Geneforge

"Spiderweb Delivers Yet Another Killer Game"

Spiderweb's games are always great and Geneforge is no exception.

Gameplay 10/10

If I had to explain this game in one sentence, that would be ''Open-ended.''

From your first Fyora to your last Battle Gamma (and many other creations at your disposal) Geneforge will provide fun at every turn. After your craft en route to a training facility is attacked you're stranded on Sucia Island. From there the story is left up to you to develop. Each City and settlement you come across will beg your assistance as a mighty shaper. Will you help the serviles end Shaper rule, maintain the status quo, or use your power to simply slay them? Its a choice up to you and with the massive open-ended style that Spiderweb has fine tuned over the years each one comes with its own rewards and punishments.

Each level you are given 6 skill points to spend. With a fixed cost for each skill (and a different cost for most depending on your class) you are given the freedom to spend your points however you wish. Every 1000 experience points nets you 6 more points to spend. You can always save them up to make the game more challenging or to buy a pricey skill.

The experience netted per kill depends on your relative level. Killing Fyora will net you a large award if you are level 1, and over time you'll get less and less until you finally get nothing for killing them. Likewise, if you manage to slay a strong creature at a low level (a distinct possibility) you are given a pat on the back in the form of an experience point bonus, as in you get more for killing at a low level than the ''expected'' level you would be at. You aren't for instance, expected to be taking on clawbugs and wastes ghosts at level 3, but if you somehow kill them you get a bunch of EXP. The cap seems to be 75 per kill, but that's plenty and won't be a regular occurrence until you get the massively difficult spots. Quests follow the same trend, netting you more for a lower level than a higher. They can award you over 75 EXP (such as getting through the second area getting you 270 or more if you didn't level up).

With the help of some strange canisters your power will grow to proportions you thought only the mightiest of shapers achieved through years of labor, in a few short moments. For Guardians you'll appreciate gaining fighting skills. For Agents you'll appreciate the spells. For Shapers you'll appreciate everything, but will get the most use out of the more plentiful creature creation canisters.

As the story unfolds you come to find that you and the serviles are not alone. How you deal with them is once again left up to you. Do you help them achieve ultimate power or fight them to the end (and maybe just take that power for yourself)? Whatever your path, you'll find a decent story behind it.

Especially nice about Geneforge is the level of depth the programmers took in making each style of playing possible. You can get through a good part of the game using your skills in Leadership (diplomatic skills and charisma essentially) and barring that, the old standby of beat'em up smash'em up can always be relied on. Sick of dealing with those nasty traps? Increase your mechanics skill and you'll find that much of the game will be easier as you can disarm them.

Some areas are all combat but if you're sneaky enough you can probably get by without engaging them right away; coming back when you're beefed up enough to smush them underfoot. Shapers will find that their creations can oftentimes be used to soften up enemies over time while Agents can snipe from afar with their superior battle magic. Guardians will appreciate the assortment of magical items and with their creations can plow through tough enemies, swinging swords and firing batons.

There's a nice range of items to choose from. Guardians will find solace in the swords that you'll find/buy while Shapers will likewise find solace in the quantity of batons (the only ranged weapons in the game aside from wands). Agents can work with either quite well depending on your inklings. Ammunition to fill your batons can be found easily though it helps to have melee and magic to back them up as constantly using them will drain reserve quickly. Spells drain you of spell energy (recharges quickly over time) and essence (requires special pools, walking into towns, or using certain spores/pods to recharge). Shapers will probably be in short supply of essence, but your creations will happily fight loyally, even to their deaths if necessary. You can even name them whatever you wish, which is a nice touch.

Whether a Fighter, Thief, or powered up spell caster are all feasible. Some require patience and some careful movements while others may simply need superior numbers or firepower. Whatever your choice Geneforge provides a quality experience and shouldn't be passed over.

Control 9/10

Geneforge, like all of Spiderweb's games contains an in-game instruction manual you can access anytime you feel like. Good to have in the beginning if you need to refresh your memory. Some suggestions are provided for gameplay but aren't anything too special. Still, it does add to the game as you won't get stuck with ''wait, how do I...'' syndrome. The controls aren't complicated by any means so this shouldn't be a problem.

The interface of Geneforge is mostly point and click. Simple and effective. A few hotkeys exist to quickly access spells and tasks, all of which will make the time you spend playing run smoothly and effectively. The buttons that exist are for the most part self explanatory. A piece of paper representing access to your journal for instance while a sword symbol initiates combat (and you will see LOTS OF IT).

Dialogue is handled in a way that fans of games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, or any of Spiderweb's other titles will have come to know and love. You get a message and your responses are underneath. Sometimes having enough skill (usually leadership) will open up more options, with insufficient skill sometimes clueing you in as to what you should increase to get a better response.

