Recent reviews by moozooh

Avernum: Escape From the Pit is a remake of Avernum 1, which itself is a remake of Exile 1: Escape From the Pit, the first game in the seminal Exile series of CRPGs created by Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software back in the 90s. The plot and premise are relatively basic, as is often the case with the older games, but the level of detail and care put into guiding the player through and acquainting them with the world of Avernum is nothing short of exemplary. Over the two iterations, the series has evolved from being adorably shoddy to a very compelling IP that can rival some of the best-known RPG series in terms of writing and world-building, which explains Vogel's desire to remake it not once but twice.

The first game is a solid entry to the series. It introduces many of the core figures in the plot, the world of Avernum, and the concepts that will be used and referred to throughout the series. It's not strictly necessary to start here, as the games of the trilogy are fully independent from each other and feature different (though always unnamed) protagonists, but it's a solid game in its own right and a good way to whet your appetite before the much more involved and elaborate Avernum 2: Crystal Souls.

A well-written oldschool RPG and a solid improvement over Avernum 1 in many respects. Incredible world-building, tons of NPCs with distinct personalities, lots of subtle jokes and funny tidbits, and a solid (if somewhat imbalanced) combat system. A good preparation for the behemoth that is Avernum 3: Ruined World.

Ancient Domains of Mystery... what a name. Truth be told, of all games I have played on my PC in the last 15 years, ADOM has surely been the one I keep returning to most often. And if there's anything that hasn't changed since the first time is that, whenever I do start up a new character, I can hardly keep myself off the game until the character dies... or until I win. Today the game is officially released on Steam, and the least I can do to repay ADOM and its team for hundreds upon hundreds of hours of fun is to review it.

So, what is ADOM about? It's a fantasy-themed roguelike RPG where you create a character of your liking, choosing from a roster of several races and professions, and embark upon a journey to find out what is it that's plaguing a remote mountain chain. Most of the elements are pretty easy to grasp now that we have mouse control, graphics, and even some rudimentary animation, but should you spend some more time with the game, you'll certainly realize the complexity and level of detail that manifest themselves in almost every aspect of the game (well, except the dialogues—this isn't Planescape: Torment for sure) and this tends to hook everyone who spends more than a couple hours with it. It's not often that you play something for years and keep learning something new and relearning old things with every playthrough. Most of the in-game situations have lots of different possible solutions, which is something that large expensive AAA-titles have all but forgone these days. This game certainly rewards intelligent, thoughtful play—which in no way dimishes its ability to pump adrenaline in certain situations.

As far as roguelikes go, ADOM is definitely more on the traditional RPG side: the world isn't as sandbox-ish as something like Dwarf Fortress, there are a lot of fixed elements and reasonably fleshed-out quests; a typical ascension (the roguelike lingo for completing the ultimate quest and leaving the game) takes from a full day if you're just rushing everything to something closer to a week—even for experienced players. Virtually all the development decisions with regards to its content are also made by the same person, Thomas Biskup—the ageless director and Creator of ADOM. Obviously, there are some disadvantages to this approach, which served to be the main reason the game has at one point spent a decade in neglect, but this man's creativity and burning passion for hardcore RPGs, the fantasy, and the adventure, is what's taken it here—after more than 20 years since its inception. So when Thomas started a crowdsourcing campaign in 2012 to make massive updates to ADOM, I was among the people who contributed without a second thought. Getting ADOM here on Steam, which is almost unthinkable for a genre so niche and seemingly impenetrable, is a huge success. No-one thought this would be possible before the campaign ended. All of the funds that were raised were put to good use, and the backers recognize the main reason behind it: to give the development a strong push, not to make money out of a free product (more on this below).

If you've never played roguelikes, or have no experience with turn-based RPGs in particular, ADOM in its current form is definitely a good place to start. It's definitely a slow burner, and it might seem a little unforgiving at first, but don't discard it if your character keeps getting killed in the first 10 minutes. Try different approaches to the same problem, play to your character's strengths, take the easy ways and pay attention to many generous cues—all of this will be rewarded. At some point you might even decide to turn the graphical interface off and continue playing with good old ASCII—you'd be surprised how immersive can gameplay get if you let your imagination paint the picture. It works just like a good book. Although the monster designs are definitely sweet, and they make the game seem more like a Spiderweb Software RPGs—another dear favorites of mine.

Those of you who have already tried ADOM many years ago and are wondering what is different about it these days are in luck: virtually every aspect of the game has seen improvements—often drastic ones! Difficulty curve is a lot less spiky now, most of the infamous exploits are fixed or toned down to sane levels, and there's quite a bit of new content to dabble in if you feel like it (none is shoved down your throat, mind—TB recognizes the game is long as is)—both semi-fixed and completely random. Even if you keep playing without graphics, I encourage you to leave the in-game music on: it fits the game quite well and definitely enhances the roguelike experience.

So, to sum up, if you enjoy some or most of:

• large, detailed, fantasy-themed worlds;
  
• exploring dangerous, non-linear series of dungeons, which you can enter methodically or try diving in early for their treasure and the adrenaline rush that comes with it;
  
• RPGs with heavily customizable characters and elaborate combat mechanics;
  
• games that aren't afraid to challenge you and give choices with impactful, permanent consequences;
  
• games that are immersive, detailed, and treat you like an intellectually capable person once you let go of the tutorial;
  
• that immense feeling of reward when you have finally beat the game for the first time;
  
• achievements that are, for the most part, actual and commendable achievements;

...ADOM just might be your top pick. It has its problems, but they're relatively minor and ultimately dwarfed by the good stuff.

Let me conclude by saying this. Those of us who have been playing ADOM for years upon years don't do it because of nostalgia—we never did. It's because ADOM excels at what it has set out to do, and is constantly getting better at it. How many games you know have seen their authors grow into successful businessmen and yet still keep working hard upon improving and polishing a piece of creative effort they have started back in their college years? This game is an honest-to-god result of so much love, thought, and craft, that you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that compares. We play ADOM because we feel this. We play it because it's still genuinely fun. And by the way: if you don't want the fancy and convenient stuff in the Steam version of the game, the classic, fully-hardcore version of ADOM with the same fully up-to-date quests, mechanics, and content has been, and will always remain, distributed for free on the original site[www.adom.de]. This speaks of honesty and love more than anything else I could think of. Support it while you can!

So, would I recommend ADOM? Well now, why wouldn't I. Play it. Play the hell out of it! See you on D:50.