Customer Reviews

Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Arcanum is a game that appeals to a certain audience. If you like figuring out alternate solutions to problems, you may enjoy this game. Fans of the Fallout games will find a similarly well-thought-out setting and sense of humor. Fans of complex RPGs will be delighted by the depth and length of the game.

If you thought Diablo was a great RPG, well, don't bother with Arcanum. The only thing they have in common is that you have a character that grows over time. Diablo was a linear hack-and-slash adventure with clearly defined characters and simple mechanics. Arcanum has a non-linear path and complex character options. Furthermore, if you try to bash through every situation, you will have your head handed to you, especially at the beginning of the game.

Specific likes: The setting, that of a fantasy realm going through an industrial revolution (with some Steampunk-like technology thrown in), is fantastic. The character creation options are varied and give you a great deal of control. The plot is long and involved. Some of the voice acting is quite good, and the background music is very appropriate, if a little monotonous at times. The system for using technology is a lot of fun. Characters can literally take bits and pieces of things and assemble them into everything from hand grenades to healing salves.

Specific dislikes: The combat system has a few odd points. Grenades and such somehow never harm you or your party, so you can throw them with impunity at folks standing right next to you. Critical hits and misses are ludicrously common, with sometimes drastic results, such as self-inflicted damage, dropped or damaged weapons, scarring or even crippled limbs. It reminds me of the old D&D Wandering Damage table some pundit proposed, with entries like, "Cut yourself shaving, consult limb loss table."

Graphics are pretty bland. You can't really tell your party members from people on the street -- although the clothes they wear do make a difference in appearance, at least. The graphics seem to be at about the same level as X-COM: UFO Defense in terms of utility, although they are far more detailed in Arcanum than in that game.

The interface for interacting with party members can be pretty frustrating. You can tell them what to do and what to use, but they have minds of their own, and sometimes they aren't so bright. They will quite willingly run between a gun and a target, and they pick up anything that might be lying around, including stones, old shoes, and bits of fluff. Sometimes, this is useful, but you'll find yourself scanning their inventories on a regular basis.

Overall, if you are in the target audience mentioned above, you can expect a four or even five star rating for this game. If you are not, then three would probably be more acurate for the average gamer, and those addicted to different genres that require a fast mouse and a short attention span will probably rate it as a two or less.

This game has A HUGE about of depth and options. It has an incredible amount of re-playability and a giant world. (it would take 48 real-time hours to just cross the world... thank god for the map function :) ) It is NOT a Diablo clone! although I can see how one might think so... if you are accustomed to playing Diablo you will play a character that has emphasis on fighting skills, and not on such things as building items, gambling, thieving and diplomatic skills. That is the great beauty of this game. You can play it as a Half-Ogre brute, a wealthy Human upper-class gunslinger, a spell-casting gnome that builds grenades on the side, a halfling mage that ran away with the circus and wears gnomish chainmail... just about any character that you can think up you can play. Also Arcanum has GREAT re-playability. It is possible to kill every living creature in the game and win. It is also possible to kill nothing and win. The great amount of options will make you want to play again and again. For instance, each NPC has a unique personality and will respond differently to you based upon your race, magick/tech alignment, background, how beautiful or charismatic you are, and a host of other variables. People that snubbed you as a Dwarf will greet you with open arms when you play an Elf. All this makes sure that no two Arcanum games are EVER the same. All I can say is... If you like RPGs you will love Arcanum.

THE BASICS:
I played Baldur's Gate, and found it lacking action and fun.
I played Diablo II, but became bored with constant hack-n-slash.
I played Arcanum, and fell in love with its combination of action, storytelling, and sheer freedom.

THE GOODS:
This game has an original and engrossing story, complete with great dialogue and written items the main character finds. There is unrivalled variety when creating and advancing your character. The game does a great job at balancing the effectiveness of magic and technology. The game gives the player a surprising amount of control in how the main character develops. Will the protagonist become a great hero (or despicable thief)? A crusader against technology (or magic)? A hero loved by the people (or villains)? The protagonist can be some of these things, or none of them, but not all. One thing I love about this game is how, if you choose sides, there will be consequences to your choosing. Do you take the side of the wizard being disrupted by the local steam engine, or an engineer, trying to keep his machines (and self) safe with saboteurs lurking about? Or will you avoid the situation? This game offers even more freedom than Fallout/Fallout 2 did.

