Rate Avernum 4.

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Author	Topic: Rate Avernum 4.
Lord Bob Shock Trooper Member # 55	written Saturday, March 4 2006 18:09 Profile Homepage #25 Just beat it. On balance, enjoyed it. Worth the money. Probably still the weakest of the four. The good news: Avernumforge didn't kill my brain. As everybody else has said, combat was wonderful, even though I was getting stomped repeatedly in the early game before my brain got into the groove. I like the idea that party members aren't dead, just unconcious, don't mind returning to town to heal, and went insane from having to return to town to reenergize. Spells were better, although Arcane Blow remains the Great White Elephant of the spell set. I liked walking around all of Avernum as if it were indoors A1-3 style a lot more than I thought I would. That was really neat. Elimination of mild annoyances as mentioned above. A lot of the graphics looked really neat. The fact that there's a new Exilvernum story for the first time since I learned Spiderweb existed. That neat bit of dialogue where the Empire tourist says that nobody's sure whether there were conveyer belts or lasers. No more "omg teh vahanati did it". The bad news: omg teh vahanati did it. The end game (as in, the game actually ends when you pummel Rentar) irritated me to no end, since I had been planning to go back and deal with stuff like the Mertis undead, the Darkside guys, and a large list of other things after killing Rentar A1/A2 style. The whole Darkside name, just because it made me quote Star Wars for the entire game. Lack of elevation. Those little geographical oddities caused by moving the map over to an entirely new engine (I've played A1 and A2 about a dozen times, so I said 'hey, that's odd' so often I began to feel profoundly loserish). The fact that I could take my Shaper into a cavern full of fyoras. The fact that none of the character graphics I usually used were ported over. The end of those funny pictures for each skill and attribute on the character sheet. The Geneforge combat system, which annoyed me every time my one surviving warrior got slowed and couldn't attack anything, nicely allowing the wimpy monsters surrounding him to beat the tar out of him unimpeded. I was going to put 'lack of the classic Avernum artifacts' as a bad, but apparently somebody up there met Demonslayer and the Jade Halberd while I didn't see any, so I can only presume I missed them because I inadvertantly skipped a large fraction of the game. I think the bad list is longer than the good one, but a lot of the neat stuff about the three Avernums (the atmosphere, the just-one-more-cave value) was present here and, frankly, was too diverse to remark upon. As I said, though, I think it's still the weakest of the quadrilogy, although, surprisingly, it's not mostly the engine's fault. I vaguely liked the idea that Rentar'Ihrno could decide to go quietly (I was aggressive in our first confrontations, so she wasn't listening to my requests for peace). I'll replay it again at least once more to see what I missed. But my Avernum II CD will be getting a lot more wear than this one. 7.3 out of 10. Posts: 236 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Solymr Apprentice Member # 4533	written Sunday, March 5 2006 20:03 Profile #26 Rating: 3 After really hyping myself up for a new Avernum game, I was sorely let down by Avernum 4. Expecting something similar to the previous titles, I was in for a surprise. While I do like the graphics engine a bit, I really do despair for elevation and boats, like many others. Combat proved to be entertaining, but if I wanted something hack 'n slash style I've already got Dungeon Siege 2. Was nice to see an end to Rentar Ihrno finally, but the Vahnatai involvement could be seen coming a mile away. Can't say I really took to the controls at all, being used to a more turnbased RPG in the Avernum series it did take some getting used to and I still don't think it is nearly as good as the previous titles. Pros: Good graphical engine, hope to see similar in A5, good combat situations, the quit button. Cons: The plot, no real atmoshpere to the game, mouse movement causes you to move really fast and not keep track of NPC movement/actions, poor PC graphic choice. Summary: If you're a fan of the previous titles, you'll probably be very disappointed in Avernum 4. As an "offical" sequel, it falls very short of the mark compared to it's predecessors. If there is an Avernum 5, hopefully it will build from the strong points of both Avernum 1/2/3 and Avernum 4. Posts: 37 | Registered: Sunday, June 13 2004 07:00
Berserkas Apprentice Member # 6547	written Monday, March 6 2006 04:53 Profile #27 yeah i agree... avernum 4 STINKS! :mad: no boats, you cant move objects, no puzzles, walking is differents, stupid skill interface... IT JUST AINT AVERNUM ANYMORE. oh and.... i just wish Spiderweb would create something new. they said theyre working on geneforge 4, but that is getting ancient.... 1 was real good, 2 - same old same old, 3 - just plain boring... theres nothing new in it at all. Posts: 7 | Registered: Tuesday, December 13 2005 08:00
