| Their Skills Have Been Rewarded... Overall, Wizardry 8 really is a unique RPG gaming experience, and for any fan of pen & paper RPGs, early computer RPGs, and even those who are just waiting around for another adventure title like Myst and don't mind some overly-complicated fighting, you'll absolutely love the game. For everyone else, though, who enjoys the more modern style of games, I think you'll be exceptionally bored and frustrated with Wizardry 8. Note that it is an extremely niche game, dedicated to those who have been into the style for a very long time, and for what it does, it does exceptionally well.
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| Graphics
- Sound - Gameplay - Depth
- Multiplayer | Reviewed
by John Del Percio |
GRAPHICS
90 % |
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Overall the graphics and textures are quite nice. The interface is still a bit clunky (still using a modified Wizardry 6 interface), and obtrusive. My biggest problem with graphics, though, were the spells. Many of the spell effects simply look as though they were drawn last minute. Nearly no time appears to have been spent on particle effects what-so-ever. One thing that compensates for the spells, though, is the model animations. Few models have been so carefully animated in a very long time.
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SOUND
93 % |
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Some of the voices are a bit off, but overall, the music, sound, and voice-overs is as good as can be expected.
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GAMEPLAY
94 % |
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The gameplay is extremely well detailed, extremely well balanced, and it's obvious that the designers put in quite a bit of over-time, and drew from the series' past experience. Unfortunately, the difficulty rating on the game is through the roof, and will leave many gamers stranded in the first area of the game. Be warned before getting into it.
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DEPTH
90 % |
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In terms of storyline, it's perhaps the most shallow story any RPG has had in the past decade. In terms of gameplay, the depth of knowledge of the combat system required to successfully play the game is immense. The one phrase that no gamer ever wants to hear certainly applies to this game: "READ THE MANUAL!!!"
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MULTIPLAYER
0 % |
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n/a
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Overall, Wizardry 8 is everything I would have expected for the eighth installment of the series, and then some. Unfortunately, I was NEVER expecting a difficulty rating of quite that magnitude. Granted, there is a difficulty selector in the setup, but like the original Infinity engine for the Bioware D&D games, the slider seems to have no discernable effect. Fortunately, there's still enough of the game (despite the mildly lacking story) to keep me enthralled in it long enough to review it. I just wish I could tolerate those hideous battles long enough to complete the final stretch of the game which I didn't manage to complete. Still, though, I proudly nominate Wizardry 8 for the category of "Best RPG" in the 2001 Top Pupil Awards.
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