Table Top to Desktop: RPGs that should be made to computer RPGs

Dungeons & Dragons and The Forgotten Realms campaign setting have provided us with plenty of CRPGs throughout the years (Eye of the Beholder being my first), and consuming our valuable time, leaving many unfinished chores and school projects. However, game developers have been overusing the same Forgotten Realms, making the beloved campaign setting quite unforgettable. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but I just wish that game developers should look into other alternatives. While some developers did explore other RPG systems (Call of Cthulhu, d20 Star Wars, and the upcoming Deadlands and Shadowrun), there are plenty of excellent RPG sytems and campaign settings out there that still remains untapped.

Here a couple of table-top RPGs that I think have great potentials of becoming an entertaining computer RPGs, should they be developed.

A Game of Thrones

This game is based on George R.R. Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire saga. Although the novel is considered as fantasy, the world of Seven Kingdoms is less magical but filled with adventure and politics. The game also uses a modified d20 system, but not much is different from games like Neverwinter Nights. In addition, players must also choose a "Character Defect" which will make role-playing harder, yet more exciting.



7th Sea: Swashbuckling Adventures

Seafaring and swashbuckling is what we lack, and need, in computer RPGs. 7th Sea, a game set in the world of Theah -which resembles the Carribiean- is a strong candidate here. The game uses the d20 system and the D&D classes, though some were modified to fit the game's setting. Like A Game of Thrones, the 7th Sea is not much different from playing a D&D game, except for the setting, the guns, and the ship-to-ship combat.



Space: 1889

Space: 1889 probably has the most unique setting in any role-playing game. It's a steampunk game set in the Victorian-era and all theories about space travel during that time are applied, and is a reality, in this game. It's brilliant, like Jules Verne. A historical science-fiction role-playing game. The game uses a far simpler system than d20 as well, so learning curve will be much faster.




Urban Arcana

To those who are too fond of their fantastical creatures, then Urban Arcana is the campaign for you. In this campaign setting, there are elves, drows, bugbears, and dragons. The only thing different is: they're on modern Earth, wielding Glocks instead of short-swords, and sporting Reeboks instead of greaves made by Cromwell. The game uses the d20 Modern system (modified d20) and has an awesome array of classes like Spellslingers (magical gunslingers) or Shadowjacks (magical hackers) to choose from.



d20 Future

The d20 Future, along with d20 Apocalypse and d20 Cyberscape, are supplements for the d20 Modern Rulebook. The book offers a lot of interesting concepts and ideas if one wants to make a sci-fi or a post-apocalyptic computer RPG using the d20 system. Whether it be nuclear winter, cyberpunk, corporate nation, space colonization, or biblical-judgment day game setting, the d20 Future can defintely cater it.

Silverfall

I found a couple of screenshot previews of an upcoming RPG, entitled Silverfall, over at RPGdot. I wasn't initially impressed with the screenshot since the graphics looks a lot like Dungeon Siege II. In addition to that, I don't know much about the developer, Monte Cristo Games (7 Sins), and the publisher is also Atari (Unknown Developer + Atari = bug plagued game). After the lack of support for Neverwinter Nights 2, I think I'll stay away from anything that Atari published for a while.

Still, I'm a sucker for an underrated game made by an unknown developer. So I went to the official website to check out the game and the elven redhead covergirl, sporting a medieval tanktop and a cleavage, grabbed my attention instantaenously. I read about the game a bit more, then stumbled upon this interesting feature:

"Two separate skill trees each provide 10 special talents (lycanthropy or implant, insect invocations or radioactivity...)."

A game with a "Science vs. Nature" theme, interesting indeed. Reminds me a lot of the game Arcanum, an RPG with a "Technology vs. Magick" theme. Notice that they also mentioned the keyword, which is "radioactivity". Anybody who manages, or even tries, to blend my two favorite things together, which is RPG and radioactivity, then they'll have my buck.

Bundles of Fun: Holiday Guide

Gaming is really a big part this gift giving season. Though usually, you'll hear games like Gears of War or Resistance: Fall of Man on the pages of shopping guides or from the mouths of sales persons. In truth, they're all good games but their price is a bit steep ($60). Luckily, if you're into PC gaming, or have a friend that is into PC gaming, and don't mind two-year old games, you can easily fill out stockings for just the same, or even less, amount of price.

Call of Duty: War Chest

Call of Duty is one of the best World War II first-person shooter ever made, and the War Chest collection is one heck of a stocking filler. For $50, the box includes 3 games: Call of Duty, the United Offensive expansion, and Call of Duty 2. This game will really give a bang to your buck.


Half-Life 2: Holiday 2006 Collection

Half-Life 2 is one of the highest rated first-person shooter, and probably the highest rated PC game. Besides the Half-Life 2 game, this collection also includes Half-Life: Source, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Counter Strike: Source. 4 games for only $50, now that's long mileage.



Star Wars: The Best of PC

Of all bundles listed in here, this one is the gem. For $40, this package includes 6 Star Wars games: Jedi Knight II, Knights of the Old Republic, Empire at War, Battlefront, Republic Commando, and a 14-day trial to Star Wars: Galaxies. Highly recommended to any PC gamer and Star Wars fan.



