Avernum 5 Review

GameBanshee News · #1 (**permalink**) 01-26-2008, 04:56 PM

GamerDad has reviewed Avernum 5 and seems pretty well impressed by Spiderweb's latest title, giving it a score of 5/5.

It is always easy to criticize Spiderweb games based on fairly simple graphics - this remains true, but everything here is done in higher resolution and looks better than any previous entry in the series. This is definitely one of the best role-playing games of the year, and is friendly to those new to the series as well as veterans. Hints that pop up as you play the early sections of the game get you immediately immersed, but there is depth of control and party management that defies mastery. You will find yourself pulled into extended 'one more battle' gaming sessions, yet the journal is clear enough that you can walk away for quite a while and then hop back into it effortlessly. It runs on just about any Mac or PC and is available as a small download from Spiderweb Software, making it easy to try out. As I have said before - what Avernum 5 lacks in visual presentation, it makes up with immersive story-telling and engaging gameplay.

fable · #2 (**permalink**) 01-26-2008, 07:08 PM

5 out of 5? So what does BG2 get? 10 out of 5? Forgetting the whole visual angle--which I'm willing to do, for a great RPG--what does Avernum have that BG2 didn't have in far greater depth and worked out detail, with extra features, too? Not to diss what Spiderweb is doing. It just seems excessive to give a "perfect" rating to a limited but strong product.

Brother None · #3 (**permalink**) 01-27-2008, 12:03 AM

I'd agree with you if this were a percentage or direct school-esque rating, i.e. if it were "100%" or "A+". Because both of those imply either a flawless product or the best product theoretically reachable in the current state of the industry, and indeed Avernum does neither, because no product does either.

But it's "5 stars out of 5", which is a rating system I've always felt could be more reasonably used to give "perfect" scores. Because it isn't a perfect score, it's just 5/5, which kinda means "given the limitations and standards right now, this is the best we got" and that might well be fair. 5/5 applies a more comparative rating, rather than a "compared to the ideal" which "100%" and "A+" imply.

I'm glad GB never gave 10.0, that, to me, is fringe. But then again, maybe the difference is purely academic, and, y'know, "just me"

Hell, it could be better than BG2. But then again, I'm no BioWare fan, so BG2 doesn't rank too highly for me anyway.