"Westwood, why did you abandon this masterpiece?"

Story – 9/10 - This game has a great storyline. You start off as Jack. A regular old guy with a regular old life. Suddenly you are transported to the world of Nox and you have to fight the evil witch Hecubah to get back to earth. There are three classes in Nox. They are Warrior, Wizard, and Conjuror. There are rumors that there were two other classes, these rumors are false. Do not believe them. While the end of each classes story are original, they are slightly flawed. I won't give any spoilers, just watch them and you will see what I mean. The other great thing about this game is that each class's storyline is a little different up until Chapter 4 I believe. The story is great but gets a little bit of a deduction due to the face that the end of the game doesn't always entirely make since.

Control – 10/10 – The control in this game is a little bit awkward at first, but once you get used to it, you wouldn't have it any other way. Right clicking moves you and left clicking performs tasks such as attacking with swords, casting spells, and picking up items. You can also save spells on a spell set which helps you find and cast spells quite quick. The hot keys for spells on Nox are A,S,D,F,G. Being so close together provides for easier gameplay. The learning curve for Nox is about 1 hour.

Graphics – 10/10 - The graphics in this game are quite unique. I don't know really how to explain it. I guess you will just have to go out and buy it huh? Well, you can see objects pretty clearly and things like trees block your line of sight. (Which can be quite useful in Multi-Player) A variety of colors are used. I kind of sound like an idiot when I talk about the graphics, because I don't really know a way to explain them other than it is cool...

Sound – 10/10 - The sound in this game is the best I have ever heard in any game. The music is really unbelievable and gets you really absorbed into the game. Also, you can hear yourself cast spells which is another great aspect of the game. There isn't a lot to be said about the sound other than it is the greatest that I have heard in any type of game. Custom made soundtracks don't even sound this good.

Challenge – 9/10 - The game is both challenging and easy at the same time. While it doesn't take a lot of though process to figure out what you are supposed to do next, some of the battles and the techniques and strategies used in the battles are hard. Also, I found that different characters are harder to play this game with. The easiest in my opinion, was the warrior, while the hardest was the wizard. It depends on what you like to do and your style of play. If you would like to step up your challenge, I highly suggest playing multiplayer. Not only do you have harder opponents, these people are not driven by A.I.(at least as far as I know).

Replay Value – 10/10 – This game is so freaking fun! There are three ways that you can start and finish the game, so you aren't playing the same game after you beat it with the warrior, wizard, or conjuror. Also, you will want to see if you can get better weapons or armor than you did before. In my opinion, if you are a sucker for RPG's, then this game will keep you going and going.

Multiplayer - 10/10 - The multiplayer part of this game is the best multiplayer part of any game other than what I could imagine Halo could be. Clans and ladder allowed you to rank yourself among the worlds best Nox players. (Clans and Ladders no longer exist, though people still form clans.) The servers have recently been given to EA. The reasons for this, I don't know. Nox has been put under the discontinued games by Westwood. There will be no Nox sequel, though it should have one, and there will be no upgrades. Another part of the Multiplayer that I never cared for was quest. Go to the Nox board and ask them what is up with quest, because I don't really know. Now, the community of Nox is still strong, but I don't like it compared to when it came out. There is too much complaining about n00bs, too many hackers, and too many people thinking that they are the best ever.

Overall Score - 10/10 - The best game ever. Simply said.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/03