Yes yes, I'm a little slack nowadays, but here is my full blown review of Arcanum

I’ve come to fondly like RPGs when I was very young, but there were times when games sat on the borderline of absolutely achievement and downright unplayable. Well, I won’t hesitate to announce the most detailed of games, but yet the worse implemented.

Table of Contents
1. Commentary on Gameplay
2. Commentary on Graphics
3. Commentary on Music/Sound Effects
4. Overall Conclusion

Commentary on Gameplay
Well, we are here yet again to see the old cow speak. So, I finally found Arcanum lying around on my desk (well, not really), and inserted it in my overused cup-holder. Installation started, and I was forced to install the complete game of around 1.5 gigabytes of data. And so, the two disc game installed, I started the game…

The game started, and I was sitting there like a stone wondering whether my computer had gone dead, or whether the game had freezed on me (like many other games). But alas, after 3 minutes of the quiet PC chirping silently, it finally progressed onto the main menu. Overjoyed at that fact that I didn’t need to create my character anew, I used the characters available to me in the game, and started my adventure.

It should be congratulated upon that the game had loads of features of which you and I would find pleasing and well worth the money. The ability to combine herbs to create potions, medicine, and equipment was a unique part. Some announced that it was like a rip of Fallout (You know, that post nuclear adventure where you get a chance to sizzle along with the radiation). And then, you can use item during combat as long as you’ve assigned turn-based battles (because if you don’t, you’re going to find yourself trampled upon). This really reminds me of Baldur’s Gate! So these are the main gameplay features worth discussing. Then comes the bad parts…

I love this game, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to soil your excitement when this game releases in your country, but I must say that although you are paying for heaps of features, you are also going to drown with it. These are features that slow down the game, and unneeded elements which the game could be made without. For example, the ability for it to auto-assign your level-up points so that you don’t worry about leveling up. Well, ladies and gentlemen, what makes an RPG an RPG is the fact that you can choose to level up your own character in the precise way you wanted, not some script that goes off assigning points onto your board. If there is a way to reverse the points, then call me daft, because I couldn’t find it. Perhaps you’d say I should read the manual, but I should reply the same: Nowadays, games are made such that bibles (like the manual) doesn’t need reading. It’s supposed to give pop-ups of hints and tips as you progress through the first stages of the game. What you find here, is not all that bad a sin, but it’s enough to give your head migraines and you will start to feel devilish as you start to grow horns.

Secondly, it is slow! I myself have played games from 1 disc to 8 discs, but I have never found games (which suggest full installation at the start) to load so slowly! I mean, heck, full install means absolutely perfect load rate as you go from map to map (and since I have the late benchmarks of PCs nowadays, no-one can blame my PC’s quality).

Onto what we like to call AI (Artificial Intelligence, or another name for the computer’s potential to beat players to a pulp): It has three modes! Easy, Moderate, and Hard difficulty. Sure enough, you will find that if you’re not all that hardened by RPGs, you’d like to stick it on easy mode just to see what you’re facing. But I assure you, even as a hardened veteran in RPGs, you will find the moderate mode much more interesting than hard at the start, because there is simply no fun in getting killed at the first encounter of an enemy.

Well, that just about sums everything up. Thankfully, good points outweigh the bad, so let’s stick it on 6.5/10.

Commentary of Graphics
Well, we are here yet again. Peering at my notes for graphics, I am stunned at the detail (despite my previous ramblings of bad gameplay, more better things are to come). Spell transitions are beautiful (but not entirely filled with fireworks and spectacular lighting from outside your PC), and the intro movie was well made. (I don’t want to spoil the movie, but it’s not spoilt until you see it, but I think the old man at the intro must have starred at the chess playing cartoon made by the company who made Toy Story 2)

So anyway, graphics remind me much of Baldur’s Gate, and the layout of the control bar reminds me dearly of the one in Diablo II, except now it’s overlaid with features for character control. Good good!

That sums everything up for this chapter, Good points outweigh bad points by bonker-loads, so let’s stick it on 9.5/10. (Half mark ultimately taken off because of the slow response or lag in the graphics, which I didn’t discuss, because it’s hard to explain. The simplest way to put it is the response rate of the time you issue an action and the time the graphics carries it out).


Commentary of Music/Sound Effects
Well, like most games, the music effects in this game are well done. There is music for encountering enemies and ambushes, and then your normal music follows through after the combat. It’s similar to Baldur’s Gate in the way that when enemies are sighted and are attacking, the music changes.

Nothing much to say here, nothing to complain, full marks of 10/10.


Overall Conclusion
Well then, let’s sum everything up in it’s rightful positions:
Gameplay: Well divided AI and setting of controls, though overlaiden with features, it may be a beneficial option for those that prefer action over thought (brawns for brains).
Graphics: It’s not bad, I didn’t expect flying pigs and cattle, and there wasn’t, so I was appreciative. The only complaint was that the graphics somehow lag in my opinion, but maybe it won’t to you. Full marks are given prior to that cause.
Sound/Music: Well, nothing to complain, it’s only music, you can switch it off if you don’t like it. Full marks given to this area too.
Overall Rating: I average it by importance, about 7.5/10. Despite full marks given for two sections, gameplay ultimately rules out to be the most important factor towards the long-lastingness of the game, hence the high scores in the other two sections will only bump it slightly up the ladder.

Reviewed by PavalonTech on July 3rd on Epinions, 2001. - Removed due to conflict of name


Recommended: Yes