Wizardry 8

"Very enjoyable"

Introduction:

It appears that Wizardry series has a long history. Alas, this is the only game of the series I have played. Wizardry is your basic party oriented role playing game. It has aspects similar to Might and Magic series as well as Icewind Dale and Boulder Gates. The game tends towards hack and slash, though there are a large number of quests (some required some not). It is quite clear to this player that the game was not completed with regards to the full set of quests/areas the developers had intended, though it is quite long as shipped. To a degree, this is understandable if you understand the history of Sir Tech (the game's developer). Aka they went bankrupt during the development cycle.

Gameplay (10):

The gameplay is fairly straight forward. You construct a party of one to 6 characters from a number of different races and classes with a range of magical and combat skills (both melee and range). The perspective is first person. Movement is open (you can go anywhere - anytime) but combat is turn based (there is a real time version of the combat that is basically turn-base without pauses). As is the movement, character development is open ended - you can develop skills, stats and classes as you level. Unlike some of other games mentioned, while characters can be developed the mechanics hold no obvious association to dnd.

I should note that combat is rather slow but I've been told this is artificial and there is a patch that will speed things up.

The last aspect of the game is that it keeps an artificial balance between combatant. Often your opponents are selected, in part based on your location of the map, but also on the strength of your party (aka level). At the start of the game the balance is quite good (and offensive magic is very important). Near the end, I don't think the balance is all that great and there is definitely a tilt towards magic resistance AND melee power.

Story (8):

The story is typical - there is evil, you are good and the objective is to save the world. There is no option to play the 'evil' character and alignment per sey is not a part of the game. As the story progress and you are introduced to the various fractions the interaction is quite enjoyable and well defined.

Graphics/Sound (9,9)
While the game was shipped in 2001, it was developed early 2000. The graphics are quite good for that period, but obviously behind current standards. While I sometime had problems with the graphics in other games (system shock for example) in a playability sense, i had no problems with the graphics abilities to present required presentation.

The voice acting is quite pleasing and the music is fine.

Play Time/Replayability (10/7):
The game is quite long (30 hours perhaps) and enjoyable (one of the few games I've played end to end more than twice). However, it is closed ended (unfortunately the story is 'hard-coded' and does not allow for easy mods) and after a few passes through the game the plot/quests can get old.

Final Recommendation:

The bottom line is I enjoyed the game immensely. Also, if you look at active fan clubs (aka various message boards) those who liked the game continue to play it even though the story is close ended. That is to say the game has a very strong, if rather small, following. However, given the tint between hack/slash and rpg there are quite a few people who don't enjoy this game (some want more rpg, some more hack and slash).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/03