Toribash is a creative, original indie computer game that I, surprisingly, haven’t heard anything about from any major game website, or anyone really. It barely gets a mention on most websites geared solely towards independent games to begin with, and that’s unfortunate. This review won’t be long, because honestly, there isn’t much to say, but let’s do dis thang, y’all.

Now, forgive me if I get my stories confused, but Toribash is a turn-based fighting game created by Hampus Söderström, a Swedish software programmer, and to my knowledge it is the only game he has created. It was a finalist at the Independent Games Festival in 2007, and got an award from PC Format the same year. Yeah, not exactly Razzies, this game did pretty well for itself but has seemingly fallen silent since.

The premise is unique and intriguing: A turn-based fighter in which you control each individual body part of your ragdoll fighter. Because of the immense amount of control that you have over said fighter, it is boasted by the developer that one can, in theory, create their own fighting moves, or even use knowledge of existing martial arts to defeat their opponents. You can tell already that this will have interesting effects on how you think and visualize while playing, but at the same time, inevitable problems will arise simply because the idea is more ambitious than the software powering it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Audio is simple. When you attack your opponent, you’ll hear satisfying sounds of yelping, cracking bones, crunching limbs, and meat packing. It’s not exactly necessary, but it’s all about the little things, and it really does add to the experience. The music is a different story. One subtle electronic beat loops in the background endlessly, no matter what you’re doing within the game. To keep my sanity, the mute button is a necessary evil after only a few minutes of playing.

The graphics for an indie game are both spartan and very attractive. I believe an appropriate term would be “clean”. The HUD is not much of a HUD at all. Simply three counters indicating how much damage you’ve dealt, how much damage your opponent has inflicted on you, and the number of frames (turns) left in the fight. It’s simple, easy, and out of the way, as it should be. Some nice shadow and shader effects are also worth noting, and despite the complete lack of backgrounds or environments at all, the graphics are very well done for an indie game. I would have liked to see some simple levels to play around in though, such as perhaps, a bamboo forest, a temple, anything derived from the cheesy martial arts movies that the game obviously draws some of its inspiration from. It gets extremely dry, constantly fighting in the white nothingness of the Matrix training program. Overall, the spartan presentation is functional, but bogs down the experience somewhat.

Gameplay is the most important thing here, and I have quite a bit to say about it. Now, i mentioned the main premise of the game previously, and that premise brings with it plenty of pros and cons. The most obvious thing to ANY first-time player will immediately be the learning curve. This game would be Da Vinci’s wet dream, as knowledge of field of motion, and visualization of physics scenarios are CRUCIAL to playing this game. Hell, while you’re at it, take into account the three Laws of Motion. Other than basic understanding of some physics theory, this game simply requires practice, and lots of it, which I haven’t been willing to give it, to berank f. It’s only after playing this game that you will realize how complicated an action simply STANDING UP is.

It’s phenomenal how often you will just fall down in this game. Therein lies a big flaw of the game. Due to Newton’s Third Law, every action you execute in contact with your opponent will have an opposite effect on you: namely pushing you pack with every punch or kick.

Allow me to go on a tangent here. Now, I practiced Karate for seven years, so believe me, I’m a specialist at this shiz. ;D

Say I asked you to punch someone in the face. Okay? OW!! %#!~#@~$!

Alright, now, as you punched me in the face, notice you didn’t punch me with both your legs completely straight and your feet touching. Ever thought about why? It’s because your brain subconsciously has an understanding of the Third Law of Motion, that all forces are met with an equal and opposite force, there fore if you punch someone in the face, you must place one foot in front of you for range, and one foot behind you for stability. This way, applying a force to something, like someone’s face, you absorb the equal amount of force you exerted. Your punch to someone’s face is effective because you were ready to absorb the impact while, ideally, your opponent was not. Your brain figures out all these things in a split second and sends out electrical signals to many muscles in your body simultaneously, and like a machine, all these moving parts act as one.

Therein lies one of Toribash’s worst flaws, the fact that the pre-programmed ranges of motion for the body parts you control cannot act together in the same way that the human body would in real life. You are in control, but these body parts move on a pre-defined axis and are rigid. Because of this, absorbing the shock of your own hits is impossible, so if you punch your opponent, you will fall backwards and fall down, unable to get up, like a turtle or somethin’.

