Rating: 
Summary: Arcanum rocks???
Review: This would have been one of the better computer role-playing games of recent years if it weren't so buggy. Many of the problems can be fixed by downloading the most recent patch. The game system is quite interesting, and the storyline is engrossing. Technology and magic have been masterfully seperated then combined again. If you like thinking about how you can complete a quest without much info, this is the game for you. There always seem to be another way to solve the puzzle you are on. Just be careful you don't go about it the wrong way, or you could get stuck. Save often.
Rating: 
Summary: You make me sad, Troika.
Review: I hate writing negative reviews. I like writing positive reviews about things that have entertained or educated me, but sometimes something gets me frustrated enough that I feel obligated to inform others.While I normally start with complaints, I feel it necessary to start with the good things about Arcanum. Arcanum has the potential to be one of the coolest games ever made. It has an original story, an immersive world with colorful characters, and a variety of playing styles to suit anyones prefernces. Unfortunately, all of these positive things are shrouded in one of the buggiest pieces of code that has ever come across my PC. Characters and Items either fail to appear, or disapppear for no apparent reason making the main plot impossible to further. It's one thing to get stuck in a little subplot, but it's another thing to get stuck in the middle of the story simply because of technical errors. I spent hours trying to figure out what I was doing wrong at times, only to visit the game forum at the official site and find message after message complaining about "bug this" and "fix that". The current patch has done nothing to help me. I think my bugs maybe a little worse than others, but almost everyone has experienced at least minor bugs and glitches. If this were some impulse buy I would have just given up and moved on to something else, but Arcanum, when working properly, is a really great game. That's what makes it SO frustrating, the fact that hidden under all that bad programming a great concept is dying to come out. I expect more from the guys that created the Fallout series which are some of the most entertaining games ever made. The guys over at Troika should be ashamed of themselves for releasing this game as a finished product. Hopefully you won't experience as many showstopping bugs as I did, but be warned, they are out there. If you don't believe me, just visit the official site boards and look for yourself. Hopefully, Troika will make this game playable, and if they do I will gladly come back here and edit my review.
Rating: 
Summary: Great rpg game
Review: Yet another great game from the creators of the popular series Fallout. I like it alot better than most other rpg's that are out there. The graphics are pretty good and its long and fun.
Rating: 
Summary: yet, another good rpg game!!!!!!!!!
Review: The graphics for this game isn't that awful. At least it's better than most rpg's I've played on PC. If you like fallout the series I suggest getting it.
Rating: 
Summary: dumb game, with some entertaining gimmicks
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: From the Designers of Fallout
Review: Arcanum is the newest RPG from the orginal designers of the classic post-nuclear game Fallout. Is the game worth playeing? Yes. Does the game have some serious issues? Yes. Does the game overcome those issues? YES!
The game shares Fallout's sense of depth. character depth and plot development. Like most RPGS the plot is simple but the path is complex and interesting. Set in world of magic that is just discovering the joys of the industrial revolution; the game revolves around the inherent conflict that results. Magic and technology can't coexist; unfortunatly magic is elitest and technology represents the masses. The character (with extensive creation options) enters the world as the sole survivor of a zepplin crash. Called the chosen one, the character battles his destiny for the soul of the world.
Now that the good points have been made it is time for the bad ones. First, the graphics are state of the art for the year 1998. Secondly is the pace of the game. The game jumps from easy encounters to fiendishly difficult ones and back again with no rhyme or reason. The final strike against it is the variety of opponents: only the humanoids are acually difficult.
Despite these problems, Arcanum produces a well-imagined gameworld that is unique and enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Started out slow, but turns into a great RPG experience
Review: I was never a fan in the past of fantasy/technology mix games - they never seemed to me to come off right. This changes all that. Not only do they go together well in this game, the story really makes them fit, showing the conflict between magick and technology. The game started out slowly, but became a great experience. A lot of games talk about how many varied ways you can play the game, but this game truly has that. I played a pure magick, technology hating character the first time, and though I loved it, I saw how many other ways to play it that there were, and I haven't even TOUCHED the game editor or user created modules. This is a MUST HAVE for any computer RPG fan.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Potential. Story needs a little work...
Review: This game BIG, people..I mean REAL BIG. Character creation is as detailed as you could possibly want it (perhaps a little too detailed) and the game itself is no different.
My one and only complaint about the game is perhaps that there is more talk and less action than in most games out there. You do have to spend an awful amount of time running around talking to people to advance the storyline and/or to try to improve yourself with quests and by learning skills. The game follows a Might & Magic kind of advancement style for skills in that you have to go FIND people in the towns who will teach you (for a fee, of course) how to better your skills.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible CRPG experiance
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Written & Well Carried Out
Review: I am for all intents and purposes, a geek. I love PC gaming and RPG's. This game carried off a series of rich and complex story lines in a very robust world. Also, I give this game a high replay rating, due to the EXTREMELY detailed character creation system. My orginal character was a Warrior/chemist/explosives expert. Once I completed the game I replayed it as a Con Artist. I will probably try it again taking advantage of the various schools of magic you can use. These options are so diffrent because of the 100's (yes hundreds) of different reactions your character gets based on his/her abilities. A character with a high persuaion & Charisma will probably never have to pick up a sword. Whereas a warrior's lack of a high charisma or intelligence stat usually leads to a kurt and violet responses. TWO WARNINGS: This game was made by the same people who made fallout. Fallout was also a good game but extremely buggy. So is this one. YOU NEED THE PATCHES TO MAKE THIS GAME PLAYABLE. With the patches the game is a 10, without them its a 6.
ALSO, those of us with a video card with 64 megs of ram, there is a glitch in the game that make frequent slow downs. In the next patch this issue is supposed to be addressed. A NOTE TO FELLOW GEEKS: This game has a world editor, so you can make your own stories and put them on the net or link up on them and multiplay. I have yet to use this option but it does get high praise from other geeks.
Have Fun! -Golaith
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