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Dead Walk! At least, that is what Black Isle Studios would have
you believe as the opening scenes of its RPG Planescape -
Torment flicker across your computer screen.
To begin with, this game is released under the auspices of TSR, famed for its forays into fantasy
role playing. Those familiar with Baldur's Gate will recognize the engine, so one would expect a satisfying gaming experience.
In truth, the game meets all the basic requirements. You start out as a corpse who, for some reason (as yet unknown), will not stay dead. In the initial scenes, you meet up with a floating skull named Morte who becomes your first party member and guide of sorts.
You fight your way out of the mortuary you start in, solving a mini-quest or two along the way,
gaining a few clues as to your true identity, and realizing that, with a lot of hard work, you might be able to find your true self again.
The game offers the basic D&D spells and weapons to find, though given a different flavor to suit the world you are in. And its a different world to be sure. Travel between various areas and 'planes' is achieved through the use of portals, but activating these portals can be a task unto itself.
The graphics are nothing to write home about. The game perspective is 3/4 overhead third person, and while they do the job, they are certainly not the games strongest point.
Character interface is achieved through pop up character screens. Again standard fare for this kind of game.
The real weak point of this game (and I may as well admit here that I was not
really taken with this game) is that you don’t really care about the
characters. There is no pathos or identification with the character you play.
Called 'The Nameless One' (a result of the fact that you cannot recall anything
about yourself), you wander through the game trying to piece together who you
are. There is no customization of the character, at least not enough to make you
feel a part of it. Morte (the floating skull) is more irritating than anything,
and the characters you pick up seem to join you for no reason.
In my gaming perspective, I need to care about the characters. I need to want to see them through their quest. I need to be interested in the reasons they are fighting. This one offers me little reason to care whether The Nameless One ever finds out who he is, beyond a passive curiosity.
As well, the number of mini-quests along the way are many; too many. You find
yourself running around the city like a thing possessed, doing the bidding of
every citizen you come across, for no good reason. After a while of playing this
game, I felt like the Nameless One must have been an errand boy in his forgotten
life, and was carrying on the tradition after he died.
I was hoping for an immersive, no holds barred life and death quester here, but what I got instead was a flat series of meaningless quests supported by thin characters and endless, flavorless dialogue.
If you haven’t got anything else to play, this one will kill a few hours, but
don’t expect the fantasy experience that TSR has come to represent.
by Galen
Wilding
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