Nox

"Nox is a flawless as games get; Westwood gives us another great game!"

Nox is one of my favorite multi-player games for the PC computer. In single player mode there are several different quests/journeys that pertain to the character you choose, a warrior, a conjurer, or a wizard; each has advantages and disadvantages. Multi-player is also a fun experience, with capture the flag and survive with both every man for himself, or on teams.

Story – 10/10 – Each character in the game has a different story! Though they have a lot of the same goal and stages they come in different orders three stories is much better than one. Each character’s story is different from the others and is related to their personal class. I think that the fact Nox has different stories to each character only made the game that much greater. Having the same course for each class in a game isn’t nearly as fun or entertaining. The new quest mode isn’t nearly as good as the original as it gets boring after a while as little story is involved while playing the game.

Control – 9/10 – There are so many things you character can do! Between skills, spells, and the uses of different items they really did well with the controls. I would also like to note that this game be played by using many different hotkeys. When your left hand is in correct positioning on the keyboard, every key that it would normally type is a hotkey of some kind! For me this was great, I never had to fumble around looking for a key on the other side of the keyboard while my right hand was occupied with the mouse. Why couldn’t more games follow Nox’s example?

Graphics – 10/10 – I loved the graphics for this game. Every object can be seen clearly and every piece of armor changes your character’s appearance, unlike many similar games that I have played before. The animation is also cool, I just never can get over how cool it is burning zombies to a crisp. The graphics to the game are definitely exceptional, without a doubt.

Sound – 10/10 – The sound to Nox was also great, which needless to say is something most games tend to be lacking in. The sounds aren’t scratchy at all and you don’t get tired of listening to them either. From the voices of townspeople, the enemies attacking you, and the cool sound of the spell casters’ chants the sound can’t get much better than this. Westwood did an excellent job with the sound to Nox

Challenge – 8/10 – This game does have some challenge to it and there are several situations that definitely require some effort in order to get past them. If there has been one thing that I dislike about any game is if it isn’t challenging enough (or too challenging). Nox provides the right amount of challenge to keep you coming back to play more and go deeper into the game.

Entertainment – 10/10 – There was not many times where I found myself bored of this game. If there was a part I couldn’t pass I just played multi-player. I think that the multi-player is much more fun than a solo game. In multi-player you are playing against other people that have minds and strategies of their own, rather than computer programming telling them what their options are.

Replay Value – 8/10 – After you beat the game with one character, do it with another! With your options as single player the replay value is good, and there can be plenty more replay value found in the multi-player modes. Between the three classes of characters there is much variety and contrast between them. Each character presents a challenge in itself to master.

Overall Score – 10/10 – Truly a masterpiece! Westwood did not fail to bring us an exceptional Action/RPG game. Nox shows us what many games strive to be, it is well designed, challenging, as well as being entertaining. There isn’t much negative comments you could say about this game, it is virtually as flawless as games get.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/01, Updated 09/05/01