Posted October 02, 2010
high rated
I'm writing this message as a form of a review of the service and game selection offered at GOG.com, and first and foremost I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the GOG team for doing such a noble and commendable job of liberating the classic old games from restrictive licenses that very often feature one form of DRM or another, and making the eternal classics available for buying and downloading instantly in an easy and straightforward way.
It saddens me when I see that some of the classic games I always loved and love are no longer available for sale, or that my scratched old CDs no longer work but they are required to make the game work due to Securom or some other stupid DRM, or that I'm limited to installing the game on only one PC and the installation process is controlled via online activation. Of course, in the modern world I can't entirely avoid services such as Steam, but I only resort to them when absolutely necessary, and each time with a heavy heart, knowing that I have absolutely no control over what I buy and install - Steam controls it all, and can change the rules of the game any time it wants.
Therefore, I was incredibly happy to see the birth of GOG.com as a valiant and noble effort to revive the eternal classics, combining a very simple and intuitive purchase interface, a decent game selection, and a very affordable price (both $5.99 and $9.99 for a direct download with a ton of extras and a legal way to install the game on multiple PCs if necessary, with no DRM or online activation whatsoever, is a stunningly awesome deal!).
While the original game selection was decent but not super impressive, the selection continued to steadily grow and I was happy to see many of my favorite titles, including Heroes of Might & Magic, Fallout, Descent, Duke Nukem 3D, Unreal Tournament, and many others come to the scene. I happily bought many games that I've already owned before on CDs (e.g. the Fallout series), because a click-and-install digital download was simply irresistible for me, and my original CDs started to suffer from some noticeable wear and tear.
The selection of games at GOG.com becomes only better with time, and I was simply amazed by the fact that the Hasbro/Atari classics came to the scene (that was totally unexpected and so welcome, because those were the games under one of potentially the most difficult licenses to secure, and also they were also some of those early huge multi-CD games that were a bit of a pain with all the CD switching or the multi-CD installation with further patching). Despite the fact that I also own the original, first release 5 CDs of Baldur's Gate (+1 CD of ToTSC) and 4 CDs of Planescape: Torment, the GOG digital versions were purchased immediately and it's amazing how simple it is to install the games now, pretty much anywhere I want and need (I'm even playing BG on my Linux laptop now using Wine - and I don't have to tackle making Wine see the CD in the drive or the dumped CD images, and then handle CD switching).
I'm sincerely hoping that the surprises with the Atari/Hasbro line are not over yet and that we will see Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate 2, and Icewind Dale 2 also released in a similar format - for me personally any and all of them would be instant purchases.
I truly like the fact that GOG.com is doing their best to maintain compatibility of our favorite oldies with the new operating systems - sometimes using DOSBox, ScummVM, or other means to run the DOS oldies. This initiative is highly appreciated, and it's actually a very rare feat among game designers and distributors alike - many modern games receive far less love when it comes to compatibility with upcoming operating systems than GOG gives to the classic oldies.
Of course, there were some relatively minor problems with the GOG.com packages, none of which however truly ruined the experience for me - probably if I were to name the biggest problem I've faced so far, it was the frustration that overcame me after I purchased HoMM 2 Gold Edition and heard that the CD soundtrack was encoded with a low bitrate (96 kbit/s) and with audible ripping errors, such as clicking sounds in many tracks. I'm not sure what the reason was for such a low quality conversion, but the ripped/oggified CD track in the game sounded considerably worse than the original CD track on the HoMM 2 Gold CD. At any rate, it was still quite minor and I was still happy with the game, and I was happy to pay $9.99 for a decent license for a digital download of one of my favorite games of all time.
I would like to wish sincere luck and commercial success to GOG.com! Your initiative is highly appreciated, guys, and seriously GOG.com is one of the best places to shop for games for a person like myself, who doesn't really play many modern games but who would gladly play and replay over again the old classics that will never age in my memory and will always have a place in my heart.
