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DEMANDS PATIENCE + INTELLIGENCE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: August 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

O.K. the game is more difficult than most role playing titles, but that is its strength. The entire point of the rpg is to transport the player into another world/dimension, and that is exactly what Enclave does, and then some!! Yes, it demands a high level of patience and use of strategy. The creators of this game did not make it to be impossible, 90% of the time they give the gamer clues to alert them. If you are standing on a floor made of tiles and some of them are raised, that should at least make you think twice before stepping on them!! It also gives you an idea of how the game should be played.
Beyond the difficulty of this game, which makes it more interesting, are the graphics and sound. Both are absolutely amazing, and for those who utilize the surround sound capability know that it adds a new dimension to the game.
The storyline is also complex and works to pull you into the world of Enclave even more. The characters are amazing and highly realistic. I love weapons and armor, and Enclave gives your warrior the ability to purchase more powerful equipment as they progress through the game. You'll find that after you adjust to using your weapon effectively, the game actually becomes easier(NOT EASY, JUST EASIER).
Overall, this game is amazing. Again, as others have mentioned, it is not for the 'super mario' type gamer. This is a 'thinking' game, and I thank the programmers for making a game that might take a while for me to truly master. If you want more of a challenge, BUY THIS GAME!

Great Story, Great Graphics, Stupid Design

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: August 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like this game. I had been anticipating its release for months. And, it really delivered at first. The first couple of levels, while dificult, where at least tolerable (even with the lack of a "save game" option). The graphics are absolutley top notch, and the controls (the "right stick jump" notwithstanding) are really pretty solid. In fact, if you invert the Y-axis in the controller set-up it's just like Halo. The sound is good and the music is very story appropriate.

That said, this game really starts to fall apart by the 6th and 7th level. If fact, the dificulty level is so ridiculously high by level 13, I didn't even want to finish it. Being killed by a challenging opponent is one thing, but, after working on a level for 45 minutes just to have a rock land on your head and make you start from the begining is quite another. Really, what [...]desinged this thing. By mission 14, you find yourself set against opponents who are as heavily armoured as you, can kill you with a single blow, and, there's 10 on you at ounce. Oops. Time to start again. If you think that type of challenge is fun, this is the game for you. I just found it frustrating, and eventually, a waste of my gaming time. It's not impossible, but replaying a mission 12 times just to move forward gets downright boring. This is what you will be doing in "Enclave."

Challenging but Fun Gameplay

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Enclave is a first person dungeon crawl which began on the XBox and GameCube before coming out for the PC.

First, the plot. You're in a medieval village. A giant chasm has split you (the "good guys") from the Outlanders (the "bad guys"). In the console versions you must play the good guy missions before taking on the bad guys. On the PC you can start with either.

I really think playing the good guys first made more sense, because you get to meet and know characters that you then play on the bad guy side. There's more "payback" feeling. But some people can't stand being good and want to just be bad.

The graphics are nice, but not spellbinding. There are many other games out there that I can think of that are more polished or authentic feeling. Still, you do get the stone and wood feel for the medieval areas. You work from level to level, gaining gold, gaining experience, buying new weapons and armor.

There are a few puzzles and a lot of hack and slash. Which leads to the next issue with the console versions. You can't save mid-mission which means if you hit something you're having problems with, you keep restarting the entire thing. So then you try another armor combination, or another weapon and go through it all over again. It can get pretty tedious. The PC version lets you save mid-mission.

On the up side, this means that you can easily play the game for weeks and still have challenges waiting for you. You can go back and replay levels, looking for the treasure you missed. You can try for different weapon or armor to see how it might help or hurt. If you race through to find the ending, you're missing the whole point of the game. It's meant to be enjoyed, not to be trashed and then thrown out.

Enclave: Hurts so good!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: August 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Enclave is a big, brutal, beast of a game that will leave you breathless with its stunning graphics, sprawling levels, and savage combat. Freshman Swedish developer Starbreeze does not dissapoint with their first game ever, and they have me eagerly awaiting a sequel.

