What can change the nature of a man? (Planescape - Torment (PC))

Member Name: Rumblefish

Product:	Planescape - Torment (PC)
Date:	19/04/01 (841 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Intelligent, engrossing, good-looking.

Disadvantages: Bleak, adult tone takes some getting used to.

Some computer games are very dull or very stupid. Some computer games are very dull AND very stupid. So when you stumble upon a computer game that is not only neither dull nor stupid, but actually very exciting and very clever, it is a cause for great celebration. And PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is just such a game. It is certainly the only PC game I have ever played to suggest that the format can approach the cinema as a medium for great storytelling.

PLANESCAPE: TORMENT was made by Black Isle Studios, who were responsible for the best-selling Role Playing Game BALDUR’S GATE (and its sequel), but although I played and largely enjoyed BG, even its biggest fans might admit that it was prone to lapse into cliché on occasion with its silly songs and pantomime villains. TORMENT is also based in an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons setting, but rarely if ever resorts to the often rather tired stereotypes of that genre. In fact the game’s narrative is blessed with an enormous degree of originality and invention.

TORMENT is – initially - set in a place called Sigil, otherwise known as “The City of Doors”. Sigil is a most unusual city, because hidden within it are countless ‘Planar Portals’ – gateways to other dimensions. These portals can be located anywhere within Sigil, and the keys that open them can be anything from a weapon or a piece of junk to an uttered word or simply a particular thought (well it beats taking the Tube). Sigil itself is populated by all sorts of strange and wonderful characters, representing numerous races, most of them unpleasant, from every dimension. The city is ruled over by The Lady of Pain, who is not, despite her name, a multi-dimensional dominatrix, but rather an enigmatic and largely unseen presence, who will zap anyone who annoys her into one of her interminable mazes. So actually I suppose she is a kind of multi-dimensional dominatrix. There are also fifteen ‘factions’ withi
n the city – groups of citizens with distinctive philosophical, spiritual, and political convictions - such as ‘The Transcendental Order’ (who are a bit like the Natural Law Party), ‘The Free League’ (more Liberal Democrat), and the ‘The Xaositects’ (er…?)

The character you play is simply known as ‘The Nameless One’. It is unusual for a Role Playing Game not to allow you to name your character (you don’t get to choose his appearance either, and he’s an ugly, hulking bastard), but it is essential for this game. That is because The Nameless One is a complete amnesiac, who can remember not a jot of his past existence, let alone his name. The object of TORMENT is to recover your memories and find out exactly who you are.

The Nameless One’s second key quality is that he is, for all intents and purposes, immortal. He can die (and in fact the game begins with you sitting up on a mortuary slab), but death is rarely permanent. Indeed death is sometimes advantageous, or even fundamentally necessary for progress throughout the game (a feature that takes some getting used to when you play).

PLANESCAPE: TORMENT uses the same graphics engine as BALDUR’S GATE, and the isometric view of events is similar. However the perspective is noticeably closer, allowing for more detail in the characters and better animation. The scenery is also highly detailed, with every brick and stone of Sigil rendered with enormous precision, and the taverns, marketplaces and other locations looking surprisingly realistic.

The gameplay is similar to that of BG, with well-judged use of the pause button essential for combat, use of spells, and any inventory juggling. The characters in your party appear along the bottom of the screen (rather than along the side like in BG), and there is even more of a text-based side to the game, the interface for which is quick and simple to use.


Progress in TORMENT is measured in Experience Points, which are gained through combat, and – more often – through movement towards your overall goal and the completion of the many optional quests available along the way. With experience comes better fighting/spell casting/thieving abilities, and you can switch between Fighter, Mage, and Thief class at any time. Though you can choose your initial character attributes, such as Strength, Wisdom, Charisma etc. (allowing you to be hard but thick, clever but dull, Mr Average, or whatever), your alignment (Good, Neutral, or Evil) is shaped by your words and actions, and may fluctuate throughout the game. The Nameless One’s qualities (and those of his party) can be boosted by various magical items and weapons, and also – bizarrely – by tattoos, which can be obtained from Sigil’s famous parlour.

What makes PLANESCAPE: TORMENT a classic game is its superb writing. Black Isle have had no hesitation in making it a dark, complex story, with a depth of character and narrative that is almost unheard of. Sigil is a grim, grey city, with ugly and claustrophobic architecture, and the scenery gets no prettier when the story expands into the outer planes. This makes it at times a discomfiting game, but also one with an unbelievable amount of atmosphere. The themes of the story are similarly bleak, with pain, torture, and particularly death recurring motifs. As the story deepens, so does its themes, with oblique questions such as “What can change the nature of a man?” becoming ever more relevant to the Nameless One’s search for answers.

No less important to the game’s compelling ambience are the characters. As an immortal amnesiac, The Nameless One has great scope for character development, and he definitely becomes more fascinating the longer the game progresses. Unlike in BG, there are only a tiny number of Playing Characters whom you may invite to join your
adventure. Though it is not essential to enlist all or most of them, the game is considerably more difficult and less interesting if you don’t, simply because each is such engaging company. For example you are joined at the very beginning of the game by Morte, an over-opinionated and oversexed floating skull (!), the cynical but witty contributions of whom light up proceedings throughout. Similarly fun to have around is Annah, a tailed but otherwise humanoid thief. Though it is not clear where she got her strong Scottish accent (perhaps there is a portal in Sigil leading to Aberdeen?), her harsh and uncompromising manner is refreshing in an RPG, even if she does occasionally appear to have wandered in from an Irvine Welsh novel (listen out for her deriding Sigil as “Wanker City”).

As if anticipating the cult following this game has acquired since its release in 1999, the makers enlisted many respected actors from the world of cult television to voice the key characters. These include Mitch Pileggi (Skinner in THE X-FILES), Dan Castellaneta (Homer and others in THE SIMPSONS), John De Lancie (Q in STAR TREK) and, er, Sheena Easton (well she was in MIAMI VICE for a while).

In many ways PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is a brave game for the mass market, since its mature themes and grim visuals are hardly consistent with the bright and inconsequential fare that still dominates the games market. However it must also rank as one of the most intelligent, engrossing, and rewarding computer games ever made. One could almost call it unforgettable…

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