Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

This ambitious RPG from the creators of the original Fallout looks and plays a lot like?well, Fallout?only with a lot more halflings, steam-powered plate mail, and contrabulous, magickal fabtraptions.

Imagine, dear sir or ma?am, if Interplay?s 1997 RPG Fallout were set during the industrial revolution of Middle Earth, where clanging steam-powered contraptions clashed with the magicks of olde. What you?re imagining is doubtlessly Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura?a huge, quirky, and ambitious RPG from the creators of the original Fallout. It?s one of those maddening games that surprises you with its depth of character just as often as it annoys you with its obnoxious flaws.

Of Magick
Where Arcanum excels most is in its world. The omnipresent conflict between ancient magic and fledgling technology gives the game a unique flavor, and it isn?t just there for show?it?s worked beautifully into every part of the game?s structure. If you choose the path of the mage, for example, don?t expect to pick up a gun anytime soon?unless you want it to backfire and blow up in your face. Contrariwise, don?t expect to walk into a magician?s shop if you?re a dwarf who specializes in mechanical headgear. It?s likely he?ll have an inherent distrust for your kind.

The character development system is marvelously complex, open-ended, and shockingly well-balanced, giving you countless options for growing in different ways to solve the game?s multitude of side-quests. Thief, rogue, magician, engineer, even the ?charming diplomat? is a viable choice in this game; whatever you desire, Arcanum lets you choose the path you?d like to take. Your ?class? is gradually evolved by the choices you make, and every player?s game will spin into a totally different experience as a result. Plus, the game also rewards you with a constant feeling of progress, so you never feel like it?s been too long since you leveled up or learned a new spell.

Of Steamworks
Alas, Arcanum looks, sounds, and plays like it came from 1996. The game?s graphics don?t look much different than Fallout?s, a game that wasn?t even particularly pretty when it came out in 1997. The interface is as clunky as the ancient machines that populate its cities, and?for no apparent reason?Arcanum occasionally slows down to an Ultima Online?caliber crawl. Communicating and trading with your party members (none of whom you control) seems unfinished and unnecessarily annoying. And while the combat system lets you switch between turn-based and real-time battle, the two are fundamentally different and real-time is really useful only for when the turn-based interface gets ?stuck.?

Unquestioniably Fabtrabulous? Or Simply Inconstuperous?
So is Arcanum worth the trip? Yes, indeed, but only if you?ve got lots of techno-tolerance and time. There truly is a deep, rewarding, and splendiferous RPG behind Arcanum?s dated, clunky machina?but only the most intrepid RPG fanatics will have the patience to dig it out.

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