consortium11
First time out of the vault
Avadon - The Black Fortress, 2011
Spiderweb Software
PC, MC, Android
Avaliable from Spiderweb directly and Steam.
One Man's Worth
The continent of Lynaeus sleeps beneath an uneasy peace. The five Kingdoms that make up The Midlands Pact slumber fitfully, brought together by fear of what lies beyond, driven apart by suspicions and century old grudges. Clawing at their dreams are the Farlands... less an alliance, more a simple grouping of convenience, of faded empires looking to regain lost glory, of barbarian hordes seeking only plunder, to more sinister forces yet. It is a world of dragons and ogres, of humans and elves, of swords and sorcery... and of one force that holds it together.
Avadon - The Black Fortress.
The name refers to both the fortress itself, a vast structure the sprawls out at the meeting point of three of the kingdoms of the Pact and those who occupy it. Created by the Pact, the members of the Black Fortress are the elite of the Pact nations. Answering to no power but themselves they have one strict duty; to keep the peace. They are judge, jury and executioner acting either at request or pre-emptively, aiming to strike down any threats to the Pact before open warfare rears its ugly head. Commanded by the seeming all-knowing and all-powerful Redbeard agents of the Black Fortress descend into regions with little warning and little welcome. Members of the Black Fortress may keep the peace... but few thank these all-powerful guardians for their help... especially when solutions for the greater good can cause such harm... a troublesome city may be convinced through logic and good deeds to return to the fold... but it is easier and more powerful message t simply burn it to the ground.
Into this fragile balance comes a newly recruited member of the Black Fortress... one who will find out exactly what choices have to be made to keep the peace.
Jeff Vogel, the one man machine behind Spiderweb Software has a well deserved reputation for making excellent RPG's on a (very) limited budget. Series such as Avernum and Geneforge are generally regarded as some of the best role playing games produced outside of major studios, albeit very much of the "hardcore" variety. This last part is perhaps unfair; while they are complex and require much more thought than most mainstream games produced today they are not that inaccessible once one moves past the graphics and music.
Avadon - the Black Fortress was a successful attempt to streamline (rather than dumb down) the successful formula. What one does have is a great story (both in its scale and depth) combined with excellent writing, memorable characters, tactical combat and effective choices and consequences that run through the whole game. Some of the writing is truly excellent ( a stand out moment coming early in the game when you can virtually feel a greedy dragon rend its own face as his secretary sarcastically mocks him and gives away his gold from a separate room. The combat manages to both be simple while maintaining depth. Especially at easier difficulties one only really has to keep the tanks up front and the ranged/magic characters behind but as the difficulty ramps up so does the need to think through each move. The final fight on one of the major routes through the game (presumedly non-canon) is one of the most tense, difficult and challenging turn-based battles I've ever encountered.
There are two major paths through the game as your character (and the collection of party members they bring with them) explores the mysteries of the Black Fortress but choices and consequences are not merely a “do this route or do this route” one off. As befits a game where you play an agent sent to change the world, there is no obvious “good and evil” distinction... with the main one normally being between individual freedom and the greater peace (but not always that clear either)... and the world changes with your actions; the chance to revisit locations multiple times allows a player to see these consequences. Then factor in the effect your actions have on your superiors, your team mates and even further afield and there is very rarely a choice you make which won't ripple the pool later on.
Life is not all perfect.
The most obvious downside can be seen above. Avadon is not a pretty game. Even for the world of independent games Avadon can be particularly ugly. It's never game-breaking and some of the environments are evocative despite the graphics; but lets be clear; it looks at best about on-level with some late 90's RPGs and sometimes worse then that. The music is little better; often poor and rarely any less than generic. The interface throws up some issues; a hotkey can open the inventory but not close it and collecting items off the ground requires another hotkey as opposed to just clicking on it.
Even looking under the hood there are some issues. As said above the game is streamlined compared to other Spiderweb titles (and in truth many other games). What that means is a choice of four player characters and each one having a mere three skill trees. There's still the opportunity to develop a character along the lines you want and for some min-maxing but you'll rarely be able to come up with a poor-build. In a world where most games outside of strict action RPG's allow a lot more customisation of your character (both cosmetically and with regard to skills) it can be a bit off-putting and is a somewhat strange juxtaposition with the depth available throughout the rest of the game. The emphasis on each character only really using a few skills can feel somewhat limiting even if each is well implemented.
The question of skills leads to another point. Avadon uses a fairly common two stat process, one for health and one known as “vitality” which governs skill use. Health regenerates outside combat (which on paper sounds terrible but in practice works fairly well) but there is no such mechanic for vitality. It can be regained through the use of potions but these are expensive and often far between meaning that unless a player wishes to take the long and time-consuming run back to the central hub many of the early battles in a given area consist of the player finding ways to win without using their skills. I understand how the mechanic is meant to operate and there moments, especially towards the end of a section, where you have to double think as to whether it's worth using a skill during a difficult fight or whether you should instead save it for a “boss” fight but on the whole it is more frustrating than tension educing.
The setting itself may cause some problems. I praise the quality of the writing but it is certainly worth noting that the world itself is fairly standard fantasy fare. Dragons are greedy and selfish, orcs are brutal and savage, elves are fey, necromancers are evil etc etc. If there's a trope in heroic fantasy Avadon will probably run with it. The writing is good enough that is plays around with these tropes well but they still exist. Anyone looking for a truly unqiue setting or even a near total re-imagining as Arcanum did will be disappointed.
Despite these weaknesses I believe the rest of the game more than makes up for it. The writing is sublime, the combat (outside of certain trash mobs) tactical and engaging and you feel that you actions do make a real difference. Slightly easier to get into then other Spiderweb games I don't think it particularly suffers for it and can certainly stand proud as a must play RPG.
