Game News Avadon 2: The Corruption Released

[Infinitron]

Tags: Avadon 2: The Corruption; Spiderweb Software

Spiderweb Software's Avadon 2: The Corruption, the sequel to 2011's Avadon: The Black Fortress, was released today. Spiderweb's news page reports:

Avadon 2: The Corruption Is Out

Avadon 2: The Corruption is now available for Windows and Macintosh! This is the second chapter in the epic, indie Avadon saga. For centuries, the fortress of Avadon protected your people. Now it lies in ruins, and invaders and rebels cluster at your borders. You must hold them off, or you can switch sides and join them. The choice is yours. Come get the huge, free demo.​

You can purchase the game directly from Spiderweb Software or from GOG. I assume it'll show up on Steam later today. Now, let's just hope this one is better and less wannabe-BioWare than the original.

 

[Drowed]

So, who will be the victim valiant warrior who will sacrifice himself for the great codex, playing the game to write a small review? If the game really similar to the first, there is not much to expect from it.

 

[Infinitron]

So, who will be the victim valiant warrior who will sacrifice himself for the great codex, playing the game to write a small review? If the game really similar to the first, there is not much to expect from it.

You can try the demo. No sacrifice needed! Not of money, at least.

 

[whitepony]

That is one thing I like about Spiderweb software- their free demos, downloadable directly from the of. site. Wont download this one though.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

What did Jeff spend one more year doing?

I see he's even reusing old locations.

 

[sea]

So, who will be the victim valiant warrior who will sacrifice himself for the great codex, playing the game to write a small review? If the game really similar to the first, there is not much to expect from it.

Yep, signing in.

 

[GamesInquirer]

I liked the first one. Nice light RPG with decent combat mechanics and story, sort of like a new, turn based Icewind Dale. I'll get this after a re-run of the first game. I like what I'm seeing so far though.

I suppose I can always play nothing and pine for the good old days of CRPGs (never mind only a handful were truly open and non linear and on top of that good even then) but hey, fun is fun.

Mind it's $20 on the official website and $7.49 on gog.com, cheaper than the first game (the standard $9.99) due to a slight temporary discount.

 

[sea]

It seems Jeff has identified the best parts of what make an RPG for Avadon 2.

 

[Lhynn]

Never got to the fun part of avadon, if there was one.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh man.

I want to be a BioWare writer.

 

[Gragt]

Oh dear, complete with awkward writing. Silke pauses nervously indeed

 

[DefJam101]

jesus christ

 

[Humanity has risen!]

It seems Jeff has identified the best parts of what make an RPG for Avadon 2.

And he said he didn't want to do romances.

 

[Lhynn]

What sells sells. No way around it.

 

[Drowed]

But who knows, maybe the game's good. I will try the demo later.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Spoiler

It seems Jeff has identified the best parts of what make an RPG for Avadon 2.

good god...

 

[sea]

Impressions after playing the first bit:

The Good

• The new Tinkermage class is fun to use - it's based around setting up turrets that shoot at enemies, and buffing said turrets. It's not really a mage so much as it is a steampunk inventor. I can see it getting overpowered though.
• Encounter design is better than Avadon. There is about the same amount of combat but it feels like there is a bit more variety. There are lots of minefields where stationary traps and turrets block your path, which requires a bit of a change in strategy to get through.
• Graphics and UI have been improved somewhat (not by much, but the game does seem to have some new tilesets and whatnot).
• Nice artwork used for the menus and story scenes, the title music isn't bad too.
• The story is already dropping a few hints that there could be some interesting things coming, in typical Spiderweb fashion. Already not a bad sense of mystery, paranoia etc. behind Avadon and the Pact stuff, much like the first game.
• At least at the beginning, the game does not start you out as a CHOSEN ONE like the first game did, with its "you have been appointed Commander Shepard" approach. Though, I have a feeling that's gonna change really quickly.

