Digital Nightfall on 23/10/2002 at 02:02

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I just can't put this game down. I had to tear myself away from it when I had to go to work today... and now, as I am home and writing this, I know if I turn it back on, I will end up staying up until about 3 am. It's -very- addictive, because there is always one more corner you want to look around.... and I can't wait to find out what happens next in this very cool plot.

At the beginning of the game, you're sort of faced with a wild goose chase, where one quest leads directly into the next, and you always know exactly what you need to do, and can only go in one direction. But as soon as that initial phase is done with, you can go where you want, when you want, and do whatever you want once you're there. You still have an ultimate goal in mind, but there is plenty to do between point A and B in the mean time. That's the stage where I am at right now, and even though it can be puzzling where to go next, I rarely run out of options.

I did get stuck once... nasty little enigma that required picking up on some very subtle hints... but it's good to get stuck now and again - makes you stop rushing through the game and think for a moment. That's something many games of this type (especially SS2) allow the player to do... stop and think and figure out what you're supposed to do. The thing was, there was another option at that point... I didn't need to be stuck. There was a second solution to the problem that I could have done immediatly... but it involved doing some things I didn't agree with, so to me, personally, it wasn't an option.

I found that a very impressive bit of game design. :)

heretic on 23/10/2002 at 20:20

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Minimum Requirements:
500 Mhz Pentium III or equivalent
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
128 MB RAM
DirectX 8.0 compliant 3D accelerated video card with 16 MB
DirectX 8.0 compliant sound card
DirectX 8.0 or higher
4X CD-ROM Drive
600 MB uncompressed hard drive space
Keyboard and Mouse

Recommended Requirements:
800 Mhz processor
256 MB RAM
3D accelerator with 32 MB VRAM
8X CD-ROM Drive
850 MB uncompressed hard drive space
EAX 2.0 or A3D 2.0 compliant audio card
(From demo readme, dated Sep02)

Baron Bifford on 24/10/2002 at 11:45

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I've played the demo and found it a bit lacking. The sound is poor (though I've yet to fiddle with those settings). Movement in the world feels jerky and clumsy, and the camera has a habit of suddenly swinging in different directions, which is extremely disorienting. The spellcasting system is fun, though I've yet to see how this would fare in combat. Will these nuisances be fixed in the full version? I'm interested in this game because it can run on low specs.

Digital Nightfall on 24/10/2002 at 14:20

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The full game is better than the demo. ;) Fiddle with the audio settings - the game has excellent sound. The movement problems in the demo has been fixed in the full game. Spellcasting in combat can either be done with precast spells, or on the fly if you're awesome like that. It requires PLAYER skill to use magic in combat, not stats. You gotta be good. :)

Daxim on 25/10/2002 at 12:40

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You can't trust Digi for a honest inspection on that game, because, well, he <em>does</em> stick it in his pants. His emotional attachment to it lets him overlook even the greatest flaws. Same thing goes for DW who chose to attack <em>ad hominem</em> instead of the valid arguments.

All those complaints I wrote a couple of postings above are just what I could remember off the top of my mind, if I should actually go back and play it, I'm sure the list will grow triple its size with the stuff I forgot (or suppressed) meanwhile.

The sad thing is, Arx fails miserably in the one thing a game MUST NOT fail - the interface. You can play a game with bad graphics (Arx has REALLY beautiful textures and super detailed architecture and high poly models), you can play a game with unsatisfying sound (Arx has excellent voice acting, and the dungeon sounds present the mood just right), you can ignore a game's lacking or contrived plot/player motivation (Arx doesn't do too terribly wrong here), you can even get used to random crashes (unlike the crashhappy demo, the final game runs satisfyingly stable), BUT - BUT you can't enjoy a game that makes you frown for the two hundredth time because you're ONCE AGAIN in the wrong mode to do the thing you wanted to do, but can't. Unlike with the other games we revere on TTLG, it's impossible to suspend your disbelief in Arx - it is as if it is constantly shouting at you "I'm only a game! I'm only a game! Never forget that you don't adventurously crawl a dungeon but are actually sitting in front of your computer drawing funny strokes with your mouse! I'm only a game!" I want to fight against the critters, not against the interface.

So from a frustrated but fair gamer to another: is it worth your ++ bucks? - No.
Go buy (http://www.unrealtournament2003.com/) UT2 instead. If you want Arx anyway because all the cool kids on TTLG have it, at least wait until it is in the bargain bin.