Posted January 31, 2010
Arcanum is not for everyone, but those who enjoy the carefully crafted design that made the original Fallout a masterpiece will not find a game as ambitious.
Arcanum is a steam-punk role playing game set in a Dungeons & Dragons style world in the grip of an industrial revolution. Science, industry and capital enable men women and ogre to achieve what one - only magicians could do.
Arcanum is a complex world of political upheaval, class struggle, rampant racism, religious reform and social changes. There is a big bad guy, yes. There is a fresh hero destined for greatness. There are ancient secrets and people losing their wedding rings in the sewer. But at it's heart it's a breathing world that is ready to be changed by your actions. And indeed few things are as rewarding as reading about your own exploits in the local news paper.
It has it's flaws. Chief among them is the battle system. It can be played in turns or real-time but each of those lack something. The Turn-based combat is cumbersome and too few combat animations make it dull. Real-time is useful for battles where you have a melee weapon and the enemy is another rat. But I wouldn't recommend it for battles that require even a little more tactic.
The opening is another big hurdle. It's filled with creatures ready to mince you if you are not playing a combat centric character. Sometimes it's better to just run away and reach the next town rather then spend an agonizing hour trying to outfight a wild boar.
Level cap is a double edged sword in Arcanum. Every NPC is scaled on a level between 1 and 50. And your character is not exempted. If you build a character that is invested in too many areas, you might discover that the game is becoming more and more difficult. A purely magical or technological character will have an easier time then a jack of all trades. This is not a game where you can wander around doing random battles to surmount every obstacle.
Despite it's flaws, Arcanum remains one of my favorite games. Every npc is a character, every quest is well crafted. Every companion has a story to tell and everyone can die. But there are few games where one of the ways to beat the end boss is a existential debate. Few games where you are offered so much REAL freedom. Few games where you can roam through trash to build an arsenal of grenades. Few games where the designers are waiting for your every action with a prepared response.
If you loved Fallout for more then it's exploding head combat, give this a shot.
Arcanum is a steam-punk role playing game set in a Dungeons & Dragons style world in the grip of an industrial revolution. Science, industry and capital enable men women and ogre to achieve what one - only magicians could do.
Arcanum is a complex world of political upheaval, class struggle, rampant racism, religious reform and social changes. There is a big bad guy, yes. There is a fresh hero destined for greatness. There are ancient secrets and people losing their wedding rings in the sewer. But at it's heart it's a breathing world that is ready to be changed by your actions. And indeed few things are as rewarding as reading about your own exploits in the local news paper.
It has it's flaws. Chief among them is the battle system. It can be played in turns or real-time but each of those lack something. The Turn-based combat is cumbersome and too few combat animations make it dull. Real-time is useful for battles where you have a melee weapon and the enemy is another rat. But I wouldn't recommend it for battles that require even a little more tactic.
The opening is another big hurdle. It's filled with creatures ready to mince you if you are not playing a combat centric character. Sometimes it's better to just run away and reach the next town rather then spend an agonizing hour trying to outfight a wild boar.
Level cap is a double edged sword in Arcanum. Every NPC is scaled on a level between 1 and 50. And your character is not exempted. If you build a character that is invested in too many areas, you might discover that the game is becoming more and more difficult. A purely magical or technological character will have an easier time then a jack of all trades. This is not a game where you can wander around doing random battles to surmount every obstacle.
Despite it's flaws, Arcanum remains one of my favorite games. Every npc is a character, every quest is well crafted. Every companion has a story to tell and everyone can die. But there are few games where one of the ways to beat the end boss is a existential debate. Few games where you are offered so much REAL freedom. Few games where you can roam through trash to build an arsenal of grenades. Few games where the designers are waiting for your every action with a prepared response.
If you loved Fallout for more then it's exploding head combat, give this a shot.