It’s like…if you hit something with a metal baseball bat, you’ll feel the force down to the very core of your being, whereas if you smacked someone with a sausage, much of that force would be distributed more evenly along the sausage and…erm…

…Anyways, what I’m getting at here is that the game is too damn hard for beginners. I never feel satisfaction when playing this game, because ultimately, by the time I’ve had enough of it, all I get out of it is a nagging reminder of how dumb I really am. Toribash is the simulator of fighting games, if there can even be such a thing, and it’s completely beyond me. I don’t even dare attempt the multiplayer. I’m not THAT sadistic. I’ll be the first to admit I will get my ass handed to me by even the faintest of heart.

Anyways, cool game, good ideas, needs some work, and it’s definitely not a game for everyone. 7 out of 10 from me.

Rating:

I was planning to do a series of reviews for all 3 Sims games at some point. Their innovation changed how we see games in general, and because of their accessibility, they were perhaps the first “casual” games.  They are also the best selling games of all time because of their ability to be played by people who wouldn’t generally be considered “gamers” : girls, parents, grandparents, The Sims are for everyone.

However, they are closer to simulations, or perhaps even virtual “toys”, than actual video games, and as such, a straight review may not do them true justice. So many different things can happen, and one person’s playthrough can and will be completely different from anyone else’s. Because of this, I’ll be playing through all three Sims games (Sims, Sims 2, and Sims 3, if you haven’t figured that one out. No expansion packs will be used, I’m going all native). I’ll create the same family in each game, and tell you my experiences while playing through the first 7 days of their moving in.

Now, with that said, here is my first playthrough entry:

Day 1

I’ve decided to create a very recognizable family to see how well each of the 3 games handle customization. So I’ve created the Corleone family from The Godfather films. That’s to say, Don Vito, Michael, Sonny, and Kay, Michael’s annoying, whiny wife. Customization in the first game was definitely not a main focus. There’s a selection of perhaps 10 different default faces, and 3 skin colours, per gender. There also only about 10 different outfits per gender (some complete with pot-bellies, which show when in a bathing suit or something of that nature, which I thought was a nice touch). Personalities are also paper-thin. You have a certain number of points to allocate to a few traits (RPG-style) like Niceness, Neatness, Playfulness, etc.

Vito Corleone is a very nice, playful, but lazy old man. His son, Sonny, is not as nice, but very outgoing and active (perhaps as close as I can get to the real, shoe-throwing, foul-mouthed Caan). Michael was a cold, calculating character, but for the sake of gameplay, I made him nice, and very neat, making him more likely to clean up after himself. Kay, his wife, possesses more or less the same qualities.

Our first order of business was to move into a house. Seeing as how we had a relatively large family, I wanted a property that would allow everyone to have a decent living space. I’ve actually played through this game with another family, entirely without a house at all. They were actually pretty well-off, and all I really had to build was a small shed to provide a private bathroom area. However, this wasn’t easy to keep up for the entire game.

I end up choosing the 3rd largest default house, 10 Sim Lane, which is an empty 4-room house. After the purchase of the property, I had about 5000$ to spare.

What I realize right away when beginning to play is that a feature in future games is absent: family relationships. In the Sims 2 and 3, I’m able to set relationships before starting, like who are siblings, parents, wives, husbands, etc. In the original Sims however, I could conceivably make two brothers have homosexual relationships, or make fathers fall madly in love with daughters, and mother-in-laws, and nephews, all at the same time. Making this even weirder, there is jealousy in the game, so if you get caught kissing your nephew, and your mother-in-law catches you in the act, she’ll be heartbroken and very, very pissed off at you.

Within the first 10 minutes of playing, I begin making purchases. Fridge, toilet, bathtub, 4 ugly brown single beds, and a radio. I also make the decision to sacrifice the money for early convenience, and buy a garbage compactor and dishwasher.

The newspaper arrives, along with the newspaper already sitting on the lawn, and at this stage in the game, it’s the only way to get a job. They only have one job available each, so I split them between the 4 family members. Vito and Sonny go into Law Enforcement, and Michael and Kay go into the Entertainment Business. After that’s good and done, our humble neighbors, the Goths, come to visit. I immediately see an opportunity to spice things up, and make Sonny flirt with Bella, the wife of the Goth family. I have Vito immediately kick out Bella’s husband so that she can have some alone time with him, and by the time she leaves that night, they are madly in love. One thing to note is that all it takes is spamming the “Talk” and “Compliment” actions for hours in-game, and you can make any two sims love each other within minutes.

