Arx Fatalis: A Review

Arx Fatalis is a difficult game. By that, I'm not speaking of the difficulty of the game itself; rather, I'm referring to the fact that it's difficult to nail it down in any specific way. Inspiration for the game came from one of the greatest RPGs of all time, Ultima Underworld; so do many of it's flaws. It's almost shockingly linear, yet often gives you very little idea of what you're supposed to do next. It aspires to depth, but barely allows you to scratch the surface of the game world. It is, in short, a fun but flawed game.

Arx isn't a game for everyone. The first thing any potential player should be aware of is that when the developers state they were "inspired" by Ultima Underworld, they're not kidding. Appearances and gameplay aside, this is one seriously old-sk00l - and unforgiving - RPG. Anyone going into this game expecting to have their hand held while they're guided from one quest to another is not only going to be disappointed, they're going to find that hand chopped off with a blunt axe and shoved up their ass. This thing harkens back to the good old days, when the computer RPG'ing experience could be summed up as, "Here's the game, here's a manual explaining the basic controls, see you in a month when you're done." This game, much like those classic titles of old, requires patience, perseverance, and a certain degree of masochism.

The plot is simple enough. An evil god, Akbaa, is attempting to incarnate himself in the underground world of Arx, with help from a cult dedicated to accomplishing that goal. That particular act, however, goes against the rules established by the Noden, a sort of "God Regulation Agency," which prevents gods from ever leaving their own special dimension. As a result, the Noden take steps to shut Akbaa down, and the game is on.

Make sense? No, not really. When I said the plot was simple, I could just as easily have substituted the words "cheezy," or perhaps even "lame," without sacrificing one iota of accuracy. The plot has holes big enough to drive Derek Smart's ego through, and most people will likely end up playing it not to solve a quest or save a world, but simply because it's there. Putting too much thought into what you're doing, or even more importantly, why you're doing it, just doesn't pay.

Similarly, the game's writing is also weak. There is a small amount of books to be found throughout Arx, as well as various notes, journals, and the like, but they all tend to be ineffective, and almost juvenile. They advance the plot well enough, but they lack the sophistication and flow that can be found in games such as Baldur's Gate or Morrowind. I'm sure some of this can be ascribed to the fact the game was originally developed as a non-english title and then translated, but even taking that into consideration, the prose is clunky and unpolished.

Many of the more annoying traits of old-time RPGs, thankfully not seen too much these days, persist in Arx. The game has a number of lever-pulling puzzles, for instance, that require you to set switches scattered throughout a dungeon in just a particular way, without giving you any hint of what that particular way is. Trial and error is the watchword here, which may have been acceptable back when this was all new, but certainly isn't now. (Thank god for walkthroughs.) Some of the puzzles give you suitable clues, some are reasonably logical, but at least as many are just the "pull this and see what happens" sort. And since at least two of the levers in the game are trapped with unavoidable insta-death spells, it can quickly turn into an exercise in frustration. Save often.

Character interaction, such as it is, is also a throwback. Double-click on an NPC, and if there's a "real" conversation to be had, it unfolds in a scripted manner, with no input from the player; otherwise, the NPC throws out one of three or four pre-programmed lines, and moves on. Talking to characters in Arx is exactly like reading a book in any other RPG, except that the words are spoken. It's necessary, but since you have no impact on the tone or direction of the conversation, not exactly enthralling.

You get the idea where I'm going with this, right?

Wrong.

See, Arx Fatalis is an odd, short, imperfect, and terribly idiosyncratic game; it's also a hell of a lot of fun. I know, it doesn't make sense - it doesn't make sense to me when I think about it too much - but it's true. There are moments of confusion, moments of frustration, moments when you wonder just what the hell the designers were thinking, but overall you've got a game here that's well worth playing.

