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Buggy, Chuggy, and a pain to install

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 15
Date: November 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who has been on their forums will already know it's buggy. What you might not expect, is that it's still almost unplayably buggy even after the patch (and yes I installed the right one). For instance, in part 5 of the tutorial you are supposed to talk to 2 guys, now for the first guy, this is no problem. However for the 2nd guy, you can't talk to him. The game simply won't let you. I've done everything I could to get my guy to talk to him, and it simply wouldn't. And since I can't advance in the tutorial without talking to him, I can't learn any of the other parts of the game.

Ignoring that problem, the game is extreemally chuggy. My PC well exceeds the reccomended requirements, and I have chuginess about as much as possible (without it becoming considered lagg). Now this doesn't effect game play too much (unlike if it had been in an action game) but it's still extreemally annoying.

If any of you have a decent DVD Drive or x64, be sure to set aside about 2 hours to get the game up and running. There is copy protection, which does a very bad job (not Starforce though), and will constantly think you have a copy of the game instead of the original CD, regardless if you have the original or not. I personally had to un and re install several times, try different directories, different ways to get around the protection, and a few other things before I was finally able to simply RUN the game.

And besides all of this, the controlls are something you'll never get used to. The camera is controlled by the right button, the person moves on a "click here" method, loading and unloading requires you click, drag, click, drag, click, click, click, click, wait, and then repeat to finish the process. Really they're just very poorly done. I've never played an RPG with these controlls.

Now, beyond this, the game might be very good, I don't really know, because of the bugs I never got to learn. Now, if they decide to relese another patch that actually FIXES the game (which I can't imagine they wouldn't do considering how buggy this game is) I will re-review the game. But as for now, I'm leaving the rating at 2 stars.

Perfect execution of a fantastic medieval simulation!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed the first in this series, but this one just takes it all to a whole new level. It should be noted that I only played this after 1.2 patch came out that addressed all of the bugs everyone complained about. So I feel there is no point in harping on ancient history - the game is fixed - and it is fabulous.

The possibilities in this game are near endless, you can do virtually anything you want, when you want it. Think Sims + Oblivion + Settlers all rolled into one game, in perfect harmony.

Replayability is huge, with plenty of maps, a lot of professions and classes. Nothing is scripted, everything happens like it would in the real world. The learning curve in this game is fairly large, and many people new to the series will require 2-3 manual reads and the tutorials done at least twice. But you are rewarded with a fantastic game, realistic gameplay, and a world you'll come to love.

This one is almost a great game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have read the other reviews here and I feel compelled to contribute a bit. This game has allot going for it. If your system can handle it the graphics are very good. The voice acting is excellent. There is indeed a great deal to keep you occupied with mastering the different career paths but the learning curve is a bit steeper then many have implied. The manual that ships with the game and the tutorial will get you started but you will be figuring out much of the game by trial and error.
This one is harder then usual to review. On the positive side this is a new and unique game. Essentially it's an economic simulation but it also incorporates politics and a bit of diplomacy as well as sim life and even a bit of combat. On the negative side the game is probably unplayable at the minimum system requirements listed on the box. I assume this because it is nearly unplayable with a system that exceeds those requirements but doesn't meet what they call the recommended requirements. I may revisit this review after I install a new graphics card but for the moment with 128MB card the lag is terrible. I still give this game high marks for originality, eye candy, good voice acting and pleasant music, and a great deal of re-playability. I take a bit back because your system needs to be a monster to enjoy the games full potential and the learning curve is pretty steep with a manual that is pretty thin.

This is better than the first Guild,

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I thought the first Guild game was great, Guild 2 is similar, but, it adds many things the first one didn't have. One major thing, you can actually see your character, you see your family, friends, you can actually walk up to them, where as in the first one, you could only read about the actions. Other than political meetings and employees.


In Guild 2, you can zoom in much better, and actually hear them speaking.
even deciding from speaking options. Makes you wonder if they didn't hold back from the first Guild game, so, there could be a Guild 2, so what, I like this game.

This is not for the action gamer, there is action, but, not every 30 seconds. You may go without, what you consider action, for minutes, maybe longer. It's almost like "The Sim's" in 1400...a little.

The manual is fair, but, it doesn't have all the answers.

