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Post by Discoalucard on Sept 6, 2016 22:20:52 GMT -5
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Post by matthew on Sept 7, 2016 21:51:10 GMT -5
I LOVE this game so much. "Detailed backstory" is an understatement. If you can find a physical copy of the first game, the manual is about half an inch thick, and the first half of it is a mini novel, describing the game world, how the big freeze happened and the journey of the first settlers to the island. As a kid, I absolutely loved it. Don't let the difficulty scare you. The controls haven't aged well, but fast reflexes aren't necessary. In my opinion, it's fun and forgiving, even if you're losing. Having the characters get rescued, instead of dying, makes learning to play much less frustrating. But no, you're not going to win on your first time through, or your second. I didn't appreciate it for the technical masterpiece that it is when I was a kid. The island is huge, and though it's not as flashy as say, Wolfenstein 3D, it amazes me that Midwinder came first by 3(?) years. There are other little touches too. Destroy the right enemy snowmobile, and you're presented with a screen informing you that you've defeated an enemy commander, and that the enemy forces under his or her command have disbanded. Also, there's a "training" mode, for practicing the different modes of transporation.
It reminds me of x-com, for its boardgame-turned-real sort of feeling, that everything around you is moving and happening for a reason.
Highly recommended.
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Post by Maciej Miszczyk on Sept 8, 2016 1:17:01 GMT -5
There are other little touches too. Destroy the right enemy snowmobile, and you're presented with a screen informing you that you've defeated an enemy commander, and that the enemy forces under his or her command have disbanded. really? I never managed to do that in the first game but it often happened in the second one.
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Post by matthew on Sept 8, 2016 20:19:33 GMT -5
really? I never managed to do that in the first game but it often happened in the second one. Yes. It was definitely the first game, I never owned the second game as a kid. You're testing my memory here... I want to say that there were six colonels, each had a unique portrait, with their names written under, including "De Falco" from the game's story in the manual. I think a squadron could also disband after "suffering heavy losses", although I only saw either of these screens once or twice.
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Post by Maciej Miszczyk on Sept 9, 2016 3:01:18 GMT -5
that's possible. I generally tried to avoid combat because I wasn't very good at it so this might be a reason I haven't seen something like that. fighting was much easier in the second one for me
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Post by bakudon on Sept 9, 2016 6:36:15 GMT -5
I think in Midwinter II the enemies are divided into units, and when you destroy all vehicles in a unit you will be shown the commanders face, and given a cash reward (which only amounts to points).
I played through the second game last year. Shame about those controls, as the game seems pretty impressive on paper. It's also annoying how the general quickness is tied to the framerate (at least with Dosbox), so no speed will provide a smooth experience. The manual claims that the tank is one of the strongest vehicles, but lacking missiles – the only weapons with which it is actually possible to hit anything – it's next to useless.
Many aspects of the game are intriguing, but the implementation is weak in practice. One of the things is something that plagues large-scale open-world games to this day – everything feels procedurally generated, so despite the supposedly large scale, you’ve actually seen everything the game has to offer during the first island. You have many possibilities to deal with people (and escape from prison when you eventually up getting thrown there), but the player is given no information as to which method could be effective at any particular case, so in the end it only amounts to guessing. It's also unfeasible to liberate too many islands, but you have to be smart about what you do, because the armada will take the optimal route for it, and it's really hard to make that involve even a single liberated island.
Still, I somehow managed to clear the game, but at least the controls cannot be excused just by the age of the game.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Sept 9, 2016 17:36:16 GMT -5
These two games could really use the Remaster treatment. Just implement a (for today) standard mouse+keyboard control scheme, some tweaks to sensitivity and control of vehicles, and for all their flaws they'd be infinitely more manageable and enjoyable.
More than with with GTA, the second episode could use a better parallel with Just Cause. The setting, and the described way of jumping from vehicle to vehicle, instantly reminded me of that series.
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Post by Maciej Miszczyk on Sept 10, 2016 3:31:31 GMT -5
there was a remake of the first one in the works but there haven't been any news about it since last year. it's a shame, it looked interesting. as for Just Cause - yeah, it might be a better comparison than GTA. I was also thinking of Far Cry
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