|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Review: Avernum 3Reviewed By: Erica Marceau Review Date: September 22, 2002
After countless years of being trapped in caves with mushrooms as their main source of food, the Avernites are preparing to make their way to the light of day. However, the Empire still controls all of the surface, and in order to prevent another war, you and your small team are sent up to look around and assess the situation. What do you find? Roaches who spread disease, slimes who use acid to destroy small farms and damage large cities, a vampire who's using the undead to attack the living, troglodytes and giant lizards waging war against each other and everything else in central Valorim, giants attacking Lorelei, and many other problems you end up solving in your quest to pave the way for the liberation of all Avernites. I hope you are getting an idea that Avernum 3 is huge, because it's absolutely gigantic, with enough side quests and artifacts so you'll be playing for a long time to come. Avernum 3, basically, has the same look and feel as Nethergate, Avernum, Avernum 2, and Geneforge. This is great, as those familiar with the previous games can get started right away, but it's bad because the same exact character graphics are used. I hate to nitpick so early in the review a game that has so many good points, but having double or triple the choices from Avernum 2 or even adding the selections from Nethergate would have been great.
Once you are ready to get started, you find yourself at Fort Emergence, which is a stone's throw away from the surface. Here, you'll find your orders and an opportunity to explore Upper Avernum. You'll also get much needed experience and loot that will make the surface a bit easier to handle. Once you're finished exploring and training, head up to the surface where you can start solving everyone's problems.
There's a reason why Spiderweb Software has the reputation it has for making great role-playing games, and that's because it makes great role-playing games. If you want to get involved in a huge story with countless skills to learn and items to find, then Avernum 3 is the game to play. For $32 with the hint book (and I do recommend getting this), it will be one of the best game purchases you will make if you're a fan of role-playing games.
 [an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
. |
Cool Mac Gear• iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Keyboard Skins • Garageband
|
||||
You can have up to four members in your party, either using one of the templates or creating a custom character. I always use the custom option since the skills in the templates to be too spread out. I've found that a Melee/Cave or Nature Lore, Pole/Potion, Archer or Javelin/Tool User, and Mage/Priest is the best combination of offense, defense, and utility skills. Of course, you may want to have all three as fighters/archers/priests without any magic at all, and you are absolutely free to do that. In fact, you'll be able to join a religion that believes magic should be avoided so you have flexibility in what your party consists of. You can also choose the race of your party members and you're able to pick from Human, Nephilim, or Slithzerikai. While both the Nephilim and Slithzerikai have racial bonuses that can be very useful, I was often attacked by Empire soldiers who were unfamiliar with the non-humans which made cities angry with me until I learned to avoid the soldiers when I saw them. It was a bit of a bother, but it made sense given the Empire's desire to destroy everything that's non-human.
There are several reasons why people play computer role-playing games: taking characters from being barely able to kill a rat to being able to smite demons and giant monsters without sweating, finding or buying better equipment and artifacts, exploring every corner of every spot on the automap, getting and completing quests for experience and reputation, finding secret passageways for the rewards which lay hidden there, defeating foes in battle, and many others. How does Avernum 3 rate in all these categories? While the form of the main quests does get a bit repetitive at the start (a city is threatened and you have to stop it), it gradually gets more complex as you begin to find out the cause of why so many magical creatures are attacking the cities. Fortunately, you don't need to keep a pad of paper to write all of your quests because Avernum 3 keeps track of that automatically for you. And if you get tired of beating up on slimes or roaches or goblins, you can always get into the courier or reselling business which are good money if you can complete the jobs on time. Buying a horse or boat is always a good idea and very affordable, which is good because the costs for spells and potion recipes will get very expensive. There are plenty of side-quests to keep you occupied, such as finding the level 3 spells or the most powerful weapons and armor, and helping the various people you meet along the way. Overall, there are so many things to do, places to see, and people to talk to that there is probably little chance of getting bored.
The graphics and sound effects are at the upper level of most shareware games. Although, if you're expecting art on the same level with the Balder's Gate series, you'll be extremely disappointed. Not that the art isn't well-done or detailed; it is, and it is very bright and colorful although without any animations such trees moving in the wind or peoples' legs moving when they walk. It's not quite to the cartoon stage, but not realistic either. While I do wish the people were bigger to provide more detail and that there was a wider variety of item pictures, when all is said and done, I think the art is pretty good. It doesn't detract from the game, but at the same time it doesn't break any boundaries for shareware games.
There is still no soundtrack, but I consider that a good thing because the ambient noise better captures the feeling of a place or situation than a looping song could. Even if you forget or just don't know that you're walking through a giant underground cavern or a bustling city, you'll hear it if you want to. The spooky noise, in particular, was well done and used at just the right times.