Depending on the kind of Computer you have, if your computer is older than 3 years old, without being tweaked, it could lag some. Amounts of Ram helps, having at least 1GB of Ram. It may lag a bit, in something smaller. But, lowering the graphics does help a bit, adjusting things like grass, trees etc. Stuff you're not going to pay that much attention to, so, put most of the quailty in the characters.

When all is said, and its working, it has hours, days, and yes, even months of fun.

Update-
After about a month of playing it a bit more, there is a couple of bugs,even with the patch. Another problem I have with this game,and other
3-D games, is when the characters can walk through buildings,other
people and much more. Its not realistic looking.

Also, when brothers, or whoever, are romancing the same girl, right in front of them, there is no reaction, they stand there. For such a huge ram eater like this, there should be some emotion from the characters.

Its still a very fun game, flaws and all, but, if and when they make an expansion, there is lots of things they can add. That will make this the best game out there of its kind.

Easy Fix

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: January 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Don't let other reviews fool you. This is a damn good game, good for wasting countless hours. I'm in Iraq so theres not a whole lot to be done during down time, and most games get real old, real fast. The Guild 2 has helped me through it all, and has run a few weeks of this deployment. It is however a little buggy, but most of which got fixed in the most recent patch. The internet is horrible over here, but the patch version 1.2 only took a few minutes to download, and after that I was good to go. Easy. Don't let people saying this game has has a lot of bugs skew your decision. Once you patch it you'll be pleased.

So close

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am sad to say that this game was ALMOST awesome! It is a lot of fun for a few weeks but there are just too many things they did not do right to make this a long term game. If they had just done one or two things better then this would be one of those titles I would not be able to put down. Maybe The Guild III will get it right.

Do whatever you want, if you can figure out how

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by saying this game was one of the funnest I've ever played, partly because of the enormous depth, replayability, and variety in the game itself, and also because, as another reviewer stated, it combines aspects from the Sims, eldar scrolls games, and the settlers. This keen observation is very true, as in the course of any given game you will be courting lovers, cementing relationships, insulting people, and having babies (The Sims),you will also be stealing, upgrading weapons, and commanding a character to do wahtever it wants (Eldar Scrolls), all the while, you can manage a business, or multiple ones, a farm, mines, buy a home, get in politics, spy on people, charge someone of a crime, its almost as if you are one of the inhabitents living in The Settlers. It seems like the producers went far to make it an open ended game in which the player can do almost anything they want. In addition to the possibilities in playing, the game has the graphics to back it up. It looks quite real, the faces are not all similar(older people even have wrinkles, but don't fret, your character will get them as well when they age),and you can even see inside your businesses, homes, and public buildings which, surprisingly,add rooms as you upgrade them. The buildings are also impressive, not because there is a whole lot but instead because you can upgrade them constantly. The game is also in real time, so you must manage activities and hire more employees to get things done in time, but the game isn't always so hectic, because you can have the computer automanage a business to your specifications. Personally, the game is excatly what I was looking for, and just about everything I could have wanted.
Now for the bad stuff: Despite the game's enormous opportunities and replayability, it is very difficult to learn. This is the downside of its openendedness, that you don't know how to do most of the stuff. Many things are not in the manual and must simply be picked up as you go. THe rogue campaign was especially difficult for me to inderstand. The tutorials provide some basic backing to understanding, but most most of the tutorial is common sense stuff, like "to attack a person, click the attack button on them", or "to move the screen, move the mouse to the edge of the screen". The manual is quite useless and it will be talking about how to do something, and then say that you can do something else, without explaining what the other thing is or how to do it. This is a major turnoff to most people, who might give up on the game when they can't get it, or some who don't know they can do some stuff, so they think the game is simple with few options and they get bored quickly. Overall, it will take patience. Another complaint is that the game has just enough diologue to make you wanting more. For instance, plaintiffs in court trials do speak, but they say the same things, and whether or not it helps their case only depends on their rhetoric skill. Other diologue problems make it less realistic, for instance, a female complimented my male character on his "good hair", whilst my male character complimented her for being "well-built". It seemed like the roles were reversed. Moreover relationship issues come into play at a certain point. You need babies to keep your line going, but marriage hardly ties 2 people together and the only real interaction they recieve is during the "courting" time, which incidintally was extremely tiresome because you have to keep leaving your job/political obligations to see her, and since you may only reuse your intertaction buttons after several hours, their is very few times you may actually see her. This becomes less of a problem in advanced cities where taverns and other places allow to court without using interaction buttons. Nevertheless, relationship issues leads to stupid things like a courting period lasting 16 years. My biggest and most important complaint however, is the game glitches. Occasionally it will take a long time to load something simple, like a description of bread, but this can be worked around, the only problem affected gameplay is crashes on my computer. My computer is upgraded and can play Medieval 2 Total War with relative ease without doing too much, but on THe GUild 2, the computer will systematically crash, and I have the patch installed. The crashes only started a week after I had started playing, and they increased in number until now I can't even play it. I'm still waiting to hear from the support team. This problem is likely isolated, and only on my computer, but it helps reveal some game problems that many people might have, especially considering I meet all the requirements.
Overall the fun outwieghs the bad sides, and most of my complaints were over expressed because they were the only real things I saw that I didn't like.

