You are a hero who, until recently, had been dead and consigned to the darkest pits of hell. Returned to life by a king and his advisor, you are quested with the return of the king's daughter and the defeat of the cult responsible for her kidnapping. The only problem is, you don't remember anything about yourself, not even how to fight. All of the abilities (combat and magical) that you once claimed in life are forgotten in death, and you must re-learn your skills and abilities if you are to be successful.

Thus the stage is set for Eidos Interactive's third person adventure game, Revenant. Set in the mythical land of Akhuilon, you are Locke, a long dead sinner returned to the world for the purpose of serving others. As the game wears on though, you discover more and more about yourself, and the fight soon turns from another's business to your own.

Sound familiar? If you have seen or played Planescape - Torment, the set up, at least as far as plot goes, is much the same; dead guy pulled back from the dead who cant recall anything about his life or his death, for that matter.

This game, however, held my attention while Torment did not. Why? Simple. I cared about Locke. I liked him. he has enough personality to make him interesting. Granted, often he is gruff and sometimes down right rude, but hey, that is what makes him likeable.

As with Torment, there are several mini-quests to be solved along the way, though there are far fewer and they actually make sense to the progression of the story. Never are you asked to perform a task that doesn't directly or indirectly relate to the reason you are there in the first place.

The game has a nice look, and a very user friendly interface. Combat is pretty cool too, with the number of combat moves and techniques increasing as your character rises in levels and receives 'training'. This makes killing your enemies more interesting, as different moves work best on different opponents. It takes some play to figure out which moves works best with which enemies, but its time you don't mind spending.

Another nice touch is that the plot twists and turns which crops up with seeming regularity. Just when you think you have the whole thing figured, WHAM!! Another plot twist jumps out at you and makes you laugh or cringe, depending on your level of belief suspension.

One thing to keep in mind though...this game is not a RPG. It is very linear and is more of an action game set in a fantasy setting. There is very little freedom in what you are able to do. Its pretty much a  "go-here-do-that-give-this-to-that-person-kill-that -monster" kind of game, so steer clear if you are a hardcore role-player. This one isn't for you.

However, if you like running around killing monsters and gaining treasure, battling evil dragons and generally saving the world, then give this one a go.

You wont be sorry.                                                                                by Galen Wilding