Remember the old Ultima games? Where you controlled a "group" of players -- the Avatar, a fighter, a mage, etc..?
Do they have anything like this (either multi-player, single-player, or both), where you are able to control a group of Dungeon & Dragon type characters?
Please keep in mind, I am NOT looking for role-playing games. Looking more for adventure games (Legend of Zelda), but that involve controlling a "party" rather than a single player -- again, think "old Ultima series".
[UPDATE] Dungeon Siege 2
Upon recommendation here, I tried the Demo for Dungeon Siege 2. It's not a bad game. I liked the graphics, and I liked the quests that you are given as the game progresses. It looked like it had a lot of skills and attributes that you could improve, so that was nice. But it would've been nice if you could pick a "class" or something to begin with, so that some of your skills/attributes started automatically higher. The world seemed very expansive, but a bit limited as you were constrained to pre-determined paths.
The fighting isn't really that exciting. Basically it's just clicking the mouse a lot -- I liked the turn-based style of Ultima more, I guess. Plus, in certain places (i.e. the crypt), there are certain monsters that try to stay inside a "zone". The problem is, you can just sit back and nail them with your bow and arrow. They never try to chase you down -- even the main monster of the crypt didn't chase you down, so I just sat back and showered it with arrows til it died.
It's a pain that things fall out of the monsters/containers onto the ground whenever they are destroyed. Because you have to look real close to see if something is lying there that you could pick up. It'd be nice if you could just move your mouse over the corpose/container and it had a list of what was inside that you could click on to pick up (including an ALL option).
Also I'm not crazy about the overhead-map feature -- it constantly rotates as your character does, so it makes it tough to keep your bearings. Plus it'd be nice if it had a "zoom-out" feature (maybe it does and I haven't found it) so you could see an overview of the ENTIRE overhead map.
It also lacks some of the 'adventure' type feel Ultima had, like having to get food that is automatically eaten throughout the day, and having to sleep at certain intervals. It sounds boring, but to me it seems more realistic and like you're really on some grand adventure.
Next I will be trying Overlord...
[UPDATE] Overlord
Again upon recommendation here, I tried Overlord. I just finished playing the Overlord Demo. It is a decent game. It has great graphics, unique story-line (you play as an evil Overlord instead of as the good-guy), and is great for someone looking for a "puzzle" type adventure. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.
The first glaring problem is that the game is very linear - I hate linear gameplay, as it doesn't feel like an adventure anymore. Now it just feels like a job. You complete things in an exact sequence, and every situation is setup perfectly for you to complete it -- you just have to figure out how. If you're into linear puzzle-games like this, you'll enjoy it. However, this is nothing close to what I was looking for.
I also hate all the cut-scenes that are used to try to tell some sort of story, which really all they are doing is giving you instructions on your next task.
Third, I hate that you have to use the keyboard to move around and to issue most of your commands. In fact, it seems the only time you're using the mouse is to rotate the camera angle, and to control your minions.
To be honest, and maybe this improves over the course of the game, I really did not feel like a powerful Overlord. Instead, I felt like any typical "Tomb Raider" type character with a few extra abilities. In fact, it took me a few strikes with my weapon to kill some sheep. Some sheep, really? Shouldn't an Overlord be able to dispose of some sheep without having to hack at it a few times?
To summarize, if you're into linear puzzle-games, this could be a great game for you. But as far as being anything close to the D&D adventure game I was seeking, this sorely misses the mark.
I'm not sure what I'll be trying next, depends on what I can get my hands on...
Do they have anything like this (either multi-player, single-player, or both), where you are able to control a group of Dungeon & Dragon type characters?
Please keep in mind, I am NOT looking for role-playing games. Looking more for adventure games (Legend of Zelda), but that involve controlling a "party" rather than a single player -- again, think "old Ultima series".
[UPDATE] Dungeon Siege 2
Upon recommendation here, I tried the Demo for Dungeon Siege 2. It's not a bad game. I liked the graphics, and I liked the quests that you are given as the game progresses. It looked like it had a lot of skills and attributes that you could improve, so that was nice. But it would've been nice if you could pick a "class" or something to begin with, so that some of your skills/attributes started automatically higher. The world seemed very expansive, but a bit limited as you were constrained to pre-determined paths.
The fighting isn't really that exciting. Basically it's just clicking the mouse a lot -- I liked the turn-based style of Ultima more, I guess. Plus, in certain places (i.e. the crypt), there are certain monsters that try to stay inside a "zone". The problem is, you can just sit back and nail them with your bow and arrow. They never try to chase you down -- even the main monster of the crypt didn't chase you down, so I just sat back and showered it with arrows til it died.
It's a pain that things fall out of the monsters/containers onto the ground whenever they are destroyed. Because you have to look real close to see if something is lying there that you could pick up. It'd be nice if you could just move your mouse over the corpose/container and it had a list of what was inside that you could click on to pick up (including an ALL option).
Also I'm not crazy about the overhead-map feature -- it constantly rotates as your character does, so it makes it tough to keep your bearings. Plus it'd be nice if it had a "zoom-out" feature (maybe it does and I haven't found it) so you could see an overview of the ENTIRE overhead map.
It also lacks some of the 'adventure' type feel Ultima had, like having to get food that is automatically eaten throughout the day, and having to sleep at certain intervals. It sounds boring, but to me it seems more realistic and like you're really on some grand adventure.
Next I will be trying Overlord...
[UPDATE] Overlord
Again upon recommendation here, I tried Overlord. I just finished playing the Overlord Demo. It is a decent game. It has great graphics, unique story-line (you play as an evil Overlord instead of as the good-guy), and is great for someone looking for a "puzzle" type adventure. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.
The first glaring problem is that the game is very linear - I hate linear gameplay, as it doesn't feel like an adventure anymore. Now it just feels like a job. You complete things in an exact sequence, and every situation is setup perfectly for you to complete it -- you just have to figure out how. If you're into linear puzzle-games like this, you'll enjoy it. However, this is nothing close to what I was looking for.
I also hate all the cut-scenes that are used to try to tell some sort of story, which really all they are doing is giving you instructions on your next task.
Third, I hate that you have to use the keyboard to move around and to issue most of your commands. In fact, it seems the only time you're using the mouse is to rotate the camera angle, and to control your minions.
To be honest, and maybe this improves over the course of the game, I really did not feel like a powerful Overlord. Instead, I felt like any typical "Tomb Raider" type character with a few extra abilities. In fact, it took me a few strikes with my weapon to kill some sheep. Some sheep, really? Shouldn't an Overlord be able to dispose of some sheep without having to hack at it a few times?
To summarize, if you're into linear puzzle-games, this could be a great game for you. But as far as being anything close to the D&D adventure game I was seeking, this sorely misses the mark.
I'm not sure what I'll be trying next, depends on what I can get my hands on...
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