A very well made dungeon crawler. Difficulty, enemy appearance, puzzles and atmosphere all well designed and thought. It is **not** a traditional style dungeon crawler, so if you are looking for a steampunk version of Eye of the Beholder or Lands of Lore, you are not going to find it here. Gameplay is very different and so is the way you have to think about the game. Comparing Vaporum to Eye of the Beholder is like comparing Doom with Elder Scrolls. Some people complain that monsters randomly appear on your back out of thin air, but it is not true. These players didn't pay attention to the door that just opened in the other side of the room/corridor. The game is not as predictable as they suggest, although some predictability is obviously expected, ans as you obtain gameplay experience certain situations become easier, and that is how it should be. Player experience is an important thing in this game and in Dungeon Crawlers in general. As for combat, you need to think strategically in certain occasions, but for most of the situations the average player will be able to fight easily, specially as you keep becoming more skilled in combat mechanics. Regarding puzzles, they are in general doable, with a couple of them being of higher difficulty. Careful exploration is basically one of the main attractive points in Dungeon Crawlers and Vaporum offers some unique and challenging puzzles here and there that require extra attention to details and careful understandment of the environment. I am fully satisfied with the game and thankful with the job the developers did here and GOG for offering this fantastic title DRM free. Most likely will be playing Vaporum: Lockdown in the future.
To put it simple, the combat system and the large amount of enemies is a deal breaker for me. Legend of Grimrock wants to emulate the old school feeling, but far from it. Exploration wise, it is (just) ok, but unfortunately, there are too many monsters and they are way too puwerful. Basically, your entire party of 4 can barely survive two skeletons face to face in the first levels. Some people might say "use the grid to your advantadge", but no classic dungeon crawler forces you to literally flee from monsters continuously. Eye of The Beholder, you can fight enemies without kitting for the most part. Lands Of Lore, you can face-to-face enemies from the beginning. Dungeon Master, you can do the same. But Legend of Grimrock is different, and for the worst, so most of the time you will see yourself focusing 80% on combat and scared of enemies than actual exploration. Also, the environments are too monotonous and soon you will get tired of the same kind of atmosphere that will be repeated ad-nausem. A game that does this well is Dungeon of the Dragon Knight, where combat is secondary, doable and entertaining, exploration feels rewarding and environments change often.
