Nox™

The screen is permanently frozen when I try to play. Loved this game as a kid!

It just flashes and doesn't work

The game begins its opening cinematic, but then flickers and becomes unresponsive.

Nox is a wonderful, wonderful game that probably didn't get the attention it deserved. Released in the heyday of the ARPG, when Diablo had launched onto the scene and everyone and their mother was trying to make a similar game, Nox often gets unfairly lumped into the pile as a "Diablo clone." But this isn't truly accurate. The Diablo series leveraged procedural generation to keep dungeons "fresh," and even from the start emphasized acquiring gear of better and better quality, assembling sets, etc. Many of the ARPGs of the era did similar things. Nox took a RADICALLY different tack; nothing is procedurally generated and the plot is perhaps more linear...but this allowed the developers to focus more tightly on the feel and look of the experience. The art direction is excellent; every region and environment *feels* different, and aside from a few areas (tombs tend to be the most tiresome parts, visually),things tend to be colorful, distinctive, and interesting to look at. Enemies are immediately recognizable and fun to fight. Nox is interesting to look at and interact with, and handily avoids the problem of samey, procedurally generated dungeons whose changing layouts and spawn points are the primary source of freshness. Combat is relatively fast and kinetic. As a Warrior, you'll find yourself trying to close with opponents, charging in and smashing enemies down. As a Conjurer, you'll throw swarms of summons and arrows at your enemies...and as a Wizard, you'll kite relentlessly and work to manage your depleting mana and meager health. It's pretty easy to use your abilities; the control scheme allows you a lot of control without having to stop what your character is doing. And the game is....funny. Sometimes in kind of a groan way rather than a ha-ha way, but it has a goofy sense of humor that helps keep you engaged and enjoying yourself, from the opening cinematic all the way to the end.

I loved this game so much when it first came out. And the mini expansion that added the questing adventure mode made it even better. I was so sad to see this go. I even remember the small mods that came out for that made Roleplay servers a possibility. The game was something else. I would have loved a sequel but sadly it didn't sell well enough. So like Vampire Bloodlines it will become one of those games that when someone mentions it I will reinstall it for awhile.