5 comments about Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Official Strategy Guide.

1. I have to say say than when I get stuck this helps me out a lot. Thanks Bradygames.



2. I'll be honest with you. This book is designed really well. It is one of two BradyGames books right now in the "Signature" series -- strategy guides that feature higher-quality paper, very well-designed walkthroughs, and an extra like a poster. Unlike other guides, you don't get lost in all the small text trying to figure out where you were reading when you last looked up from the book. The strategy actually goes guard-by-guard, so you can use it if you're stuck trying to get past a specific guard, or you can use it to walk you through the whole game.

   The reason I gave this guide four out of five stars is because it really only contains the minimum information you need to complete the game. Sure, there are blurbs about secrets and stuff, but I just didn't get the feeling that this was a book chock full of "insider's info" on MGS2.




3. I was almost finished with Metal Gear Solid 2 when I stopped playing for almost a year. When I went to play again, I realized that I didn't remember the story that well and I didn't remember the layout of the area I was in. I decided to restart the game, but this time use a guide to make sure that I don't miss any items and to quickly get through the areas I had already played. Since this was the only guide available, I picked it up.

   Some reviews of this guide make mention that the guide is not actually needed to complete the game and that simply playing the game is all the strategy that one needs. That may very well be, but I don't think that applies in reviewing the guide. What matters is that the guide has all of the necessary information required to complete the game and not miss any items and that it includes tips on how to beat the bosses. This guide has all of that and is very valuable in completing the game. While many things can be discovered by trial and errors, this guide will get you through the game with no trouble (the only trouble may come in actually applying the strategies to beat a boss). The most valuable aspect of this guide comes in that it details on a map the patrol patterns of the guards. Knowing in advance how far a guard will patrol is very useful in planning your path though the level. If capturing the dog tags from the soldiers is important to you (and if you want the bonus items, it should be important), the guide provides useful strategies on how to get every dog tag in the game (on normal mode). I tried out some of them, and it worked just as the guide suggested. I wasn't that interested in collecting the dog tags my first time completing the game, so I didn't spend the time to collect them all. As far as I could tell, the strategies were spot on.

   One thing I should mention is that the strategies to get the dog tags and for beating the game apply to the normal difficulty setting. Since some things change on the higher difficulty levels, the guide is probably not as useful for mastering the game on the highest difficulty.

   Using this guide for the normal difficulty level, this is an excellent guide that will take you through the game and not spoil and story points. If you feel you need a guide for Metal Gear Solid 2, this one is well worth your money.




4. This guide is the most helpful when you are stuck at a certain place in the game that seems impossible to get past!!! The guide is in-depth and simple at the same time. If your stuck then this guide is for you. (this guide is CHEAP and easy to buy to help you)



5. If you want to play this game with a strategy guide, then your best option is to forget Bradygames and Prima, because authorisedcollection has a much much more detailed and thorough explanation of the game. I had a look at the reviews that 4 or 5 stars are put, they just didn't know what real strategy guide should look at. If you want to have the ranking of the legendary "Big Boss" in the game, go try authorisedcollection guide, otherwise you are just wasting your time playing this game. I'm not trying to offend Bradygames and Prima, but authorisedcollection series the best.

   If you are a Final Fantasy fan, go and compare guides from authorisedcollection and bradygames and you will know what I meant above.

5 comments about Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion: Inside Moves (Bpg Other).

1. This is a great book IF you are already aware of all the existing strengths and weaknesses of the civilizations that are not new to the Conquerors Edition. In other words, you better have the previous book if you want complete knowledge of all the civilizations.

   That having been said, the depth of the analysis for each of the new civilizations is impressive. It tells you everything you need to do to use a civilization's strengths to their best advantage.

   There is very little general training here, and so is not the right book for 'beginners'. I makes a fine addition to the knowledge base of an already experienced user who needs depth on what's NEW in this edition.




