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A very good game, worth the effort

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the rare VERY good ones that gets almost everything right.
This game could be best summned up as Jules Verne meets J.R. Tolken. A wonderful mix of technology & mage craft.
Or if you're feelin' like Conan, you can go and use neither, and concentrate on just swords & bows.
The story line is reasonably well developed, to avoid spoiling the fun I'll leave off the details. It is also quite non-linear with plenty of side quests for you to build your reputation and increase your skills on.

Graphics: (B-) They look good enough to do the job, but you won't catch yourself saying "wow". If you've played Baldur's Gate, the graphics are just slightly better then that. They are definately 2D. In MANY areas it would have been very helpful to be able to rotate the perspective.

Sound: (C-) not that well done. Limited in range and variety. Fidelity only average. Over all useage nothing remarkable. I get soo tired of listening to the repetative death squeels of pigs. But it does add just a little color to the game. Of course, lately I've been playing with the sound turned nearly off.

Interface: (C+) Fairly typical for RPG's. Something work better then normal, some worse. Though in general quite useable. It's nice and clean and easy to figure out what's going on. However it can be extremely difficult to get items out of your "quick use" list and back into your backpack. This can take 4-5 tries.

Gameplay: (B) Fairly typical for RPG's but a bit better then most. It's easy to do things. Frequent saves are easy There is a hotkey for quick saves to the auto-save slot. The over land map is easy to use, even if it is a bit cludgy. One area where it falls down is in navigating through a large city is a bit of a click fest. Since you can not just click on your destination and have your character + his/her buddies wander that direction. You must carefully navigate through the streets, around every obstacle. Other quibbles like I couldn't figure out how to attack doors and locked chests until I read the manual, I know you should read the manual first... I just seldom, if ever, bother. The biggest complaint I had with the game is that it has a huge list of skills, encouraqes you to dabble with this or that to try out different things, but the level advancement cuts off at level 50. 50 might sound like a large number, but at 50 I was less then 1/2 way through the game, and had tried less then 5% of the available skills. ... This still leaves your character having tried only a small fraction of the available skills, but lasts close to the end of the game and feels like a more natural cap then 50. I'm still giving the game a "B" in this area, since even with it's minor problems, it's better then average for the genre, and adds more to the game then it detracts.

Bugs: (C-) As it ships, the game was below average. Not HORRIBLE, but not great either. In my case, the game failed to install correctly on the first attempt. I had to install a 2nd time to get it to run. There is an update which address many of these problems, but some remain. For example, if you use ALT + TAB to get back to windows and then tab back to the game, it will be either completely messed up (0-5% chance), have significant graphic anomolies (10-15% chance), the mouse cursor will be gone (80-100% chance).
The game once had a problem with saved game. During a save, it corrupted the file. I saved to a 2nd location as well just to be safe, that too was corrupt. End result is I had to load a week old saved game. The moral here? Save often. Save to a new slot everytime you make a level, so if you lose a position, you don't loose any skill levels.

Fun Factor: (A-) This is the big one. This is the reason I'm giving this game 4 stars. When you get right down to it, it's alot of fun. There are so many different things to do, and different ways to do them that there is also a fair amount of replay value. Something extremely rare in an RPG.

Not Just a D2 clone, also a clone of......

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: August 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If a female friend was setting you up on a blind date with Arcanum, when asked what arcanum looks like your friend would respond, "oh she has a pretty face, really nice hair and a great personality!" It was definately wise of Sierra to put Arcanum out now, during the late summer gaming lull, instead of forcing it to go toe to toe with Warcraft 3 or Neverwinter Nights. In principle, Arcanum is a good game. It combines the battle system of fallout, the gameplay of Diablo, and the quest system of Bauldors Gate 2. The drawback is a pretty steep lack of originality, and graphics that were only average in 1999. All this combines to give a pretty decent RPG with little or no punch. The story is the only area that raises above mediocre. It basically takes your classic dungeons and dragons world, and combines it with the industrial revolution. The result is a society in conflict between magic and technology, a struggle that creates a motif of the late 1800's combined with old school nights and sorcery. As in Bauldors Gate you have a completely open ended story, where your actions will decide your fate. This fate is controlled much by the postitive or negitive interactions you have with the many NPC's throughout the game, giving those points you place in charasima some actual use. The sophisticated interactions in the story contribute to that wonderful feeling of controlling your own destiny that you recieved all throughout the fallout series. Although not as buggy as Black and White or Anarchy Online were when first released, Arcanum still suffers from periodic freeze up. Also I suggest you keep reading material handy because this game takes its time loading, even on fast computers. All around there's nothing that a small patch couldn't fix though, which is a pleasent change of pace for gamers such as myself, who have been driven cynical by unplayably buggy games at launch. All around Arcanum is a reasonibly fullfilling game, with enough surprises to make you want to play it again. I recommend it for RPG fans whose main intrest is item hunting and character building. If your not a fan of the genre though, this is definately not a piece that will change your mind.

dumb game, with some entertaining gimmicks

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: September 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game has some interesting ideas, but they aren't very well executed. The story is mildly interesting at best, the dialogue is dull, and the graphics are wholly unimpressive. The game can't handle a resolution higher than 800x600 (only slightly better than Diablo I, II, and Baldur's Gate I. Why can't RPG's follow the example set by Baldur's Gate II, which can handle 1600x1200 in 'experimental mode').