The house comes with a free fireplace, which I sell for for a few extra dollars (or…simoleons…or whatever)

Within 15 minutes of playing, I begin to remember the annoyances associated with the game. It seems like no matter what I do, I can’t catch a break. My sims are ALWAYS in a bad mood, always pissed, always whining, and always depressed. Meters always drop way too quickly. Sims literally need to go to the bathroom about 5-10 times a day, depending on how much you actually care to tell them. I eventually stopped caring and hired a maid to mop up the puddles of pee on the floor. I wouldn’t have a huge problem with that, except it makes getting promotions extremely difficult, because my sims are always miserable before going to work, and ready to pass out by the time they get home.

The house is also proving to be too small for the size of the family, and it quickly becomes apparent that having a family larger than 2 or 3 people will be quite challenging to manage in a small house with a small budget. The only benefit is having many incomes at the same time, provided you don’t miss work and get fired.

However, despite these problems, and a generally low quality of living, the Corleones pull through and survive through their first day with all their jobs, and and mental states intact.

Day 2

Well…they’re still alive.

Because of their awful work hours as security guards, Sonny and his old man are at work during the wee hours of the morning. I force Michael and Kay to get out of bed, and socialize, because they are strangers who barely know each other’s names, yet they are supposed to be married. Not to worry though, through some delicate spamming, they are soul mates in time for breakfast. However, memories begin to come back from when I used to play this game, and I realize that relationships in the first Sims game are almost completely aesthetic. With the Livin’ Large expansion, they can have sex, and with other expansions, they can go out on dates, but in the Native game, relationships never go further than having the ability to kiss as opposed to simply compliment. Oh, and they can also sleep in the same bed, and use the same bathroom at the same time, which is a godsend in a small house. I’m already plotting the death or removal of a sim or two, because the whole family would simply be more well-off. If I can get Bella to ditch her loser husband for Sonny, Sonny can move out, and I’ll only have the old Don to deal with. Perhaps a small fire in his bedroom?

Suddenly, I get a phone call asking if I want to adopt a baby. Why not?

I name the baby Badaboom and put him in the kitchen, where the radio is always blaring, piles of dirty dishes have clouds of flies hovering over them, and puddles of pee still remain from Day 1, when everyone had to go to the bathroom but only one person could use the toilet at a time.

Within 6 hours, Child Services accuses me of being a bad parent and takes Badaboom away so he can have a better life. Fair enough. Now I don’t have to put him in the backyard so that the family can have a decent night’s sleep.

Sonny and Vito come home with some money, do some socializing, and become friends.

The rest of the day is spent simply surviving. That is, eating, and going to pee, over and over again. It’s a simple life, really.

Day 3

The day is quickly started with Sonny blatantly missing work to invite Bella over for a good time. They spend the entire time together alternating between kissing and backrubs. They have such a good time, they don’t even realize that they spent 4 hours kissing, standing up in a kitchen covered with garbage, dishes, rotting food, and human urine. Unfortunately, life isn’t always such a fairytale, as the phone begins to ring. Sonny pulls himself off of Bella to answer, only to find out that he has been fired.

Only a few hours later, another call comes to tell me that Kay and Michael have been fired for not coming to work either. I’m actually surprised by it, not having even noticed that they didn’t go to work the previous day.

The upside though, is a random event. Apparently I made a decent investment in a company a while ago, and as such, I’ve gotten 1250$ in return, which should be enough to keep us covered until we can all get work again. I get Michael and Kay to both join law enforcement, and now the whole family goes to work together (well, other than Sonny). Since my sims are always so miserable, I decide to splurge a little to improve life somewhat. I blow most of our budget on a nice double bed for Michael and Kay, and Sonny/Vito can use it when Michael and Kay aren’t using it.

It’s been a rough first 3 days in the Corleone house. It seems like there’s always someone on the verge of starvation, or fainting, or having their bladders explode (or sometimes all of the above). It’s only been a few days and already, our sims have enough anecdotes for a lifetime.

I’ll write about the next 3 days of their awful lives as soon as I can, before telling you what happens on the 7th and final day of my coverage. There may be deaths between now and then… so if you’re squeamish…well, why are you on this site in the first place?

Check back soon!

