The Fall: Last days of Gaia (2004,RPG) Review

A Post Apocalyptic adventure

Graphics -7.5
Sound -8
Gameplay -8
Difficulty -8
Overall - 7.5

Developed by Silver Style, the people who brought you Soldiers of Anarchy, The Fall: Last days of Gaia is a a German RPG set in a post apocalyptic era. In someways the game resembles the Fallout 3 saga. You can even describe it as a toned down version of Fallout. But the post nuclear atmosphere and setting is pretty much the only thing that the games have in common.

Set in the year 2083 "The Fall" boasts a very large and open world to explore. In it humans have fallen back into a primitive anarchic state. The player must explore and quest and kill in order to survive this harsh and mysterious environment. The opening music provided by Darkseed provides a nice intro into the game. But in terms of sounds theres nothing really thats out of the ordinary. Ambient sounds, music, and in game sounds are OK and tied with decent graphics provide enough material to keep you entertained. 

Gameplay centers around you and a set of fully controllable support characters, killing, traveling and doing all sort of stuff to get the job done. Quests are decent but again are nothing out of the blue. Theres some level of options available to you to complete your quests but don't expect them to be mind blowing. The combat system is pretty smooth and decent. Combat is done using a wide array of weapons and in real time, but you can pause the game and think over your strategy at any point. A huge difference from other games is that the Fall allows you to have upto six characters in your squad. So you'll spend a lot of time tinkering with your teams gears just trying to find the perfect team combination. In terms of storyline there's nothing too dramatic. A few plot changes here and there and a few sub quests that attempt to fill some plot holes are the most you can expect from it.

Alas for some reason the English version of the game was cancelled. All speech and dialog is in German so i cant really comment on the voice acting.  You can however find a fan made patch that provides English text. In conclusion the game is pretty good but you always get that feeling it could have been so much better.

I never liked going into the wastes alone.

The Bottom line:
The Fall will appeal to most players who are fans of RPGs. But when you consider there's no no English version available along with the unpolished graphics and gameplay, you are conconstantly reminded that this game could have been so much better,

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident (2004,Space Sim) Review

A rare gem of a space sim

Graphics -8.5
Sound -7
Gameplay -7
Difficulty -7.5
Overall - 7.5

Spaced based simulations that allow you to control a space ship have been on for a while. Star Trek, Dark Star One and X beyond the frontier are some of them. Boasting some of the best graphics of its time, Nexus : The Jupiter Incident is an valued addition to this category.

Gameplay revolves around you being able to control all aspects of a star ship named the "Angle wing", Which incidentally get into your hands during a "incident" that occurs near Jupiter, setting forth the game name. Your objective of course is to use the resources available to you in determining the outcome of a alien war that you are thrusted into. The games greatest asset has to be its graphics. Boasting top of the art graphics of its time, Nexus has a superbly enrich visual environment that would grab your attention in awe. Even today (2012) the graphics would be pretty decent compared to other space based simulations.

Behold the Arch-Angel in all its glory 

Playing through the game you would find startling similarities to games such as Homeworld and Star Trek Command. However Nexus adds its own unique touch allows it not to be classified as another copy cat. Missions vary from Direct assaults to support actions as well as stealth. Giving you a multitude of choices to achieve your goal. And while the controls are simple and easy to use you must have good knowledge of how each aspect of the game functions in order to be successful. For example the ships weapons do different type of damage versus shield compared to heavy or light armor. And although the tutorial gives you enough instructions how to play the game you would benefit from reading in depth aspects of how the game functions. The story is also decent enough to keep you entertained throughout the game.

Nexus is not just a Strategy / Simulation hybrid. it also has role playing elements to it. And when there are games that have messed them selves up by putting too much into the game, Nexus on the other hand does a fabulous job of mixing and perhaps more importantly balancing these elements. Multiplayer also plays well provided that you can find players to play with.

Who said going to war was easy ?

Alas as all good games Nexus has its own dark side to it. While the in game sounds are great the voice acting at times can be a little off. You'll often encounter situations where your hearing senses are enriched with explosions are lazer beams only to be instantly turned off by horrible voice acting. And while the missions are pretty well designed, some missions such as stealth missions can be a real pain in the back. This factor is further elevated by the fact that the game can be a little hard and the fact that you cannot save during missions.

The Bottom line:
Nexus belongs to a rare breed of games and can appeal to anyone that loves space based capitol ship simulation.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001,RPG) Review

An RPG Classic

Graphics -5
Sound -7
Gameplay -7
Difficulty - 8
Overall - 7

 In a time where all adventure games for the PC seem to be console ports or have been designed keeping consoles in mind I decided to search for a true PC adventure game. And that search resulted in me finding Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. I know.. I know even the name doesnt sound too cool and even i was skeptical at first. But having played the game i must admit that it was a true suprise package filled with a lot of good and a lot of bad stuff.

Set in a alternate universe Arcanum's setting is by far one of the most unique settings i have come across. Elves, Humans, Dwarfs, Gnomes and all other types of humanoid creatures live in the world of Arcanum along with hideous monsters that you would expect to see in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure game. But the game is set in a industrial age where these creatures have either accepted or rejected the advancement of technology.

Technology plays a important part in the world of Arcanum

 As the player, you get to create a character from among one of listed races above. You also have to define your stats in such a way that's either tech heavy, magic heavy or in the middle. Gameplay wise its similar to classics such as Fallout and Ice wind dale with a heavy reliance on adventure based questing. Combat can either be done on a turn by turn basis or in real time. You get to adventure along with a set of party members that are not fully under your control. And as you gain more experience you can choose to improve the set of skills that you have chosen. This sounds very typical of a role playing game of the early 2000s. But for me Arcanum seems to have done a bit too much in trying to incoporate a lot of new concepts while not sacrifising existing aspects. This leads to the creation of a game that at first can be both interesting and overwhelming for the player. The lack of a tutorial of course can further confuse new players and you may have to rely on your experience of playing similar games to move forward.

Arcanum is full of weird and dangerous monsters.

The world of Arcanum is open and huge world. And if you decide to complete most of the quests its likely to keep you entertained for a very long time. The story is at best mediocre and really serves very little purpose. The game tries to lure you into a interesting and compelling storyline, but with too many loose ends and a very high degree of complexity you end up wondering what your purpose was in the first place.

The other aspects such as graphics and sounds aren't that great. And i would rank the graphics and sounds of Arcanum lesser than games such as fallout and Ice wind dale. To give credit to the game it has very few bugs so you should expect smooth gameplay. But the game is broken in other aspects such as leveling and combat that tarnish its image.

The Bottom line:
Arcanum is not the best game out there. But it should appeal to players who like old school RPG Games.