Though it is true that all the promising multiplayer was removed for the final build, (Perhaps they left hooks in to add Xbox Live support later?) the single player game left over is excellent. The graphics set a new standard for this type of game on Xbox, rivaling even DOA3 in every department except for Character models.. but DOA3 never had levels like THIS! Huge, massive levels..where enemies surpise you from all directions, setting up traps, ambushes, dropping things on you, rolling things toward you. (bombs usally) and generally doing their darndest to see that you never make out alive.

Luckily for you, The starbreeze guys gave you a MAx Payne style control scheme that allows you to seemlessly move, fire and keep an eye on the ever dangerous and changing environement. And if you get tired of the ol' hack and slash..you can also switch to a "halo-sytle" FPS mode on the fly and at any time, perfect for shooting the heads off orcs from 200 feet away with your sniper arrows.

The replay value is insane as well, with a dozen unlockable characters, each with their own set of attacks and defense capabilities..and a fully customizable list of gear that you can updgrade with gold found while exploring the game's 50+ levels. In fact, selecting the right character and the right mix of toys for them to carry is what elevates Enclave above the purview of the typical action game. Playing through a level as the Druid (who can summon Earth elementals to fight for her) is a totally different experience from playing the same level as the Knight (best of the cutlery experts) or the Huntress. (Sniping Heaven)

Be warned though. Enclave is not just another romp in the medieval park. You will die.. maybe even a lot. The level of difficulty and challenge is old school. The AI is brutal..and they know when you have a missle weapon or melee weapon in your hands and change tactics accordingly. If you start sniping them..they know not to stand still and wait for you to pick them all off one by one. They will bring the fight to you if they can, or duck behind cover and patiently wait for you to advance. You have to be cunning to succeed in Enclave.

Much like Halflife, the environment will also try to kill you at times. Walls come crashing down, bridges collapse, spike shoot up out of the floor, bombs explode..and.. the dreaded bane of all video game heroes..bottomless pits and gaps will have to be crossed, with one wrong step leading to certain death.

And here's where the rub comes. In Enclave. you must complete a level to save your progress. The only time you get a grace save is before a boss fight. (thank goodness) This may frustrate some casual gamers who are used to Max Payne's save anywhere vibe.

The good news is.. if you make it to the end..completely out of ammo and with one hp to your name..you are completely restored for the next sequence. I personally loved the fact that this was not a game I was going to beat in few days or even a week. The addictive gameplay and exploring the excellent levels will keep me busy for some time. If you are looking for a great single player action game, with a lot of depth, challenge and replayablity..you'd be a fool not to at least check it out.

If Enclave were a woman, she'd be a 6'5' leather clad swedish dominatrix in stilletto heels.

She'd hurt you plenty..but you'd keep coming back for more, all the same. :D

Diablo + RPGoodness + Impossible = Enclave

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: August 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Truly I am going to admit at the very start:
This game isn't the BEST one I have ever played - but, being the only one for X-Box I currently own I have forced myself to become obsessed with it.

Graphics - 9.8/10 very pretty! BUT this game could have been so much better had the cut-scenes been cinematic graphics as opposed to gameplay-graphics. Some characters faces lack expression, but are topped off with blinking and mouth movement when talking. Over-all it's not bad at all!! You will be pleased with the looks Enclave has to deliver!

Gameplay - 8/10 This game was so hard. Oh wow. The other reviews explain it pretty well: no save points + impossible enemies = incredibly annoying. Bridges will collapse beneath you, an unseen crevace will pull you into a lake of lava, or one glance in the wrong direction and you fall of a bridge into shark-infested waters... honestly - the old cheat codes came in handy more than once or twice. :) (X,Y,X,Y,X,X,Y,Y = God Mode, Complete Mission Menu during Pause in gameplay, FYI... SHHH!)

Soundtrack - 10/10 looooved the sounds! what more could you ask for? everything, absolutely everything - from whirring unseen motors, to blood squirts, to chinking wood off of posts to relieve stress with a decorated dagger when you can't figure out what to do next! The musical score, though it can become quite repetitive....

This game deserves 5 stars simply because it's so fun! The story might be hard to follow since you find yourself repeating missions 10-20 times each, and the graphics might leave you sitting and staring instead of hacking and slashing, but there is no reason not to own this game. It is one I would suggest you add to your library!

Final Comment: "This is a MAN's game."

