Review?

[Beorne]

JaydedOne said:
My review on first impression is that ...

Thanks

[PhilD]

No review from me, 'cause when I get my copy, you'll all have been playing the game for at least a week - my girlfriend ordered it for me as a birthday present, and my birthday's still two weeks in the future (who'd have thought it would release in October when the announcements said October?)...

[Daynarr]

PhilD said:
(who'd have thought it would release in October when the announcements said October?)...

[Nerfix]

Wello, the game was delayed only.....what, three quarters?

[DominionsFan]

Boron said:

No but Jurri did. He is also a european

Hm! *ROAR*

[Boron]

Ok a review from me too, i try to be objective and not too much a fanboy (which i am obviously ).

Dom3 is a very good game. It is better than Dom2, and Dom2 is the best turn based strategy game i know. A sequel is not necessarily better then the predecessor, think about e.g. C&C 3 or Warcraft 3 or Civ 3.

A lot of content has been added. The era system works surprisingly well, it adds history to dominions and the eras are fun. And if you want to play cross era you can do this with a simple mod .

If i would praise all the things i like in Dom3 and which are better than in Dom2 i could easily write 10+ pages.
I am not doing this, i only list my few issues i have with Dom 3 (they are minor):

- MP balance is not yet as good as it was with CB for Dom2.
It is already much better as Dom2 vanilla.
And this issue will be fixed by the community eventually.

- 4 nations are still missing: Early and late era machaka, late era pythium and early era man.
They will be added with patches.

- Some micromanagement reduction features do not fully work, mainly the auto site search function.
Those issues are likely to be patched.

- Some micromanagement issues are still present, like blood hunting MM nightmare with mictlan.


Those are my main issues i have currently with Dom3. As you can see they are very minor and most of them are likely to be fixed with patches or by the community. For PC games it is normal that version 1.00 is rather buggy (anyone ever played a paradox game in the 1.00 version? Or RTW? Or Civ 4?). Imho Dom3 is there an exeption, 1.00 is already pretty solid.

If you are a hardcore Dom2 fan and played Dom2 extremely much you will when you get Dom3 most likely soon be disimpressed for a short while. But you cannot go back to Dom2 anymore and after a while of playing you will notice how many subtle changes were added that nicely add up and improve the game a lot compared to Dom2, e.g. the new random magic system, the slightly toned down SCs etc. etc..

If you are new to the Dom universe you will be busy for years with exploring Dom3, as Dom2 veteran you will be busy for many months at least.

Dom3 is a worthy sequel and a must buy for turn based strategy game fans.

-

[DominionsFan]

Boron said:

If you are a hardcore Dom2 fan and played Dom2 extremely much you will when you get Dom3 most likely soon be disimpressed for a short while.-

Hm interesting sentence. Why do you think so that hardcore Doms 2. players will be disimpressed?

[JaydedOne]

I think he's jaded from being a beta tester.

But seriously, the small reworks of the interface and the creation of ages alone makes me very happy. I don't know; I can't put my finger on all the reasons why Dom3 feels so much better, but it just does.

[Boron]

DominionsFan said:

Hm interesting sentence. Why do you think so that hardcore Doms 2. players will be disimpressed?

Because as a hardcore Dom2 fan you long for Dom3 and then you will find out that some of those features that you would loved to have seen in Dom3 are not included when you finally get your copy.
And if you loved SCs or battlemage tactics you will be for a short while be probably a bit disappointed that they were nerfed.
Also your favourite nations might be weaker than in Dom2.

If you were an Abysia fan or a Ctis fan e.g. you might cry when you see them the first time in Dom3 .
Those 2 nations were hurt through most of the new features like old age and profited least from other changes like the more expensive forts or changed relief etc..

So i think most Dom2 diehard fans will have a short period (1-14 days) where they are disappointed with Dom3, but then they will hopefully come back and begin to like Dom3.
Once you played Dom3 you would have to force yourself to play Dom2, so you cannot go back neither .
But i really think that the majority of Dom2 fans will have this brief disappointment phase within the first month after they got Dom3 but 99% of them will soon come back and start to really appreciate Dom3

[DominionsFan]

Boron said:

Because as a hardcore Dom2 fan you long for Dom3 and then you will find out that some of those features that you would loved to have seen in Dom3 are not included when you finally get your copy.
And if you loved SCs or battlemage tactics you will be for a short while be probably a bit disappointed that they were nerfed.
Also your favourite nations might be weaker than in Dom2.

If you were an Abysia fan or a Ctis fan e.g. you might cry when you see them the first time in Dom3 .
Those 2 nations were hurt through most of the new features like old age and profited least from other changes like the more expensive forts or changed relief etc..

So i think most Dom2 diehard fans will have a short period (1-14 days) where they are disappointed with Dom3, but then they will hopefully come back and begin to like Dom3.
Once you played Dom3 you would have to force yourself to play Dom2, so you cannot go back neither .
But i really think that the majority of Dom2 fans will have this brief disappointment phase within the first month after they got Dom3.

Ah I see. Oh and no I probably won't cry that my favourite nation was nerfed, because I am an Ermor fanatic!
Old age! bleh! My undead hordes won't care about their age.