Posted on: March 15, 2018

Auberon13

Games: 295 Reviews: 2

A Nice FPS Mage Simulator

SAMPLE GAMEPLAY https://youtu.be/hfVguWdkBjM SHORT REVIEW So, I've put an average amount of hours into this one so far. The game's premise is simple and effective: you play a combat mage capable of accessing and crafting a considerable number of spells to reach his or her goals. The plot isn't a novelty, but it gets the job done. After the main character - man or woman - loses a loved one - it differs according to choice, granting a nice touch to the game - the protagonist meets a warlock that offers him/her the power to take revenge on the assassin. Soon the peculiarities begin to show, as the warlock reveals that the assassin is central to a plot to bring down the empire. All around, the world shatters as a dark cult opens a path of destruction around the main character, turning the hunt into an open war between magic users. As the game develops, new shreds of info are revealed, and new items are collected. Here's where the game shines the most. These items are used to craft your own spells, determining their nature and object (such as fire, ice, lightning, darkness, TK force, etc.), the way of manipulation employed (you can shape them into projectiles, area of effect attacks, streams, etc.) and degrees of damage (amount of regular damage, critical accumulation, attrition damage, etc.). The essence of the game resides in shaping your spells and choosing the options that work the best for you. Maps are linear, with minor - really minor - exploration aspects involved. The maps are comprised of corridors with pre-positioned enemies and hubs made for horde attacks. Battles often happen in this horde attack system, and this might make the game a bit repetitive, unless played in short bursts, driven towards experimentation of new spell combinations. Beautiful vistas make the game very immersive, and you'll actually feel like a powerful combat mage as you spellcast your way through scores of enemies. If you want to take this one up, I can say it's worth your time. But to get the best out of it you must take risks, experiment with the magic system and be willing to take a beating from time to time, as the combinations you build fail to impress. Otherwise, the game does get repetitive and dull. Also, it is recommended to read a bit about the magic system, since it holds some obscure choices that are, in the end, fundamental to gameplay. I don't regret getting this one, and I'm just going back for more. 7/10

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Posted on: April 16, 2015

Ekryan

Verified owner

Games: 474 Reviews: 8

Not Dark Messiah, but still pretty good

I do not entirely agree with people saying this is a successor to Dark Messiah, since the role play and exploration parts are fairly slim and this game is far more action-centered than its predecessor. Still, an important part of it is clearly inspired from DM, sometimes even a little too much, dare I say. Lichdom is really linear and its scenario won't surprise you, but what it does, it does really-well : being a generous Battlemage simulator. The length of the game is really satifactory, on higher difficulty some battles are really challenging, and the graphics are really nice, especially the special effects of the spells that are the heart of the game. And it's a success : you can burn, freeze, pin, glue, explode everything, and it looks awesome. Even though some aspects of the game are a little stiff (no jumps, few real secrets, no interaction with the scenery), the number of spells, combinations and other options are really generous and I think two playthrough are a minimum to discover all the system has to offer. In my opinion, Dark Messiah had a better narration, a slightly better feel, and gave a far better choice on the way to approach things, when Lichdom gives you only one : blowing things up. But once you understand and accept this, it is a good action/fps with a wide variety of ways to kill stuff. Let's hope there will be another one, with a little more subtle approach :)

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Posted on: June 13, 2019

necrosis666

Verified owner

Games: 188 Reviews: 28

Poor Man's HEXEN/HERETIC

Sounds good in theory: play a battlemage in a fantasy shooter. Gone is the restrictive mana, and also any type of weapon: you exclusively use magic. It also looks pretty good, shooting fireballs and iceshards at enenies is pretty fun - at first. While HEXEN had clever level design, LICHDOM is simply a corridor shooter. What is acceptable for one or two levels becomes repetitive really fast.

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Posted on: May 24, 2016

pearnon

Verified owner

Games: 205 Reviews: 50

A great first effort

This is a good game by a burgeoning developer. It's clumsy and stumbles in parts, but has that untethered energy of passionate people doing what they like and making the type of game they'd like to play or would always have liked to have played. And it shows. The story and setting won't win Xaviant any awards, but both are more than serviceable, especially for an action title. It's a fairly straightforward plot, but it works and won't really make you groan or roll your eyes at egregious clichés. The game's contrivances are well explained in-game and in organic fashion, which is always a plus. On the graphics front, Cryengine does its job and does not disappoint, making for a visually striking game with lush effects and visuals. It's beautiful to look at and the spell effects are great, so do crank it up as far as your computer will let you, even if it costs you some FPS. Enemies and character models also look great, which makes it more of a shame that there isn't much variety. The soundtrack is adequate, but utterly unmemorable apart from the main theme. Spell, sound and ambient effects are very nice, and, while I personally found it off-putting to have some enemies cuss at you in very American-like fashion, cadence and tone, the sound department also did their jobs quite well. And it bears mentioning just how much the narrative is aided by some rock-solid voice acting from a couple of names which will (quite literally) sound familiar. Concerning gameplay, things are more user-friendly and less arcane now after the updates, but the magic system most certainly still isn't of the pick-up-and-go type, and expects you to actually delve into it and study it to make the best of the numberless possibilities it offers, and especially to play with the controlled chaos of its random effects. Experimenting is therefore the name of the game, which might not sit too well with today's instant gratification crowd, but you will reap great rewards if you do. The game runs smoothly and has an almost flawless performance, with zero crashes and only two glitches which had me stuck for a couple of seconds before correcting themselves. Nothing that gets in the way of merciless blasting, corrupting, zapping, incinerating, freezing, phasing and controlling enemies to your heart's content. Lichdom: Battlemage is an exercise in mindless magical mayhem, a lengthy tale of revenge that can be enjoyed by hardcore and casual gamers alike (thanks to the game difficulty options and the "smart inventory" mode, which takes over the brunt of the spell management system and lets you enjoy the wreaking havoc bit). Well done.

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Posted on: June 8, 2021

Draugusto

Verified owner

Games: 484 Reviews: 208

Enjoybale, buts is not Dark Messiah

I've been playing for 12 hours and I think I have seen enough of this magic shooter with simple level design and enjoyable combat. The good: - Graphics and sound design are nice - Great variety of spells to mix and match - There is no mana or colldowns for most spells, so spam away - Crafting mechanics to make your spells even more powerful and serve different purposes, you can craft some nice combos like an Ice pool + a lifting bolt + a fire cluster -Synergy spells are incredibly powerful, you can't spam them like the others, but they are worthy investments - The game is at its best in the arena segments, when you activate obelisks and fend off waves of increasingly difficult enemies The bad: - in order to craft really good spells you are gonna have to revisit chapters and grind - you can't repeat the arena fights which makes the grinding ever so boring - shields only affect damage taken, but not other effects like knock down or freeze, and that's a fatal flaw - Trap spells are utterly useless, I understand enemies avoiding pool spells, but traps should be invisible to them - Ray spells are also useless for the most part, sure they have high damage outpput but you cannot charge them and their range is piss poor, I would gladly have a freezing ray if only there was a kick button to shatter enemies, but... - There's not a Kick button -The lack of an arena to grind for materials, like the crucible in darksiders The ugly: -I was blinking but suddenly got stuck under the ground and had to restart from the last checkpoint, something similar happened when I was entering a new zone but it didn't load properly so I was stuck- And the game crashes often when I try to boot it, it loads fine the second time, which is pretty weird Overall the game is mediocre for the most part, but sometimes its greatness shines through. I'd like to see more of this spell system in the future, but with improved level design and even more enemies to grind away in blissful chaos

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