It is really easy to acquire experience and get to the 50th level in the middle of the game, after which you can progress no further. Having reached this point (as well as playing a little further), I gave up on the game. This game lacks innovation and style, and feels very much like it is simply the next product churned out by a major company than anything memorable. As evidence of this, the game comes full of bugs.

Are there good qualities to this game? yes. but for me the final judgement is that the game is simply not worth finishing, and a role-playing game that is no better than a film that is not worth watching all the way through.

Great for those who have never played an RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: May 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I am not an RPG gamer at all. The closest I ever come to that genre would be a real-time strategy game like warcraft or thief 2. I was very skeptical when i downloaded the demo (I was more interested in what the AI was like than in the game itself), but after spending some time with it am completely addicted. The game does not fall into the trap that most of these games do by forcing you down the path of a single pre-formatted storyline. You are free to roam and explore and play with everything and everybody in the game. The story generally unfolds around you.

I have just re-started the demo as anoter character and am also pleasently surprised at the fact that it this new game is not a carbon copy of the game I just put down. I think as communities grow and mods and characters are developed, I could actually play this game over again after beating it (which apparently takes about 100 hours).

I give Arcanum [in my best Ebert voice] "2 enthusiastic thumbs up."

A lot of fun... at first

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: January 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Arcanum is a very well done game, and is truly engrossing from the start, especially the way they introduce you to your eventual "path" as some sort of savior (hey, its like most rpgs). Pretty much the only guidance down the path is some deadguy's ring, which you have the option of doing anything you want with. This great freedom is well complemented by the greatest character interactions I've seen thus far. It is similar in gameplay to the Fallout, but lacks the creative plot.

The main problem with the game is that your character advances through the levels of 25-50 in about the same time as it will advance through 1-10. Goals are easily accomplished, albeit with a lot of legwork, and you character is frozen at level 50. It is rather unorthodox for a stupid half-ogre to breeze through an rpg, annilating major obstacles with a few swipes with Conan the Barbarian's sword. Even if the user chooses to make a "social" character, combat is easily resolved by npc's. The most difficult path in the game seems to be the traditional "ultra smart" guy, essential to victory in many similar games. Also different from similar games is the fact that after a while the game becomes 90% traveling from person to person. ...

Great game with show-stopping bugs

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: September 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off, this is a deep and lengthy RPG in the best sense. The character creation alone is fun and can yeild a couple of hours of fun by itself. Allowing players to chose between aptitutes in magic or technology just builds on this process. I was truly surprised how practically any character type (mage, scientist, thief, diplomat, smart, strong, dumb, weak) could make their way through the expansive world and always have options. Aside from the central quest their are hundreds of side-quests and how you solve them is totally up to you and the abilities you've chosen for your characters.
Clearly, this is the strength of the game. It's weakness? There are several late-game bugs that can happen that will simply end your game. In particular, there was a shrine I found that had an object I was too weak to lift at the time. Later, I returned and moved the object but had no need for it so I put it back. Then, hours and days later, I needed it and returned to find that it had evaporated. This was a key quest item, one that would lead to getting a necesary item for the end battle, and trying to get tech support was met with sad tale on message boards of no fix.
People finish the game, don't get me wrong, but if you're one of the poor souls gets shafted in the third act you're going to wonder why you wasted your time. Like to gamble with time? This might be for you.

Great, but could be better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ever wanted to play a fantasy version of Fallout? Here it is. In Arcanum, the graphics, gameplay, and even little things like map movement and dialogue are quite similar. This should be no surprise, as the developers were from the original Fallout team. Since Troika's company logo says 'Art, Design, Code' on it, I'll critique along those lines.

Art- If you're looking for a game full of eye candy, you will be sorely disappointed. While not ugly, it is obvious that this title is not big on graphics. If you don't mind seeing relatively bland combat, spells, and scenery, then this shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, be warned that some of the sound effects can get annoying when you hear them long enough. If you're patient, you will be rewarded with a handful of decent cinematics, but don't hold your breath.

Design- This is the strong point of Arcanum. It has an excellent story that really draws you into the action. The game is challenging, but not in a stupid way (i.e. having to find some random place with no clues). Despite the size of the maps, navigation is quite easy, and the console provides plenty of welcome features to assist the user. It's difficult to get lost, and there's always a way to continue with the plot. For those familiar with Fallout, combat is even easier than before. It seems they 'Diabloified' it, allowing real-time combat (not much use actually), quick weapons, and one-click attacks. You don't have to reload weapons in a fight, and there are only two types of ammo: arrows and bullets. They even added durability, though it doesn't work like it does in Diablo.

Code- Needs work. There are more bugs in this game than both Fallouts and a good size termite mound all added up. It's enough that you will be genuinely frustrated at times. Aside from some stability problems, waypointing sometimes doesn't work, and quests (though not the big ones) can sometimes be broken through no fault of the player. You cannot multitask while playing Arcanum, or the cursor will vanish and the graphics will get royally messed up. The load times for areas were, to my utter amazement, longer than even Baldur's Gate 2. I am at a loss as to how they could be this way, considering that the graphics are rudimentary in comparison. Additionally, the game loads only a relatively small portion of an area, which means you'll stop to load every once in a while when running around. It could get very frustrating if you happen to be running from something. You would think the designers would have left some options for caching areas, but there are none. I find that I have a very long wait every time I return to Tarant.

As for the combat engine, which you will spend a lot of time using, it is average. You'll find the real time mode dangerous for anything but hacking up rats, since things just happen too fast for you to react. There's also a likelihood you can critical fail and drop a weapon, and not even notice. Combat also looks extremely dumb in real-time. My biggest complaint about the combat is that your companions are stupid. They get stuck on doors and are hacked to death one by one, and your summoned minions (if applicable) don't attack unless your character is personally engaged. If you have a thief in the party, you can't tell him to lead in a trap-infested area, so you'll probably find all the traps by stepping on them.

In Arcanum, they made charisma and beauty extremely important. Some people won't even talk to you if you don't have enough reaction, which can be a very bad thing. It's advisable you have some way to raise it temporarily if you don't have permanently decent stats. Although, in general, combat is pretty easy, I have had an occasional 'dead-end' battle. There is an especially hard one you can get trapped into near the start of the game, which caused me to start over completely. Most of the hard ones aren't mandatory, but some are, so you had best know how to do something besides sweet-talking.

Despite all these failings- many of which could be rectified in updates- Arcanum is a thoroughly engrossing experience. It really doesn't matter how annoying the bugs can be once you get into it, since it really does provide a true sense of adventure. The characters interact more or less in realistic fashion, and there are endless possibilities for customizing your character and going through the intricate plot. This is not an action game, and I wish they hadn't made a halfhearted attempt to make it play like one. It is a truly classic RPG experience, and a very excellent one when played as that.

Choices Galore

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

While I'm not one to write reviews, this time I can't really stop myself. Arcanum, I feel, has earned my response.

Arcanum is a downright marveous game.

The greatest beauty of the game is, doubtless, the freedom. One is not constrained to work in a specific order doing specific deeds specific ways, but rather the game and the plot will adapt themselves to whatever the character does. I've been playing RPGs since Final Fantasy II came out, and I'd always thought it would be neat to choose what to say to even the normal people. Arcanum allows this, letting you choose what to say to every character in the game, and what you say can have a major effect on how the game continues, even with a mere villager.
Certainly, also, the fact that there is no compulsion to be a "good guy" is a nice touch. You can be as moral as a saint or more murderous than Jack the Ripper if you like. You don't need to buy items if you can get into the shopkeeper's stock, and while I'm on the topic of people who sell things, if you sell them something, it'll show that they have it available for sale.

Of course, the battle system, rules system, techology system, and magic system all deserve praise, but it's the sheer amount of choice that makes this game unlike any other -- and gives it infinite replay value.

I really have yet to see better. Five out of five.

An incredible CRPG experiance

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: September 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Arcanum is, in my opinion, a CRPG of unusual quality, one which we've rarely seen since the time of Fallout and Daggerfall. That's not to say that Arcanum doesn't it's share of problems, it does namely dated graphics, a slightly unbalanced combat system as well as a few minor bugs. However, it trancends its shortcomings, overcoming them instead with an excellent well-thought-out storyline a unique gameworld, an etheirial(sp?) soundtrack, and total freedom. Freedom to chose whether to follow the plot or to explore on your own, freedom to be whatever kind of character you'd lile, good or evil; magick, tech, thief, melee, or diplomat. In short, Arcanum is a CRPG enthusiast's dream. Although Arcanum has been likened unto that action rpg Diablo II, the only real similarity is in the easy to use combat system.

Involved Gaming - complex ? ... worth the learning curve !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: February 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't want to rehash what everyone else said. I agree with their reviews. This is a wonderful game. Can be a bit overwhelming, but with patience, you will "enjoy the ride".
I wanted to inform those looking to purchase this fine game, you can find the game/new at eBay, fifty% cheaper(...I paid twelve bucks) than what the new marketplace sellers are requesting. If you need a manual, you can download a .pdf version some 100+ pages long. Do due dilligence and you won't regret it.

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