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Daemonica - Student Review
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Graphics & Sound:
While Daemonica’s graphic design looks good, it also reminds me of older games rather than a 2006 game release. It seems lacking according to today’s standards in game graphics, but could also be due to my own graphics card. It reminded me of the later Ultima games with its 3rd person 3/4 camera view.
Sound wise, the game’s sound did not seem to fit the game completely. The music, while nice, did not go with the action on the screen in some cases. During fights, you would hear what I consider to be an almost “tribal” drums sound. However, the narration was a really good fit, bringing me up to speed with my character, helping me to understand him from the start. |
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Gameplay:
Daemonica’s gameplay is fairly easy to learn. It does require both hands, however. While you just point and click the mouse to make your character go where you want, you have to use the arrow keys in order to look in any direction other than forward; it can’t be done with the moving of the mouse on the mouse pad.
Most of the game takes place in the town of Cavorn, so your adventure is limited except for a mine and a monastery area, which you can enter later in the game. Other than that, have fun solving this murder mystery. Finding the clues and solving the mystery can be easily accomplished by talking to all the NPC’s on a regular basis. While running around talking to everyone, re-agents for potions are easily found. Gathering and storing them for future use is advised when you find them. You will need to make a number of potions during the game, and this will save you time.
In the game, you play the part of Mr. Farepoynt, a man that is more than just a man. His unique ability allows him to gather information that other men cannot. Entering into the Temple of Sacrifice, he is able to gather information from the dearly departed. This makes solving the mystery, or at least proving your theories, much easier. It is a good game for those who like to think things out without having to fight you way through every situation.
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Difficulty:
Since Daemonica is an action adventure game, its level of difficulty comes from the gathering of clues and whether or not the gamer is willing to do this thoroughly.
I did find that there were some decisions to make in the Temple of Sacrifice that I had no clue about. Maybe I missed something or did not read something, so I went to ole reliable. Trial and error, yep, I guessed at them and was often wrong. Saving the game before entering the Temple of Sacrifice is recommended.
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Game Mechanics:
The game itself is fairly easy to play once you have loaded the game on your computer, and downloaded and installed the patch that fixes the few bugs in the game. After that, it plays off the hard drive, so you don’t need to put in the disk if you take a break and come back to the game later. The only problem I had before installing the patch was saving the game in the outdoors while it was raining. So I saved indoors with no problem. I can’t remember if I tried saving after I installed the patch, but that was the reason I looked to see if there was a patch.
Daemonica’s 3/4 camera angle allows for a fairly good view of your surroundings and has a short zoom capability. I did not find the need to zoom in with the point and click movement of the game. Using the arrow keys to look around a room got old after a while though, for me anyway. The game itself takes only a few minutes to load up on your computer, and the load time into new areas wasn’t long at all. At least I don’t remember yelling at the computer to hurry up… For me, this point and click of the mouse is much easier for running around than using assigned keys on the keyboard.
Daemonica is available in stores. I bought mine at Best Buy for about $15.00 plus tax. It is a single player action adventure, but at that price, it is well worth the play. |
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-Michael Spillman |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP, GHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, DirectX compatible 64 MB graphics card, DirectX compatible sound card, 475 MB available Hard Disk Space, DirectX 9.0c (included) 4x CD-ROM, Mouse and Keyboard.
Recommended System Requirements:
Windowsâ XP, 2GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX compatible 128 MB graphics card, DirectX compatible sound card, 475 available Hard Disk Space, DirectX 9.0c (included) 4x CD-ROM, Mouse and Keyboard. |
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Test System:
Windows XP version 2002/ Service Pack 2, 930 Pentium III Processor, 256 MB RAM, DirectX compatible 128 MB NVIDIA Geforce4, MX 4000 graphics card, DirectX compatible Creative Sound Blaster PCI, DirectX 9.0c, 8x CD-ROM, Mouse and Keyboard. |
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