2. If you play campaigns and need help, this is the book for you. Over 2/3's of the book is devoted to walking you through the campaigns. If however, if campaigns are a thing of the past for you and you are trying to refine your skills to play against other people... this book is of little help. There are a couple of pages detailing the newest civs to TC, not much more info is offered than what comes with the aoe documentation. There are a few strategies that are described that are pretty basic and are useful if you've never or hardly played before. There is a section that supposedly has tips from the actual ES testers (3 I think)...pretty weak because everyone's preferences are always debatable. Anyway, they pretty much just give their opinions on what civ, what unit and combinations they like best. (To kill your curiosity, most chose Mayans for the archer/eagle scout combo.) Adding links in the book to aoe websites is a waste of space. You're better off going to Google and typing in 'AOK TC' and getting hundreds of links to sites that people actually use. So... since I don't really play campaigns anymore and I am a person trying to find resources to get better playing against other people, I found this book a waste of money. I only gave it an extra star because it details the campaigns pretty good.



3. This game is the best game I ever played. I wish I could buy it, but my parents say I can't because they need the computer for taxes and bills and also they don't let me in case it ruins the computer like one of my other games. So I play it at a friend's house. I never seem to get enough of playing it so I am sometimes late home. It is really interesting because some of this is like real life because each civilization is unique in it's own way with special things like each of their special units. Now I guess the only way to but it is if I buy a new computer so I can play on it, because my mom doesn't like me playing the game all the time.



4. this book was sooo helpful that it would have taken me twice as long just to complete the scenarios, much less find all the secrets. the illustrations helped, not hinderd, the very deep walkthroughs that used multiple strategies instead of just one straightforward killing spree. i like working alone so when i'm playing true to history by playing as the byzantines and defending against the huns, turks, saracens, teutons, goths, persians and the franks all at once this is my greek fire against them. with it's help i bash aside their light cavalry and charge through their heavy infantry to take the heart out of each and every civilization and leave nothing standing except for mountains upon mountains of skulls... thats why i call myself nick the butcher.



5. This book is decent for the price, it gives nice reference material. Just don't look for a lot of tips and strategies here, especially ones that haven't been tried already.

5 comments about Xenogears Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. Some strategy guides are vague and are a waste of money. They leave a gamer wondering where exactly to find an item or a location, learn a certain ability, or how to defeat an enemy. The Xenogears Strategy Guide blew these flawed strategy guides out of the water and proved that there are guides with all the answers to your questions! I strongly recommend this to anyone that owns Xenogears!



2. This is a lot like other walkthroughs that I have used before, it is easy to go through and understand and makes it extremely beneficial for a player to have. It may not be the best for the first time playing through the game because of some of the spoilers that it has throughout (mainly screen caps of the anime sceens), but I would highly recomend it to anyone



3. There are online walkthroughs available that are more helpful than this guide. However, this is a must-have for those who love to collect video game strategy guides. Personally, I liked the artwork. Also, the guide is made of quality materials, unlike more recent strategy guides. The cover and the pages seem to be made of thicker paper. I highly recommend this for those who loved Xenogears.



4. I'm probably the only one here who is going write a review bashing on this guide for it's quality. I don't mind the plot spoilers in the guide because...well it's a guide. Every guide has spoilers (and yes I actually DID get my hands on an FFVII guide by VERSUS BOOKS so don't tell me "well you should see THAT guide" I KNOW, but even that one had a few spoilers...just not plot spoilers).

   A guide is meant to do just that guide you. The reason I gave it a three was because the guide misses a lot of secrets, the bestiary lacks and there are no maps in the walkthrough.

   Let me start off by saying this, at least we can all agree on this, Maps are ESSENTIAL to a strategy guide and ESPECIALLY RPG guides. That goes without saying and for that I couldn't let the guide come within a mile of five stars. Second, a guide should NEVER spoil the ending. Plot I'm okay with but the ending is the whole reason you play a game in the first place. Sure it's no fun when you know the plot but if you know how the game ends then that just plain stinks! So I don't mind the plot spoilers but the fact of the ending being spoiled really made me mad.

   The walkthrough is dim too. The screens are blurry and out of context and the content that the guide contains is not always clear. The directions they give you in dungeons are only going to help you in getting lost. The bestiary doesn't detail a monsters weakness instead the only good thing we really get is how much HP they have.

   So in short, the guide isn't the best buy for you. It has a complete walkthrough and it actually isn't all that bad. Boss strategies are nice and you get the general idea of what they're telling you to do. But again, I didn't give this guide a considerably low score for the plot spoilers. I never actually even read the plot spoilers since I was using the guide as a reference book and not a magazine.




