Brilliant game - possibly too adult for some? (Planescape - Torment (PC))

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Planescape - Torment (PC)
Date:	12/08/00 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Huge, with loads to do

Disadvantages: A lot of information to read

I bought this because I was so impressed with Baldurs Gate (BG) and both use the same game engine. For me Planescape was definitely the better of the two. In fact, soon as I’d finished it, I started playing again. If you bear in mind I’d only actually finished 2 games (Populous 2 and Baldurs Gate) before this in 18 years of computer gaming, it’ll give you some idea of just how much I liked it. The game is based on Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules (AD&D), and as an ex PnP addict (Paper n’ Pencil – describes the genre of games such as AD&D, as opposed to computer based) I think it captures the essence of role-playing games almost perfectly.

The plot is fairly linear, but the large game area offers plenty of diversions along the way, so you don’t feel forced into a particular route too often. Your character, The Nameless One (TNO as he’s known amongst gamers), is on a mission to find out who he is, why he's immortal and why he’s so damned good looking. He travels through this quest with the help of the oddest (though most interactive and interesting) collection of NPCs (Non player characters) I've ever seen.

At the start of the game he wakens in the mortuary in the town of Sigil, where he meets his first companion, Morte. Morte is a floating skull, whose main skills are annoying people with his wit and reparte and subsequently head-butting them to death. The pair of you must navigate your way out of the mortuary to the city, to try and uncover TNOs past and find out why he's immortal. TNOs immortality is one of the strangest aspects of this game. You can fight anyone, no matter how hard they are, die and pop up again somewhere else. The thing you have to avoid is becoming trapped, because if this happens you’re there for eternity.

There are a variety of guilds you can join once outside, to allow you to complete extra quests, as well as gaining guild benefits such as hea
ling, spells and the opportunity to purchase artifacts. Like BG there are a number of fairly complex characters to meet, but the character interactions have far more depth than those found in BG. Some of the characters will join your party if you carry out long series of tasks to prove yourself worthy to them, others know secrets that can only be discovered by careful questioning. Not unlike having a real live Dungeon Master (Person who runs an AD&D game).

The makers of the game recommend a P200 with 32mb RAM, 4mb graphics and 650mb HD space. I played it on a P200 with 80mb RAM and 2mb graphics. If there was a big fight and I had a full party, the graphics (Which are quite pretty) struggled a bit, but not enough to put me off playing. I paid the full price for this game and did so gladly, apparently it's about 20 quid now that’s an absolute bargain for what has been described by various magazines as the best RPG ever.

One of the most interesting things is that you can play the game in a variety of ways. Your character can be a magical and cautious character, or an insane murderer (It’s harder to get a result this way though). This is a bit unnerving if you were raised purely on hack n’slash type games, but should have a wider appeal to adult gamers. You can be kind to people and befriend them to achieve your aims, or you can lie, connive and steal. On the other hand you can just mutilate everyone.... This is definitely the best game I've ever played.

Summary: