Planescape Torment

                 Reviewed by Carolyn Brown

P200 (P266 recommended)
32Mb Ram (64Mb recommended)
4Mb SVGA

I had been suffering RPG withdrawal symptoms for a while, when I
discovered Planescape Torment in PC World for only œ9.99 in the
'White Label' series. I hesitated at first as I had read some
reviews of this game, and although they were unanimous in their
praise, there was a lot of talk about the sinister, downbeat
locations and the morbid humour. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get
involved in something that sounded to me rather off-putting. Also,
the game engine is the same as Baldur's Gate, which I didn't much
enjoy. In the end I decided to risk it, and I am glad I did.

The game comes packed in a DVD type case, containing five discs,
four playing CDs, and one containing patches for other games,
including this one, and the all important manual which is in Adobe
Acrobat format. This is not ideal, but it is a budget title, after
all. Anyway, the manual was read, the game was installed very
easily, the patch was applied, and we were off.

You start the game dead. The good news is that you revive once you
are wheeled into the mortuary. Almost instantly, a disembodied
skull which has been hovering around, floats over to you and
starts wisecracking. You know then that this is no run of the mill
RPG. The skull, whose name is Morte, starts you off with some
hints and mentions that you have some unusual tattoos on your
back, which he reads. They give you an indication of what you have
to do, although not who you are. This is the reason for the game -
you have lived many lives before, apparently. You cannot die, but
are cursed to wander the Planes for ever, never knowing who you
are or what you are doing there. To find ultimate peace, you have
to resolve these issues, but before you start, you need to explore
the mortuary. Not for the fainthearted, this, as it is rather
gory.  You learn that you are in the city of Sigil, in a downtown
area known as the Hive. When you leave the mortuary you can
explore the Hive, solving several small quests and earning
experience. Throughout the game you will be accompanied by Morte,
who is actually very funny and a good fighter.

You can't choose your character class or your alignment, or even
your name - you are known as 'The Nameless One'. You begin as a
fighter, and your alignment changes depending upon your responses
during conversations. For instance, you eventually recruit someone
who turns out to have been your slave during a former life.
Addressing him rudely as a slave makes you more 'bad', whereas
telling him he is no longer your slave sends you more towards
'lawful good'. Once you reach a certain point in the game you can
learn magic, and you can then begin to play as a mage, if you
wish, or a thief, once you have learned the skills. I chose to
stay as a fighter.

The graphics are very impressive, hand drawn as in Baldur's Gate,
although there isn't an elf or a goblin in sight in this game.
Also, the character sprites are a little larger than in BG.  The
ambient sounds are terrific and add tremendously to the
atmosphere, as does the excellent music. The voice acting is about
the best I have ever heard in a game, and you soon become quite
attached to your character, even if his appearance is not that of
someone you would want to meet on a dark night.

As with Baldur's Gate, there are quite deep conversation threads,
and in fact there is a heck of a lot of reading to do during the
game. One thing I am not too keen on is the fact that you have the
option to join various factions, each with its axe to grind, and
they can bore the pants off you with quasi- religious rubbish,
which you have to read to get the gist of what's going on. One of
the most annoying characters in this respect is part of your team,
unfortunately, and he does tend to go on a bit (he's a good
fighter/mage, though, so you can put up with his little homilies).
Apart from that minor niggle, however, the story moves along quite
swiftly and is highly involving. I am about three quarters of the
way through, and for once I really want to know what happens next.

The game is not terribly combat-heavy - in fact you can play great
chunks of it without raising your axe or hammer (no swords seem to
be available) in anger, but when it does occur I find it very
confusing. If you have Party AI switched on, they all pitch in and
thump the daylights out of whatever is nearest. I think the best
method might be to switch the AI off, and direct the combat
personally, but I have never tried that as I am not a good
tactician. The good thing is that the Nameless One has great
powers from the start, and not only can he Raise Dead, but if he
dies himself, he revives, usually not far from the scene of the
battle. Also, his hit points restore automatically. I'm not too
keen on the fact that you can't rest just anywhere. Most of the
locations have an area where you can rest and your companions can
regain hit points, but these sometimes take a bit of walking to.
Also, if one of your companions is killed, all his possessions are
dropped (although your keep yours, if you die). It is all too easy
to forget to pick up stuff, and I have lost some valuable items
this way. When I went back to find them they had disappeared.

To summarise, Planescape Torment would suit anyone who wants
something just a bit different from the normal 'Dungeons and
Dragons' type RPG. It is adult in its themes and conversations,
and can be very 'dark'. There is also some great humour and the
game is almost worth it just to hear Morte's dry humour. He has a
great voice and the banter with other party members is great. If
you see it, I certainly recommend giving it a try. You won't be
disappointed.














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