5. For a new company this is a great way to start out by never over rating an item for sale. I can say I am happy with my purchase,since it was in better condition than what I percieved.

5 comments about Make a Million from Online Poker: The Surefire Way to Profit from the Internet's Coolest Game.

1. This little book is just a title and empty space.
   
   It's a complete and utter waste of time and money. Don't bother wasting either.
   
   There is nothing of substance in this book that any decent online poker player shouldn't already know.



2. This book is more like a quick money making scam by someone cashing in on the surge of poker book sales. He offers absolutely nothing of benefit at all. There is page after page of filler. I honestly felt like a sucker after reading this book. The author is a business man and he is the only person that benefits from his book.
   Buy harrington on hold'em - by far the best of all the books that I've read.



3. This book might be the most useless book I have ever read on poker. It offers nothing in terms of strategy or content that isn't available in just about any standard poker book on the market. The "enlightening" real world examples of internet pros also offered nothing, such as successful strategies they might use, etc.
   
   Save your time and money and invest in a book like Killer Poker Online instead. This book was so bad I actually threw it out after reading it, which is something I never do.



4. No new knowledge to be found here. Several places in the book there are errors, e.g. did you know that QTo vs QTo is 67% percent to win? Pages and pages of example hands with percentage to win calculations that I wouldn't trust anyway. Move along, nothing to see here. Went through whole book in 30 minutes, could have done that at borders for free.



5. This book does not live up to the lofty claims it makes. It is very basic and the information in it is also in most other poker books on the market.If you are looking for some avanced theory you wont find it here.

3 comments about Medal of Honor Frontline: Prima's Official Strategy Guide (Xbox, Gamecube, & PS2).

1. I would've given the guide five stars if the walkthrough was better. Not much, but it doesn't fully explain everything in 100% detail on what to do. Plus, you shouldn't need a guide for Medal of Honor Frontline. At first I only got this guide for secrets, but then I noticed that secrets are found everywhere! This guide doesn't even cover them!

   Basically, its a good guide for he up and go type of people but for those who'd rather just explore the game on your own. Everything in this guide is actually explained in full detail in the game and thats the main reason I didn't give it five stars. The guide explains the game, but the game is simple enough to the point where you don't need this book. don't waste your money on this, the game is a good enough guide for you.




2. The guide doesnt help that much. It just shows maps and tells you stratigies. If you are good at beating video games like MOH Rising sun it probably wont help.



3. Medal Of Honor: FRONTLINE is one of the best PS2 games I have ever played. I love the way how you get to see suicidal Nazis jump off the bridge because they are scared of you and kicking their bums. My favourite missions are The Golden Lion, Operation Repunzel and Nijmegen Bridge. Also Under The Radar. It's also great to see the Easter eggs- wanted posters of Jimmy Patterson and Nazi-decorated UFO's fly up in the sky.
   FRONTLINE is definately the best MOH game.
   Go Jimmy!

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. When I first got this book, I was very disappointed. It made alot of picture errors, where they paste the picture in the wrong place. They made things more complicated than before. I was stuck in Stone Tower for 3 months because I couldn't figure out how to flip it upside down. I have only one word; IT STINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. When i bought this guide i had already finshed the game and found most of the secrets i bought it because i wanted to find out where the last couple of masks were. When i opened the book i was amazed at how detailed it was i got all the masks including the adult mask and i found out where are lot more secrets are... A MUST HAVE FOR ANY ZELDA FAN



3. First off, DO NOT BUY THIS!! This book may help you get the masks, but not only are there mistakes in the book (as to where the fairys are) but the directions are confusing. Buy the official guide from Nintendo. Prima's player guide gives confusing directions and is a pain to decipher, I had to collect all the fairys from one of the temples because the book missed the location of one of the fairys. Using the guide to help me complete the water temple was a pain! It gave confusing directions by telling you to go North or South, East or West, and that is very difficult especially when you are located in a temple. I suggest that you buy the Nintendo guide instead of this. Nintendo gives specific directions (such as leave through the red door, etc) and is detailed with accurate maps and such. Don't buy this guide, it doesn't help you very much, and you may as well try to complete the game without the help of this book at all its so confusing and badly written.



