Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

This game was created by the makers of the original Fallout...and it shows. As other reviewers have noted, the game is not necessarily for everyone. The game world is huge, with tons of areas to visit and quests to complete, along with lots of character customization options. Add to that the fact that the main questline is not heavily forced on you, and you get a very open-ended game that can leave you completely lost. Also factor in the tons of bugs that you can expect from a Troika game. However, the game's rather comprehensive steampunk setting, technology-vs-magic conflict, the rich and detailed character customization options and the very well done main plot do more than enough to carry the game on their back in my opinion. So, all in all, the game deserves all five stars, especially since we're talking about one of my long-time favorite games here.

Steampunk fantasy is popular, yet people ignore this game. It maybe too similar to the first two Fallouts but only in game play. Complaining about how Arcanum similar to original fallout games is like complaining how Blood looks like Doom. If you fan of old RPGs and like steampunk stuff like Dishonored, you will enjoy it.

This was one of my favorite games when it was released! Do you want to be a Dwarven Rifleman or an elven demolitions expert? How about an half-ogre barbarian that specializes in dual pistols? There are lots of races and professions to choose from, just remember that tech and magicks don't mix! The storyline is pretty great and most of the important characters are voice acted well. If you set the difficulty to easy you can run around punching bears in half! :D There is an unofficial patch that you need to use to fix a lot of the problems that this game has and to fix the memory leak, just rename the ddraw.dll file in the install folder!

I bought it long time ago and it is still one of my favourtie Games. I fell instantly in love with the Soundtracks. It's the only game I still have on my desk. There are so many possibilities to play that game and to design your character. I can suggest the Fanpatches and a few mods.

I had never heard of this game until I came to GOG. It then caught my attention that it was one of the most recommended games on the forums, and that it had similarities to Fallout, being made by some of it's developers. The background also seemed very interesting: a high-fantasy world reaching a technological industrial age, with magick (with a k) and technology in constant conflict. Still, I had no idea of the epicness that I was about to experience. But first, let's begin with the game's flaws. First and foremost, the combat. There is a Fallout style turn-based mode, which uses Action Points, and a real-time mode. None of them really succeeds, and each has it's flaws. First, on both, you have basically no control over your NPC allies, so you can just forget about any type of tactic, and the blindly aggressive AI will lead to many frustrating situations. I ended up playing the game on real-time mode, just so the fights would end faster. Problem is, it's like playing Baldur's Gate without being able to pause. It's very hard, for example, to use a healing salve or potion during battle. You have to right click the item, and then click on the character you're trying to heal, or his/her portrait, but the battles play so fast that by the time you do it, the character (or the player) might be already dead, or the battle over. You can give these items for other characters to use, but they usually spend them really fast. Also, I don't think archers are supposed to use bows as arrow-shooting machine guns. Another problem problem would be, at first, the interface, which is not very newbie friendly, although you will eventually get used to it, considering this can be a very long game. As usual with most open ended RPG's (and Troika repeated this problem in each of their games), the game shipped with an immense amount of bugs. Some were corrected in later patches and, thankfully, there's a fan-made patch that fixes a ton of them, and though there are still some left and the patch is no longer being developed, it left the game in a comfortable enough state to be played. Then, there's the overall balance. The good thing is, character creation and development in this game is a really great feature, and you have lots of freedom. But for all this freedom, the game ended up being poorly balanced. For instance, it's usually said that it's much easier to play with magick-based characters, and yet, overpowered character's can be achieved with both magickal and technological configurations, through powers and unbalanced items or NPCs. Also, enemies that can destroy your armor, or worse, break your weapons when you hit them, are really annoying. As for the plot, the only real flaw are your allies. Only a handful of them have more detailed stories and react to events throughout the game. Most have no plot-related dialog, and only really say something when you recruit them. Other than that, this game is a wonderful experience. The background is really creative and well made, and you can't help but try to explore every detail of the world just to find out more about it. The lengthy manual gives a pretty good introduction, using university paper-like texts to explain things such as the (not just ideological, but practical) conflict between magick and technology, and the characteristics of each race. The main plot begins looking a little cliché, with you being a "chosen one", a ring, etc., though you can tell that it's not so by the odd (and funny) reaction of the first character you meet. And indeed, the plot gets better, surprising you all the way to the end. Also, the game has a very large amount of side quests, and though not all of them are very interesting, you will be inclined to complete many of them just to see everything in the world. The graphics in this game are functional, but nothing too fancy. It won't blow your mind, but there's not much to complain, so you just won't mind them most of the time. As for the music, the string-based soundtrack superbly fits the mood of the game, though you may find it a little repetitive later. Still, it's been months since I beat this game, and I still use the main theme as my wake-up alarm. This review might make it look like a game with a lot of story and no gameplay, but even with these criticisms, most of it is actually functional enough, though short of allowing me to give this game 5 stars. In the end, though, it's the scenery and plot that will make you stick to this game. I have travelled through most of Arcanum and back, and while the credits rolled, I could only wish we still had Troika, so that I could continue that journey. And what a wonderful journey that was!