I think by now every gamer has heard of, or played, Blizzard's Diablo. For the unitiated, it provided a Dungeons & Dragons style game with a top down view in real time strategy format. Basically Diablo rolled together several gaming genres and created an instant classic. Of course that was two years ago, and the sequel is still in development.
Westwood enters the picture on that note and releases Nox, a real time strategy game that updates the Diablo style to today's technology. I've been playing it steady for the last three weeks, and have to say it's a great title marred by a few technology issues.
The story is this: there's some trouble on this world and your brought from earth to fix it. Three character classes are available : warrior, conjurer and wizard. I've played the first two and will try the wizard out eventually. The warrior is just that, able to use all weapons and armour. He also gains skills in the game that act like spells, but aren't. The conjurer is a cross of the warrior and wizard, able to use some weapons and armour, and uses spells. The conjurer is able to charm creatures and control them, as well as conjure creatures; this becomes very effective later in the game. The wizard is typical in his use of a staff and range of spells. Nothing earth shattering here, but you get what you expect.
Spells and skills are handled well in the game, and are gained by picking up or buying books which teach you. You have an inventory that is limited only by weight, so you can keep picking up items to sell later until your character can't move. A nice feature is the identify button in your inventory to let you know what "dragon's scale" armour does. The visual effects are generally good, with bursts of colour and sound. Visually the game is better than Diablo, and doesn't leave you wanting more. Game play is the typical hack and slash or cast and run strategy depending on class.
I had a few problems with the game, notably freezing my PC after continuous play. Very odd behavior, and at first I blamed it on bad hardware drivers but found no ill effects with any other title.
I recommend grabbing the demo here and giving it a try. Even though you're just doing the same steps in working through the levels, something encourages you to continue. That's what makes a great game.
by Scott VanderPloeg
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
