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Wizardry 8

Score: 95%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: Sir-Tech Canada
Developer: Sir-Tech Canada
Media: CD/3
Players: 1
Genre: RPG


Graphics & Sound:

While Wizardry 8's 3D graphics engine is not as beautiful as current first person shooters, that's to be expected considering the number of years it has been in development. And although it doesn't boast the same level of detail as Quake III, Max Payne or other action games, its graphics surpass those of other RPGs on the market.

Wizardry 8 has beautiful indoor and outdoor areas, with detailed water, glass, and sky textures. Environments are varied and interesting, and although animation does occasionally suffer from clipping, there are few problems, and the overall appearance is outstanding. Graphics are used to good effect, and often you will find yourself afraid of impending battles based on the fearsome look of your surroundings or opponents.

The faces of all party members are well animated in the main interface. Since Wizardry 8 doesn't have static representations of your party, or even mildly animated faces as in Planescape: Torment, as party members converse with you, you can see their lips move. If a party member takes ill, falls unconscious, or is otherwise injured, their faces change accordingly.

NPCs and enemies move and fight realistically, with flying insects biting you, fairies casting spells as they flutter all about you, and humans walking, punching, or striking your party.

Sound is well used throughout the game, with clanging armor and weapons, buzzing wasps, the sound of footsteps, water falling, and other atmospheric effects. When one of your party members becomes insane after being targeted by a Leaf Fairy, they will cackle hysterically. And although music is sparse, it sets the mood appropriately.


Gameplay:

The character generation system in Wizardry 8 provides many different races, professions, personalities, and character portraits. Selecting the correct 1-6 characters for your party is probably the most important aspect of the game. This can take some time, but the provided interface is simple, well documented, and easy to use. And this is a particularly fun part of the game.

For those new to Wizardry, the game begins in a monastery. If you import a Wizardry 7 or Wizardry Gold party, there is an alternate beginning based on the type of party you are attempting to import.

The monastery provides a good learning ground for the mechanics of the game, and introduces you to basic enemy types, including slime, roaches, rats, and bandits. There are lots of goodies throughout the multi-leveled area, as well as locked and trapped chests, various puzzles, and even a few NPCs.

Traveling to other areas, such as Arnika, which is the first town you will come upon after you leave the monastery, takes a short while, but is generally dangerous. Roads are often traveled by bandits, and there are bats and other creatures that you can encounter. You can sometimes avoid conflict by staying off the roads, but enemies are bright enough to locate you, so stealth is not always possible.

Once you arrive in a populated area like Arnika, you can often get assistance during battles. It's quite thrilling to be assisted by a group of guards or hunters while battling enemies, and although your party will generally deal out more damage than they do, the fact that there are more bodies to receive enemy damage is good enough to make this a cool feature.

You will meet many NPCs, and up to two can join your party. Like most RPGs, Wizardry 8 offers many quests, and its game play is quite non-linear. The game boasts over 60 hours of game play, and although battles can be lengthy and rather involved, the storyline is interesting and worth well the investment.

Conversing with NPCs is straightforward. The game provides a combination dialog system, where you can type in one or more words, or click on words from a list. As you meet NPCs, new words will be added to the list, but you can also add your own. In addition, you can buy from or sell to NPCs, give them items, or even cast magic spells like 'charm' at them. And you can of course always just rob them blind, provided you have a suitably able rogue or gadgeteer.


Difficulty:

Battles are frequent in Wizardry 8, as is leveling, and if you focus attribute and skill points in key areas, your party begins dealing large amounts of damage in short order.

If, on the other hand, you try to create 'balanced' characters, you will instead end up with a party that can't deal or take enough damage, has a tough time opening locks, and can't disarm traps well enough.

The game has three difficulty levels, as well as an 'iron man' feature. Difficulty level affects how hard it is to damage creatures, as well as how hard traps and locks are to deal with. Lower difficulty levels also provide you with more hints and clues. The iron man feature disables saving games until you quit out of Wizardry 8.

To say that the easiest difficulty level is actually easy is not correct. This is a tough game. Pacing is important, and since the game provides many potions, weapons, armor, and gold, you really have to use them to their fullest to succeed.


Game Mechanics:

Wizardry 8 comes on three CDs. The first two are used to install the game, and the third is used when playing it. When you first start the game, you are prompted to configure your video and sound cards. There are many options, and resolution/color depth combinations from 640x480x16 to 1600x1200x32 are available. You can choose from a number of graphics drivers, including DirectX and OpenGL. In addition, you can select from several 3D sound options. In game, there are many configuration options, including settings for audio, video, and general game play.

When it came to game mechanics, Sir-Tech Canada threw in everything including the kitchen sink. The game's interface is lavish, with both shared and individual inventories, multiple slots for armor and weapons, and even the portraits in the main user interface have numerous buttons that allow you to choose how you wish to attack enemies or aid your party members.

The game offers both phased and continuous combat modes. All combat is initiative based, and both combat modes are nearly identical except for one major difference: In continuous mode, you can give your party orders for the next round while the current round is in progress. In phased combat mode, you have to wait for the current round to end, then issue new orders, and then finally start the next round.

Giving your party orders consists of first selecting a party member, then selecting an action, and finally clicking on the recipient of that action. Party members automatically select an opponent to fight, as well as the appropriate weapon, but in order to cast spells, you have to select the spell each time.

The manual that accompanies Wizardry 8 is well done, and provides quite a bit of information about the game world and mechanics, as well as detailing all of the available spells. In addition, the game itself has right-click help available at every turn, and even while conversing with NPCs you can view your inventory or player attributes.

Wizardry 8 is a detailed RPG with lots of game play, and is quite challenging. The game is very solid, with nary a bug to find. Whether you like old school RPGs like Bard's Tale and Wizardry, or you prefer the modern games with their flashy graphics and sound, you should find something in Wizardry 8 to love. Every aspect of the game shows Sir-Tech's love and devotion, and if you played and enjoyed either of that company's Jagged Alliance games, you should find many of the same features in Wizardry 8.


-Gordy, GameVortex Communications
AKA Gary Lucero

Minimum System Requirements:



Win9x/2000, P2 233, 64MB RAM, 1.2GB HD Space, 4x CD-ROM, 3D accelerator card with 8MB minimum texture memory, sound card, keyboard, mouse.
 

Test System:



Windows XP Professional, 450Mhz Dual Pentium III, 256MB RAM, GeForce with 32MB RAM, SoundBlaster Live! Value, 32x CD-ROM.

Windows The Wild Thornberrys Movie Microsoft Xbox 4x4 Evo 2

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated