User Reviews (31 - 41 of 61)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Involving but slow

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: February 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've played all the Wizardry games (yes even the original) and what I always liked is the storyline. Along with a great story the graphics are good and the characters (NPCs) are fun. Also the wide variety of races and character types allow for many different approaches to game play (Lots of fighters or go heavy for magic)

My only gripe is how long the battles take. It's time consuming to watch 9 shrieking bats zoom up to your party one at time (and then zoom away if you blind them only to zoom back later). Maybe I missed a setting to speed this up. But if you like the quick action of a FPS (Quake) this will seem like molasses.

Overall a great game, just don't expect to finish it in a few days. There is a lot to this game.

Wizardry is one of the greatest.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is incredible. Yes, there are some flaws, but overall, they are more than overcome.
Admittedly, in some areas you are not able to go outside the confines of the zone, but within those zones are almost unlimited possibilities. I suppose it might seem rigid and consticting to a player that wasn't able to figure out what the "use item" command was for during combat (seemed like a good way to drink a heal potion to me....), but if you use imagination and curiosity, you will discover a large number of things that are hidden, disguised, or just plain strange....
Yes, combat can take a while with multiple opponents, but I'm playing on a five year old computer that can barely run the game, and it only frustrates me occasionally. If the combat runs too slow for you on a more modern computer, you probably need to slow down and enjoy life before you die of a heart attack....

Best RPG game ever!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Wizardry 8 outshines them all! And I've played them all (practically). I won't repeat all the positive comments given in other reviews except to say that I agree with them all! I will comment on the battles: Yes, the fights take a little longer than in most games (as one person commented), but so what? The battles are handled so efficiently by the AI that it is actually fun, unlike some games where battle is more a chore of click, click, click as fast as you can with the mouse. You can let the computer handle the battles and just sit back to enjoy or you can handle every aspect of the battle yourself. Or anywhere in between the two extremes.
Best yet, it works on XP (which is what I have). So all you XP's out there, there is no excuse not to get this great game.

Wiz8 does not run on my Windows XP computer

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 27
Date: January 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had high hopes for Wizardry 8 having played all the previous
Wizardry games and most of the Might and Magic games.
Version 1.2.4

Unfortunately I will try and return it to Amazon because it
does not run on my system:
Windows XP
NVidia GeForce 3 with latest drivers
Sound blaster Compatible

I tried all the video options including Open GL.
I tried all the audio options including "no audio".

The wiz8.exe program crashed before displaying anything
on the screen.

The tech support at sir-tech was not helpful.
Their 1.2.3 version on their site was older than the
1.2.4 version I had on disk.

Great long lasting fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I am not a Wizardry veteran for a start and this is the first game I bought from developed by Sir-Tech. Gosh, how I regretted this. I should have bought all the Wizardry series + Jagged Alliance series that they have produced.
If you like turn-based combat, realistic environement graphics and sounds, and most importantly longed for an intriguing story, then look no more. Quickly go get yourself a copy and start to live in its fantasy world. Game review sites all over the world and thousands of extremely satisfied users can't be wrong!!
Did I also mention that they have done an excellent job in providing support-just log onto to their site and check it for yourself.
Overall, excellent fun RPG Game of the year.

Wiz8

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Wiz8 continues the Wizardry tradition. If you like developing characters and live for the thrill of gaining another level than this game is for you. With the ability to customize up to 8 characters (6 party and 2 NPC's) the options for role-playing are limitless. I find myself wanting to play with several different parties. With so many classes and races the combinations and subsequent strategy needed to play them keeps the game fresh. I think about half the stuff found is random and the other half fixed. So yes you can head straight for a super weapon early. The game balances this with skills. You may have the best sword in the game but if your sword skill is low this uber sword won't help much. In fact it will actually hinder your ability to increase your sword skill. After you have mastered character development you can still challenge yourself by playing with a smaller party. Some people even solo the game. I like being able to develop a party to work in concert with each other strengths and weaknesses. Speaking of strength and weakness. There really is a noticeable difference between classes. For example a fighter class really is the best fighter in the game. The races are just as noticeable in the way some are more suited for a particular class than others.

Great game, great price

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Wizardry 8, by the now defunct Sir-Tech Software, is an excellent neo-old-school RPG. By that I mean it retains the feel of classic RPGs like Might & Magic, Bard's Tale, and the early games in the Wizardry series, while updating the gameplay nicely. Wizardry 8 is to RPGs what Zelda: Ocarina of Time was to adventure games.

Wiz 8 takes the original Wizardry formula, turn-based first person RPG adventuring, and brings it into a fully 3D world. The upgrades are many. Magic is simple and easy to learn and use. Combat is intuitive, using both ranged and melee attacks. NPC interaction isn't bad, especially compared to some of the older RPGs.

Where this game shines, IMHO, is the skill system. Characters have access to various skills based on their class and race. Skills can be upgraded through use/practice, and when leveling. This creates a very satisfying system in which players are constantly rewarded for completing what could otherwise be repetitive combat. Sure, you only go up 1% at a time, but after finishing a long battle it's very cool to see what areas characters have improved in.

I didn't love the story, music, or graphics, but the overall gameplay was great. Be warned: The first 5-10 hours of this game can be extremely difficult, especially for players new to the Wizardry world! But it's cheap now, so check it out and have fun.

ScL

difficult but excellent game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The variable turn-based combat is fantastic with genuine tactical and strategic options. If you liked Jagged Aliiance, you'll like the combat in this game. This is not a game you can just casually play, and anyone who says the game is "too hard" should be playing Diablo 2 instead. Random mouse-clicking will get you killed in this game. Really my only complaint is that you can't escape from combat easily. Otherwise it is well-made and fun to play through to the end.

Nice Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you are a character tweaking freak, this is the game for you. There are so many different things you can do with the 6 party members you create. There are somewhere around 10 different races and classes to choose from. You can even change your characters to different classes in the middle of the game if you have the proper stats. This game definately lives up to the Wizardry name. Character development is the best part of Wizardy 8. All of the other aspects such as graphics, sound etc. are so-so. It is difinately a fun game to play and will keep you entertained for hours.

This game is weak

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: January 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game has a number of serious flaws.

(a) You are not in a true 3D world that you explore--as in most other modern RPGs. Here, you are forced to follow a linear path, from one "area" to the next. Even the "outdoor" areas are cordoned off by high cliffs, to keep you channeled in a single direction.

(b) Combat is very slow and cumbersome. Each monster moves individually. Even at the highest speed settings, if you are fighting more than 3 or 4 monsters at once (which is often), you will spend most of your time waiting for the monsters to move and attack. While you have the option of switching into "continuous" mode, this just means there's no pause between combat rounds. You still can't move your party freely.

By comparison, Might and Magic would let you fight in "real time" if you wanted to, which meant you could move freely.

(c) The user interface on this game is clunky and painful. You're constantly innundated by text messages during combat, and there's no way to clear or hide the message buffer. Common actions like casting a heal spell require 4-5 separate steps. And I never did figure out how to get a party member to drink a healing potion during combat. Maybe it's not allowed, or maybe the interface for doing it was just too obscure.

As an aside, I played the original Wizardry when it came out, probably 12+ years ago. That game came with its own operating system, literally. You had to boot off the floppy, and you had no control over saving the game. If your party died, you had to start over from scratch.

Wizardry 8 feels a lot like that original Wizardry. It feels like it has the exact same underlying game logic, just with a 3D graphics engine for display. Given the reviews on this game, some people must enjoy being controlled and tightly constrained. If you prefer to be in control, or you prefer a game that gives you more freedom and flexibility, you'll want to look elsewhere.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next 

Actions