For the patient gamer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Enclave is a 3rd person Action game, in the spirit of Blade of Darkness and Rune, but with better graphics. In terms of gameplay, there is a big difference though. Enclave seems to have a better story, that keeps you well involved for good part of the game.
The problems start however with the total lack of an in-game save. Enclave is not a hard game, but it's a very frustrating one. Most of the time you'll die not because you're not skilled enough, but because of something you can't predict (being killed with an arrow by somebody you don't see, etc). Developers want you to replay those levels and very soon you realize why. This game is really not that long and without this 'cheating', any skilled player will finish it really fast.
Second frustration element comes from the fact that in order to progress and do more damage, you have to gain gold and then buy better weapons, between missions. Also, between missions you have to choose which character you want to use for that level, which leaves place for a lot of guessing, since you're never given info on what's ahead.
Overall, Enclave may be worth buying at this price, especially if you are a very patient player, with a lot of time on your hands. I decided to take the game back, because i think developers have to learn - the hard way - that they have to take advantage of what XBox has: a hard-drive!

One of the best titles on the Xbox

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I see the reviews, and they completely miss out on what this game is all about. Some compare it to an RPG/FPS. It is more along the lines of RTS/FPS.

Gameplay pros:
If you are like me, and are looking for a game that is actually "challenging" to play, then this is definitely the one. This game requires good hand-eye coordination, tactics, and strategy in order to be successfull.
I see reviews on this site that bash the difficulty of this game. However, if you play the game the way it was intended (that is, where you actually have to think your way through combat) then you will quickly see where this game shines. The combat system in this game is superb. Damage you inflict on your opponent is not only based on what you hit them with (which weapon), but where you hit them, and what armour they are wearing on that location of their body. If they have a plate helm on, then your sniper arrow is going to do significantly less damage with a head shot.

Gameplay cons: There are no saves in this game (well, rarely). That means that if you die, then you have the start the level from the beginning. This adds to the frustration factor. Although, if you look at it from a non-biased point of view, you will see that this was done purposefully and by design. Not because of lack thereof. The developers actually want you to think your way through the game instead of mindlessly rampaging and hopeing that you get lucky.

Graphic Pros:
The visuals in this game are some of the best I have seen for a console game. Some of the other reviews state that there is no environment interaction. That is flat out false! Boulders fly at you. Enemies throw boxes on you. Heck, in one portion, they even fire cannons at you while you run down a dock. You actually feel like you are in this game.

Graphic Cons: Not really a graphics issue but all the same. Most of the environmental interaction in this game is scripted. That is, if a boulder rolls down a hill at you, it will allways roll down the hill at you when it is triggered. There are other issues between the first and third person views. Third person view makes it difficult to hit your enemies while in melee. Switching to first person view with all but the engineer and halfling yields your weapon invisible. You can't tell where you are swinging.

Sound pros: Awesome sounds in this game. Very good music, very good sound effects. Excellent ambient sounds. Ambient sounds in this game are used as part of the game play and are not just an enhancement. You actually need to use sounds in order to determine your environment, and what it may do to you next.

Sound cons: Nada, zilch, zero. Except for one small improvement. They could have had more music.

AI Pro's: The AI in this game is fairly good. The enemy knows if they are being sniped with ranged weapons and will accordingly hide or rush. Ive had shielded trolls use their shields when releasing a volley of arrows at them in close range. When enemies swing melee at you, they try to position themselved to actually land the blow. They dont just randomly come at you swinging. If you turn tail and run, they will follow you at full speed. Lastly, melee's love to do nothing more than to back you into a corner and maul you into submission.
AI Con's: There where a few instances where the AI didnt seem to work properly. That is, an enemy would stop dead in its tracks and just look at you while you pelted him with crossbow bolts. I think its more of a bug in the AI than a design feature. Although, with the difficulty of this game, sometimes this is a bonus.
Controls:
pros: The control interface is easy to adapt to if your use to games like max payne and halo. However, there is a bit of work that needs to be done with the camera. First person and third person views in this game are not just a "feature". In some instances, they are a requirement and definitely give you the upper hand in specific situations.
Cons:
The controls are easy to pick up on but much harder to perfect. This goes especially with melee combat. It is much more difficult than ranged combat. The down side is that you can easily get yourself killed if you go in wildly swinging at your enemy. The upside is that if you know how to work your controls, the different swings, the weapon speeds, and how to land a blow, the game becomes much easier. The key to this game is to use your environment to your advantage. Against smaller opponents, it is much easier to land a blow if they are slightly higher than you on an incline. This isn't a game of "Press the button and hope it lands". You can land most blows if you know how and think your way through the combat situation. Something that you rarely see in an FPS style game.

