Any character can learn the basics of, or grow to specialize in, various stealthy skills, including prowling, pickpocketing, trap disarming, and lock picking. Any character can learn how to backstab his foes for extra damage--a devastating ability for a fleet-footed fighter. Characters can also gain proficiency in skills like haggling and persuasion.
The combat can be disappointing, but it isn't the focus of the game.
Regardless of what sort of character you opt for, controlling the game should have been simpler. As it is, you have a limited ability to scroll your view, presumably based on your character's field of vision. This feels very confining and rather awkward, as you'll constantly be using the keyboard arrow keys to scroll around while moving your character with the mouse. It's an ungainly system, and so is much of the interface, which takes up a large portion of the screen and isn't intuitively laid out. This, along with the lack of in-game help or a tutorial, means you'll often have to consult the manual at first, though you probably won't mind the diversion since the manual is a lot of fun to read.
Besides the issues with the controls and interface, the game doesn't always handle less predictable actions very well, despite the fact that it encourages experimentation. Arcanum can be buggy--strange things will happen if you perform certain quests out of sequence or don't solve them in whatever ways the designers predicted you might. You'll more than likely encounter a variety of bugs and glitches as you play, which are mostly just irritating (for instance, some dialogue will loop) but can be exasperating (the game can crash, or your save-game files may even become corrupted). Perhaps the worst thing about these bugs is that they can greatly undermine your suspension of disbelief--you'll wonder whether you're doing everything "right" to keep the game running as smoothly as possible. Speaking of not running smoothly, in spite of the crude graphics, you may still experience sporadic slowdowns and pauses in the game's performance, even if you have a fast system.
No one aspect of Arcanum is particularly successful. Much of the game consists of running from one homely location to another and performing all manner of menial quests for people who act like they can't be bothered to do these things themselves. The game's rather convoluted story has some interesting points, particularly when it takes a few twists toward the conclusion; but it unfolds almost exclusively through dialogue presented in white text that floats over characters' heads. Also, if by chance you're not paying close attention to what's being said, you'll find that completing some of the quests in the game will prove very difficult. While you do have a logbook that tracks various quests you take on and rumors you hear, the limited details it provides are often almost useless.
Dungeons aren't one of the game's strong suits.
On their own terms, the various places you'll explore in Arcanum tend to look uniformly similar, courtesy of the game's generally poor graphics. The design of the game's various dungeons and catacombs is exceedingly simple and bland. Arcanum is a fairly long game, and after you finish it the first time, you'll find that few of its places and characters seem memorable. Instead, you'll find that the actual experience of playing through the game in different ways is what's memorable and worthwhile. The way that the game shifts to accommodate your play style is actually quite impressive, and you'll pick up on this only if you actually try the game as different characters. You'll then notice how nonplayer characters respond differently to you depending on your race, appearance, intelligence, manner of speech, and gender. Combat will either be the brunt of the challenge or hardly any of it. Locked doors may be a difficult obstacle or a joke. Different quests will be available to you depending on who you are.
Arcanum's soundtrack is also memorable. The musical score relies almost exclusively on string instruments and sets the mood nicely in certain scenes. Unfortunately, the soundtrack is limited and can get repetitive-- and will likely have outstayed its welcome by the time you've reached the end of the game. The game's simple sound effects aren't worth mentioning in detail, though the occasional use of speech (to lend personality to a handful of the game's key characters) is mostly well done. You'll wish there were a lot more characters that spoke.
Arcanum has plenty of replay value.
Maybe it's for the best that some aspects of Arcanum seem so dated. Those who manage to get past its drab presentation will find a lot to like in its unique setting, open-ended gameplay, and long, replayable single-player adventure. Besides all this, Arcanum has a few other interesting features, like fate points. During the game, you'll gain only a precious few of these points, which you can use at any time to tilt the odds in your favor instantly and unequivocally, effectively giving you a limited ability to cheat. The game even includes a module-based multiplayer mode (along with a built-in game server browser) as well as a scenario editor that you can use to create new dungeons, towns, and such. These features could dramatically extend Arcanum's play life for some players.
At a glance--even after a while--Arcanum can seem disappointing. It's not for everyone; its strengths aren't in any of its superficial qualities, and even its story and its characters aren't particularly noteworthy. Important parts of the game, like the combat, are decidedly flawed, and none of it is very polished. Thus, if you simply play it once, straight through, which is typically all you need to do with many other games, then you might have little to show for the experience once it's finally over. On the other hand, if you're serious about role-playing games--so serious that you don't care about graphics but instead just want to immerse yourself in a different world and try to explore it, perhaps even exploit it, as fully as possible--then Arcanum is well worth the investment of time, money, and effort. Just as its premise is unusual, so too is Arcanum completely unusual--newfangled even--in its machinelike way of how it gives you back only as much as you're willing to put into it.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (PC):
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