You get your money's worth
Written: Feb 15 '00
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Pros: great story, fun/long adventure
Cons: acting school may be in order
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| dmarusz's Full Review: Betrayal in Antara |
This second generation game is meant to put you in a different place, but with the same type of tale as Betrayal at Krondor. A new set of writers ambitiously worked on keeping the same feel of the game while adding better visual and sound qualities. For the most part, I think this was achieved.
If you played Krondor, the first thing you'll notice is that we've come a long way in graphics and sound quality. The visuals were nice in Krondor, but you can do so much more now. The sounds are remarkably different. The background music is no longer "tinty" and doing things like sharpening your sword sounds so much more realistic (the "ching" of the blade versus a sandpaper sound).
The storyline is very good. Antara guides you gently through finding out a conspiracy launched to overthrow the Antaran government. The story unfolds to keep you interested, while allowing you to go on side tasks to break from the routine. It's fairly easy to know what to do and where to go without hand holding you through the plot and making the adventure seem boring.
There are some smaller weaknesses to the game but not too much to be concerned about. The voice overs aren't really well done. The fight sequences can also seem weak especially with a small opponent. For example, when you fight these killer frogs, you swing your sword or staff at them and it goes quite a bit above their heads. However, you nonetheless hit them. I guess the jet stream from your weapon is too much to overcome.
Putting these things aside, you end up with a very enjoyable game. You definitely get your money's worth through the fun of the story and the length, too. It also has a strong finish which involves a tough puzzle followed by a movie. I always prefer the movie-type endings versus the final battle which tend to be anticlimactic (see Diablo review). I won't give away the ending, but as you guessed, it's a happy one. It also helps seal the character growth of the player (which I am also a big fan of). So, give this one a try. It's down to about $10-$15, and I can say that this is a bargain.
Recommended:
Yes
Version Played: Retail
Operating System: Windows
CPU: Intel Pentium II
CPU Speed (MHz): 201-300
RAM (MB): 128
Graphics Card Family: Other
Best Played With/Intended For: Single Player
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Epinions.com ID:
dmarusz
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Member: Dave Maruszewski
Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
Long live the comic book and PC game! At least for me.
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