THE BADS:
There are decently long load times, which can be frustrating if you're a person who does not like to be kept waiting. Also, during gameplay, the game paused for a few seconds if my character was casting a spell that had complex grapics. This is nothing that will keep me from playing the game, though.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
Buy this game, download the patch, and enjoy, my friend!

Having played through Arcanum, I can't really say I either love or hate it. It was definitely one of those games that inspired both feelings at one time or another. Since I think it's about average in general, I would recommend you wait until the price goes down to about $20 before getting it.

Let's start with the good things:

Your character is endlessly customizable. This is immediately evident from the point system, which has few restrictions. About the only thing you can't do is have magic and technology at once, but otherwise you have a free hand. There's also a lot of trait and race-specific things to explore in the game, which makes it fun to play again.

The story and quests are very well done. There's a TON of things to do, and you will actually have fun doing most of it. A lot of the quests are challenging, but none are impossible, especially if you're patient with them. You should find that you get at least double the experience from quests than you do from fighting, which goes to show just how many there are.

The setting is cool. Who wouldn't want to see a place where magic and guns exist together? It's definitely a unique world. I actually liked the graphics, and I think that anyone who complains about them should (a) play Fallout, and (b) start focusing on the gameplay instead. This isn't Baldur's Gate. It's not supposed to look gorgeous.

It plays like Fallout, for the most part. You really can't go wrong with a game that tries to emulate that one. In fact, the only places where it DOES go wrong are where it deviates from that tried-and-true formula. I wish the designers had stuck to the program.

And now for the bad stuff:

Load times are way too long. They're way longer than Baldur's Gate 2, which I find odd considering the simple 2-d graphics. The game often stops to load something (don't ask me what) during battles, which is highly annoying. It also seems to load small areas one at a time, making a walk through town a pain.

The game is buggy. I'm not going to complain too much about this, since it can be remedied, but the version it ships in is absolutely full of problems. You'll find yourself saving pedantically to avert disaster at various crashes. Some quests don't work right, and your followers and minions act very stupid in battle. They are especially retarded when fighting around small doors.

A lot of the features don't work well enough to be useful. Among these are the real time combat (very risky until you're of godly power), your follower's skills (you can't tell a thief to go look ahead for traps), the inventory (you'll notice this right off the bat), and multiplay (it's simply lousy).

The game is too easy. I'm not sure if anyone else agrees, but I found the whole thing to be a milk run. I suppose if you don't bother to do quests, you might find it difficult, but I found that battles actually got easier as the game progressed. I suggest that any veteran Fallout player turn the difficulty up to hardest if you want a challenge.

When all is said and done, I think Arcanum is a pretty decent game. The thing is, it could have been SO much better. It really is a pity they didn't streamline it a bit more.

If you were to take the best aspects of the Fallout series and throw in some elements from the Baldur's Gate series and then combine them to form this excellent RPG Adventure. From the get go every decision you make will alter the path of the game. From choosing a Male Elf or a Female Human your decisions effect the outcome of the game. The First overwhelming aspect of the game is the leveling system. Unlike games such as Diablo, Arcanum has a vast array of stats, skills, technology, and magick to distribute ability points to. Trying to stay balance among all of the available options will result in a very difficult game. However if you specialize in a certain skill, technology, or Magick you will have a stronger character. The combat engine is a very unique one that adjusts to your playing style. If you are used to hack and slash RPG's you might enjoy the Real-Time combat. However if your used to Fallout or Baldur's Gate turn based approach you can choose the turn based mode. There is even a cross between the two called Fast Turn based Mode which speeds up the turn based movement a bit. In any case there is a mode for everyone.
Another large part of this game is the development of your character. Through conversations and your actions you will develop a reputation. In addition if you focus your talents on Magick or Technology certain people will treat you differently. The entire land of Arcanum is divided between magick and technology. Choosing a focus is the most difficult task. Throughout the game you will have the ability to meet other characters that will join you on your quest if your leadership ability is high enough and you request their assistance. When you gain control of these NPC's they act as real people. Each one having its own personality and objective. They all can be upset by your actions and sometime might even decide to attack you and the rest of your party. Some NPC's are good some are evil. Based on your characters alignment you will get along better with some than others. However, this is half the fun.
On the negative side you will find several bugs, most of which should be fixed with the release of the new patch. On a unfortunate note the multiplayer was designed to be played on what used to be WON.net. Being won.net has officially closed shop and is currently being run by a minimal staff large lag times and several bugs a present here. Most people are hoping for an addition of TCP/IP to the network settings allowing players to play on GameSpy or Kali. On another note the biggest flaw in this games release was the Manual. It is completely unorganized and will provide little to any assistance. There is no Table of Contents or Glossary and to find the information you want you will have to a. read it from cover to cover. b. visit a Arcanum web site. or c. Buy the Strategy Guide. It is unfortunate that a game so fun and well thought out would place its manual on its lowest priority.
All in all this game is a very exciting and unique game that will be a sure fire nominee for game of the year. If you are a fan of Baldur's Gate and Fallout 1 & 2 this just may be the game for you. I do however suggest that when purchasing the game you also purchase the strategy guide. It is very well written and contains a complete guide to all of the characters and weapons you will run across.

