Giveaway of the Day - SAGA

Today’s game was a big surprise the first time it was given away. It’s since been given away again, but each time there were different offers involved. It’s never done particularly well with respect to community acceptance with it getting around a positive 50% thumbs up each time it was given away. Check out the comments from the last time it was given away:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/saga-fully-registered-version/#comments

Today appears to be a combined offer where you get a fully registered game, which the first time we didn’t, and we also get booster packs, which we didn’t the second time this was given away.
It’s rather different to your normal game giveaway because it’s an online game as opposed to a stand alone arcade game. For those of you who may be a little dismayed at this news, don’t as it really is like playing a single player game, and if you wish, you can play it as such, though I do think part of the fun of this game is the inconsistency of game play for which human players are renowned. The AI (artificial intelligence) of the game is okay, but nothing spectacular. As you level up, the battles do become harder, but so long as you’re sensible with your troops and ensure your city has adequate growth, you should easily see your city and empire grow.

For those who do categorically prefer to play alone you can play solo campaigns with this game, but they are still played online. One of the great advantages of playing this game is that playing with or against other humans you’ll get a totally unpredictable gaming experience every time you play. The client installer is 379Mb in size.

The good news is that this giveaway is again going to be run over a two day period, so those on dial up can still get the chance to download the client. (There will be another game as well tomorrow) Once you’ve completed the registration form which does entail giving personal information such as your full name, address, age, and an Email you should then be able to register and create your own online persona, which will follow you through the persistent online world. Once you have the client, the game is totally free to play though you can purchase additional booster packs to enhance your gaming experience. These booster packs add new armies and spells which can be traded with other players in game, though they are not necessary to experience the main aspect of the game. (see the link below for some details of these booster packs), and you can earn them by playing the game, but it just takes a lot longer. Anyway, another bit of good news is that we’re getting some booster packs with this offer as well, which as mentioned above we didn’t get when we got the fully registered game previously.

The following is the original official press release about the game:

The official press release for the title lists off some of the features of the game:

“Saga brings persistency to RTS gaming. You build cities and armies to defend and manage a persistent online kingdom in a persistent fantasy world. When you’re offline, your kingdom continues to function; your guild wars progress as your friends and teammates play, your resources continue collecting, your kingdom continues to defend against enemy assassins and espionage missions…
“Saga’s features include military questing, an auction house for trading troops and spells, guild wars, espionage, and more. Kingdoms and armies gain permanent experience that carries forward perpetually for a more realistic and more exciting RTS experience.

“Additionally, Saga brings the excitement of collectible gaming to the online environment. Rather than pay subscription fees, in Saga you pay as little or as much as you decide. Just as in collectible card or miniatures games, players can buy ‘booster packs’ of random troops and spells, which are traded and customized to create the strategic army of choice for each player.”

Ref: http://pc.gamezone.com/news/06_29_07_12_03PM.htm 5th April 08

After watching several You tube videos, I was impressed, though I’m still struggling to start my own personal rts games such as the Total War series and World in Conflict because they do take up much more time with respect to learning the key bindings and reading the menus. This has continued since we first got SAGA, and I’ve added to my library of RTS games since.

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The following link take you to several videos of SAGA:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p8rdP2RqXk0&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kEF9H4vnCK0&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H40lEs8ifxk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWrvokWQLdk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw4Ym0dea3Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GDvOs396Mw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFe8ED5au3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBU9tk8fP3Y&feature=related

The above will give you a much better idea as to what the game entails and whether or not you’re going to like it.

It’s not the kind of game you can jump into and start playing straight off. You need to set up your game by choosing a faction, build your kingdom and defend it with armies, some of the features of the game include military questing, an auction house for trading troops and spells, guild wars and espionage. There are several ways you can progress in this game. You’ll also need to familiarize yourself with the key bindings and change those to suit your own preferences before you start the game. It will require some thought, lots of strategy and time to become successful in such a game, but once you get the hang of everything the experience can be very rewarding.

The following article that I’ve linked to is an interview with one of the developers that gives a really good insight into the game and I would highly recommend you read. You’ll find a scattering of in game images as well:

http://pc.gamezone.com/news/06_29_07_12_03PM.htm

You can also read about the various aspects of the game such as the five different factions (The factions include the Machine faction that embraces the Dwarves, the Magic faction, the light faction the War faction and the nature faction). and the army units for each of the factions of which there are over 30 units for each faction, by following the link to the Saga home page and then clicking on the various buttons. You’ll find details of every different unit that’s available in the basic game as well as a description of each faction.

https://www.playsaga.com/saga_index.php

I’ve got to give this 7 out of 10 though I doubt that it will appeal to everyone. (I’d give it a higher rating, but I do think it has a limited audience hence a lower than normal score for what I’d personally give a 9 out of 10 for) I used to play r.t.s games a lot several years ago, and have only just got back into playing them, though the massive online playing still daunts me a little. I only hope there aren’t too many cheaters and hackers out there.

The fully registered game plus the additional booster packs that are being offered plus the fact that it’s running over two days is a big plus. So those on dial up should get this while the goings good.
Finally, if you do miss the giveaway, there is a free version that can be downloaded following the giveaway period. I think the main difference between the one we get and the free one is that the free one is the basic client which won’t allow you to play PvP matches (player versus player matches) as well as some other aspects of the game. Also you won’t have the booster packs that were getting today and tomorrow.

Thank you to the Giveaway Project team and Jason Faller the developer of Saga.

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For those who are adamant that they won’t play an online game, there’s an excellent alternative that I posted in the Free Games for the Weekday Project the other week. It’s a game called Rise & Fall of Civilizations at War, which you can check out via the following link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4359

It’s got most of the elements of SAGA, though it does have some minor adverts placed discreetly within the games start menu. (I’m not happy about advert supported games, but to be honest, this one is one of the exceptions to the rule for me). If you’re happy to pay for your games then I highly recommend games like the Total War series, Universe at War, World in Conflict, The Cossacks series, American Conquest, Hard to be a God, The Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 series as well as some of the World War II r.t.s. games such as The Company of Heroes series. You can get a three game package that includes Mockba to Berlin, D-Day and Desert Rats v Afrika Korps for less than £5, that’s about $7 from Game.UK (my favorite online shop for the past three years)

Yeah, I do to, there’s obviously been some sort of glitch as the mirror wouldn’t work either. I’d check back later. The offer is running for two days.