IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! WHOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Ryanamur]

Well Saz, have fun. I'll get the game in a few months (busy right now ). How similar is it to WW?

[Sazerac]

Ryanamur: Some similarities in classes, magic spells, etc., but a bit different on the races. Also, if you want a special class, you just roll it from the get-go. For example, one of my level 1 characters is a Valkyrie (which was standard for Wizardry; you could get elite classes at the beginning...I don't know WHY W&W did it the way they did!) 6 character party, with the option of hauling 2 NPC's along as well for a total of 8 characters.

Character interaction is terrific (and often hilarious). They make comments to each other; some encouraging, and (especially for the Chaotics) some quite snide and sarcastic ("Smooth move there, guvnor', any closer and he'd a' 'ad yer!"). My elven mage, whom I chose the personality of "Eccentric", babbles on about crystals and star patterns and Positive Energy like she's right off the "Live Psychic Hotline"...talk about a hoot! [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

So, unlike WW, the characters are interactive and not just portraits; their expressions change, their mouths move (a la Might and Magic), and they have different voices and expressions. I've heard tell that you can customize the scripts for the voices, but I haven't figured that out yet. The scripts they have are pretty darn good, though.

Fantastic monster AI (they retreat when critically wounded and target characters intelligently), graphics are incredible...you can run the game up to 1600x1200 resolution in 32-bit color, although I'm running in 16-bit color just to keep the game as streamlined as possible (there's really no diff as far as I can tell between the quality of the two modes).

Anyway, you can tell I'm hooked! Great gaming experience; possibly not for everyone that doesn't like the 1st person view, but other than that, a 5-star game.

Cheers,

[Neb]

*Hypnotic voice* Sazeraaaaaac, you will put your copy of Wizardry 8 in a box and mail it to me...... *end hypnotic voice, start watching mailbox*

[Vaskez]

How good is it compared to BG2/ToB? Opinion's?

[MILAMBER]

Are the graphics and interface the same as in the demo?

[*\Conan/*]

Saz, I am really getting tempted to join in the Wizardry series. I have been playing BG2 into ToB now and will finish soon. My time is limited right now but mybe by December I will be ready. Is this a game where I should start with previous series or is it worthy by itself?

[ 11-14-2001: Message edited by: *\Conan/* ]

[Wulfere]

crud... I can't play first person games like Doom. Makes me physically ill for days.

[Sazerac]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Vaskez:
How good is it compared to BG2/ToB? Opinion's?

---

Completely different type of gaming experience, but both of them equally enjoyable, IMO. There's more immersion in Wizardry 8 in that you are basically "looking" out of your characters' eyes at the 3D world. There's a sky, weather patterns, mountains, terrain, and the dungeons are all as if you were walking through them yourself. Unlike BG2/ToB/IWD, etc., you can't see all of the dungeon level at one time, only the particular room or area you're in, plus some (as in real life, where you can only see your general area and then the connecting hallways). In BG2/ToB you have more individual control over character placement; if you want to "retreat" a character from combat, you can. In Wizardry 8, the party moves as a whole unit, although you can choose different party movement formations as in BG2. There is no "special character" like the Bhaalspawn in BG2; all characters are equally important. Also, you create all 6 (or however many) of your characters you want, unlike BG2 in which you can only create 1 character and then use the NPC's. However, in Wizardry 8, you can pick up two extra NPC's along the way, bringing your party's total to 8. As in BG2, the characters in Wizardry 8 interact with each other with dialog (fully spoken, and with text prompts), sometimes quite hilariously as I showed above.

The main difference as far as I can tell between the games is the orientation: BG2 uses the "over-the-shoulder" 3D view, while Wizardry 8 uses the first-person "Quake" or "Doom"-type view. As Wulfere said, it isn't always the best view for those with motion sickness; however, one thing cool about Wizardry 8 is that it gets rid of the annoying "head-bobbing" routines. The storyline is very diverse and interactive. In Wizardry 8, you're in a race against several rival races to find three artifacts of power that can raise an individual to godhood. You can choose to ally with any of these races or factions, or ally against them (or double-cross them).

So, comparing the two systems is like comparing apples and oranges: they're both fruits, and they both taste great, although some people may like apples and some may like oranges better. Same thing goes here with these games. If you're used to the AD&D universe, this game may seem completely alien to you. Others may like it.

You can download the free demo and see if you like the game. I'll post the link up here if you're interested.

Cheers,

[Sazerac]

Here's the link if you want to try the demo:

http://www.3dgamers.com/news/more/1004493187/

Cheers,

[Redblueflare]

Well thanks to your brilliant very descriptive explanation, i'm interested. I might end up buying this game. Umm... exactly how much does it cost?