Before you approach Arcanum, you have to consider what kind of gamer you are; do you enjoy the click-kill activity and furious multiplayer action of Diablo, or the intricate storyline / character development system as seen in Baldur's Gate, Fallout, etc.?

If you answered Diablo, then, please use the door marked "Exit", as you probably won't enjoy Arcanum.

Still here? Good. For the rest of us, Arcanum proves to be a real treat; an expansive role playing game that allows you to customize your character in many different ways. You tweak-junkies with be pleased with the depth of character development available, although I'm still not decided on the single-point-to-distribute-per-level system. (You gain 2 points every 5th level, however, instead of 1.)

One of my favorite aspects of Arcanum is the ability to solve quests and situations in different ways; perhaps you can coerce the character in question to your way of thinking, via your persuasive talents. If that fails, you might be able to pick pocket a crucial item from his or her person. If that fails, you can often resort to the more vulgar solution of violence.

Lots of dialogue and original quests make this one a keeper. However, the storyline is a bit cliched... you are the chosen one, sent to battle great evil. Wow, I haven't seen that one before! In all fairness, though, the execution of the story is great, and will keep you playing late into the night.

There is one reason this game sticks out in my mind. I've been a die-hard gamer for fifteen years. In the last two years, this was one of ten games out of the sixty or so I've purchased that I've been able to install and run without a patch and enjoy in what I consider a satisfactory fashion. Satisfactory fashion is defined by, no "fatal" bugs and no impedment of the game itself either by bad design or technical trouble.

Arcanum is a seamless transition into the world of Victorian Steampunk that is located in a fantasy-based world. The tone is H.G. Wells crossed with high fantasy. It works surprisingly well.

The logic of the world works. It is unfortunately extremley complex, even more so than similar games (of the Fallout mein) are. There are several stats and skills, and to play through unimpeded by the system takes starting over once or twice for the average person. My advice is that before you start the game, scan a few webpages relating to it and design your character *before* you're level fifteen and realize that one point in three dozen skills more or less isn't necessarily so much fun.

This is in truth the one down side to Arcanum; the manual is thorough, but it is written primarily in character. This is somewhat cool...but since it's also a *technical* manual teaching about the very out of character fact of stats, skills, etc...such in-character things can be a bit grating. There is also no index for specific subjects, which for a game complex as Arcanum can be tedious. I'd love to see a very thorough table of contents and index both in future games.

The graphics are better than Fallout. The sound is wonderful. Battles can be a bit repetitive. There were not nearly as many magical enemies as I'd have liked, considering the entire theme of the story is based on the outcome of an ancient myth/prophecy. Of course, the world is also slowly killing magic off (or at least that's the implication), so I guess it makes a sort of sense. Still, it was somewhat disappointing.

All-in-all, Arcanum is a fascinating game, and a captivating one. The story is excellent, the characters intriguing, and it's just plain fun. It's one of those games where days pass and you haven't realized it's already six days from when you started. The only drawback to the treasure-trove of its complexity, is if you pick the wrong character, you end up being utterly frustrated. Research before you play definetly, and avoid some of that potent annoyance. I sure wish I did! However, I'm grateful I gave it another try.

It is all things considered, worth the money. The frustrations I experienced were minimal compared to other snafu from other RPG's -- the most recent Ultima disaster and the Fallout2 <squirm> problems to name a few.

Arcanum is a good example of a sleeper hit on the PC RPG genre. Although many have forgotten, or have not even heard of it, it DID win 2001 RPG Year of the Award and other accolades from various sources. And at $9.99 (without shipping/handling), it's quite the bargain as well.

