In the time
before the current date of this tale, the gods were at war with each other,
throwing their minions at one another ruthlessly in an effort to claim the
throne of the murdered lord of the gods. But even if one claimed victory, it was
apparent that the conflict would not end … that is until Mortagorn, the god of
darkness, discovered a new weapon – one that could not be stopped. No shield
could stand against it, not mortal, magical or even god-inspired. Mortagorn’s
minions, armed with the weapon, were rolling through the opposing forces on the
world of Bellarion.
It was a
dire time. A counter-weapon needed to be found. The god of fire, Arswaargh,
created an avatar from his own body, a comely female being named Vivien. Vivien
has been sent to a distant realm, the world of Antasion, her powers scattered
and her mission to find the gods of the land and seek their help in finding a
weapon to stop Mortagorn.
GODS: Lands
of Infinity is the work of Cypron Studios, and is a role-playing title for the
PC. The game is a blend of adventure, action in a turn-based setting, an array
of missions and NPCs who can join your team, plus all the other goodness often
associated with the RPG model.
You fight;
you gain experience; you level and gain new skills. This is all played out in
the first-person perspective, until you enter a battle encounter, at which point
the game goes into third-person turn-based mode.
The game,
received through a download, offered an experience not often seen nowadays when
the game was installed. Two icons were placed on the desktop – one for Gods-XP
and one for Gods-98. Can you say operating systems?
At first,
the game was somewhat reminiscent of Morrowind. You have an avatar that NPCs
react to, that navigates throughout the realm, deals with merchants, get side
quests to act as diversions (and to make the leveling-up grind palatable) and
seek clues to the locations of the lost gods. Of course, you can’t just rush
into the area where one might be. You are young and powerless, and should you
die, game over. You can reload the game at the last save point, but the lesson
there is save often.
Traveling
from one area of the game is simple enough. You will encounter NPCs that will
mark the locations of various places on your map. You venture outside of an
area, find a signpost, click on it and that brings up a travel map. Click on the
place you wish to go to and you are whisked away toward it.
Once in a
place you move about with the standard keyboard movement, but mouse movement
also works. You can talk to NPCs that have a chat icon on them when you cursor
over them. NPCs you can interact with will appear on the map once you have made
the contacts, and you can add notations to the entry about them quite easily.
If in the
wilds, you may either encounter monsters that attack you from behind, or you can
click on one and enter combat. You may get several monsters at once, but as this
is turn-based, you need to fight tactically. Vivien does have magical abilities
and can summon a pet to help fight. Early on the wolf she summons does not do
much damage but does act rather well as a focal target for the opposing mobs. It
is possible to run out of action points/mana, but if that is the case, you can
merely hit defend (to increase the odds of avoiding the attack). In addition to
the attack and spell options, players can also choose to use potions to maintain
both health and mana – though this does cost a turn.
After each
combat, experience points are awarded and you may get drops from the mobs you
have killed.
In addition
to physical combat skills, Vivien can learn spells (and there are trainers in
various areas that can train up abilities, for a price), and can get a recipe
book to deal in alchemic items. The later is important. While monster drops can
turn into coin, trading seems to be the easiest way to make coin. Even NPCs will
tell you about buying one commodity and ‘smuggling’ it to another area where the
price for it will earn you a good amount of coin. Coin equals more potions,
better armor and weapons.
Being
judicious in what you attack is also wise – the game seems to have a very fine
line between the opportunity for victory and staring at the ‘game over’ screen.
Graphically
this game is very well realized. The environments are lush, the monsters well
done (though some are a little stiff and there is a sameness to the NPCs), but
everything fits nicely into the evolving story told. A few minor graphical
stumbles are not enough to offset an entertaining visual experience.
The
voice-overs are also nicely done, and the musical score is very rich. The
controls are easy to understand and use. But seriously, one more ‘come-on’ line
from a merchant to the fair maiden (Vivien), telling her how rich he is, would
be enough to start looking for a button that allows one to attack NPCs. Calm
down – Vivien is on a mission and needs NPCs to give her clues to the locations
of the gods that may aid her cause.
GODS: Lands
of Infinity is a treat, a rare little gem that surpasses any preconceived
notions about the game. It succeeds on several levels and is very entertaining.
With a strong storyline, some nice twists in the plot, a grind that feels more
like adventure, this is definitely a title worth checking out.
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Gameplay:
8.1
The controls are
intuitive. The game does have a day/night cycle and you will need to eat to
maintain health and stamina. All in all, the devs did a very nice job of
bringing this game to life.
Graphics:
8.0
There is bit of
sameness to the various NPCs you encounter, and the villages can be a little
sparse, but generally the game is very well rendered.
Sound:
8.3
Not enough
dialogue is spoken, the environment sounds are more or less typical but the
music is very nice.
Difficulty: Medium
The game has
several difficulty settings, but do not expect mind-bending puzzles. Surprises
are in here, but that only adds to the enjoyment, not the difficulty.
Concept:
7.8
There is a
definite Morrowind influence here, especially in the way the game is initially
presented, and though the controls are easily accessible, there is too much time
spent running side missions that are akin to delivery missions. Don’t do them?
Well, then you take a harder course in earning coin to better outfit Vivien.
Overall:
8.1
The game has a
few stumbles here and there, but it easily surpasses any expectations and, in
fact, surprises and delights. The look is strong, the story is well done and has
a nice consistency – even when you are surprised by a twist in the game, the
sound is very nice and the game delivers in the entertainment department.
