Enclave

The biggest problem with the game is that it is just pure hack, you can't even really make any choices, no stealth options really, and it is purely linear.

PROS: +From 2002 I never would have expected these kinds of graphics. +The soundtrack is amazing. +And the sound effects aren't too shabby either. +The level design and placement of enemies is genius. +The destruction in this game is fantastic. In buildings during sieges the roof can fall on your head, fatally damaging you. You can slash the beam of a wooden watch tower and bring it falling to the ground. Crates can be broken into flying pieces by explosives that are essentially flying wooden weapons. UNFORTUNATELY. -The story is really...bland. A 3 year old that watched lord of the rings could have thought this story up. -The enemies are very generic and repetitive. No real variety to be seen. -The voice acting is mediocre. -The AI is nonsensical is how it acts. Enemies are jumping and breakdancing all over the place while you're suppsoed to be in a serious fight. -The core element of ARPGs, the COMBAT. Is the worst combat I have ever seen in an RPG in my entire life. Ranged weapons work around a little dot you see in the center of your screen. Place it over an enemy and shoot, and you hit. Miss by an inch and you miss completely. The melee combat is even worse. You just spam left mouse click to swing a sword aimlessly, missing tiny enemies completely unless you can get down to their level most of the time. Your shield is useless because there's a delay between raising it and lowering it that you could have used to get attacks in, that your enemies WILL use to attack you. The swordplay is also very unresponsive as your character loves to do a four-move circus trick fiasco when all you did was hit the LMB twice. It really helps to get you killed later on on this game. Even if you get this for free like I did I would not recommend playing it. Maybe this kind of gameplay was good in an ARPG once, but at the same time, RUNESCAPE had better combat than this. So I could never condone a game that flops on its main element so badly. STAY AWAY.

The Mac OSX version is 1.0 instead of 2.0. I don't know if it's different for the Windows version, but I have encountered no checkpoints in the game at all. It makes the game on hard quite challenging, at times frustrating, and overall pretty fun. I can see it being a problem with some players, however. On the game itself, it's hack-and-slash with very straightforward and solid game mechanics. The strength lies in the level design. The constant ambushes and environmental hazards keep the levels exhilarating. The lack of quest markers and item highlighting makes exploring and scavenging an engaging and rewarding experience. Overall, it's great mindless fun that makes you feel smart all the same.

Cheap invisible traps are not fun even less when they make you repeat the entire level.

I've enjoyed my time with Enclave and so could you, but only if you're willing to turn many blind eyes to its defects. Read the full review here: https://mr-skeltals-thoughts-deposit.blogspot.com/2021/09/enclave-review-beautiful-mess.html