Total War: Eras Collection

The Total War series are the best strategy games, and Eras is the ultimate collection. For $60, the box includes Shogun, Medieval, and Rome with all their expansions ( a total of 7 games). Plus, it also includes some collector items.

Game Review: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
(8.0 of 10)
Platform: Windows XP (PC)
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Arkane Studios




Introduction
I've always been a fan of the Might and Magic series ever since I've played Heroes II. In fact, it became one of my first stepping stones that lead me into being a PC gamer. This year, after its long slumber, I'm glad that the Might and Magic franchise was finally reawakened with the release of Heroes V. Under the capable hands of Arkane Studios (Arx Fatalis) and powered by the Source (Half-Life 2) graphics/physics engine of Valve Software, Might and Magic has yet another game (albeit an action game instead of a turn-based strategy) to add in its rich saga, the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

Story
The story in the single player campaign will put players in the boots of Sareth, a wizard's apprentice who's been assigned by his master, Phenrig, to help retrieve an artifact called the Skull of Shadows. To help you with your missions, your master summons a spirit, with a curvaceous and voluptuous corporeal form, named Xana, whom will be integrated into yourself and act as a flirtatious GPS device. Soon after, you'll meet with Leanna, another wizard's apprentice, and his uncle, the wizard Menelag, to embark in an expedetion to uncover the missing artifact.

Xana will show you the ropes.

The story is pretty much linear, and starts out weak and cliched. But it does get interesting, especially during the middle, as the dark prophecy slowly unveils itself. There are alternate endings as well -and all are similarly disappointing- which are based on a few, yet extreme, choices and actions you'll be making during the entire course of the game.

Gameplay
While Dark Messiah has been classified as an action-RPG, I don't see many standard features present in the game (such as the ones present in Diablo and Dungeon Siege). There's no central hub, or town, where you can interact with various NPCs and get additional information about the gameworld or optional quests. There are no merchants in the game as well. So you can't sell your loot or buy equipment and potions. The only RPG element present in this game is the set of skills. The skills are classified into three trees: Combat, Magic, and Miscellaneous. All skills from all tress are available to players since Dark Messiah uses a class-less system. Skills can be bought using skills points -which are earned by completing objectives.

A power strike, a painful power strike.

With a variety of skills presented to the players, you'll have plenty of options regarding your approach to combat. Wheter it is a stealthy mage or a heavily armored archer, its your choice of poison. In my case, I chose the stealthy type. To my surprise, the game played a lot like the Thief game series, with all that backstabbing, sneaking around, sniping, and the rope bow -which functions as your grappling hook.

A sun-tanned Orc ready to be backstabbed.

Unfortunately, even with your impressive skills, you'll still have a chance of being overwhelmed by enemies. Fighting three opponents at the same time could be fun. But being swarmed by half a dozen goblins could prove deadly. Luckily, the game's environment is as deadly as you are. There are spikes, camp fires, and cliffs which can be utilized to your advantage and kill your enemies instantaenously. All you have to do is kick them to the edge of the cliff, drive them and impale them to a spiked wall, or use a little bit of your imagination to perform a gory death for your foes.

Graphics & Sounds
In the graphics department, the Source still does it job, and does it well even for a two year old graphics/physics engine. The models are highly detailed and, coupled with HDR lighting, makes the world look realistic. The slow motion fatality attacks are also great to watch. Seeing how your enemy's limbs or head severed from their person is brutally beautiful. Most of the time, however, you'll be fighting and traveling in dark, similarly looking, dungeons and will encounter the same type of enemies, making the game too generic.

Indeed, there's light at the end of a very dark tunnel...and goblins too.

The sounds in the game are all in place. The wooden crates crunches when you bash them open, and rickety wooden floors squeaks when you walk on the them. The foot falls also changes according to the type of walking surface. An enemy footstep also becomes more audible as it approaches you, invaluable when you're a stealthy type waiting for a kill. As for the voice actingm tere are some notable ones, especially the teasing Xana and the cold Arantir. Some NPC, however, sounds less enthused.

There are some technical problems that plagues the game, however. With my specification -1 GB RAM, ATI Radeon X1600 PRO (512 MB), and Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz- I was able to play the game at 1152 x 864 resolution, with 2x antialiasing and anisotropic filtering, Full HDR, mostly everything at medium settings, and achieved an average of 40 FPS. I've also encountered a lot of stuttering, especially after chapter and area transitions, but it was fixed after I lowered the model and texture detail from high to medium, and without noticeable loss in image quality. Loading times are also extremly long, with an average of 40 seconds during area transitions and 90 seconds during chapter transitions.

A Necrolord, will he get stabbed or pushed into the fire?

Conclusion
Dark Messiah has plenty of technical problems -namely the stuttering and the long loading times. The game moves in a linear fashion and the story is almost flavorless. Though I won't entirely dismiss the game since there are work around to solve the problems, and the story...it's beyond repair but the unique combat and action will definitely make up for it. So if you're looking for some RPG with a sublime story, better look elsewhere. If you're looking for an action game, with RPG and stealth elements, and lots of blood and gore, then Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is your game.