Planescape: Torment

Review by TMook

"What Can Change The Nature of a Man?"

What can change the nature of a man?

Between here and infinity lies Sigil, otherwise known as the Cage of the City of Doors. Sigil contains numerous portals to the multiverse, allowing its visitors to enter the Planes with relative ease. The only thing that is needed is a key. A key can be anything; it can be an emotion. It can be a piece of junk you hold in your hand. It can be a melody you whistle three times, then once backwards. The keys to the Planes are the biggest treasures in the Multiverse.

You, the Nameless One, wake up in the Mortuary, not remembering a thing about how you got there and why. You begin a quest to discover who you truly are, a quest that will go to unparalleled depths as you engage in a truly fascinating storyline full of action, intruige, and betrayal.

When I first played Planescape: Torment, I immediatly noticed that the emphasis of this game is not on its action, but rather on its storyline. This is a game of philosphy, discussing the very core of life itself, and thus is not suitable for younger children. Playing this game became personal for me, as I suspect it became with many other players. The character of the Nameless One is one of the most intruiging characters ever to be presented in a computer game, and the best thing is that you control how he discovers himself.

The storyline of Torment is the best storyline ever to have presented itself in computer game history. There's no arguing about it. I know books that have lesser quality (actually, now that I think about it, Torment would make an excellent book). The only ''negative'' thing about Torment is that it's not enough. Not enough? That's right. Even though you're playing several hundred hours to complete the game, it leaves you wanting for more. The ending of this game is truly gripping, and if you want to know more about it, I suggest you buy the game yourself.

Torments interface is intuitive, to say the least. After only an hour of gameplay, I became completely hooked, and found myself wishing that every CRPG looked at Torment's creators. The Bioware Infinity engine (as used in Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc.) makes this game run smoothly, even on lesser systems. The graphics of this game are truly amazing, and again the creators of the game took the time to draw every seperate area with astounding detail. The characters are equally fascinating to observe, and the animation is realistic.

The sound effects are incredible, especially those with ambient effects. Voice casting has been extremely good, and it is interesting to note that the voice of Dak'kon was played by none other than the actor who portrayed Skinner on the X-Files. The music is of quality unparalleled, and just like in Baldur's Gate, the composition depends on the situation you're in (just like in the old LucasArts' system, IMuse). Sound in this game is one of the most important contributors to the atmosphere.

The Nameless Ones quest to discover who he truly is leads to astounding implications, and you'll see it for yourself if and when you buy this game. It has been an enormous pleasure playing this game, and I can say that I'm dying for a sequel. If you have experienced TSR's Planescape universe, before, then I'm surprised why you haven't bought this game already. It is one of the very best the computer game industry has to offer nowadays, and playing it will garantuee months of fun.

Review by Thomas Mook (thomas.mook@planet.nl). Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Mail them to me! Coming soon: Baldur's Gate review. See it at GameFaqs.com...