2003

Rise of Nations (2003)

Description

Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy game which covers a long period of time, from the early stone age up to the modern-day technology.

The game offers many unique features that you can not find in other RTS games, such as: National Borders, Rare Resources, “Conquer the World” risk-like campaign, Citizens can occupy themselves, 18 Historical Nations (with unique powers/units), Multiple victory conditions, and many more. Also, a multi-player mode is included and offers a ranking system.

The core of Rise of Nations’s gameplay centers around the concept of “territory”. The area near the player’s settlements is considered their territory, and players may only construct buildings within their territory or that of an ally (with the exception of the Lakota). A nation’s borders can be expanded by the creation and expansion of cities and forts, a technology tree, and obtaining access to certain rare resources. Other technologies and resources cause enemy units within a nation’s borders to suffer attrition over time, which can eventually destroy an unsupplied invasion force. …

SimCity 4

Description

The most noticeable change in the fourth main game in the series comes through the new graphics, now in full 3D. The basic goal remains the same: build the ultimate city. You do this by balancing funding of community services with taxes, transit fares, and other forms of income.

But now you have more options. The new god mode tools allow you to sculpt a realistic terrain in seconds. And now disasters won’t happen in random locations, you choose where to unleash them. There are all new buildings, and the gameplay is a bit more challenging this time: you have to actually start small, the way a real city is developed, or you’ll run out of money. You can also import people from The Sims and insert them into your city, and have them give you feedback.

Your advisors are improved. They too are in full 3D, and they won’t annoy you as much. They will provide you with helpful advice, and you can listen to them or annoy them to the point that they all turn into llamas. Literally. …

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell

Description

Splinter Cell is a third-person action game with a focus on stealth, similar to the Metal Gear Solid series. The player takes on the role of Sam Fisher, an operative for the secret organization NSA Black Operation, part of the U.S. government. The organization deals with very sensitive missions, often taken on by a Third Echelon splinter cell division Fisher is part of. His missions are so discreet, that if he is captured the government will deny any such existence of that organization.

To get around and reach his objectives, Fisher has a variety of moves at his disposal. He can walk, run, crouch, jump, rappel, shimmy, cross horizontal wires, zip using a zip cord, and do a split jump. There are different approaches to taking out enemies. He can use weapons, but the noise might alert guards and that generally makes it more difficult to complete missions. Opponents can be stunned, killed, or subdued. Fisher can for instance jump down from the ceiling and knock an opponent unconscious. Some enemies are needed to activate a door or passcode. Therefore enemies can be taken hostage by holding a gun to their head. They can also be interrogated or be used as human shields. …

The Hobbit (2003)

Description

The wizard Gandalf arrives in the Shire to get the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to join thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield as a thief, for a journey to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim the dwarves’ treasure from the dragon Smaug. During the journey, Bilbo meets the injured elf Lianna, and helps her. At the Misty Mountains, the group is attacked by goblins; after the ensuing fight, Bilbo falls into the caves and is knocked unconscious. He awakens alone and lost, and wanders in the dark, finding a ring and meeting Gollum. After reuniting with the dwarves and Gandalf, they are attacked by goblins and wargs, but are saved by a band of eagles who take them to Mirkwood Forest. While wandering through the forest, Bilbo and the dwarves get captured by Wood Elves and taken to the dungeons of Thranduil. Using the power of the ring, Bilbo enters Thranduill’s hall, where he meets Lianna, who helps him free the dwarves. They escape to Lake-town, a settlement close to the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo becomes friends with Bard, captain of the town guard, who shoots and kills Smaug when the dragon attacks the town.

Later, an army of humans and wood elves head toward the Lonely Mountain to claim the dwarves’ treasure; to prevent a battle, Bilbo sneaks out of the mountain with the Arkenstone, a treasure of great importance, and gives it to Bard, who offers to return it to Thorin in return for the rest of the treasure. Thorin refuses, denouncing Bilbo as a traitor, and a battle eventually breaks out between five armies who want the dwarf treasure. The battle ends with the goblins defeated, and the humans, elves, and dwarves having made peace; Thorin, mortally wounded, apologizes to Bilbo. Lake-town begins to rebuild, and Bilbo and Gandalf return to the Shire. …

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 – Raven Shield

Description

Rainbow Six: Raven Shield is a first-person tactical shooter wherein the player takes on the role of the leader of a worldwide, anti-terrorist group, code-named Rainbow.

In 1945 two members of the fascist Ustaše movement of Croatia manage to leave the country just as it begins to crumble at the hands of the Allies, taking with them a large sum of Axis gold and spoils; disappearing entirely. In 2005 Rainbow is called in to intervene in a series of continuously exacerbating terrorist attacks on oil and financial interests carried out by neo-fascist organizations in Europe and South America. As the attacks progress they begin, more and more, to seem as if they may be inter-connected, an alarming possibility which causes Rainbow to investigate more deeply.

The game is segmented into a series of fifteen separate missions, each of which begins with a briefing and a news report concerning the outcome of the previously completed assignment. The player must prepare his men in advance by deciding how to organize them into teams and how they’ll be outfitted, specifying everything from the type of body armor they will wear to the ammunition they will fire. Each member of Rainbow has different strengths and weaknesses which must be exploited depending on the nature of the mission. If during a mission any member happens to be killed they will be permanently removed from the roster and replaced with a less qualified stand-in. The option exists to load an alternate set of pre-defined arrangements for each individual mission, circumventing this stage of planning. …

I Was an Atomic Mutant

Description

Take on the role of an atomic mutant and destroy pitiful humans and their cities in this tribute to 50’s B grade monster movies.

IWAAM is a 3D action game putting you in the role of a giant monster smashing through towns and battling the tiny military forces sent to stop you. Players select from one of four mutants (disembodied brain, fire breathing lizard, 200 ft tall woman or cybernetic mutant) each with their own arsenal of destructive powers. Then, they are turned loose on a variety of cities which they must destroy before the local military forces bring them down.

The game drips in 50’s atmosphere with black and white film intros for the mutants, B movie music, shockingly lettered menus, and horrified people who scream as they flee from your atomic terror. …

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

Description

As the name suggests, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight, is that year’s version of the popular simulator from Microsoft and celebrates 100 years of flight. Flight Simulator 2004 includes 9 historical aircraft such as the Wright Flyer from 1903, DC-3, Vickers Vimy, Curtiss Jenny and the Ryan NVP ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ that you can pilot and new challenges centered around the historical aircraft. It includes a new help system called ‘Learning Center’ and an improved ATC, and a new dynamic weather system. The GPS systems in Flight Simulator 2004 have been completely overhaulled and are now based on real world Garmin 500/295 GPS systems. …

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