vrage

I just read Bruce Geryk’s review of the Civilization IV: Warlords expansion. I am glad to see that I was not the only one who found the inclusion of Joseph Stalin in that expansion to be of “questionable taste.”

As a Russian-American whose family was directly affected by Stalin’s purges, frankly I find Stalin’s inclusion as a leader of the Russian civilization to be patently offensive, t was glad that Stalin and other Bolshevik leaders haven’t been present in recent incarnations of Civilization, which makes sense anyway, considering that under the Bolsheviks, Russia ceased to exist as an independent state until it regained independence in 1991.

So not only did Stalin not lead ‘Russia” as such, but he wasn’t even Russian - he was Georgian.

I understand that, given the expansion’s Warlords name, Firaxis Games wanted to include a leader who could be considered a ‘warlord.” But as Bruce pointed out, they wisely didn’t include Adolf Hitler for Germany - so why include Stalin, who was no better than Hitler? If they wanted a Russian warlord, Firaxis could have included one of the Russian Grand Princes like Alexander Nevsky or Dmitri Donskoy. whose names aren’t associated with the deaths of tens of millions of people. I wouldn’t have had a problem if this expansion was specifically devoted to WWII, in which case the inclusion of Stalin and Hitler would have been accurate for historical reasons, but having Stalin as the leader of Russia in an overall context is irresponsible - and I certainly won’t be buying that expansion unless Firaxis issues a patch to remove Stalin.

Considering how great you claim BioShock, your elliptical review doesn’t make it clear why. Having few choices and being blatantly manipulated by situations, characters, and level design is hardly new - and usually frowned upon. The strength of reviewer Sean Molloy’s emotional reactions may say more about him than the game, for all I know. Two “surprisingly similar paths” with two endings, one ‘ unfulfilling?”

This is gaming greatness? What makes this so artistic?

Your BioShock review also assumes I’m already familiar with the game. Mostly, I’m not: I don’t have time to pore over previews and discussion boards, and I know from experience that what’s discussed in a preview often doesn’t match up with the final product. The review’s tiny pictures, obscure captions, and undefined references (”plasmids”?) leave me wondering just what BioShock is about and what it’s like to play it. It sounds like you’re preaching to the converted instead of helping a potential buyer decide whether to purchase the game.

Which tips me off to the fact that this is Computer Gaming World in a clever disguise! “These guys?!” I shriek.

Now I’m steamed, as Mr. Green rubs in the fact that I got tricked into buying a CGW mag with a new name. “To pite him,” I think, I will read this rag cover to cover then tell him what I think!”

So now, Jeff Green, I say to you.nice job. Can’t say I cared for CGW, but that hypnotic symbol of evil shining on the top-left of the cover must’ve made me love the new mag 1 would’ve already subscribed, but all the little subscription cards that are designed to fall out of the magazine fell out,..and I can’t find one! Keep up the good work, all. I’ll give you guys my money just like the little logo tells me to do!

Sf I feet betrayed when I read the opinion of In the Eye of the Storm. From what I can understand - correct me if I am wrong - I feel like his opinion is just confirming that it seems [Blizzardl is so wrapped up and so deep In appeasing the crowd of World of WarCraft [fans] that they are abandoning any developments on future WarCraft series. They have to remember that some of the players in WOW came from WarCraft lit (just like me). It seems like Blizzard s just the same as any other big corporation. The bottom line: It’s all about profit.

Could this have been more of a plug for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live? I understand the concept of simple games being fun and that graphics aren’t everything (ooh, water!), but did you really have to pick Microsoft’s latest darling? Did you have to do it with a platform title rather than a Flash game or freeware title?

I understand the fantastic joy of Pac-Man. And if I hadn’t already wasted hours of my youth with Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man and whatever other Poc-Spinoffs you could name (no cheating with Internet help), I might be willing to play this game you mention… if it [were] available to me on my PC, But since this remake of a quarter-century-old title is not available to Windows gamers - despite Microsoft’s claims that they fully support the PC platform I’ll just play Overlard, which covers much of what you speak of while still rendering very nice water.