You can either press the corresponding number (1, 2, 3, etc) or click it to use that, which will provoke another response. Once again, simple and effective. Geneforge provides avenues for different types here as well. Most of the time you can either agree to help, demand they serve you, or agree to help for a price. Sometimes you can smooze your way into early reward or free reign to grab whatever you want in the area. Not much in the way of a neutral approach, but you can always exit the conversation without saying anything or give them ''I'll have to think about it''

Some of the spell buttons might be a bit confusing at first, but thankfully the programmers included the use of the Tab button to display what each buttons does and who's who on the screen with their names and whether or not they're an ally or enemy (blue or red respectively).

Moving around is akin to most games where you click and your character moves. It is here that Geneforge loses a point in control as if you walk around in confined spaces with a large group of creations getting them to move where you want to can be aggravating. The lack of a hold button in this game means that if you have a creation behind another when it's their turn, they can't push them out of the way and if there's no space on the sides to squeeze through, will be stuck until you move your creations around. This can get annoying, especially when there's enough space to get by and your creation is simply too stupid to find it.

With careful maneuvering you can get around this sometimes, but more often than not will waste a turn waiting. Not a huge problem for the most part, but especially killer in a few areas where its nothing but confined space and constant combat.

If you're an Agent you probably won't encounter any problems with this as they generally don't have creations (or many of them). Guardians with a lot of creations and especially shapers will suffer from this, but thankfully ranged weapons will pass harmlessly through friendly creations so this isn't a real problem with creations like the Vlish (mainly all ranged combat) or Fire Creations (A mix of decent ranged and melee ability). Battle creations and some later magic creations (the Glaahk and Ur-Glaahk) which are melee intensive will encounter problems with this.

Don't get me wrong, the controls of Geneforge work really well and would earn a 10/10 were it not for this annoyance.

Graphics and Sound 7/10

Not a particular strong point of Spiderweb but they work well enough. The graphics consist of 2D sprites roaming around. Not impressive by today's standards but graphics aren't everything (if you ask me they hold no sway, but I'm not the majority of gamers...). Everything looks like what its intended and don't detract in any way, shape, or form from the experience. Geneforge's sounds didn't do much for me. A basic clanging and swinging sound for melee with a different sound for each magical spell or fired projectile. They work but aren't impressive. The music is decent enough but isn't too memorable. Some areas are void of music which does create an atmosphere of ''something's not right'' while birds chirping add to a peaceful mood in the forests. Walking into a town will play sounds of people and children talking and making noise. Once again, it works but I didn't particularly care too much. If it gets to be too boring you can always turn it off (provided in the preferences menu available in-game) and play your own music in the background.

Replayability 10/10

As with all Spiderweb's games Geneforge is worth playing over and over again. Play through as a tough as nails Guardian? Try a feeble shaper or an in-between Agent. The dialogue is the same for all classes but playing through as someone different will provide an entirely new experience.

Some quests and actions obviously favor one class or another, so playing through will allow you to go through and see what you missed.

Not every area is required to beat the game either, so you can always play through again and try these out.

What makes this game really worthwhile is Spiderweb's classic character development scheme. A staple of all Spiderweb's games, its totally open ended. While Geneforge presents you with classes, you aren't barred from skills (though some will be cheaper or more expensive for different people). You can dump your skill points into a few areas or spread them evenly. A simple change might dramatically alter your experience. If you dumped points into endurance and charged through those mines and turrets, then on the second time around spend points elsewhere you'll find that those mines are now a serious threat and either disabling or otherwise bypassing is in order.

Unless you totally screw up your character (which is really only possible if you foolishly don't give your character a way to defend themselves), you can beat the game.

Buy or Rent?

BUY THIS GAME NOW. Its something you shouldn't miss. You can't actually rent it, though you can download the demo. As is the norm for Spiderweb, downloading this will give you around 1/3 of the game to run around in. There's no charge except time spent downloading, and with only a few MB holding you back, this (or any Spiderweb game) won't take long to acquire. I highly suggest you at least TRY THE DEMO. 1/3 is a lot, and you are given full access to the classes so you can easily come to a decision. I played this game for less than 10 minutes and knew I had to have it. I bought it a day later and I can't say I've been disappointed at all.

Ordering the game is fast and easy. You can order online and receive the registration code (which unlocks the rest of the game) in your e-mail, or send a check and have it delivered. Feel like taking the game elsewhere and don't want to drag your computer around? For a few bucks extra you can buy the game on CD. Need a hintbook? You can order that too, and if you order it with the game you get a small discount. Its by no means necessary but might prove useful.

What are you waiting for? Play Geneforge for yourself (and after that, play the other Spiderweb games) and decide ''Is this worth it?''

Scores Tally

Gameplay: 10/10
Control: 9/10
Graphics and Sound: 7/10
Replayability: 10/10

Final Score: 10/10 (Not an Average)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/25/03, Updated 06/25/03