The first time this was given away back in January 2008 it received a positive 74% of 426 votes, with 82 comments many of which are worth reading for a well rounded review of this game. It was given away a second time in November 2008 when it received a less favourable response with a positive 56% of 437 votes and 49 comments most of which were not worth reading. You can check out the comments from these previous giveaway days via the two links below:
Jan 08:
See previous comments from Nov 08 HERE
Nov 08:
See previous comments from Nov 08 HERE
The 36.4Mb file once installed is only 44Mb in size. That’s very small for an rts game. The activation module and setup are combined into one module, so installation is a breeze. :) The default location for installation is C:\games, and it is installed as Deep Quest Build. The version appears to be the same as the last time this was given away (according to the Read Me found withing the games installed folder, thugh there was a slight difference in the size of the installed game. The installation from Jan 08 was 44.9Mb and today's is 44.8Mb
Introduction & Game info:
Deep Quest takes you to the watery realms of the Deep, where an epic battle between Abyssians and Gordlons is underway. You will command the Abyssian Defense Force and undertake 10 Quests, each with unique maps and challenges. Upgrade your units and structures to win battles. Get lost in an engrossing story line with plot twists and great characters.
Reference: http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/2010/deep-quest/index.html?afcode=af2dfb6ab328&src=bfg12y09engsdeeq&gclid=CPK2t9T42pACFShsGgodSzLZYA accessed April 2009
If you follow the link to the January 08 comments and read Revelation’s comment #9, Bovi’s comment #11 and The Belgian Dudes comment #15 they fill in most of what I would have liked to have said in today’s review. I was intending to write a full review for today’s game, but it’s Easter and I have family visiting. All three reviews by these guys say enough for me to take a break from my usual long review today. To be honest, this isn’t the type of game you can write a decent review for in a few hours. It definitely needs several hours of play (which I’ve not got time for, due to family visiting) for me to write a worthwhile review of this game….. Anyway, here’s my small contribution
This is a welcome change from the standard Arcade games and I would suggest if you have never played an RTS game before, try this as it’s a great introduction to the genre. It’s a very colorful and downright cute looking game which would make it an ideal choice for family play. Someone previously commented that to appreciate rts games you need to play online. This is not true as many games of this genre, including all those I mention below have good AI’s so you can get quite a challenge from them unless you’re a very experienced rts player. Every game can be different depending upon how you go about building your empire; and for me my outcomes when playing these sorts of games (for example StarCraft, American Conquest, Lord of the Rings, Cossacks II, Commando’s and Command and Conquer, etc) have always been different. I’ve been playing RTS games for years starting with the original Civilization back in the early 90’s; (though purist rts players would baulk at me saying Civilization was an rts game, lol). I’ve never played them online ( much preferring FPS for that) though I’m not knocking online play as I’m sure pitting your wits against another human player in the many online rts games that are available can be great fun and very satisfying (especially if you win) :lol: One of the most successful online computer games World of Warcraft is an rts game.
The games help menu is very helpful, with basic game play moves explained pictorially, for example building structures, creating and selecting units, basic movement, casting spells plus several other game play essentials. Each unit and structure for both forces are described as well as all the upgrades you can buy and finally the games interface is explained. There's several different types of units for each faction, for example the Abyssians have characters called Sea Gnomes, Merboys, Sea Priestess's, Titan Turtles and sea scouts with upgrades such as Merboy Champion and High Priestess. Gordlon units include Sea Imps, Storm Warriors, Kraken, Spy Fish and Sea Warlocks, though none are upgradeable (being the opposing force). You can't play as the Gordlon. There's also several structures that can be built for the Abyssians , such as Gladius, Hamlets, Coral Forts (upgradeable to Coral Strongholds) and for the Gordlons, Sand Keeps, Bone Tombs, Skull Outlooks and Enclaves. There are more, but you won't find an extensive building list (such as you'll find in games like Cossacks) and upgrades are only limited, but for a beginners rts this is great.
The options menu allows you to toggle on or off a few graphical features, so if you're finding the game runs a little sluggishly you can turn off such things as fog or animated bubbles. There's also a hints toggle for those who feel they may need some prompts during the game. A very useful feature for those who've never played this genre of game before. You'll also find the usual sound effects and music sliders within the options menu. If you want to change the games music you can find the appropriate music files via the following path (assuming you installed the game to its default location:
C:\Games\Deep_Quest_Build\BGMusic
You'll require an audio converter to change the music you wish to use from MP3 to ogg. You'll also need to change the name of the music to the names of the music you are replacing, for example Main Theme.ogg or In_GameMsic.ogg.
The game is fully mouse controlled.
Follow the link below for some Goggled images. For some reason my screen capture software wouldn't capture images from this game. You can find a small video of the game play by following the link I’ve used for the reference above (to Big Fish games). It’s only a tiny format and doesn’t show much. Neither the images or the video do justice to the game, but may help you to decide whether or not to download the game.
Conclusion:
Go get it folks, the help menu’s are well presented and cover everything you need to know about the game. Though if you are into those styles of game play that allow you to just open up and play for a few minutes at a time then this is probably not for you, though you can still do that with this sort of game but it would take you forever to progress ;)
There are loads of RTS games to be found in the bargain bins of games shops so if you find you like this sort of game play, you’ll find much better ones out there; (btw I’m not knocking it) For me it’s worth 7 out of 10, though I won’t be playing it much because I have a whole shelf full of RTS games that are more to my liking (Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth, Company of Heroes, all of the Total War series, Cossacks II, Hard to be a God, American Conquest, World in Conflict, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Commandos series – I’ve just bought a couple of excellent rts style games via Steam and Good Old Games for little more than $3 or $4 each. You can get Sacred Gold for $4.20 and two of the Disciples II titles for a little more from Steam and from GOG you can get Gorky 17 for $5.99 all of which are great bargains – the price for Sacred Gold goes up after Monday 13th. I’ve seen it selling for $20 elsewhere), I would highly recommend any of the titles I mention above if you like today’s style of game play. Most of the titles I mention above are bargain basement material now.
Thank you very much Merscom and the Game Giveaway team.
If you have any problems with today's game please post details in the forums as well as in the comments section so that you have more chance of the problem being resolved at a later date.