There's nothing in Arx that really stands out. The story, as mentioned earlier, is thin at best. The NPCs have about as much depth as those found in, say, Diablo. The graphics are passable, not awe-inspiring but good enough for a contemporary game. Sound effects are quite good, although an EAX bug means you'll have to turn it off and then back on again every time you start the game if you want it enabled. I can't think of a single thing that really made me sit up and say, "Wow, that r0x0rz." But somehow, it all works. This is probably one of the finest examples ever of the whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts.

This is not an easy game. One of my main beefs with the game, in fact, is that the difficulty varies dramatically based on the sort of character you play. Mages have it easiest, for the most part, because the spells in the game become immensely powerful at higher levels. Fighters also do fairly well, because there's no RPG problem in the world that can't be solved by burying a sword in somebody's head, right? And then finally, there's the stealth class, and they tend to suffer. Too weak to brawl with the heavyweights, too mundane to hurl cataclysmic forces of magic, the thieves have a considerably tougher time with the game, especially near the end when combat with over-the-top uberkillers is unavoidable. It's a very blatant lack of play balance, and anyone lacking a strong masochistic streak is advised to avoid the thief class entirely.

The magic system in this game is different than any other I've seen. You collect runes, in a manner very similar to Underworld, but instead of simply arranging them in a particular order or memorizing them while you sleep, you must actually draw the runes in correct order with your mouse. It's intriguing, but also cumbersome; trying to cast magic on the fly while in a combat situation is aggravating at best, and damn near impossible for anyone with less than three hands. This is further compounded by the fact that you can only memorize three spells at a time, and once they're gone, you're dry. (Although, as I mentioned, the sheer power of the spells really helps make up for this.)

Combat is quite straightforward, nothing new here, but what you will notice is a distinct lack of variety in the weapons. You'll come across two, maybe three magic swords; no bows or axes beyond the non-magic types you find near the beginning of the game; and slightly less than a half-dozen different types of armor. What you get instead is the ability to enchant these items with other items found in the game. One of the most basic enchantments involves the simple addition of poison to a weapon, while more powerful mods can be had by enchanting with things like golem hearts or dragon bones. The game prevents the difficulty from being overly diluted by uber-weapons by allowing only one enchantment per item; you can enchant a weapon to give you a strength bonus, for example, or a paralysis effect, but not both. In fact, the ability to combine items, both weapons and more mundane pieces, to form other items is one of the more hyped aspects of the game. Combine a piece of wood and a rope to make a fishing pole; catch a fish, combine it with flour, toss it on a fire, and blammo, good eatin' for everyone. You can brew your own potions, or even bake a pie. (In fact, at one point you'll have to bake a pie.) The manual lists about ten of the more basic combinations, but there are many more you can discover on your own, if you're so inclined. (The magic system is similar. You'll end up with a couple dozen spells listed in your spell book, but there are other, "secret" spells you can learn as well. For instance, that old standby, the fireball spell, is learned fairly early in the game, but by substituting a rune, you can also cast an ice-blast spell.)

It's difficult writing a review about a game with so many glaring flaws when you ultimately want to recommend it. It would be easy to sit here and pick apart individual aspects of the game - it's small size, lack of character interaction, clumsy inventory management - but far more difficult to explain how it all manages to come together to make such a good game. I think at least part of it has to be nostalgia; Ultima Underworld remains one of the most brilliant RPGs ever made, and while Arx doesn't make up to Underworld's sheer genius, it's as close as we've come since Underworld 2 was released. But even on it's own, it's a quality title; objectively speaking, this game stands up well on it's own merits.

Arx Fatalis isn't going to win RPG of the year anywhere, especially with Morrowind on the scene. And it's appeal is limited simply by the nature of the game; if you think RPG'ing on your computer has anything at all to do with games like Diablo and Dungeon Siege, you're not likely to find much of enjoyment here. But if you're the sort of gamer who likes a little meat on the bones of your hack-and-slash, and you can put up with the foibles of a game rooted deeply in the early 90's, then Arx Fatalis may be just the RPG fix you need. You may be annoyed, you may be frustrated - but you won't be disappointed.