- #AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX SOFTWARE#
- #AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX PC#
- #AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX MAC#
Spiderweb took a chance this year – they left behind the established and well-loved worlds of Avernum and Geneforge and set out on a new adventure. I applaud them in general – but with things like Din’s Curse, Eschalon Book II and now Avadon … I can more specifically applaud their efforts. Between Soldak, Basilisk and Spiderweb, RPG fans have three ‘indie’ game studios willing to do the hard work of developing worthwhile and robust games that fill the void left behind. Bethesda did a very similar thing with Oblivion compared to the much better RPG Morrowind – and I truly doubt that Skyrim will suddenly have robust RPG systems. I have been very vocal about my disappointment in recent ‘major’ RPG games and developers: Bioware has been moving towards story-based action games with little RPG content in Mass Effect series, and Dragon Age II also took a major step in that direction. But it also has a great combat system, excellent balancing, great characters, and so in spite of those minor complaints this is my favorite Spiderweb game. Is Avadon: The Black Fortress perfect? Not at all – the story isn’t the best Vogel has written, and some of the game elements could use more fleshing out. But Avadon is a tighter experience – as I said the trash mobs have been reduced, so the hours you spend are actually doing RPG-related things rather than battle after battle … or wave after wave within a battle! For some, that is short – it is certainly shorter than Avernum 6.
Jeff Vogel targeted a run through at 25-35 hours based on your own style of play, which is about right. I would estimate it at about 40 hours based on my slow play-style. One thing I didn’t mention is the length of Avadon.
It seems the game left a pretty positive impression:
#AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX MAC#
Gear Diary has a review of Avadon: The Black Fortress available, based on the recently released mac version of the game.
#AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX SOFTWARE#
But not everyone will be welcomed into its fortress with open arms.Tags: Avadon: The Black Fortress Spiderweb Software It’s rich with lore, deep in terms of tactics, quest-led (so no grinding), and a very decent length. If you’re willing to suck up the off-putting presentation and interface for that long then Avadon HD is likely to be one of your favourite RPGs on the iPad. There's a complex and interesting specialisation tree for each of the various classes (which fall into the normal fantasy groupings of melee, magic, rogue), but this also takes hours before it really takes shape. But if you go in expecting exciting turn-based tactical battles, you’re going to be wondering why the first five hours are spent engaging simple creatures that pose no threat whatsoever. If you're an RPG nut, you'll shrug off these annoyances. You do not have the required number of lockpicks The way the too-close camera snaps to your characters as they move is incredibly annoying when you're trying to navigate the large maps, as is the way every description for an item involves holding down and then sweeping away, lest you accidentally select it when you let go.Īnd while presentation isn’t the be-all and end-all for an RPG, the terrible animations, basic background SFX, and crudely drawn main world doesn’t exactly do the game any favours.
#AVADON THE BLACK FORTRESS RPG CODEX PC#
What will tire everyone out, hardcore RPG nut or otherwise, is the fact that Avadon HD feels far too much like a PC game squeezed into a touchscreen device, rather than actually designed for one. This is because Avadon HD is jam-packed with well-written (but lengthy) descriptions of everything - from individual rooms and characters to long codex entries about the detailed and rich fantasy world your character inhabits. It’s a classy setup, but a word of warning before we go on: if you don’t like reading much text, you’d better step aside. The population under you is both thankful for your protection and scared of the almost limitless power of your organisation. Or, to put it another way, you’re the fantasy equivalent of a member of the Gestapo.
You start off as a new ‘hand’ - an agent, essentially - for the mysterious Redbeard, leader of the fortress of Avadon and master of peace and harmony across five separate central kingdoms. General iPad gamers, though, may be in for a bit of a culture shock. If you answered, "the early '90s, before Looking Glass got their hands on the genre" then pull up a seat and welcome to Avadon HD - a game that’s brimming with content, story, characters, imagination, rubbish graphics, barely any animations, and some fumblingly obtuse controls.įans of Ultima will be well at home, and are advised to add a few points onto the final score.
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