In an industry where first person shooters are a dime a dozen, Swat 4 is, in many ways, a breath of fresh air even after 4 years of being released. Unfortunately, no game like it has really been released before or since. It’s very much grounded in reality, but it won’t break your soul like an early Rainbow Six game. This is mainly because there aren’t as many enemies, most of them are willing to surrender, and the AI of your team mates, while not perfect, is usually impressive and gets the job done. Now, during some of the more frustrating and challenging missions you might disagree on that, but I have never seen a game with squad AI that works this well considering some of the complicated actions that they have to perform like a teammate opening a door, and a 2nd teammate prepping a grenade and the 3rd and 4th covering.

They will, however, occasionally get stuck on parts of the level, and you may not even be able to see exactly what they’re stuck on, as they simply fall behind, and you need to backtrack and push into him to make him wake up. In short, this game is far from perfect, but lets delve into it a little.

You are a recently promoted SWAT team leader, whose name is Sergeant Mr. Sir (Okay fine, that’s just me) eager to earn the respect of your squad in the field with leadership and hot lead. That’s about the extent of the story told in Swat 4. There’s absolutely no narrative, and no connection from one mission to the next. Honestly, that’s the way it should be, because SWAT isn’t a squad of hardened mercenaries-turned heroes, out to stop evil doers. They’re just guys doing a job.

The entire game is as realistic as can be without compromising gameplay, or at least trying not to. I find that one of the biggest problems of the game is that it has absolutely no leeway where police procedure is concerned, in fact, I’m pretty sure that it goes against it. It’s pressed upon the player to avoid violence at all costs, and encourage suspects to surrender peacefully. In gameplay, this translates to yelling “Police! Freeze” before shooting a suspect, otherwise it is deemed unnecessary violence and you lose points accordingly. Since your success or failure depends on getting a certain score out of 100, losing a mission for shooting too many people is a real possibility.

In real life, and don’t quote me on this because I’m no expert, I’m quite certain that if an officer strongly feels that his life, the lives of his fellow officers, or the lives of civilians are directly threatened, then they are obligated to fire on the suspect, and don’t need to ask nicely first. If asking nicely was always necessary, you’d pretty much have 1 officer death per 1 suspect death, because they’ll always fire first and usually won’t miss.

I appreciate that the game is trying its best to stay a simulator and discourage deathmatches in police situations, but sometimes the system just isn’t lenient enough.

The graphics are standard for the year it came out. Nothing special, but definitely not ugly. Everything looks as convincing as it should, because you’ll never have SWAT officers marveling at beautiful sunsets anyway. All the levels are extremely well-made, offering plenty of tactical challenges to handle. Particularly memorable are long hallways with parallel doorways on both sides, and small rooms with suspects who have their gun pointed directly at the door, who are JUST out of reach of C2 charges to stun them on breach. Both situations are tactical nightmares, and since you can be taken down in one or two shots, almost every 20 feet is a new adventure, and moving down a hallway raises your heartbeat. It’s great, it’s scary, and it really gives a new appreciation for what these brave people go through in real life. But even the coldest, most heartless gamers playing this game will know that no matter what crappy job you’ve got at some grocery store somewhere or convenient store, I’m sure it would be like vacation for these guys.

Back to level-design, some of the levels are actually very atmospheric, particularly the somewhat disturbing 2nd level, where you’re tasked with arresting a suspected serial killer who’s been kidnapping young girls and locking them in a dungeon. There’s scribbling on the walls, there are newspaper clippings everywhere describing his crimes and the people he’s kidnapped. There are masks hanging from the ceiling, and girls tied up in the basement. In my opinion, it’s a lot more disturbing than any horror movie, because there are actually people out there that are like that, and that’s f*cking scary.

I lost a few points for shooting him in the back of the neck with a full-metal jacket round from my assault rifle, while he was running away like a nancy-boy, but hey, I only ask for you to drop your weapon once. If you don’t, I’m not responsible for what happens to you. It’s procedure, after all.

There’s also a later level where a cult is holed up in an apartment, and they’re all completely insane, but some of them have cracked completely and taken other members hostage. There are bizarre scribbles all over the walls, the place is dirty and completely unmaintained, and all the hostages are non-compliant because they still believe in their cause, that is, returning alien messiahs…I didn’t feel guilty calmly asking my men to deploy their tasers. But all these missions give the game some honest variety and make things interesting.

