Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

       Demo downloaded from http://arcanum.sierra.com

                      Reviewed by Sue

This was officially released as a preview of the game, but since
the game has been out since 2002 I'm looking on it as a demo. 
The introduction shows a grainy film. You're on a zeppelin, 
high above the Stonewall mountain range. Inside the zeppelin 
it's like a grand hotel with a staircase leading into a
large lounge. But suddenly two planes fly out of the mist and
strafe the zeppelin with bullets. Explosions rip through the
fuselage and the zeppelin starts to drop ...

At the start of the game, you can decide which character you want
to play from the zeppelin's passengers, or you can create your own
character. Whichever one you choose, when the game starts you are
the sole survivor of the crash and you're looking down on another
body. This one is a gnome, and he's dying. He reaches up and gives
you a ring telling you to "take it back" and "give it to the boy".
Back where and what boy? you wonder, but with a shudder the gnome
dies.  Suddenly another figure appears, this time a tall but
confused man who appears to be some sort of priest. His name is
Virgil and from what he says, he and his kind - the Panarii -
worship you! Yes, you appear to have fulfilled some sort of
prophecy by appearing as you did from the sky. Needless to say
there's also a matching bad guy who will ALSO have been
resurrected ... and another part of the prophecy is that YOU will
destroy him.

Virgil suggests you follow him to the Shrouded Hills to meet the
Elder Joachim. Evidently he's very knowledgeable. As you start
walking, you find an altar stone, This says "And the spirit of
Nasrudin shall be reborn on wings of fire in hills shrouded in
fog, and fight the last battle with the evil one". Hmm, looks like
that's you then!

Before you leave this area, it's worth checking all the dead
bodies to see what you can find. Yes, okay, officially we're
looking to see if anyone's alive but deep down we're looking for
useful items. This IS an RPG after all. A few bits and pieces turn
up such as a broken camera and a thermometer. Bits of metal litter
the crash site so grab those too. Virgil suggests you consult your
map to speed up the trip to Shrouded Hills and this allows you to
set waypoints and move quickly from one major area to another. A
nice touch but you will miss out on some combats and therefore
some experience points.

When you reach Shrouded Hills, Virgil tells you Joachim has a room
in the Inn next to the Bank. Wandering along there, you find
Joachim gone and two dead bodies in his room. Pausing only to grab
some coins from the chest, you read a note from Joachim warning
you to keep quiet about your connection with the zeppelin. He also
tells you to go to another place called Tarant where he'll leave a
message at the telegraph office.

An importer of fine goods in the village will tell you a bit about
the ring if you make it worth his while. Lucky you grabbed the
camera because it's one of the items he wants. When you give it to
him, he'll also tell you to go to Tarant because that's where
you'll find the jeweller whose initials are on the ring.

A character in Shrouded Hills will try to persuade you to give him
the ring but luckily you're too suspicious to do that. Some shady
characters will stop you crossing the bridge that leads out of
town. Paying them some money is just one way to pass and on the
other side you'll again meet the character who wants the ring.
This time he attacks and even if you defeat him the demo ends soon
after.

Despite the fact that this is a short demo, I was very impressed
with Arcanum. It is touted as a blend of magic and technology and
this is certainly the feel you get from it. I've never seen such
great items in an RPG, all lovingly depicted in the inventory
screen. In just one shop I could buy a bag of sugar, fertiliser,
cleaner, glyceride, snake oil and liquid soap. Goodness knows why
I'd need most of those. The backpack is well organised too.

You can also take up apprenticeships from various people. The
shopkeeper teaches haggle, for example.

I've already mentioned the map screen. There's a journal which
tells you everything you need to remember and what you have to do.
It has other sections covering outstanding quests, kills and
injuries, the contents of your keyring and so forth. Other buttons
let you check and use your skills, use magic or work with
different technologies such as smithing or herbology. You'll find 
out exactly how to use these disciplines in the full game.

Yes, the Arcanum demo certainly impressed me. The graphics for the
main game aren't as good as Legends of Aranna, my favourite game
of the moment (no, I still haven't bought it) but Arcanum makes up
for this in atmosphere. It's now available on the cut price
Xplosiv label for œ4.99. At that price, it's definitely worth it.




                              - o -