Legend of Grimrock Preview
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This is definitely a game with an old school heart: movement happens on a grid, and you make 90 degree turns. Technically, this could be called an FPS game; in practice, this is game design that had its origin five years before Wolfenstein 3D. It worked then, and it works now. The great thing is, it doesn't feel outdated; the basics may be old, but the execution is modern. There are things like mouselook, making it easier to examine your environment. It doesn't hurt that everything is presented in beautiful 3D, complete with dynamic lighting.
And it plays well. It feels great. A part of it is that I love this type of game; it scratches that nostalgic itch for me. But it's not just that; they've got a great balance between the combat and the puzzles, a lot of surprising moments. It feels a little faster than Dungeon Master did, which makes things feel tense and fun, especially when you're fighting multiple opponents you have to keep moving, otherwise they can hit you, but because you're on a grid, it's easy to get boxed in. Maneuvering so you can keep hitting the enemies but avoiding their attacks is a challenge. There's something merciless about it you have to stay on your toes, keep moving and striking. And just when you think you're doing okay, that torch you've been carrying for a long while finally goes out, and you're plunged into darkness. (It's not quite as dark as it is in Dungeon Master; you can still get by, but good luck maintaining situational awareness in combat when that happens.)
The item selection is still very basic (the snails, for example, drop pieces of meat that don't actually do anything yet), but the spellcasting works very well and is fun: there's a set of runes that you can access if your mage has a staff, and by selecting a proper combination of runes, you can cast various spells. This happens in real time, so firing off a complex spell in the middle of a fight is quite a challenge. Luckily, you can input the runes ahead of time (they'll stay selected even if you close the casting menu for a moment), which is a big help.
The monsters look great, and while it's fair to say that the range of animations they have isn't vast, what they do have looks great. Most importantly, they are informative enough to tell you what you need to know about what the enemy is up to next, if you just pay attention to their behavior. Some of them are surprisingly scary: the skittering giant spiders are one thing, but I found it unexpectedly unnerving when 4-man team of skeleton guards suddenly attacked me, with four spears being thrust at my face. (Also, I jumped and yelped like a baby on two separate occasions when I came face to face with a lone skeleton guard, probably because I'm very brave, thanks for asking.) The lighting effects are not only pretty, but also useful: if you see a turn up ahead, with light spilling out from behind the corner, you might see the shadow of a huge spider on the wall. Creepy, sure, but also very important; it gives you a bit of advance warning. And it's very, very cool.
Thanks, RPGWatch.
