Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Very few Rpg's have ever gone to unique places, especially those who are set in a fantasy realm, but Arcanum does things differently, this time all of the familiar Orcs, Elfs, Humans, Dwarves, etc are stuck in a jolly old industrial revolution, and with this it brings an amazing abundance of gameplay, and, charecter development, are you a thief that uses magic? A warrior that uses technology? How about a Wizard that uses swords, and technology to help him in, battle? And if you choose to be a wizard well then what kind of spells are you going to use? With so many possiblities, a streamlined RPG system thats easy to learn, but hard to master, combat that can be either turned base for classic RPG fans, or real time if your perfer a more diablo style combat, and once you start your charecter are you gong to be good or evil? Are you going to rob the bank and, skip town or, take out the bandits? Are you going to cave that orcs skull in, or shiv him in the back? Magic or sword? Good or evil? The desicion is your and, with charecters that respond to your actions, a world thats great to explore and, greater to look at, combat thats both chalenging yet fun, and, a story that is quite enjoyable with little hicups, I say that you would be doing yourself a great injustice if you didn't but this game.

This is one of those games where every character you build will have a totally different game experience. If you make a dwarven technologist, a half elven gunslinger, a half ogre...mindless brute...the dialogue, and sometimes the path you have to take is wildly different. Add to that the largest world map I've ever seen. Its ridiculous how much there is to explore. If I wanted to badmouth it, the combat takes all of the worst things from the Fallout 1 and 2 and runs with them. Real time play is totally uncontrolled, turn based is brain bendingly slow (with a lot of creatures on the map, a turn can take 5 minutes) so fast turn based is basically your option. And so it feels a little clunky in combat. However, there are so many combat styles (grenadier, fisticuffs, tesla rifle, drain life, throw a lightning bolt, you name it) that its hard to care. The best thing about the game is the details. Its a victorian world with magic and tech in opposition, and every little thing, from the fantastic music, to the schematic components used for a tech character (combine dr phavis blood pills with a petticoat to make regenerating armor, that kind of stuff) really add to the immersion. Highly recommended. .

What do you get when you mash Fallout with Baldur's Gate? If you liked those games well Arcarnum is the love child when you mix those two great games together. You get an awesome new world to explore. You get to battle beasts and men in a turn based combat system using swords, guns and spells. Creating your character in Arcarnum and leveling them up is already half the fun. Where else can you create a half orc martial artist named Brutus Lee or an magic allergic elf who uses guns instead of the traditional bow or magic. A definite buy for all RPG fans.

Nearly a decade after I played Arcanum from the first time, I'm still floored by the level of character depth that this game has! The the atmosphere and musical score within the game are fantastic, and it's jusn t to darn fun to play. Want to make an evil seductive halfling, YOU CAN! Or perhaps a pyromanic female half orc, with a shot gun side arm, YOU CAN! Don't miss out on this game, it's a personal favourite, and just an overall great RPG.

While some of you have already discovered this game, others still don't know about the world of Arcanum, where magicka mixes with steamworks and machines. Long time ago, when I was playing the first, original version, I had one thought - "this is unplayable, never seen so many bugs yet.". But then, years later, a patched version got into my hands... and I was swept away. I played nothing else until I finished this. It literally took over me, and the soundtrack done by Ben Houge still sounds in my ears to this day. I tried to discover the whole game, all side quests, tracks, etc. - but I don't think I've done it. Maybe I will give it another go some day, and then I will discover it all - because it deserves it, it's a game this great.