4. This is a great strategy guide to buy if you are new to the Zelda world, and decided to buy Majora's Mask. That's me. This book is really great!!!! It tells you how to get the Couples Mask, which is the hardest to get, and a whole MESS of other things.

   One thing though: don't use it as a walkthrough, because then you just killed the replay value of Majora's Mask a little. I should know: I did use it as a walkthrough.




5. This is the only Prima book that I have that is unhelpful. The game is already hard. Why couldn't they give more detail and put things in order.
   
   The masks, pieces of heart, ans everything else are not in order the way you're suppose to get them in the game.
   
   Conclusion: The Brady Games guide is much more helpful than this [...].

2 comments about Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. these types of games just go from "ACT I to ACT V" or something and you don't need a guide to tell you what arrow to follow. I recommend playing it as long as possible and then getting the guide if you get stuck. Sub-plott bonuses are not worth the price, just get a guru to tell ya where they are. Action games(DOOM, QUake, Diablo II and this, ect..) rely on reflex, not knowledge.



2. It's not very helpful. And not very good just like the game is not very good. Save your money and dont buy this guide OR the game! Go with Oblivion!
   
   I did like the graphics in the guide and the game, but I cant really play a game solely based on how pretty it is.
   
   However I must admit I dont have good reflexes which makes this game an unsuitable match for me.

3 comments about Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction.

1. Just over ten years ago, I was holed up in the University of Colorado at Boulder's Norlin library, researching interactive fiction. I was a grad student in English, and had a final paper due in my Literary Theory class. Activision had recently released the Lost Treasures of Infocom bundle, reawakening my childhood love of IF, and I felt inspired to write a paper that connected reader-response theory to the actual reader-responsiveness of text adventures. I wanted to cite and to engage with previous academic work on IF, but unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, it had received very little serious critical attention. Sure, I found a few articles here and there, but what I really needed was something substantial, something that offered a critical vocabulary for talking about interactive fiction, that placed it in a literary context, and that presented a basic history of the form.

   What I needed was Nick Montfort's TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES. How strange and funny that ten years later, the paper I wrote for that class finds itself cited in the first book-length academic treatment of interactive fiction. Sure, the citation only occurs in a passing (and correct) dismissal of reader-response theory as anything but a very limited way into talking about IF, but it makes me feel like part of history nonetheless. Montfort's book is just what IF needs to establish its rightful place the scholarly discourse surrounding electronic literature, and indeed literature, full stop. It never fails to be informative, and frequently succeeds at being sharply insightful about the literary elements of IF.

   However, TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES is quite suitable for readers outside the ivory tower as well. Though the book is clearly aimed at an academic audience, Montfort's prose is blessedly jargon-free, clear, and effective, with generous doses of humor thrown in for good measure. Even in its most theoretical moments, the book manages to balance impressive rigor with unfailing clarity, a feat all too rare in literary theory. Consequently, it's an entertaining read for general audiences and English professors alike.

   Just the bibliography alone is a noteworthy achievement; Montfort has synthesized the already extant body of formal IF scholarship and mainstream coverage with much of the important amateur IF theory produced by people like Graham Nelson and Emily Short, along with a range of other contributions from the IF community and pieces covering the book's other concerns, including riddles and computer science. In addition, there is a formidable collection of IF works cited, a list comprising much of the most influential IF of the past thirty years.

   Something else that the bibliography makes clear is the value of Montfort's personal connections. It's peppered with references to emails and personal conversations with some of the leading lights of IF history: Robert Pinsky, Graham Nelson, Steve Meretzky, and others. Montfort's ability to gather such firsthand information highlights one of the most important things about TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES: not only is it the first book-length treatment of interactive fiction, is the first formal treatment I've seen that approaches IF from the inside out, rather than from the position of a quizzical spectator. Montfort's extensive experience in both the academic and IF communities lend him a brand of authority that previous commentators on IF lacked.

   If you're an IF aficionado like me, you'll find TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES enlightening and fun, and if there's anyone in your life who genuinely wants to know what interactive fiction is and why they should care, hand them this book.




