Arx Fatalis

A blend of first-person RPG and action/adventure, Arx Fatalis doesn?t push the Xbox hard enough.

Arx Fatalis offers a mix of RPG and action/adventure elements in a first-person perspective. While that may seem to be a complicated blend of genres, the game is actually quite simple to play with comfortable controls for using weapons, managing items, and learning and casting spells.

You?ll Rune the Day?
Arx Fatalis?s dark story begins with the main character stuck in a prison guarded by grumpy goblins and only gets nastier from that point on. A spot of amnesia means that the hero doesn?t know who he is or what he?s supposed to do, but it?s gradually revealed as he meets the game?s many diverse personalities. In typical RPG fashion, the type of character that?s developed varies with the allocation of stat points, so whether he becomes a strong fighter, a stealthy thief, or a more capable magician/spellcaster is at your whim.

Speaking of spells, Arx Fatalis uses an interesting system of combining runes to create different effects. Once a spell is learned, scribing the rune symbols in midair casts the spell (similar to in Black & White a few years ago), so a desired effect is only a few seconds away.

And Rue the View
Unfortunately, the game drags under the weight of too much walking and item gathering?mostly while looking down at the ground?and not enough engaging action. The opportunity for pleasing eye candy is also missed with weak graphics and animation only scratching the surface of what the Xbox can generate. Lightweight voice acting and dialogue (with the occasional onscreen spelling mistake) also diminish the experience.

Xbox owners don?t have too many RPGs in which to immerse themselves, so Arx Fatalis may be a welcome sight. Hopefully, it will keep players satisfied while they wait for such titles as Sudeki and Fable to appear.?Manny LaMancha

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment