This game is a rather odd conglomeration of a ‘Dragon Age Origins’ party system, ‘Fallout’s’ battle styling’s, and a touch of ‘Baldur’s Gate’ for atmosphere. I looked a while at the trailers and pictures of it, and had understood that it seems much like that. Oh how I was right. However, where should I start…
The atmosphere as well as the general overview of the game’s world can get a little annoying, seeing as how this is the 21st century, and there isn’t any voice acting. Everything is done through text. To fully understand your quests that you get, you have to ask about them. That can require a fair amount of reading, but it’s not all that bad. The games atmosphere is magnificent, and there’s a bunch of little hidden stuff that you really gotta look for. Exploration in this game is FAR from unrewarding. I don’t really want to spoil anything about the story either, but it’s incredibly well written.
The class system is what you would expect from a Fantasy RPG: Blade master, your typical warrior class; Shadow blade, your rogue; Shaman, your healer/buff; Sorceress, damage spell and debuffs. Every class has its roles, and they perform the roles well. However, Sorceress’ and Shamans are both female classes. Blade master and Shadow blade are both Male. There is no male shaman, or female blade master. Again this is but a small nitpick of mine.
The party system, I said was much like ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ and I stand by that statement. Some people might really hate it, some might like it. Hell, the game even warns you to make sure that everyone is levelled, and well geared; even the people you don’t use. You never know what might be around that next corner.
Before you set off on a journey, you select your characters that you want to go with you. Sometimes, for certain areas, you might not be able to take a certain person, or you’ll have to choose between two people. Such is the beginning area; you have to choose between a Blade master, or a Sorceress. You cannot have both in your party at the same time, and you can even talk to them and ask them about the skills they offer.
The battle system, every character including your own, is given AP points, ‘action points’. These nifty little points allow your character to perform different actions throughout the battles, Move, Cast, Attack, Use skill; all of them utilize AP points. On top of this system is the grid based movement and attacking styling’s. When you go to cast a spell, you’ll be asked where you want to aim it. Much like in a game of ‘Warhammer’, you have what is essentially a template for the attack range. Melee attacking pretty much stems at one square, or meter, in front of you.
Overall; the game is good, really good. If you’re a fan of strategy games, or even the first two ‘Fallout’ games, there shouldn’t be much reason for you to not like this. Now excuse me as I must continue playing. Ciao~
For more on ‘Avadon: The Black Fortress’ click Here.
To buy the game click Here.