Storyline: The story line in this game is very descent. However, they could have done a better job on the story telling. Instead of showing a cut-scene of a book up-close, and some woman turning its pages, they could have shown a few battle scenes. They could have even used the same game engine to do it. The graphics are that good. Besides that, the story itself is rich and epic in scale.

In summary, this is a very fun and addicting game. Most of the bad reviews are from people who either did not invest time in the game to see what it really has to offer, or do not enjoy this style of gameplay. If you are one of those (who need instant gratification from a video game), then this game will do nothing but frustrate you. If not, then this will definitely be in your top 5 (for me, its right below halo at number 2).

A little struggling never hurt anyone

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First off, this game has great graphics. The fact that you can play in both first and third is GREAT!

I have read that in order to save a game you must pass a level, and a lot of people seem to not like this. I loved it! It made me try harder with different characters on the levels!

This is a game that wants you to try to pass levels in different ways. TRY being the key word here. The levels are not all that long so it's not all that bad when you die.

Music was good. It did not get on my nerves, but rather put me in the mood to play and go further through the levels.

Bottom line for this game: You wanna play a game that wants you to TRY different things in it's game play? Get this game!

just great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 23
Date: July 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Enclave offers wonderful graphics, an exciting storyline and lots of RPG elements. Its one of the first RPGs for the XBOX and it shows again the potential of the XBOX. You should definitely take a look at it.

A Game For An Intelligent Mature Gamer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: August 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Enclave is a game targeted to a mature player that enjoys intelligent strategic exploration.

And this is where this game is most often misunderstood. Many impatient players tend to go into Enclave with a "hack 'n slash" mentality. They believe that this game will be a "3D Diablo". These players are like an illiterate adult trying to sound out the phonics of War and Peace. Enclave will be a lesson in frustration time and time again for these players and it is best for them to seek a milder form of entertainment.

So what is the gameplay of Enclave really like?

It is slow, deliberate, and cautious. It is strategic. There are no mid-level saves and the levels can be challenging. But the gameplay rewards the player in ways that games often do not.

Imagine being 30 minutes into an underground tomb. The atmospheric sounds of the damp stone environments echo around in full Dolby Digital 5.1. You can almost smell the damp moss on the walls. You are facing a wooden staircase. You take your time, look around, and be still. Do you hear any enemies waiting below? No, just the soft drip of unseen moisture.

You begin to descend the stairs. As you continue your slow descent, you notice the creak of the staircase growing in intensity. You stop and examine the floor boards. The boards to the right look rotted out, so you slowly stick left and pray the staircase doesn't collapse. It holds and you continue the adventure.

All traps in this game have visual clues and are all based on logic. Nothing is illogical and "cheap". Where one player takes his time and uses his wits, another may plunge on ahead and meet an untimely death.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg! This game contains strategic combat - both hand to hand and missile. The magic available is incredibly complicated and its use would make a chess player smile with glee. The graphics are almost photorealistic and are always eerily fluid. If you have a Dolby Digital 5.1 setup, you are in for a new experience. Have you ever played a game where a falling rock from a cliff shakes the entire room? The use of the subwoofer is the most technically impressive feat yet accomplished on the XBox.

But it is not for everyone. Mainstream gamers may walk away with a damaged ego and a frustrated sense of failure. But there are those of you out there that loved the slow deliberate speed of Thief and Thief 2. There are those of you out there that loved the strategic combat of Blade of Darkness. There are those of you out there that still enjoy the sight of a scantily clad female druid, who's curves are yet unmatched on either the PC or the XBox. Enclave does not suffer from the cancer of political correctness.

There are those of you out there that this game was made for. It is waiting.

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