Stygian Abyss on Arx Fatalis
Stygian Abyss on Arx Fatalis
Review - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Thu 14 November 2002, 22:48:34
Tags: Arx FatalisStygian Abyss has done their review of Arx Fatalis. It can be summed up with, Reviewer like it.
The Action Excellent. Melee combat is done with either swords, axes, or hammers. Battles range from quick vermin clean up to long engagements. I found the combat tough, but rarely frustrating or boring. Some enemies proved to be still very difficult to kill, even when I was a high level character - so don't expect to be able to kill everything that moves once you near the end of the game. Ranged combat is done with a bow and arrow. A quiver holds 100 arrows. Aiming takes some getting used to, especially if you're good with the bow in Thief. You'll have to un-learn how to aim with Thief and re-learn how to aim in Arx, because arrows don't arch in flight… something I had to get used to. Ranged combat is best against enemies that can't get to where you are, or enemies who are prone to run away before you can kill them. You can run, but you'll just die tired. The magic system is great. People like to compare it to Black and White, but that doesn't exactly ring true. The runes in Arx can be mixed and matched to find different, new spells the game doesn't even mention (you need an understanding of what each rune means in order to do this). Magic in combat is intense. Just like a real mage, you need to have very good concentration in order to cast a spell while being attacked. If you suck, you'll lose the spell like some pansy D&D mage. If you kick ass (like me), you'll shrug off those blows, finish the spell, and make the bugger who's attacking you know how it feels to anger a wizard. Do I sound enthusiastic? I am. The first time you kill an enemy using spells you cast on the fly (no pre-memorization), you'll feel excited too. Fireball is great fun.
I spotted this at Blue's News.
The Action Excellent. Melee combat is done with either swords, axes, or hammers. Battles range from quick vermin clean up to long engagements. I found the combat tough, but rarely frustrating or boring. Some enemies proved to be still very difficult to kill, even when I was a high level character - so don't expect to be able to kill everything that moves once you near the end of the game. Ranged combat is done with a bow and arrow. A quiver holds 100 arrows. Aiming takes some getting used to, especially if you're good with the bow in Thief. You'll have to un-learn how to aim with Thief and re-learn how to aim in Arx, because arrows don't arch in flight… something I had to get used to. Ranged combat is best against enemies that can't get to where you are, or enemies who are prone to run away before you can kill them. You can run, but you'll just die tired. The magic system is great. People like to compare it to Black and White, but that doesn't exactly ring true. The runes in Arx can be mixed and matched to find different, new spells the game doesn't even mention (you need an understanding of what each rune means in order to do this). Magic in combat is intense. Just like a real mage, you need to have very good concentration in order to cast a spell while being attacked. If you suck, you'll lose the spell like some pansy D&D mage. If you kick ass (like me), you'll shrug off those blows, finish the spell, and make the bugger who's attacking you know how it feels to anger a wizard. Do I sound enthusiastic? I am. The first time you kill an enemy using spells you cast on the fly (no pre-memorization), you'll feel excited too. Fireball is great fun.
I spotted this at Blue's News.