Spiderweb Software
PC, MC, Android
Avaliable from Spiderweb directly and Steam.
One Man's Worth
The continent of Lynaeus sleeps beneath an uneasy peace. The five Kingdoms that make up The Midlands Pact slumber fitfully, brought together by fear of what lies beyond, driven apart by suspicions and century old grudges. Clawing at their dreams are the Farlands... less an alliance, more a simple grouping of convenience, of faded empires looking to regain lost glory, of barbarian hordes seeking only plunder, to more sinister forces yet. It is a world of dragons and ogres, of humans and elves, of swords and sorcery... and of one force that holds it together.
Avadon - The Black Fortress.
The name refers to both the fortress itself, a vast structure the sprawls out at the meeting point of three of the kingdoms of the Pact and those who occupy it. Created by the Pact, the members of the Black Fortress are the elite of the Pact nations. Answering to no power but themselves they have one strict duty; to keep the peace. They are judge, jury and executioner acting either at request or pre-emptively, aiming to strike down any threats to the Pact before open warfare rears its ugly head. Commanded by the seeming all-knowing and all-powerful Redbeard agents of the Black Fortress descend into regions with little warning and little welcome. Members of the Black Fortress may keep the peace... but few thank these all-powerful guardians for their help... especially when solutions for the greater good can cause such harm... a troublesome city may be convinced through logic and good deeds to return to the fold... but it is easier and more powerful message t simply burn it to the ground.
Into this fragile balance comes a newly recruited member of the Black Fortress... one who will find out exactly what choices have to be made to keep the peace.
Jeff Vogel, the one man machine behind Spiderweb Software has a well deserved reputation for making excellent RPG's on a (very) limited budget. Series such as Avernum and Geneforge are generally regarded as some of the best role playing games produced outside of major studios, albeit very much of the "hardcore" variety. This last part is perhaps unfair; while they are complex and require much more thought than most mainstream games produced today they are not that inaccessible once one moves past the graphics and music.
Avadon - the Black Fortress was a successful attempt to streamline (rather than dumb down) the successful formula. What one does have is a great story (both in its scale and depth) combined with excellent writing, memorable characters, tactical combat and effective choices and consequences that run through the whole game. Some of the writing is truly excellent ( a stand out moment coming early in the game when you can virtually feel a greedy dragon rend its own face as his secretary sarcastically mocks him and gives away his gold from a separate room. The combat manages to both be simple while maintaining depth. Especially at easier difficulties one only really has to keep the tanks up front and the ranged/magic characters behind but as the difficulty ramps up so does the need to think through each move. The final fight on one of the major routes through the game (presumedly non-canon) is one of the most tense, difficult and challenging turn-based battles I've ever encountered.
There are two major paths through the game as your character (and the collection of party members they bring with them) explores the mysteries of the Black Fortress but choices and consequences are not merely a “do this route or do this route” one off. As befits a game where you play an agent sent to change the world, there is no obvious “good and evil” distinction... with the main one normally being between individual freedom and the greater peace (but not always that clear either)... and the world changes with your actions; the chance to revisit locations multiple times allows a player to see these consequences. Then factor in the effect your actions have on your superiors, your team mates and even further afield and there is very rarely a choice you make which won't ripple the pool later on.
Life is not all perfect.
The most obvious downside can be seen above. Avadon is not a pretty game. Even for the world of independent games Avadon can be particularly ugly. It's never game-breaking and some of the environments are evocative despite the graphics; but lets be clear; it looks at best about on-level with some late 90's RPGs and sometimes worse then that. The music is little better; often poor and rarely any less than generic. The interface throws up some issues; a hotkey can open the inventory but not close it and collecting items off the ground requires another hotkey as opposed to just clicking on it.
Even looking under the hood there are some issues. As said above the game is streamlined compared to other Spiderweb titles (and in truth many other games). What that means is a choice of four player characters and each one having a mere three skill trees. There's still the opportunity to develop a character along the lines you want and for some min-maxing but you'll rarely be able to come up with a poor-build. In a world where most games outside of strict action RPG's allow a lot more customisation of your character (both cosmetically and with regard to skills) it can be a bit off-putting and is a somewhat strange juxtaposition with the depth available throughout the rest of the game. The emphasis on each character only really using a few skills can feel somewhat limiting even if each is well implemented.
The question of skills leads to another point. Avadon uses a fairly common two stat process, one for health and one known as “vitality” which governs skill use. Health regenerates outside combat (which on paper sounds terrible but in practice works fairly well) but there is no such mechanic for vitality. It can be regained through the use of potions but these are expensive and often far between meaning that unless a player wishes to take the long and time-consuming run back to the central hub many of the early battles in a given area consist of the player finding ways to win without using their skills. I understand how the mechanic is meant to operate and there moments, especially towards the end of a section, where you have to double think as to whether it's worth using a skill during a difficult fight or whether you should instead save it for a “boss” fight but on the whole it is more frustrating than tension educing.
The setting itself may cause some problems. I praise the quality of the writing but it is certainly worth noting that the world itself is fairly standard fantasy fare. Dragons are greedy and selfish, orcs are brutal and savage, elves are fey, necromancers are evil etc etc. If there's a trope in heroic fantasy Avadon will probably run with it. The writing is good enough that is plays around with these tropes well but they still exist. Anyone looking for a truly unqiue setting or even a near total re-imagining as Arcanum did will be disappointed.
Despite these weaknesses I believe the rest of the game more than makes up for it. The writing is sublime, the combat (outside of certain trash mobs) tactical and engaging and you feel that you actions do make a real difference. Slightly easier to get into then other Spiderweb games I don't think it particularly suffers for it and can certainly stand proud as a must play RPG.