Imagine sorcerers using telegraphs, riding on a steam train, knights fighting with guns rather than swords and Orcs working like slaves in factories - imagine that and you'll find yourself in the world of Arcanum.

Sierra had us wait quite some time for this game, because they wanted to released it worldwide with all localizations at the same time (a promise they failed to keep, by the way: The French version is still due and will be in stores September 18th). The wait is over now, and the question is: was it worth it? This review tries to give an answer to that question.

And it's not an easy one: there are incredibly nice things in Arcanum, and incredibly annoying things, too. Some design decisions are more than questionable, others are outstanding and unique. All in all, your reception of the game will vary with your approach towards CRPGs. It all depends how important different issues are for you. For me - well, just read the review.

Storyline
I won't bother you a lot with storyline and background of Arcanum. You will have heard of that before. Arcanum is a world where magic and science collide. There are steam engines, and there are spells. There are swords and there are guns. The setting is something very unique - sometimes it feels like a mixture between Baldur's gate and a Fallout set in 1910. I think that probably most of you will enjoy this fresh idea.

The main quest is to find out why the Zeppelin that was carrying you was shot down, whets up with the ring the dying passenger handed you over - and what or who the "big bad" is (this part has been done before over and over). You may leave the main story line at any time (and there is plenty opportunity to do so), you don't even have to pick it up. Well, but getting a story well told is part of the fun, isn't it?

Character Creation
The first thing you'll have to do is to create a character. You can customize your character in so many ways, you'll get lost in the beginning. As Desslock stated in his first look at Arcanum, this is a good thing and a bad thing as well. Good, because you will be able to create a very unique character you will identify with. Bad, because there are quite some ways to build a character who will be having more than a hard time in the game. If you want to be on the safe side, choose one of the premade characters with automatic leveling schemes - they will do pretty well.

One piece of advice: stick to magic OR technical skills, and even then choose some and don't try to be a jack of all trades. There are far more skills than you can cover with your experience points, and you will have a hard time playing the game when you aren't specialized in one way or another. Magic and technical knowledge don't cooperate in the world of Arcanum, and they don't when used as your skills.

Gameplay
Once you enter the game, there is some kind of tutorial hidden in the storyline. You get your first companion and some small side quests that will allow you to familiarize yourself with Arcanum. A very helpful log keeps track of what you are doing, it even records when you have finished a quest and if the quest failed or not. Failure isn't absolute, sometimes a quest has to fail in order to allow you to finish another, related quest. A good RPG doesn't require you to get all things done right, and Arcanum is a good one in that respect.

Talking about side quests: there are many. So many, that you'll be overwhelmed by the number of open quests you have accumulated after some time. There is a variety of them, starting with the usual find and deliver stuff up to very complex ones. Going for them brings you well needed experience points and lets you travel all over the continent called Arcanum. I haven't discovered a single side quest that was boring or stupid, all of them add to the atmosphere of the game. Many span over different locations, and some are dependent from quests you have done before. They are well woven into the story, and they provoke this nice "I'll just do this before I shut down"-feeling.

Within the first few minutes, you will have to fight your first fight against some critters. Fights are either real time or turn based. I prefer the turn based option, and most of the times it works out well. Real time battles are easier to win with non magic characters, mages will have a hard time winning them. The combat system is fairly complex, with critical hits and misses, which may hurt you are make you drop you weapon or damage your armor. Dodging and melee combat are very useful skills for your fighter character, don't neglect them.

In general, fights are easy if you don't go after the big baddies in the very beginning. Sometimes, I think they are too easy. In the first location, you'll find a level 12 critter, and your level 1 or 2 character has no problems to defeat it if he starts with a nice sword and basic combat skills. On the other hand, there are creatures that equal your level and can be fairly tough, so don't be fooled by the level your foe has.

One thing I noticed: it's nearly impossible to run away from a fight. Once the opponent turns hostile, you'll have to fight it out. Again, this isn't a big problem, since most of the foes pose no big problem.

Your character can gain up to 50 levels during the game. You get one, sometimes two points to distribute per level, and the options are many. As I said, I found out that it's best to concentrate on a few skills - "jack of all trades" characters are incredibly hard to play. There are automatic leveling schemes you can use (like fighter mage good or evil), but hey, most fun comes out of making your own character. Just try to be consistent. You can raise your stats, hit points, dexterity, your skills, gain spells; freedom is the best word to describe what Arcanum gives you regarding gaining levels.

Graphics
Let's talk about graphics now. They aren't great, they aren't bad. Most buildings are very basic, but from time to time you see something that's simply spectacular. Landscapes are done well, nothing really eye-catching, though. The most annoying thing in Arcanum is how animations are done - sometimes the movements remind my of old shareware games. I really don't know why they failed that miserably in this respect, but when your character runs or walks, it looks simply laughable. A big "boo!!!" for that one.

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