SilofUSDA Apprentice Member # 1866	written Monday, March 6 2006 08:03 Profile #28 I've been an avid fan since exile 3...and so far I'm very dissapointed... I love the massive maps and the engine of exile 3! So far I really dont like how the screen does not keep your group in the center, it shifts them to the center when they get near the edge, which makes me feel like I'm gonna end up getting sick from all the jagged movement. The mouse moves slowly when the inventory box is open (bug?) I'm VERY dissapointed that there is no character editor, I used the hell out of that thing in every single version of exile/avernum/nethergate, even if it was just to heal my group or give them money. I dont like the idea of using "cheats" but I guess I'll have to. Why is there no money cheat? this seems like a /huge/ change from all the other avernums. and so far, I dont think I like it. I havent been outside the town yet, and if it's not the same experience of the older games I'll be quite sad. there is no defend option when in battle... I've loved all the games so far...this one dissapoints me, it's too much like geneforge, which I didnt much like... morgan -------------------- I love Dark Ages, but Spiderweb got me hooked on RPGs years ago. They also taught me that graphics dont matter when determinin' how good a game is :) sil Posts: 3 | Registered: Tuesday, September 10 2002 07:00
JadeWolf Infiltrator Member # 5567	written Monday, March 6 2006 08:40 Profile Homepage #29 8. I nice game, but the new interface was a bit confusing at first. I haven't bought it yet, though. -------------------- How many shapers are there? Why is Drypeak controlled by Zakary? Why is Barzahl a Guardian? How does the Geneforge work? What's as small as nothing? Why am I asking stupid questions? -------------------------------- Shaper teacher : "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" BOOM!! apprentice :*little voice* "Sorry..." --------------------------- CSM RIFQ Neopets Do join, it's fun. Do you know what is the answer to the greatest question ever? It's here. Posts: 576 | Registered: Wednesday, March 2 2005 08:00
Lt. Sullust Shaper Member # 32	written Monday, March 6 2006 09:01 Profile #30 Just a little add in, with the current input, ignoring the lowest and highest votes, we have a rating of 6.04. (Note: This is at the 48 vote level) -------------------- Lt. Sullust Cogito Ergo Sum Polaris Posts: 2462 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Suspicious Vlish Infiltrator Member # 2245	written Friday, March 10 2006 05:34 Profile Homepage #31 *sigh* My 'expectations' for Avernum 4 were fulfilled. Same old trash repackaged, and sold as an 'exciting new sequel to Avernum 3'. Predictable = Organized attacks of monsters attacking Avernum. As soon as I heard this, I knew who was behind it. So much for a plot twist. Because of this, I was tempted to uninstall the game during the first 5 minutes. Empty = No believable decent plot, no characters worth listening to (I just skip the dialogue these days), no atmosphere whatsoever. Repetitive = Wow, goblin slaying and nephil slaying... again (in approximately the same places, to add insult to injury). Visiting Metris, which is plagued by undead... again. Running to the Castle to get major quests... again. Major characters sitting on their rear doing nothing... again. Boring = Cut this, slash that, use your mediocre skills to pwn some silly little monsters. *YAWN*. Awkward = The interface is a pain in the rear. Nuff said. Buggy = It eats up 100% of my CPU (!!!??) and freezes. Sometimes the game won't even start. This stuff should be ironed out in the beta. Linear = There is very little freedom, unlike Exile 1, 2 and 3. You are pushed and thrust about like putty. 'Go here, do this, shoot this clown.' Just leave me alone. Lack of decent character models = Two nephil and slith graphics? Same old cheesy human graphics from past Avernums? I've heard that Jeff is excusing this by claiming that he'll add graphics in Avernum 5. Umm, right. Obviously you should rectify obvious mistakes and gaps in future sequels (which will no doubt be as trashy as Avernum 4), instead of rectifying them before releasing the present sequel. *SIGH*. What's with designers releasing incomplete, buggy sequels? Rating = 2. And I'm being generous. [ Friday, March 10, 2006 05:42: Message edited by: Waylander ] -------------------- VIVE LA TAKERS! VIVE LA REBELLION! VIVE LA GHALDRING! Posts: 522 | Registered: Friday, November 15 2002 08:00
Shine123 Apprentice Member # 6216	written Friday, March 10 2006 05:59 Profile #32 When I played Geneforge, I liked the moving-around thing better than Avernun, but I wished the characters would move a little faster when covering distances. Now that they are, in Av4, I think it's just silly. Everyone zips around like some comedy skit turned on fast forward. Might be part of why some people are saying this lacks atmosphere. Going to town to heal bothers me. Surely, the astute adventurer knows how to find some hidden spot to rest up during his travels through the wilderness. This worked just fine in previous versions where, sensibly, one cannot rest if there are monsters nearby. Why am I carrying all this food around??? Some underground areas are too dark on my monitor. Give me back my torches! I do like the unconscious thing a lot. Posts: 48 | Registered: Saturday, August 13 2005 07:00
Dikiyoba Councilor Member # 6600	written Friday, March 10 2006 06:14 Profile Homepage #33 You eat the food for a minor health gain. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00
lordofdc Warrior Member # 6508	written Friday, March 10 2006 10:01 Profile #34 avernum 4 is great and all....but it feals like they took the avernum out of the avernum and turned it into geneforge. -------------------- Spiders,webs and software is great but Spiderwebsoftware is the best. Posts: 85 | Registered: Sunday, November 27 2005 08:00
Nikki. Shaper Member # 3442	written Friday, March 10 2006 10:21 Profile Homepage #35 It's not too bad. I especially like Motrax's Cave and Formello. I would list reasons, but, I can't be bothered. And I've only completed the demo. Anyway, I give it an 8 -------------------- And when you want to Live How do you start? Where do you go? Who do you need to know? Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00

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