Historical building

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love building games that are historical and give you other options about doing things that are political, etc. It isn't the most informative tutorial nor does the manual explain enough but you learn by trial and error fairly easily and that is how I play it. Not an exciting game for those who love to fight and love action games. It's more for the slow paced game lover who likes to build and loves historical references.

Very fun but....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am a proud owner of The Guild II and I feel the need to discuss it with the world. To begin, it is an RPG set in the middle ages after the crusades. You can choose lots of little details like your hometown, mission, and even your family crest. But first, here are some basics... First, you begin as a middle classman (or woman) in 1400 on the map of your choice. There are 4 main classes; Rogue, Scholar, Patron, and Craftsman. Craftsmen can do things such as mining, blacksmithing, lumberjacking, and other related activites. Scholars can brew potions, be a priest, and are best apt for politics. Patrons are in charge of the food supply, meaning they can be farmers, innkeepers, or bakers. Rogues finally live by crime and other nefarious activites such as highwaying, pickpocketing, burglary, even kidnapping. In the game, there isn't a campaign but some very fun missions and even a sandbox mode. You can go into politics, found a family, even destroy your competitors through clever court trials, duels, or by simply tasking your henchmen to kill them. Okay, now for the bad part. Though the game is recommended on normal detail, it usually doesn't run very fast or very reliably on a standard grade XP. I turned the general quality to low and the model quality to normal and it worked more reliably. However, on normal I experienced some problems that included the range of gameplay, loading, certain actions (such as sending your children to school) and other things.
All in all, a very fun game, but it needs a version 1.3 patch.

Ambitious Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Guild 2 is a very ambitious game. It attempts to simulate not the life of a single person but the life of an entire medieval/renaissance merchant dynasty like that of the Fuggers or the Medici. Beginning with a single family member, trainined in the basics of an art of your choosing, your goal is to climb, claw, assassinate, steal, bribe and otherwise fight your way to the top of the 15th century pecking order.

Starting characters can start plying any number of trades such as alchemist, blacksmith, priest, innkeeper, bandit and many more. Beginning with a single, basic shop and a couple of employees you found a dynasty that will allow you to experience many of the other trades in the game either by purchasing them outright or by living vicariously through carefully trained descendents.

Marriage is of the utmost importance - a good marriage can bring you businesses, expand the range of trades you can ply and allows you to expand your dynasty through your children. Once you have them it is possible to farm your children out for work as apprentices in yours, or someone elses', business or send them off to school for some of the more academic trades.

The day to day affairs of life are as simple as making sure you have enough raw materials to keep your workshops going to siccing arsonists on rival businesses, politicking at the city council or dragging your rivals (or yourself!) to court for offenses real or imagined. As you advance in the game more social actions, such as duels and banquets, become available for you to enact in the game.

There is some multiplayer capability to The Guild 2. You are required to create an account that is linked to your CD key. The long playing times of this game, however, make multiplayer somewhat difficult since there can be days of playing time possible in a single game - limits are the key to a successful multiplayer session.

There are numerous bugs that came with the original shipping of the game, including some that are a quick crash-to-desktop. The camera controls are somewhat buggy and difficult at times and the graphics are taxing on all but the most advanced of systesms. Since the initial release a number of patches have been released for the American version that correct many of the problems seen in the original shipping. Aside from the numerous bugs in the initial release the biggest limitation is the number of maps available - there are six maps total, two variations each on three different base maps, many fewer than the game's predecessor.

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