GamingShogun writes, "'Kudos 2', the long-awaited sequel to the popular 'turn-based casual life-sim' has been released today by developer Cliff Harris (Positech Games). Cliff made the gaming news headlines a few months ago with his open-letter to PC game pirates, asking why people pirate his games, and Kudos 2 is the first game to take their responses into account. The game has a long-playing demo available right now, and the full DRM-free version of the game is being sold for just $19.95 (making it even cheaper than the original game was at launch)..."
This week, the Humble Sale has gone back to selling video games, with the titles up for grabs coming from strategy developer Positech Games.
Gamertell has posted a mixed review of Positech Games' Kudos 2.
From the review:
"There are two possible impressions you can get from Kudos 2. If you play in an intelligent and thoughtful manner, pacing yourself and picking one focus for your virtual character's life, you'll be successful and perhaps even find the game easy to play. If you decide to go in and just do anything, trying to balance all aspects of your character's life at once, you'll end up a bankrupt, uncultured, bored, dirty and ill waiter/waitress for 10 in-game years."
Boomtown: "It's impressive how games allow people everywhere to experience things – at least without danger - otherwise out of their reach, and yet ultimately revert back to imitating the very thing that they were designed to distract you from. Games like Fable, The Sims or even Second Life, for example, pose a strong emphasis on integration into a world in which material propagation and commerce play an integral role in your character's progression through the story.
These types of games aren't impressive because they give the player the ability to recreate their own lives; it's the simulation of the opportunity to make choices they would never consider in reality that makes them alluring.
They can't, of course, give you an understanding of how that relationship you ended in year ten of High School would have played out had you not buckled under the pressure of premature commitment, but they do allow you to adopt a different perspective on your life – or at least facetiously emulate your own experiences. If I hadn't studied writing I expect I would've entered the field of science, and the fact you can give your digital creation such opportunities is rewarding in itself, but there's something inherently depressing about moulding what you perceive to be a perfect form of yourself."