2. "Twisty little passages" does a good job of summarizing and critiquing interactive fiction to date, from early beginnings with systems like Zork all the way through to modern contest based IF works. Historical parallels, such as riddles, are also mentioned and related to the whole.
   
   However, if you're looking for something which looks into boarder textual contexts like MUDs and MOOs, you'll find these only briefly mentioned. Probably essential reading if you're really into interactive fiction, but not something which I regard as being seminal in the larger body of work related to games, interactive media, and the like.



3. This is certainly an informative book, no question. It delves into some of the greats of Interactive Fiction but it reads like a PHD thesis, and if that's the kind of reading you're into, and you truly love interactive fiction, this is the book for you.
   
   But there's nothing can suck the love out of a subject as much as dry, academic writing with bracketed source notations every few sentences.
   
   Spending a goodly portion of the beginning of the book defining just what the heck Interactive Fiction is is unnecessary and esoteric. A few paragraphs of real English would have covered what Montfort took chapters to do in dry, academic speak.
   
   Still, his individual delvings into some of the classics were detailed and appreciated, even if those chapters themselves were somewhat dryly- and dully-written, the subject matter itself kept me interested, as I love those classic games.
   
   It's clear he knows his IF history, and it's clear he's played many of the best games in the genre. If you're interested in an academic study of Interactive Fiction, as I said, this is it.
   
   I was just wishing he had written about the subject with as much love and passion as he appears to have for the subject. Alas, this was written as if to please a committee of thesis adjudicators.
   
   Steve Meretzky's review is right on. This book surely makes you want to fire up a computer and start writing IF. It sure made me want to dive into a good INFOCOM game again, as I still do quite often.
   
   Another great in the field, Graham Nelson, author of INFORM and some of the best games out there, is also right in what this book can achieve, but I just wish it did so in text as elloquent as either of these writers has produced. Two of my heroes. I've played just about everything Meretzky's produced in the genre, and I'm currently using INFORM and reading through Nelson's excellent Inform Designers' Manual 4.
   
   I hope my review doesn't discourage you from a discovery of some of the most inventive and fun games in existence, long before there were anything like realistic graphics on computers, as these games are well worth discovering. I just wish someone would convince Montfort to rewrite it with an audience in mind who prefers reading to grading stuffy term papers. Perhaps if he had a good ghost writer...
   
   Sean Huxter.
   Long-time IF fan.

4 comments about Resistance: Fall of Man Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature) (Bradygames Signature).

1. THIS GAME ROCKS--REAL WAR FOLKS--HALO IS BUPKIS NEXT TO THIS. HAVE BEEN PLAYING F.P.S. GAMES FROM 486-C 64 DAYS. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY..ADP..
   
   I AM 60 YEARS YOUNG..



2. RFOM is an extremely difficult game to master (for me), so I found this guide has helped me through some tough spots. Still, the game is a major challenge so do not think the guide is your instant savior. You will still have to fight and die many...many...many times before you are finished.
   
   Happy Holidays,
   Smacka



3. Book was laid out in great detail to help you thru.
   Well worth it.
   Awesome game.
   Must have for you rPS3 collection.



4. this game gives u never-ending fun. the store is what i love the most.the weapons are unique and have there own feel to them.the levels are well detailed, well designed & have just the rite anoumt of enimes.ive played this game over 4 times & still find different way to have fun...........hey its a sony game so u should kno that it would live up to the standard of expextations

3 comments about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Atlas: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. Not much good to say about this. The pages are quite dark and difficult to read and to make matters worse the text is really tiny. They have added in some key locations to the map that will be useful but not worth this price. Don't bother with this. In a matter of a week or so much better and clearer information will be available on the web.
   
   Prima stop putting out sub-par game books and get with the program. I would have loved to have a good game atlas : (



2. While the Guide is useless, the Atlas is just 'mostly' useless. There is a little real information on the maps, some of the most important information is missing. One of the poorer efforts from Prima; rushed to get it out at game release, I suspect. Not recommended.



3. I bought this knowing that it would be out of date before the game launch. Prima has been pretty good in the past about updates. It would appear they fired all the people responsible for keeping their customers happy. Missing and false/misleading information, and no way to find any updates on their page, if they exist.