Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Oh, to have a review system more nuanced than 5 stars. There are things this game does better than Baldur's Gate, there are things it does better than Fallout, and there are things it does better than Planescape. On a straight scale, however, it falls gallingly short of any of them. The take: This is a must-play for anyone that is in love with the crpg genre, but go for the aforementioned titles first if you haven't played them yet. The good: The atmosphere and world building are top-notch. There is a "tech" system by which you craft superweapons and grenades and such from blueprints, and it is deeply satisfying. The world is open in a really delightful way and Arcanum features one of the best-thought-out urban areas in the genre. You will come to care about the characters and the progression is extremely open-ended, with many ways to handle each situation. The story is rich and character development meaningful. The bad: This game is unfinished. It was pushed out before all the bugs were dealt with, which range from annoying (get out of that wall!) to frustrating (I swear I got enough of these macguffins to finish this quest!) to exploitable (don't want to progress in the levels the usual way? Take advantage of these never ending wolves in the first area! Welcome to level 12!) All of these are things that will become so much background noise if you play just far enough in to get hooked by the story, which will happen fairly soon for most. The Ugly: It is obvious that the game was rushed out the door, but nowhere does that show more than the plainly truncated ending. Without giving anything away, you *will* get a sense towards the end that huge chunks were left out, when the pacing goes haywire and the endgame just kinda, shows up. That said, you can't miss something you didn't care about, and I found myself missing the end, rather hard. This game gets 5 stars for being an awesome game, but loses because it weren't done.

I was really excited to play this. I think the industrialization of a magical world is a great idea. I really enjoyed creating my character, and the story captivated me as I started to play. However, the game is buggy and the combat is laughable. Your party members are more of a liability than an asset. I read reviews that had said similar things, and I thought, "I'm more interested in the story than the combat." Unfortunately, I was so turned off by the combat that I eventually stopped playing. It's a shame.

but i think it is not for everyone modern player.. not only because of graphic... u need use ur brain really often unlike in most modern games.. so no, this game is not for everyone))

-and its consequences have been a disaster for magick users. Thanks for the sale Mandy!

This game has been produced by the same team as the first Fallout games, and it shows in many ways, good and bad. If you enjoyed these games, there is a good chance you will enjoy this one too, if you manage to pass the first ten levels. The steampunk universe of Arcanum is based on the opposition between magic and technology – each interfering with the working of the other. You can learn spells, and/or you can learn how to make technological items like weapons, guns, pharmaceuticals, traps and other electrical wonders, but the more you learn in one way, the less effective you will be the other way. The NPCs themselves will react to you according to past deeds, your magic/tech bias, and also to your race: that’s right, a good number of NPCs are complete bigoted racists, and you can play along if you don’t mind getting in fights with everybody (and getting evil in the process). Some of the social interactions are actually quite unsettling (like the Orcs and Ogres races being literally enslaved by humans and gnomes), hitting too close to home. But it’s OK: I don’t mind a game addressing real-life social topics, pushing me outside of my comfort zone. In short, there is a well-done steampunk background, quests for all tastes and plenty of NPCs to talk to, with an emphasis on realistic interactions. There seem to be a plethora of options for your character, from character build to ethical choices. All of these were why I bought this game. However, the game is quite difficult (even on Easy mode), the interface does its job but needs some time to get used to. Most importantly, the character level-up system is very, very frustrating, especially during the first levels, because you only get one point per level and you need it everywhere, and there is a level-up cap of 50, so it’s not as if you have a limitless supply – you have to plan well in advance. By level 15, your start getting more comfortable, but then you realized you will have to specialize in a single tech line, or in one or two spell schools, if you want to unlock one of the highest tech or spells. Or give up on both magic and tech altogether because you need these points in your basic skills. Frankly, if it was not for all the other positive reviews and the fact I paid for this game, I would have given up on it.