Arcanum's strong points lie in its original concepts, well crafted storyline and well scripted events. Betrayal abounds, and it's hard to know who to trust.

Arcanum was the first major game to offer two different sides in the form of technology and magic. Wield a nice automatic gun, or maybe a tranquilizer rifle. Or become a stuffy mage, carry a flaming sword, and send bolts of lightning out of your fingertips. Teleport yourself to distant lands, or ride the train.

The game is also very imaginative in terms of character interaction. If your mage becomes too powerful, the railroad conductor may eventually not even let you on the train, for fear that the warping of reality around you will damage the machine. The world is quite realistic- there are tailors, ordinary folk who just live in houses, blacksmiths, guards, etc. Some things will only happen at night. And unlike many other senseless RPGs, if you break into someone's house in plain view, it IS a crime. You want something valuable in that house? Sneak in through the shadows!

Arcanum is just an amazing game. The number of characters you can develop is startling, and the dialogue options available for each character are equally so. They range from the normal, to the cautious, to the sarcastic, to the outright absurd (i.e. "You're too nice. You have to die now.")

The spellcraft in Arcanum has been impleneted very originally. Casting a spell causes fatigue instead of mana, and spells actually will cost a certain amount of fatigue to upkeep, which allows for many interesting balances between technology and magic. Gun runners will never be afraid of suddenly getting too tired, and just running out of spells. On the other hand, they will be quite afraid of running out of bullets.

Of course, a game as ambitious as Arcanum also comes with several weaknesses as a result. Like any other pioneer in its field, Arcanum has a few pitfalls that kept it off the wish lists of some players. Arcanum has a steep learning curve unless you played a similarly styled interface (e.g. Diablo II).

Second, technological characters will find their time more difficult than the spellcasters because in the early game, they have to search everywhere- even garbage bins- for enough components to build decent weaponry. This perpetual scavenge hunt can quickly tire some less advanced players.

Third, some spells are simply too good. Disintegrate for instance, simply destroys the enemy monster. There is no equivalent for this on the tech side, and even if there was, it'd still be quite "broken" and unfair. There is no challenge in simply walking up to a boss monster and simply playing one spell that knocks it away into oblivion.

Another major complaint is that combat in Arcanum is too biased towards melee. Oftentimes the person who survives is neither the mage nor the techie, but the ogre who's got some good armor and a really, really big sword. Ranged weapons, as a general rule, are quite weak. The ones that aren't (i.e. explosive grenades are sort of good) are usually rare, even the components for them.

Last but not least, the controls in Arcanum are a bit clunky and the way the world map works is counter-intuitive. The game slows down periodically for little reason, even on fast systems, which suggests that the programmers may not have written entirely efficient code. Anyway, look at the advantages and disadvantages, and invent your own rating.

P.S. Arcanum does not support Windows XP officially. You have been warned. It may or may not work, depending on your specific PC. Also, some computers with older CPU's will have problems with their 3d acceleration. Try safe mode. Worked for me.

I knew i had to buy this when I first began reading about it back in 2000. The setting just sounded so great. A fantasy world, but one having an industrial revolution. In other words, your typical fantasy world, turned upside down.

The game doesn't disappoint.

First off, the character creation system is very cool. Completely classless, which while initially rather daunting, is very deep and fun to use. Basically, your stats determine your ability to train in skills. When you level up, you receive 1 point, and every five levels, you receive 2. These can be spent on skills, stats, spells or schematics. For example, if you want to become proficient with melee weapons, you must raise your dexterity accordingly, and the spend points in the Melee skill. if you want to hit harder, you raise your Strength stats.

You can play as a Male/Female Human, Male/Female Elf, Male/Female half-Elf, Male/Female half-orc, Male half-Ogre, Male Halfling, Male Dwarf and Male Gnome. I didn't like that you couldn't play as a female for several of the races, but the reasoning is explained for some in the manual and in the game. Still, it was disappointing.

If you fancy magic, you can use, it though the spells are often not as fun as the ones in D&D 3.5. Still, the spells are cool, and have intersting effects. Excpet the elemental cantrips. They make annoying constantly playing noise (especially Strength of Earth). But anyway, magic is a path you can follow; in order to use magic, you must raise your Willpower stat accordingly. High intelligence also benefits a spellcaster, in order to maintain more spells at once. Instead of having your character's magic increase in power when you level up, in Arcanum, your magical apptitude increases when you learn more spells. This makes as much sense as the D&D system, so i like it. There are 16 Colleges of Magic.

