Review Nethergate: Resurrection review at GameShark

[Elwro]

Tags: Jeff Vogel; Nethergate: Resurrection; Spiderweb Software

<A HREF="http://www.gameshark.com">GameShark</A> has a <A HREF="http://www.gameshark.com/reviews/2821/Nethergate-Ressurection-Review.htm">review</A> of <A HREF="http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/">Spiderweb Software</A>'s <A HREF="http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/nethergateres/index.html">Nethergate: Resurrection</A>, the remake of the original <A HREF="http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/nethergate/index.html">Nethergate</A>. Although it is generally positive and gives the game a solid "B", the text contains a suspicious paragraph:<blockquote>
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Nethergate: Resurrection is set in Roman England against the distant backdrop of Boudicca’s revolt against Nero’s rule. So you have Celts hating Romans and Romans oppressing Celts and both of them taking on goblins, fairies and giant rats. (You expected an authentic historical setting in a role playing game?) And like most RPGs, the setting is mostly window dressing for slaying, puzzle solving and stat building. But it’s much more accessible than the “genetic engineering gone awry” world of Spiderweb’s Geneforge games. <strong>And if you are going to sit and map every dungeon you enter, the more familiar the better.</strong></blockquote>
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...which is doubly puzzling, because it's followed by this screen:
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<IMG SRC="/images/news/para_11_img.jpg" />
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Someone didn't play the game for too long, eh? Also, the reviewer criticizes the amount and quality of the ingame text:
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It’s a shame that so much of the story is told through expository accounts of what your party sees. Sure, the low res images wouldn’t exactly work for setting the mood, but there isn’t much economy of language in the dialog or area descriptions. If it was all as good as the still overly talky Planescape: Torment that would be one thing – much of it isn’t.</blockquote>
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When playing Vogel's games, I always liked how he managed to overcome the graphical faults with rich amount of vivid descriptions. If his writing isn't top notch, it's one reason for which it's good not to be a native-speaker of English. Anyway, nice to see a positive review (read the <A HREF="http://www.gameshark.com/reviews/2821/Nethergate-Ressurection-Review.htm">whole thing</A> and see that praise is given e.g. to interesting sidequests) of an indie game.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPG Watch</A>

 

[Nedrah]

So, has anyone actually verified that the automap is indeed a working feature?

To be honest, nowadays I'm spoiled to the degree where a lack of an automap can break the deal for me. Pretty strange if it's indeed working, guess that reviewer should ask himself "Did I actually look at the screen" before posting his pieces next time.

 

[Amasius]

Heh, it seems that the concept of toggling between inventory and automap is to innovative for the average gaming journalist. It's part of the Avernum engine - and I don't understand why Vogel uses this old engine for the remake instead of the Geneforge engine which worked quite good for Avernum 4.

 

[Micmu]

So, has anyone actually verified that the automap is indeed a working feature?

Yes, it is working and is not new in Spiderweb games.

 

[Trash]

and I don't understand why Vogel uses this old engine for the remake instead of the Geneforge engine which worked quite good for Avernum 4.

Prolly because he wanted to keep that old school feeling. That or it's a lot easier to copy paste from that old exile engine to the avernum engine.

 

[Elwro]

So, has anyone actually verified that the automap is indeed a working feature?

Yes, I did, before writing the news. I haven't played the whole game through, though.

 

[Amasius]

... or it's a lot easier to copy paste from that old exile engine to the avernum engine.

Yes, I think you are onto something here. Nevertheless I will play the remake sometime but there's no hurry (haven't finished MotB or played the Witcher yet) and Spiderweb games don't become obsolete. :wink:

 

[Jaime Lannister]

"But that’s part of the buy in – you know going in that Spiderweb cuts corners on things that gamers take for granted in modern role playing games. At least there’s no 1-800 hint number."

Things taken for granted... like in-game popup walkthroughs and quest compasses?

 

[Dhruin]

The reasons for the engine choice are well known.

RPGWatch: I believe you are using the Blades of Avernum engine – why this engine and what are the pros and cons? Is there a danger using the BoA engine will homogenise Nethergate with Avernum but without offering, say, the improved resolution or animations of your latest two titles?


Jeff Vogel: It was a very tough call going with the older engine, but the truth is that it would have taken too long to adapt the game to the Avernum 4 or Geneforge engine. We’ll sacrifice some to adapt this game we love to the newer market, but there is a limit. It already took more time than we expected as it was.

But the Blades of Avernum engine is pretty good. It’s got a good and smooth interface and I really polished it for Nethergate: Resurrection. My main regret is that it can only support 800x600 resolution. But you can play the game in the window, which makes it nice for casual gamers.

 

[Jeff Graw]

... or it's a lot easier to copy paste from that old exile engine to the avernum engine.

Yes, I think you are onto something here. Nevertheless I will play the remake sometime but there's no hurry (haven't finished MotB or played the Witcher yet) and Spiderweb games don't become obsolete. :wink:

Nethergate didn't use the Exile engine. It used it's own engine which eventually turned into the BoA engine. Obviously it was a lot easier to port Nethergate to an almost identical engine than it would have been to port it to the Geneforge engine. Also, the BoA engine, while not as pretty (but who plays Spiderweb games for the graphics anyway?) has several advantages over the Generforge engine, including separate world and location maps.

 

[Jason]

There's a response to a question about the automap on the reviewer's site:

Troy, there’s a bit of controversy on RPGWatch about your comment re: the automap, as there is actually an automap that replaces the character screen if you press the tab key. Would be interested to know your thoughts.

Not much reason for controversy.

a) I forgot I could use tab to change that screen - sometimes reviewers miss or forget things that aren’t made immediately obvious.
b) Even if I remembered, there should be room for both. There’s a lot real estate there.
c) It’s a small point that doesn’t affect my generally positive feelings about the game.

 

[MountainWest]

1. Did he "forget" the automap as in: he used it but then forgot about it when he wrote the review? That sounds like a pretty big fucking alzheimers warning.

2. Nice one!

3. So the fact that there is an automap doesn't suddenly make him hate the game? Good to know.

Really, how can you play a game with the intent of reviewing it and miss a gigantic button saying "AUTOMAP"? When it's right next to inventory? The mind boogles.

 

[Amasius]

Yeah - all in all it wasn't a bad review for a mainstream site but it can't be that hard to admit that he made a stupid mistake and one of his main criticisms is bollocks?