I'm really excited about the Atari/Hasbro deal, and I'm sure that the D&D role-playing games from this line will become (and have already become) a hit and the cream of the crop of GOG collection for a long time. I hope to see more restrictive licenses secured in the future. There's still more out there to hope for - LucasArts classics (I have no idea if it would ever be possible to secure a license for something like Monkey Island or X-Wing Alliance though, but after Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment I would no longer be surprised at anything, even the most unbelievable things, coming from GOG.com :)), Thief: The Dark Project and System Shock series, and many many more. So, there's a lot to buy now and I'm sure there will be a whole lot of goodies to buy and play in the future. :)
Best of luck to you again, guys, I want you to know that you are loved! :)
And, to sum it up, here's the overview of the pros and cons of the GOG service as I see them right now (since it's supposed to be a review ;)):
PROS:
- A great selection of classic oldies that will never age in the hearts of true collectors (and the collector value of which will only rise over time).
- The already great selection becomes even more impressive regularly (practically weekly).
- All the games are offered under a non-restrictive license, with no DRM, with no download limitations, with no limitations as to how many computers you can install the game on, and with no online activation.
- All the games are offered incredibly cheaply - $6-$10 for a classic game with no DRM or other typical modern license limitations is a great deal. Regular discount sales sometimes make the price go even far lower than that.
- The original GOG.com installer is very easy to use and is Wine-friendly when installing games under Linux,
- GOG.com tries to ensure and maintain compatibility of the offered games with the modern operating systems (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 64-bit variants).
CONS:
- Certain games could have been given a little more love than they were given when released in GOG format (e.g. HoMM 2) - this is a rather minor problem and I've only seen it happen with one game so far.
- Even though most of the games available at GOG.com were designed for Windows, perhaps a Linux compatibility note, especially for the games which were originally also designed to run under Linux (e.g. Unreal Tournament 2004), would have been nice. Providing Linux binaries when they were available for the original game, at least as a separate download through GOG.com interface (among the bonuses, perhaps?), would have also been a nice and welcome addition.
- The 64-bit support is not complete yet (but it's obvious that GOG.com is working hard on improving the compatibility and adding the "Windows Vista 64-bit/Windows 7 64-bit" line to as many games as they can).
Overall score is 10/10 even given all the cons I've mentioned. GOG.com is a service that in my opinion can't be missed. :) Great job, guys, keep up the splendid work!
- Agetian
It saddens me when I see that some of the classic games I always loved and love are no longer available for sale, or that my scratched old CDs no longer work but they are required to make the game work due to Securom or some other stupid DRM, or that I'm limited to installing the game on only one PC and the installation process is controlled via online activation. Of course, in the modern world I can't entirely avoid services such as Steam, but I only resort to them when absolutely necessary, and each time with a heavy heart, knowing that I have absolutely no control over what I buy and install - Steam controls it all, and can change the rules of the game any time it wants.
Therefore, I was incredibly happy to see the birth of GOG.com as a valiant and noble effort to revive the eternal classics, combining a very simple and intuitive purchase interface, a decent game selection, and a very affordable price (both $5.99 and $9.99 for a direct download with a ton of extras and a legal way to install the game on multiple PCs if necessary, with no DRM or online activation whatsoever, is a stunningly awesome deal!).
While the original game selection was decent but not super impressive, the selection continued to steadily grow and I was happy to see many of my favorite titles, including Heroes of Might & Magic, Fallout, Descent, Duke Nukem 3D, Unreal Tournament, and many others come to the scene. I happily bought many games that I've already owned before on CDs (e.g. the Fallout series), because a click-and-install digital download was simply irresistible for me, and my original CDs started to suffer from some noticeable wear and tear.
The selection of games at GOG.com becomes only better with time, and I was simply amazed by the fact that the Hasbro/Atari classics came to the scene (that was totally unexpected and so welcome, because those were the games under one of potentially the most difficult licenses to secure, and also they were also some of those early huge multi-CD games that were a bit of a pain with all the CD switching or the multi-CD installation with further patching). Despite the fact that I also own the original, first release 5 CDs of Baldur's Gate (+1 CD of ToTSC) and 4 CDs of Planescape: Torment, the GOG digital versions were purchased immediately and it's amazing how simple it is to install the games now, pretty much anywhere I want and need (I'm even playing BG on my Linux laptop now using Wine - and I don't have to tackle making Wine see the CD in the drive or the dumped CD images, and then handle CD switching).