If magic isn't for you... you can become a technologist. Based on your intelligence score, you can aquire schematics when you level up; schematics allow you to combine items and create new ones. You can create guns, armor, potions, etc. You can also buy schematics in stores, and learn to build equipment by using things you can already make, and combine them. There are eight technological disciplines, inclduing Blacksmithy, Electrical, Chemical and Explosives. Each have their own benefits and playing style.

Arcanum also has an excellent story. You are appparently the reincarnation of a powerful elven wizard, destined to fight a great evil. All I will say is that the plot leaves you guessing until the very end.

NPCs follow you around, and can be given certain instructions, like Back Off, Wait, Walk to X Location, etc. by right clicking their portrait. The commands don't always work due to some fun bugs, but this doesn't happen often. NPC interaction is not as complicated as in Knights of the Old Republic, but is still good. A few have voices, but not all. The more interesting ones generally are the ones with a voice, like Magnus, or Virgil. Some even have a story you can complete, again, Magnus and Virgil, and a few others.

Combat is a mixed bag at times, but fun. In Arcanum, you can choose to use a turn based or a real-time form of combat. Stick to turn based. The real-time setting is poorly developed with no pause button, or round system like in Knights of the Old Republic and other real time games. Combat tends to favor melee fighters, which can be disappointing. Bullets and arrows are assigned weight in this game, which is realistic, but it hampers gameplay. It is also harder to play as a gunslinger, at least in my opinion. This isn't to say its not fun. The most amusing weapon to unleash on enemies is the Mechanized Gun, followed by the Pyrotechnic Axe.

The sound is well done, with my favorite effect being a dying lich. The weakest effects are the "crowd sounds" you hear in bars. They say the same thing over and over.

The graphics are now quite dated, but acceptable. They get the job done, but it wouldn't have killed Troika to include more character models. Even (yuck) Baldur's Gate let you customize your character's looks.

There are several bugs, some of them annoying, and a few can crash the game. Save often, and you'll be fine. There is a patch available.

Overall Arcanum is an excellent game, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys RPGs, fantasy, or in my case, those who enjoy science fiction or alternate history. It has something for everyone. I got addicted to CRPGs thanks to Arcanum.

I was introduced to Arcanum by a friend of mine, who often spoke praise for it. I installed it, opened it, and watched the CG of the the blimp crash (loved the fanciful "heavier-than-air" machines). From the moment I met Virgil well on to going to Tarant, I found I couldn't stop playing.

Why was this game so addictive? Perhaps just the replayability Arcanum has! I'm guessing there are ten different side-quests in small towns, thirty in the major cities, and each one has different outcomes depending on how you handle it. Dialogue is very flexible, and fits the personality of every one. For example, let's say you meet a flower girl in a town who offers a flower. You can respond with:

- "Yes, thank you. [pay her]"
- "No."
- "That flower would look better in your skull."

And no that last part wasn't put in for good humor - you actually HAVE responses like that! They're not always as severe, but if you like being a crabby old man, this is your game. Another friend of mine (one who would join the Dark Side gladly) went through the game constantly using those responses. Yes even the ones for Virgil.

Character development is also a MAJOR aspect of this game, and another reason it is so replayable. Besides the fact you can choose to be a magic user, a tech user, or a bit of both Column A and B, you can also get blessed, curse, get good (or bad) reputation with towns, and also choose your "background" at the beginning of the game, which will determine your skill or disposition. I should warn you if you choose to go magic, technology users will begin to shy away from you, as it is believed high levels of "magick" will cause mechanisms to burst. One character of mine became such a heavy user of magic that they wouldn't even let me ride the train any more! So I killed them...

You also get a good number of people who can join your party. You can choose to boot them or let them stay (even Virgil), and quite often that is determined on your character's Good or Evil rating. I played a character with a high Good level and was told by one person she couldn't join me because I was so "morally inclined."

So with out a doubt, this is probably the most fun RPG I've played yet. It really does make me feel like I'm inside a fantasy world, and I'm pretty sure they spent a good amount of time on this. If you want to find an RPG with a different world than what you're used too, or you're ticked off they aren't releasing "Fable" for the PC, then I suggest you give this game a try.