The Bad

• Despite being slightly improved, there's still a lot of filler combat, just as much as the first game really.
• Said combat is also very easy to the point of being boring, though to be fair I'm still quite early in the game. I hope it grows more challenging without resorting to HP bloat, as a big problem with the first Avadon was that the combat got more challenging but mostly just by inflating the enemies' HP and forcing you to constantly heal, leading to very boring and long-winded fights without any real tactics involved.
• Clown car levels return, with interiors being about 3-4x larger than exteriors shown. The maps are also pointlessly over-sized, especially the interiors, where a simple bedroom is the size of a single house back from Avernum, but on the other hand it's not as much a problem for exteriors.
  
• I hope you like the same old ambient sound loops and effects, because they're still here. Yeah, I know the stuff works, but isn't it about time for Spiderweb's audio to be updated even a little bit?
• Avadon is a very boring setting and Avadon 2 seems equally boring that way. Both games seem to have more underneath that generic surface but it doesn't inspire confidence much that the game opens with some of the most generic parts of it in full view.
• The writing ranges from competent to cringe-inducing (as seen above). When Jeff isn't trying to emotionally engage you it's typical Spiderweb-style dialogue, maybe a bit more to the point than past games of his, which is nice. At its worst, it's downright embarrassingly bad. There is somewhat poor consistency in tone as well, such as juxtaposing "deep" philosophical discussions on the nature of power and authority with silly jokes a couple seconds later.
  
• The character system has been mostly unchanged, so customization and the general number of gameplay activities and actions you have is fairly low compared to the old Spiderweb games.
• Unfortunately the same old issue from Avadon of HP regenerating and party members resurrecting when combat is done remains. There is zero attrition in the game, and by making HP effectively a free resource once a battle's done, you can often cheese fights by running from enemies, and there is little to no consequence for mistakes made. I know Jeff wanted to remove the "backtrack to a town" abuse seen in his other games but this wasn't a good solution in Avadon and it's not a good solution here either.

Overall the game is very much Avadon 2, emphasis on the "2" - a few tweaks and maybe some expanded ideas, but if you were expecting a game much closer to Geneforge and Avernum, I do not think you will find it here at all. What remains to be seen is if the writing and story will develop better over time compared to the first game's ridiculously slow pace and boring stock characters, and whether the filler combat will get even worse, or improve over time.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

What did Jeff spend one more year doing?

I see he's even reusing old locations.

god forbid locations show up again in a direct sequel set in the same area

 

[Infinitron]

Released on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/233310/

 

[Borelli]

Avadon 2: The Corruption of Jeff Vogel

 

[Agesilaus]

Hmmm, free demo? On it. Avadon was not the greatest setting, but Jeff Vogel is quite possibly the best RPG maker out there right now. If this demo is at least on par with Avadon 1, I'll buy it, although obviously Geneforge and Nethergate are the height of brilliance and I'd rather have a nethergate remake or something.

 

[Lhynn]

Hmmm, free demo? On it. Avadon was not the greatest setting, but Jeff Vogel is quite possibly the best RPG maker out there right now. If this demo is at least on par with Avadon 1, I'll buy it, although obviously Geneforge and Nethergate are the height of brilliance and I'd rather have a nethergate remake or something.

Remakes are decline, new IP is whats needed, avadon world is too meh.

 

[Agesilaus]

Hmmm, free demo? On it. Avadon was not the greatest setting, but Jeff Vogel is quite possibly the best RPG maker out there right now. If this demo is at least on par with Avadon 1, I'll buy it, although obviously Geneforge and Nethergate are the height of brilliance and I'd rather have a nethergate remake or something.

Remakes are decline, new IP is whats needed, avadon world is too meh.

Avadon world is definitely too meh, but I will give Avadon 2 a spin because there's still some fun to be had.

Remakes are kind of decline, I agree. Vogel's older titles have decent enough graphics and interfaces that you can play them today without too much difficulty. Still, technology has progressed a lot over the last decade so it's nice to have full-screen graphics and mouse-friendlier interfaces.

In an ideal world, Vogel would make a new game set in ancient Greece or at least some other ancient era. He'd hire me as a consultant because I'm full of great advice.

 

[Lhynn]

In an ideal world hed just make a game based on the Ubbel Blatt manga.

 

[Agesilaus]

In an ideal world, manga wouldn't exist.