cody92 said:
whats the problem with arcanum's combat?
Well, it's been awhile since I played it, so some (or most) of this may be completely innaccurate: <\disclaimer>
There wasn't a way to establish whether you wanted real time vs. turn based. It always started out in real time, meaning if you didn't switch to turn based immediately everything went at approximately the rate of a machine gun. It was more or less impossible to do much but watch.
NPC's didn't gain experience (I believe they just levelled up as you did), but you didn't get XP for their kills either, meaning it was simply lost. Also, NPC magicians almost
never cast spells, usually choosing to charge right up to the enemies with their itty-bitty weapons, getting themselves slaughtered and blocking your line of fire every time. You could tell them to "back off" if you were fast enough, but that just made them stand there doing nothing while things pounded on them.
Backstabbing pretty much made you a combat monster in turn based, since you could hit enemies several times from behind, then run around them and do it again. In real time, it was a virtually useless skill.
There was a
grotesque imbalance between magic and tech, weighing heavily in favor of the magician PC. The non-magic path could be quite the challenge (unless going up against magicians who, again, almost never cast any spells).
All that said, it's still a hell of a fun game. You can get used to the combat system and make it work well enough that it doesn't detract too much. You can build just about any character you want, play good, evil, neutral, or completely psychotic and still complete it (any game that can give you the reputation of "The Butcher of Stillwater" is awesome in my book). The world is ****ing
enormous, the quests are many and varied to the point it's impossible to do everything in one game, and the general setting and storyline are spectacular IMHO. There's a level of detail that hasn't been seen in a long time (in some towns you can watch the lamp-lighters making their rounds as it gets dark).
Definitely worth a play or three.
Totally random Arcanum anecdote: NPC's both in and out of your party like to automatically charge over and pick up anything lying on the ground, going so far as to climb in through windows to get it. I noticed my mage buddy suddenly lagging WAY behind, and upon checking his inventory I discovered he'd picked up a rock roughly the size and weight of a monolith. I made him drop it, and he immediately picked it up again. In a fit of pique, I decided it was now his pet rock and let him lug it around for the entire rest of the game.