I'm sincerely hoping that the surprises with the Atari/Hasbro line are not over yet and that we will see Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate 2, and Icewind Dale 2 also released in a similar format - for me personally any and all of them would be instant purchases.
I truly like the fact that GOG.com is doing their best to maintain compatibility of our favorite oldies with the new operating systems - sometimes using DOSBox, ScummVM, or other means to run the DOS oldies. This initiative is highly appreciated, and it's actually a very rare feat among game designers and distributors alike - many modern games receive far less love when it comes to compatibility with upcoming operating systems than GOG gives to the classic oldies.
Of course, there were some relatively minor problems with the GOG.com packages, none of which however truly ruined the experience for me - probably if I were to name the biggest problem I've faced so far, it was the frustration that overcame me after I purchased HoMM 2 Gold Edition and heard that the CD soundtrack was encoded with a low bitrate (96 kbit/s) and with audible ripping errors, such as clicking sounds in many tracks. I'm not sure what the reason was for such a low quality conversion, but the ripped/oggified CD track in the game sounded considerably worse than the original CD track on the HoMM 2 Gold CD. At any rate, it was still quite minor and I was still happy with the game, and I was happy to pay $9.99 for a decent license for a digital download of one of my favorite games of all time.
I would like to wish sincere luck and commercial success to GOG.com! Your initiative is highly appreciated, guys, and seriously GOG.com is one of the best places to shop for games for a person like myself, who doesn't really play many modern games but who would gladly play and replay over again the old classics that will never age in my memory and will always have a place in my heart.
I'm really excited about the Atari/Hasbro deal, and I'm sure that the D&D role-playing games from this line will become (and have already become) a hit and the cream of the crop of GOG collection for a long time. I hope to see more restrictive licenses secured in the future. There's still more out there to hope for - LucasArts classics (I have no idea if it would ever be possible to secure a license for something like Monkey Island or X-Wing Alliance though, but after Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment I would no longer be surprised at anything, even the most unbelievable things, coming from GOG.com :)), Thief: The Dark Project and System Shock series, and many many more. So, there's a lot to buy now and I'm sure there will be a whole lot of goodies to buy and play in the future. :)
Best of luck to you again, guys, I want you to know that you are loved! :)
And, to sum it up, here's the overview of the pros and cons of the GOG service as I see them right now (since it's supposed to be a review ;)):
PROS:
- A great selection of classic oldies that will never age in the hearts of true collectors (and the collector value of which will only rise over time).
- The already great selection becomes even more impressive regularly (practically weekly).
- All the games are offered under a non-restrictive license, with no DRM, with no download limitations, with no limitations as to how many computers you can install the game on, and with no online activation.
- All the games are offered incredibly cheaply - $6-$10 for a classic game with no DRM or other typical modern license limitations is a great deal. Regular discount sales sometimes make the price go even far lower than that.
- The original GOG.com installer is very easy to use and is Wine-friendly when installing games under Linux,
- GOG.com tries to ensure and maintain compatibility of the offered games with the modern operating systems (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 64-bit variants).
CONS:
- Certain games could have been given a little more love than they were given when released in GOG format (e.g. HoMM 2) - this is a rather minor problem and I've only seen it happen with one game so far.
- Even though most of the games available at GOG.com were designed for Windows, perhaps a Linux compatibility note, especially for the games which were originally also designed to run under Linux (e.g. Unreal Tournament 2004), would have been nice. Providing Linux binaries when they were available for the original game, at least as a separate download through GOG.com interface (among the bonuses, perhaps?), would have also been a nice and welcome addition.
- The 64-bit support is not complete yet (but it's obvious that GOG.com is working hard on improving the compatibility and adding the "Windows Vista 64-bit/Windows 7 64-bit" line to as many games as they can).
Overall score is 10/10 even given all the cons I've mentioned. GOG.com is a service that in my opinion can't be missed. :) Great job, guys, keep up the splendid work!
- Agetian
