsheet. They feature summaries of the hackneyed plots of game after game after game, even though most of them are just "Go rescue this magical artifact from Lagoth Zanta or possibly another monolithic evil whose name would also earn you 86 points in Scrabble." Also included are lists of each game's character attributes: This one has strength, intelligence, and dexterity; that one has power, wisdom, and quickness; and another one has energy, understanding, and agility. Fascinating.
   
   One solution would have been to focus chapters by themes (say, the evolution of RPG storytelling, or the development of magic systems). The lack of such insightful organization might have been forgivable, however, if I could have trusted the book as a source of raw information. But when reading about games I had played, I frequently got the feeling that the entries were written after skimming the aforementioned Wikipedia. For example:
   
   * The author says that the game play of Secret of Mana is similar to the game play of Final Fantasy except for the battle system. This is like saying oranges taste similar to apples except for their orange-like taste.
   * After describing the first two Zelda games, the author says the third allows the chance to collect heart containers on the world map, as if that feature weren't in the previous two. He makes a similar statement about the Dragon Warrior games and battery back-up.
   * The author spends a quarter of his Quest for Glory II review describing how each class has various humorous career paths. For example, he mentions that fighters and wizards can become combat instructors and computer programmers, respectively. However, none of these "career paths" are actually in the game: they are just a throwaway gag in the manual.
   
   In all, the stunning depth of research made me wonder why I had paid to read one gamer's ramblings on what he liked and disliked about every computer RPG in history. I have the Internet for that. In fact, a lot of the book is just copy-and-pasted from the author's articles on gamasutra.com (where the screen captures are much clearer).
   
   I suggest spending your money on an actual game instead.



3. I would hesitate to call this book a history of CRPGs - a chronology would be more appropriate. Barton is comprehensive - every major CRPG from the inception of the computer is covered, but as another reviewer pointed out it is more of a collection of review summaries - I would liken it to Maltin's capsule reviews of films.
   
   The organization into the different ages is intriguing, and aside from the nostalgic look at games I had forgotten about, it the best part of the book. The author does not do enough to flesh out the trends, technologies, people and other aspects that may have gone in to the different ages. They are all covered piecemeal with the review capsules, and this hurts the coherence.
   
   The jumping from capsule review summaries to personal opinion is a bit awkward as well. I would have liked to have read more of the author's opinions - they were the on the whole more interesting than the reviews themselves.
   
   The decision to include a bit on console RPGs without deviating from the spirit of the book was a good one.
   
   All that said, for those of us who lived through the entire period and remember seeking out judgment day, getting eaten by a grue, or fighting vorpal bunnies it is a trip down memory lane and a nice reference volume, just not the most coherent read-through.



4. A was pretty excited when I heard about this book. Being a very specific topic its rare to find books as this. The book is basically structured as a quite complete enumeration of CRPG grouped by 'ages' or periods of time the author has indentified. Sadly, I miss a more coherent view of the whole. I mean, instead of a gripping CRPG industry story the book looks like an encyclopedia of games, a kind of scholar work. If you are more interested in the people and the context behind those games than the games themselves, I would recommend 'Dungeons and dreamers'by King Borland instead.
   Anyway a good reference book.



5. Dungeons & Desktops is a very rich and detailed look at the history of computer role-playing games. Matt Barton takes us on an extensive journey, beginning with the genre's roots in tabletop games, to its early years on mainframes and BBSs. We're then given a tour of some of the most beloved CRPGs of all time, such as Richard Garriott's Ultima series (a personal favorite) and The Bard's Tale. Barton even explores Japanese console RPGs, as their explosive popularity with gamers in the 90s has had an acute effect on modern CRPGs. The book concludes with the future of CRPGs in the form of persistent massively multiplayers, such as World of Warcraft.
   
   What makes D&D (hah!) a treasure is that Barton doesn't just pay attention to the hits and genre influencers, but also the misses, such as Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (which Barton calls the worst CRPG ever) and games which never got their due, such as the great Planescape: Torment. The MMORPG section could have used some better fact checking (e.g. EverQuest's realm is called Norrath, not Narrath, and Asheron's Call 2 was shut down years ago), but otherwise the book is quite spot on.
   
   Fans of gaming history will really appreciate this book and may rediscover some long-forgotten classics. I know I have. If you'll excuse me, I need to go play some Universe.

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. I just got Zelda-the Wind Waker for Christmas and it's a great game! Though this isn't the game, I'd think the book would be good too. You start out as Link to run to your grandma's house. You get dressed in the green uniform and you save a girl from a bird. The bird kidnapps your sister and then your story begins.I'll try to find the game to tell more about it.....



2. what can I say, it has everything I need to know and more. Its Good.



3. First, let me state that this review should be considered only by those who play games for FUN.. This means, NOT those who play first person shooters online for 16 hours at a time, but those who play video games as a hobby, not a lifestyle; i.e. a few hours a week. Second, don't even consider this book if you're looking for help on the Ocarina of Time, because it won't help. Someone stated previously that it looks like a review out of a video game magazine, and their absolutely right. I've used an Ocarina book I got right here from Amazon for that game, and it was perfect..
   
   On to the review: The game is GREAT, and the book certainly compliments that. I know the first thing potential buyers are looking for is PROBLEMS, so instead of pretending there aren't any, I'll hit those first.
   
   The main problem here (as previously mentioned) is the organization of the book, and it all comes down to your playing style.. If you want to play the game yourself and only have the book as a reference for when you get stuck or for finding little extras, than it's perfect. However, if you want to have everything spelled out for you and not play the game at all without first consulting the book, than this probably isn't the right one for you.. It walks you through the quests for the first 3/4 of the book, and has little footnotes at the bottom of each page, referring you to the side-quests which are detailed towards the end of the book..
   
   If you've played the game, then you know that it's a HUGE ocean, broken up into 49 different squares, with 49 different islands, and once you've passed a few preliminary tasks, the entire world is open to you to explore on your own.. In my experience with the game, this book worked PERFECTLY, because the best part was sailing around the map and stumbling upon new islands and landmarks on your own, without someone or something telling you where to go.. The book complimented this, because it has an entire section showing what you can do on each island, and how far into the game you need to be in order to accomplish each task. This is separate from the walkthrough, which details the actual quests, and not the hidden items and extra goodies available on each island. Again, the organization of the book may be a problem for some, but it will be perfect for others..
   
   Otherwise, the problems are VERY minimal.. There are a few instances where the book will tell you something is worth 100 rupees (dollars) when in fact it's worth 200, or vice versa, but these are few and far between.. I'm 4/5 of the way through the game and I could count those mistakes on less than one hand..
   
   The pictures are clear and crisp, and plenty large enough to see if you have the ability of sight, and the walkthrough itself is well written, inclusive, and comprehensive. It's gotten me through all of those spots where your just scratching your head wondering what to do next, but at the same time the game is simple enough that you should be able to get through the majority of it without help.. Besides, exploring the vast world they created is the best part of the game!



4. The best ever,Prima's done it again...
   Prima made winners of all us gamers with this guide.



5. This guide was great it was helpfull in all the dungeaons and MOST of the ftriforce(More on this later). It helped me from Dragon roost to all the mini games. The one thing i found to my displeasure was that they messed up on the triforce pieces. When it shows you were to find them, it is messed up and i had to work for like a half an hour to match them. Also it is missing one ALL together. Again this one the best strategy guide i have used but I would not be so quick to buy it if you are nt great with the maps.