I've been playing Arx Fatalis lately. Not as much as I would like to, but enough to form a very good impression of the quality of the game. I'm not halfway through yet, and for that reason I don't want anyone to take this editorial as a review. These are just my own personal thoughts on a very good game that has come late in a year that has seen its fair share of great games. If you are looking for a review, please read ours here.

Legacy of a dungeon crawl
There's a story to be told about the dungeon crawl type of game. The genre is filled with a legacy of legendary titles and series such as Dungeon Master, Eye of the beholder and, of course, the masterpiece reigning above them all Ultima Underworld. It is a type of game that has been popular among RPG fans for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it has been one of the single best used environment to convey the sense of loneliness to good effect in a single-player game. Many games that throw you into sprawling worlds lose their focus and detail, and the dungeon crawl genre is one of the best at keeping things focused and tense.

Enter Arx Fatalis. Made by Arkane Studios, a little known developer to us Americans out there, Arx was made pretty much as an homage to the previously mentioned masterpiece Ultima Underworld which left its mark on gamers all over the world. In so doing Arkane created a rich world that does not try to imitate its source of inspiration, but rather build from it. Thankfully, one never feels that he has already played this game in another form, although moments of familiarity have been purposefully put here and there throughout the adventure.

The comparison game
Now, in a year that has seen Morrowind come out, comparisons are unavoidable. Some may say that Morrowind and Arx should not ever be compared. Maybe so, but since both of these games rely heavily on their respective graphic engines to enhance the immersion factor, I will do it nonetheless. Some have said that in some ways Arx's graphics are better than Morrowind. I will go even further and say that Arx's graphics convey more of a story on their own, something that Morrowind could never quite achieve. That's not saying that Morrowind is not as pretty as Arx though. There is just more emotion, more character in Arx's graphics.

I have some experience in 3D modeling, and I can tell you that texturing is king. The most detailed 3D model would look very ugly if it not properly textured. A model using a richly detailed texture map can make it seem even more detailed than any other model using twice as many polygons. Arx achieves a level of texturing that goes beyond Morrowind's, even though the latter's textures were very beautiful and detailed as well. But in Arx you can almost feel the moisture on the brick walls, you can almost smell the dried blood splattered on the stone in the goblin halls. You never see any seams in the texture maps that could give you a hint at repeating patterns. Actually I look around sometimes and wonder if everything was not carefully hand drawn and whether the whole dungeon has been lovingly wrapped in one huge, exquisitely detailed texture map.

I can almost hear myself breathing!
Another feature that is often overlooked in most games but that takes on an important role in Arx is the sound. Arx's sound remind me of playing Thief. Your steps resounding in the narrow passageways of the underground effectively makes you realize that your character exists and makes noise in this world you are placed in. You cannot run without attracting attention to yourself, and you almost look around in fear if you sneeze. The sounds you make carry weight. The same goes for your opponents. I have never been this careful in an RPG when rounding corners, except perhaps in Deus Ex. And that's the way it should be.

Pull the strings
But no game is perfect. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed at the way the story advances in Arx. The first time you see a dialogue between your character and the prisoner in the next cell early in the game is a let down. Even the camera suddenly pulls away from the viewpoint of the character, as if the player suddenly becomes an external spectator, a disembodied spirit that only inhabits the character when action is needed. All of a sudden I didn't feel like I was really a part of the story but more of a puppet on strings that someone pulls whenever the story needs to move on. Yes, you are free to go about things as you wish, but then the story kicks in and you are no longer free. The story is decent, but the way it is told lacks involvement. There is a happy medium between Arx's way of telling a story, and Morrowind's lack of direction that could have made this game almost perfect.

Game of the year?
Otherwise, Arx is a testament to single-player RPGs done right. But is Arx really an evolution in the genre? Is the RPG genre going forward with Arx? Unfortunately I do not think so. As great a game as Arx is, it won't get my vote for RPG of the year for very specific reasons. Although my emotional side would give the prize to Arx in a heartbeat, my practical side is too strong to let it happen. The future of RPG gaming, as I stated earlier in another editorial, is in the modular concept. Morrowind and NWN have proven this already. Arx is good, it's actually very good, but it does not innovate. While I can certainly understand that this was not the developer's intention, it still makes it harder for me to consider it a classic, or even the best in its genre this year.

Arx will not be an RPG that other games will be compared with in the future, except perhaps those set underground just like it. It is an excellent game on its own right, mind you. There is no denying that Arx is worth its price! It's worth a pause in your regular gaming. But we have seen too much innovation this year to make it the best. Still, I am enjoying Arx, and will enjoy it until I finish it. And I have to lift my hat in recognition to Arkane Studios who provided us with a good, no outstanding single-player experience, one of the best in recent years I might add.

And so the year ends. I will be away for the next few weeks and will be back after the holidays. I will be back in style on January 10th. In case we don't talk again before then, have a Merry Christmas, and my best wishes go to everyone for the next year!