Audio is well-done. Your squad will always respond accordingly, and even have casual chit-chat if they see something of interest, or comment if a place is particularly creepy. I also appreciate how their aggressiveness fluctuates depending on who they’re yelling at. If restraining a hostage they’ll say something like “Don’t worry, everything’ll be alright, we’re going to keep you safe.” but if handcuffing a suspect it’ll be more along the lines of “SHUT YOUR MOUTH, PUNK” and even your own character will say things like “Go handcuff that clown.” with such a satisfying, smile-inducing prejudice.

Gameplay isn’t perfect, for issues mentioned above, but also because of the very…simulation-esque feel of the game which I’ve commented on in other reviews. Movement is slow, and sluggish. Sprinting at full speed in this game is the same as power walking in real life, which wouldn’t be a huge problem if there weren’t any time limits. You can also get shot in the leg which slows you down to a sickening pace, making timed objectives even harder if not impossible.

Also, non-lethal methods are just too difficult to pursue unless you’re going for a highscore. The bean-bag shotgun and pepper-ball gun don’t have enough ammunition and don’t have enough stopping power, plus, I’m pretty sure any SWAT officer in real life would prefer a sub-machine gun or assault rifle any day of the week.

There isn’t much more to say about this game. It’s a first-person shooter that’s unique, and for the most part, incredibly fun for anyone who can tolerate a slightly slower, but intense pace. It’s definitely the deepest tactical game I’ve ever played. The older Rainbow Six games were too difficult for me, and the new Vegas series is almost completely fictional and fantastical in its execution (Don’t argue with me. You know that wearing nothing but a black tank top and a baby-blue pilot helmet is completely ridiculous), but Swat 4 nails the balance between sim and game.

SWAT 3 was all sim, overly complicated, completely spartan in its presentation and execution, and just not much fun to play despite its uniqueness, but SWAT 4 is completely streamlined. For the most part, it’s easy to make squad mates perform complicated and coordinated actions, and it makes for a very unique experience. You won’t be disappointed, and the game is 20$ even at the greediest of game stores. It’s an 8.5 from the Sanctuary, check it out.

Rating:

When it came out in 2004, I barely knew about VMB, except that it had a big ad in a gaming magazine I had, which was basically the box art featured above. I remember thinking it was pretty scary when I was about 10 years old, and honestly, it still is.

Years went by until 2008, when I was looking for something new and unique. I only remembered this game when I stumbled upon some reviews of it, which ranged from luke warm to awful, not because it was a bad game, but because it was riddled with technical problems from the start, which made the game even unplayable for some. Apparently Troika, the developer who has since closed, made a reputation for themselves for having extremely buggy, unpolished games, even though they only actually released three games in total.

A few patches were released by Troika before they went broke, which addressed some of the issues but many bugs, some even game-breaking, still remained. The crazy thing is, like crappy movies from the 70’s or 80’s, all three of their games have developed cult followings, and dedicated programmers who still release mods, and unofficial patches. Fortunately, I came to this game late, and therefore, a lot of the bugs have since been ironed out and I can enjoy this game for what it was meant to be.

And what is this game exactly? Well, in case you haven’t already realized, the game is an RPG about being a Vampire. You might call it…a Vampire simulation. The campaign starts with a sex scene involving you character and an unnamed woman, who you discover is a vampire, and turns your character into one. Suddenly, a motley crew bursts through your bedroom door, and takes you both prisoner. You soon learn that this unsanctioned action of converting someone into a vampire goes against the vampire creed, and she is executed.

However, you are spared, and given a chance to do the Vampire prince’s bidding.

Character customization is minimal in anything other than stats. In fact, you might say there isn’t any at all. You can choose from one of a handful of vampire clans which will give you unique abilities and stat boosts, and it will also determine your physical appearance, which is disappointing. It takes hours of playing to even unlock some new clothes, and even those are overpriced, and not worth it for the looks. They are essentially upgraded armor, with things like a leather jacket having more protection than a t-shirt.

The actual gameplay feels a little like Oblivion. It is the first game, other than Half-Life 2, to use the Source engine, which allows you to play in either 1st or 3rd person (I guess in 2004 that was pretty mind-blowing). Even the HUD works in more or less the same way. You have a life meter. You have a blood meter. This is essentially your mana meter, which you fill by drinking the blood of unaware people, or even animals. If you run too low, there’s a chance you could go berserk, and kill innocents around you, therefore violating the Masquerade, which is the code that all vampires abide by.

This brings up another point: Humanity. Humanity is the game’s morality system, and as you do immoral things, ranging from cold, bloody murder, to calling a poor old lady a c*nt for no reason, your humanity drops. You have a certain number of humanity points, and once they get to zero, you’re as close to an animal as the rats you feed on. This means that once your blood meter gets lower and lower, you’re more likely to lose control of yourself and kill innocents, which breaks the masquerade. You only have a few masquerade points, and if you run our of those, the game is over. So, if you haven’t noticed, all these things are cleverly connected, and if you aren’t careful with your choices, your character could end up on a downward spiral like an emo whose best friends are Myspace and a teddy bear named Titin.

I’m on the fence about it, because for being a dark, very, very violent game, it ironically really discourages the player for being morally bad. Whereas in other games, morality is meant to reflect real life, where often times it is harder to be good and generous than evil and selfish, Vampire flips the formula and makes sure that being evil reaps absolutely no positive benefit.

Also, I found that the inventory system was way too clunky. Selling things, unequipping them, or dropping them, were all a chore, and I usually tried to avoid using it. This means that a lot of crap is going to build up in your inventory, and you’ll find yourself, being the badass you are, packing a few watches, some blood packs, and the occasional bottle of estrogen pills. To this day I’m not sure what they do, as I’ve never used them.

Combat is also a bit of a mixed bag but for the most part, I like it. It’s all in real time, and a shotgun blast to the head is just as damaging as in any action game. However, I made the mistake early on with mostly developing my melee attack skills, when you should really be depending more on ranged attacks. Trying to go toe to toe with some of the tougher, supernatural enemies can be grueling, and I probably found the boss encounters to be the least fun of most of the levels, because it always seemed like I would just barely survive with a sliver of health left and running on blood fumes in the tank. It’s best to focus on your endurance, and gun skills first, because that’s what you’re going to want to use. Also, try to go for some lock-picking skills early, because while they aren’t completely necessary, they’ll make your life a hell of a lot easier.

What I love about this game is that it just oozes atmosphere. I’ve played a lot of horror games and almost none of them are nearly as great at making you feel like your surroundings are truly dark and disturbing. The deep, fleshed out world and characters really suck you in (no pun intended) and I absolutely love games that succeed in having characters so well written that you feel an emotion towards them, like appreciation if they help you, or trust, or even loathing. If you’re willing to save any of the characters’ lives whether or not it will benefit you, you know the story is top notch.

The graphics are from 2004, so admittedly, it’s not great to judge them in late 2009, an age when we can see every pore on every character’s face. I have to admit, it’s not a bad looking game at all. It’s not to my standards because I’ve been a little jaded, but as you play and get more immersed, the graphics are never a problem, and you forget about them. The occasional blurry texture can be tolerated when all the characters can be read by their facial expressions and body language alone.

The audio is all decent. They went the extra mile and added an in-game radio station that plays on the radios in bars, or cafes. The voice work ranges from passable to pretty top notch. Smiling Jack is probably my favorite character. It’s implied throughout the storyline that he is much, much older than he lets on, and is rumored to have been an actual pirate from the days of yore. Now, he’s an old biker, a wise elder of sorts, and his voice suits perfectly. It’s deep and raspy, as if those hundreds of years have passed by, and he’s seen absolutely everything, which is why he seems to find the protagonist’s dilemmas more amusing than troublesome.

Your loving mentor, who may or may not have been a scourge on the high seas

The problem I have with the audio is that some of the voices sound altered, as if they were talking through a funnel. It sounds projected in a bizarre way, and I’m not sure why. I’m not sure if it has something to do with my computer (it only happens with this game), or if one of the patches, or unofficial patches, have altered it in some way. Therefore, it can’t really factor into this review.

This game takes absolutely forever to beat! Although I played it almost exclusively on school nights, which would make it feel never ending. That said, I think it would realistically take 50 hours of rushing through the game to see all it has to see, maybe more. I was glued to this game either way, in fact, it might have been one of my biggest game addictions, second only to Mount & Blade, which I basically spent a summer playing.

Your mentor, sharing some helpful wisdom. But hey, if you only drink blood, wouldn’t you get scurvy?

Despite some of the technical issues that dragged down review scores, you need to see past them, and download all the patches (both official and unofficial!!) and just play this game. It’s rare to find a solid RPG out there like this one nowadays, and even Fallout 3 was way too short in comparison. It was shot down by big review sites, but to me, it’s right up there with Oblivion, and definitely has a warm spot in my heart.  It’s an 8 out of 10, and earns a spot in my Trial By Fire section.

Rating: