Neal, I've played all M&M games except 8, and all the Wizardry games. W&W is more of a nostalgia piece for me fitted to a different engine from the Wizardry games. If you were a fan of Wizardry, (especially 5, 6, and 7) you will probably love this game. I've read a lot of stuff on the lack of storyline here, and it's true that the main quest line is a little sketchy. There is some extremely good humor in the game, and I have to admit I was glad that I was playing in turn-based mode because during key conversations and battles, I would be laughing so hard at one of the ridiculously funny things one of the NPC's said that I'd have to pause to catch myself and then resume. But then I've always had a warped sense of humor anyway. The whole bit about giving someone a superpower sword and then warning them not to use it for destruction or conquest seems to me to be the same joke about telling kids not to stick beans up their noses. But then.
I've played the game through once, with little or no bugs. D.W. and his gang have a great idea here. I'd like everyone to remember that this _is_ a new project for them, and first attempts are always a bit limited while they get the system down. (Bethesda's TES:Arena was much like this, while TESaggerfall was much more fluid and entailed; maybe too much so. That didn't stop my enjoyment of either of them.)
Again, it depends on your goals. My main complaints of the game was that I can't stand action-like elements in RPG's (if I want to jump from lavastone to lavastone, I'll play Mario Bros., thank you NOT!) But for the most part, the pluses outweighed the minuses in my book.
My rating: Character development: 10
Game Story: 5.5
Playability: 8
Side Quest development: 9
Replay value: 8.5
Overall rating: 8.6 (just my opinion)
Sazerac
|