This game was supposed to be the "Oblivion killer" in it's day. It wasn't. but it does a lot of things right and has ideas that made it's way into more recent games (like partially moving to a skill based system and simplified stats). But for every good thing I could pick out of this game, there is a bad or wonky element. Performance stinks on modern PCs, with a lot of stutter and particularly in the big cities. But, there is a meaningful difference in the weapon types and the swing arcs and skills. Magic is very limited and dependent on RNG with loot and merchants. But, only some of the enemies level with you which keeps combat interesting. You're forced to mostly play as a fighter with either magic or archery as support. But, the voice acting is over-acted but in a good way (but probably not on purpose!). Poison damage is very overpowered when hit with it. But, the loot system and stacking items and magic to improve them is interesting. There is a good balance of overworld and dungeon exploration, but you won't find caves/dungeons until you're literally on top of them. And so on. It's a good game if you prefer combat and looting to the main or a collection of short stories that you would find in The Elder Scrolls series. The story is passable. I'd pick it up on sale, as youre mileage may vary depending on how strong a fan of this genera you are.
There is a shell of an interesting game here that burns too slowly. Maybe the pace picks up later, but the exploration and questing aspects greatly outshine the combat. What little I experienced of the combat was interesting (if uneven in terms of difficulty), but after 11-12 hours I only had three combat experiences: the first two quests on main quest line (The People's Voice and Lost Signal), and a side quest in the powered armor suit. I was expecting and dissapointed by the lack of combat in a game selling itself as a RPG.
