"Floating skulls, burning men, and demons, oh my!"

Planescape: Torment. Wow. What can I say? This game is amazing, with only one thing against it. This, next to Fallout 1 & 2, is easily my favorite game for the PC, period. Here's a quick run-down of what makes it great

STORY: 10/10 This is Torment's crowning awesomeness. Almost every game you play has essentially the same story: Save the world. How boring. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are very few. Torment is one of those games, and its that story that WILL blow you away. The opening sequence shows you, an ugly, scarred brute that looks like a caveman, waking up on a metal slab in a mortuary. You have no memories at all-you don't even know your name. Through-out the game, you are known only as ''The Nameless One''. Oh, and did I mention your immortal? The point of the game is to find out who you are, and gain your mortality. How great is that?

GRAPHICS:9/10 The graphics certainly are interesting. The resolution is a lot less than Baldurs Gate or Fallout, so your characters are a lot bigger, and thus more detailed. Personally, I think this is awesome, but it does make the actual area around your character smaller, so you can't see everything around you. Speaking of the area around you, the atmosphere in Torment is amazing. the building have such an odd design, that it makes the city actually seem like it has a soul. Very, very cool.

SOUND:9/10 Another great thing about Torment. The voice acting is great. Sometimes I just talk to my party, just to listen to their voices. Between Dakkon's gravely monotone, to Annah's fiery scottish accent, none of the voices are poorly done. Especially the Nameless One and Morte. Great sounds. The battle sounds are well-done, but not extra-ordinary. Music is pretty cool as well, but again, nothing extra-ordinary.

GAMEPLAY:8/10 This is Torment's only drawback. It uses the now-dated Infinity Engine, and it shows. It doesn't hamper gameplay really, but it is a bit clumsy, especailly compared to Fallout. Its still good, just a little clunky at times

So, here's a quick rundown of pros/cons
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* PROS *
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Superb and original story
Excellent voice acting
Cool graphics
Awesome architecture and atmosphere
Pretty good music
Interesting Characters

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* CONS *
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Dated engine
Music isn't terribly orignal
Limited character class system compared to Baldurs Gate

So, Torment is a great game, hampered only by a dated and clunky engine

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/02, Updated 03/10/02