Fable: The lost chapters. Is it worth it? I loved Fable II, but Fable III is a complete disaster, with all those dumb useless game mechanics none has ever asked for.
If you did not like the mess that Fable 3 was, you will hate TLC. It is just a tiny expansion and hardly worth glancing at if I recall correctly.
You recall incorrectly. The Lost Chapters is the enhanced version of Fable 1. It's got far less customisation (you can't design your character, IIRC, and you're stuck as male), but it is a more charming, fun game. If you want an example, go on YouTube and look up The Sock Method.
I actually played TLC a while back. But Althea is right. It is to Fable 1 what The Witcher Enhanced Edition is to The Witcher. Personally I hated the majority of the Fable series. They had some nice parts, but were not what I wanted in a game.
Fable is RPG-lite with an emphasis on Trying To Be Funny. I think I'll stick to Discworld for Fantasy Funnies, to be brutally honest.
The Max Payne sale got tweaked. Game's now down to £7.50 (about $10?) with the DLC Pass (which has everything) for £5.
All of the Civ games are VERY good -- most are considered classics. 5 (well at least 2012's expansion, "Gods and Kings") was considered for game of the year by a whole lot of games sites. If you've played other 4X games, well Civ is kind of their grandfather (and Empire is the Great Grandfather). Each version has been a little different, and I've liked all of them (though 3 was not one of the better ones, imho). So yes, Civ 4 is very, very good.
I assume they were in a pack - just keep in mind 3 is essentially a weak prototype of 4, it doesn't have much to stand out for in terms of anything to 4.
I thought that 3 was flawed in a number of ways -- didn't see it as a prototype, just a game following the Civ formula, but with a new idea or two that did not quite work as well as they could have. I do give Firaxis credit in that they are keeping the game fresh with each release, while never quite losing the franchise's identity, and managing to introduce the game to new audiences as well. That said, why the hell won't Firaxis come out with an Alpha Centauri 2? They probably said why at one point, but I don't recall it if they did. I thought that AC was such a brilliant game in the Civ tradition. It could certainly use some updating, though.
3 also refuses to work properly on Win 7. Took me some forcing to get it to run on Win 7 and even then it was far from perfect. To be honest, I'm a fan of Civ V over Civ IV. Civ IV's UI is horrible, I hate religion in it and Espionage feels eh. I found Civ V's inclusion of those aspects to be much better. Oh, and I like the leader screens where they don't just loop the same animations at you, instead talking to you either in the original language or a sensible modern alternative. Also, Haldurson? Alpha Centauri is owned by EA. Firaxis are, I believe, owned by 2K. That is why. They could - and should, I suppose - do it again under a new name, though.
EA is on my blacklist forever for the junk they have done to good games. I recently bought a game without bothering to research it because it was in the Steam Winter Sale. Two Worlds 2. It was a pain in the ass to register it. Steam should insist that a new executable be made for Steam use only, to bypass the information trolls involved in that game. They require a page long form to be filled out, and then reject it over and over for no reason. When I abandoned trying to get it to work after filling it out ten or so times I just started using "1" for all fields but the zip code. And for that I used "11111" and a valid email. Then ironically it worked. The companies involved in that mess are now blacklisted forever. At least until I again mistakenly buy something from them...
If you blacklisted companies every time they've made bad games or done things wrong then you'd never buy a game ever.
Hey, at least there's no carnivorous asparagus in the game. I think I would follow Omni's example if they ever decide to include that (or condiments -- I hate anything with pimento).
