Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Preview

Arcanum is a strange world. It consists out of a large number of islands, which you will only be able to explore in the final version of the game. Moving on the world map has been utterly simplified and reminds me of Fallout. You only have to pinpoint a spot and click a single button on the interface to make your party travel there. The version I played did not feature any random encounters, but I expect that the final game will. NPC characters will frequently offer to show you new places on the map.

I'm gonna butt you to death!

Is that Ulysses E. Grant?

The version I tried included only the first chapter - the visit to the town of Shrouded Hills. After the zeppelin IFS Zephyr crashed when kamikaze Orcs attacked it, you begin your adventure as the only survivor. The first quest is probably the most important quest in the game. A little Gnome gives you an enchanted ring, which you have to give to his brother and dies. This is where your first companion, Virgil appears. He is a monk who is convinced that you are the chosen one and he insists that you travel to his teacher brother Joachim in Shrouded Hills who could better explain why the zeppelin crashed. Soon after, the first of many assassins in the game will attack you. In Shrouded Hills, you find out that somebody tried to kill Joachim who ran away and left two dead bodies behind. Something did not seem quite right here... This is where the story starts to unravel through a series of quests.

Of course, the game also features a plethora of side quests often full of sarcastic humor. For instance, you will have to settle a ghost of an insane old lady, so that her grandson could finally use the mine he inherited, fight a gang of rogues because the local sheriff is a coward, help a doctor prevent a bank-robbery, acquire a camera for a trader and so on... The quests are full of fresh new ideas and each can be solved in more than one way. I encountered the spirit of a highwayman cursed by some monk never to find peace, and he asked me, promising a lot of gold for the reward, to kill the monk and set him free. When I found the monk, I decided to talk before using my axe, and I found out that the rogue killed the monk's family before running away with his friend and that his friend later killed him out of greed. The ghost later confirmed this, and then I cunningly made him give me the location of his friend whom I later killed, returning the prayer medallion to the monk. There are always several ways to solve each quest, which promises high replay value. Your character is also in the possession of a diary, which automatically keeps track of all quests and their status (completed, failed, open), your reputation in the cities you visited, blessings or curses you picked up on the way and the number and types of killed enemies.

Combat system uses three modes: real-time, turn-based, and fast turn-based. The player can choose which mode he will use. All systems take the speed of the characters into account. In the turn-based mode, the characters will receive a number of action points they can spend each turn, according to their relative speed. In the real-time mode, the speed of the character will be used to determine his reactions and strategies he will use in combat. You can switch between modes in-game, but I really preferred to use the fast turn-based (real time movement, turn-based combat) mode all the time. The interface contains two important bars: Health and Fatigue. Fatigue property plays an important role in the game. All characters have a certain number of Fatigue points, which are spent on spell-casting and physical activities, and regenerate in time. Some heavier weapons in game also tend to take a lot of fatigue points. This is a highly logical solution as a wounded or tired wizard will not be able to cast all spells. If a character looses all fatigue points, he falls unconscious, and becomes an easy target for the enemy.

One of the novelties is the auto-pack option, which automatically packs the items you are carrying in your inventory and makes room for new ones. When you run out of space, you can ask your companions to carry things for you.

When this game appears on the market in August, it will be interesting to all RPG players, regardless if they prefer fantasy or future/cyberpunk settings.