Recent reviews by rock⁧⁧(in prison)

I haven't finished my first game yet (I'm playing Roosevelt on Noble), but so far I'm mostly enjoying it. I'm a Civ 5 baby, though, so I can't help but compare the two, and there are a lot of things in Civ 4 that I'm missing; I might update this review later on with more as I continue my game, but the biggest issue I take with Civ 4 is the combat. First of all, I don't mind the AI cheating with their armies (when don't they?), but it seems kind of overwhelming for playing on what I assume is the normal mode difficulty of the game. I also like unit stacking and the much greater unit variety as it adds more layers of strategy compared to Civ 5, but the resolution of combat with the odds-based system is garbage and unintuitive. As an aside, apparently Sid himself also called it "counterintuitive" at some keynote in 2010! And it's not as if HP doesn't exist in Civ 4 either, but it feels like combat is usually resolved instantly according to RNG. And I miss ranged combat :(.

As for things that Civ 4 does that I really enjoy, technology and map trading have got to be at the top of the list. Why wasn't this feature added back in Civ 5? I think it spices a lot of things up quite nicely. You're also able to adjust your research amounts for espionage/culture/commerce, which adds some neat turn-to-turn micromanagement. Some of the tile improvements are cool as well, specifically the cottages that will turn into improvements with greater yields over time, making it important to get them down early for optimal play. I haven't gotten to the point where the UN is established yet, but during some Civilopedia reading, I found out about the Apostolic Palace, which seems very interesting as a limited early diplomacy system, though it wasn't built on my home continent, unfortunately.

To also be completely transparent, the only reason I'm playing this is because I had my hopes set on a Civ 5 multiplayer game with friends and then subsequently had them dashed because there are apparently major issues with even getting Civ 5 to launch right now. All of them got stuck on "Updating Executable," and I think one of them even refunded :(. Having already referred to myself as a Civ 5 baby earlier, I will default to it 99% of the time, but given the circumstances I needed a Civ fix to cure my disappointment, so I decided to pursue this new (old?) experience on a whim. I probably won't go back to it again after finishing my current game unless some exceptional things happen, but I do not regret having done so in the first place.

Also, while looking to see if there were any QoL mods for Civ 4, I came across the Vox Populi mod for Civ 5, which claims to add many of the mechanics of Civ 4 to Civ 5. I think I will be trying that next, because it seems like the ultimate fusion of the two games (or at least a much more enjoyable experience than Civ 6, something I think everyone playing this game can agree on)!

i wish a certain someone would reinstall this game so we could get our terminus weapons
also i love ferry granblue fantasy

legalize 💣Nuclear Bomb 1

i don't want any of your potions, i want my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ trading cards that you stole in the first grade

I have many regrets, and buying this was only almost one of them

Set against the backdrop of the Half Life universe (which you wouldn't realize during play except for a few references or if you're a gigantic NERD), Portal has, since 2007, distinguished itself as an incredibly solid puzzle game. In 2023, however, it is difficult to find individual merits that its sequel, Portal 2, doesn't do better. Portal with RTX came out at the latter end of 2022, and it's a cool gimmick, but doesn't change anything except appearances. Even then, not only are many gamers unable to try it anytime soon (lmao @ GPU prices and Steam hardware charts), but Portal 2 doesn't look comparatively bad without ray tracing capabilities. The only way it excels over its successor is in atmospheric horror elements. This is partly because it's a shorter game and these elements are much more concentrated, but also because the tone of its storytelling is less whimsical than Portal 2 and more reminiscent of Half Life. I will personally never forget the infamous "Rat Man" and those stujspid fjuKIcNg radios. Speaking of which, the achievements in this game - one of which involves taking radios that are scattered about the map into particular positions - are incredibly frustrating. I had some stupid input/control issues in all of the chamber 18 challenges where my camera would lock and then shake like a diabetic on low blood sugar when I tried to move it in the mid-air sections. Furthermore, the fuickNING sutpid least steps challenge category in general is the worst designed thing I have ever seen for a Source game. Honestly, this iteration of the fuhcciin Source engine holds it back so much, worst of all being that there's no proper borderless windowed mode.

All that being said, if you were to take this game in a vacuum, it is still a very good game; it's Still Alive, if you will :^). Figuring out how to gain enough momentum to make a particular jump, maneuvering balls of energy to power on switches, working against a timer to quickly place your portals, and moreover just solving the puzzles correctly will fill you with typical puzzle game joy. The game and the gameplay loop flow well, and are only interrupted by the usual Source engine idiosyncrasies or optional content.

It's short and it's sweet, but I believe there are better confections to seek in the now-identically-priced sequel.

boyclussy

the amount of fun i had in this game evaporated after about the third pew and it doesnt help that my hammer judges me for my lifestyle

why cant the counter terrorists and insurgents just meet in the middle of the map and have a picnic together

capitalist scum