Arx Fatalis review (Xbox)

Arx Fatalis is a new role-playing game for the Xbox. Admittedly it has been knocking around on the PC for some time now, but it’s always good to see another RPG on Microsoft’s console. It puts you in the shoes of an adventurer who awakens in a dungeon with no memory of who he is and how he got there. Although this premise is somewhat of a cliché now, it does allow you to learn about the world as your character does. And this is where the strength of Arx Fatalis lies.

Arx Fatalis is an underground world. Adverse conditions above ground have forced all the races to move into abandoned mines and caverns and all your exploration takes place in this claustrophobic underground world. If one word were best used to describe this world, it would be atmospheric.

The whole game works from a first person point of view, pretty much like Morrowind. If you look up you see the ceiling, if you care to look down you see your feet (although they do seem a little disconnected from the ground). Movement will seem familiar to anybody who’s played a first person shooter on the Xbox, with one stick moving your head, and the other moving your feet. There are the usual inventory, map and quest objectives to keep you going. In addition, a map overlay on the screen shows you where you are and where you’ve been.

Occasional in-engine cut scenes break you out of the first person viewpoint and these are short and to the point, moving the story along effectively. The dialogue in this game is kept to a minimum, but what’s there is all fairly well acted and all dialogue has audible speech.

Atmosphere in bucket loads

Arx Fatalis may not boast the best graphics the Xbox has ever known but it is a port of an old PC game and the character and monster models are not especially detailed. The textures are not especially clean and fancy either but the lighting effects are simple and effective.

However when coupled with a fantastic use of surround sound and ambient sound effects, the whole package comes off feeling very immersive. There are seemingly dozens of ambient noises: frogs, water, wind and a plethora of others help bring the world alive.

This immersive feeling is aided by being able to interact with most objects lying about in the dungeons. Even if all you can do is pick them up and move them. Many of the tasks you can perform; such as cooking your own meat to feed your hunger or fishing, or repairing your own weapons at the various forges you find throughout the world help you feel connected to the game.

It’s a kind of magic

The interface is fairly simple and will seem familiar to those that have played Morrowind. In fact, Morrowind would be the easiest Xbox game to compare this to. However it is a far more linear affair than Morrowind and this acts in its favour. You usually have a firm sense of purpose, rather than being left to wander the dungeons at random, although there are enough areas that you can explore that have little to do with the main story.

It also has an interesting magic system whereby runes are combined to make spells. This is a neat addition, and those who are old enough to remember Ultima Underworld, will notice that this is the biggest clue that Arx Fatalis is in fact the spiritual successor to that game. Unfortunately it lacks the groundbreaking qualities that Ultima Underworld had at the time.

The puzzles in the game can also be unexpectedly complex, so that the first time you really run across one it may leave you a bit perplexed. They seem more at home in a game like Broken Sword than in a game of this nature. However once you begin to expect them they don’t seem out of place and make a good change of pace from the dungeon exploring that you’re going to have to do to get through the game.

The game also has some moments that are merely about discovery and not about mapping and fighting. For example, finding a small fort that’s been attacked and wandering amidst the impaled bodies looking for survivors. It’s a wonderful moment, so atmospheric that it would proudly sit in a survival horror game.

I forgot what I was going to say next…

Arx Fatalis is another welcome RPG addition to the Xbox library. While the Xbox may lack the pseudo-mystical Japanese style RPGs, such as Final Fantasy it is quickly making up for this with solid Western efforts such as this and Morrowind. Although it’s hardly a groundbreaking game I would highly recommend adding Arx Fatalis to your collection if you’re an Xbox owner with a love of role-playing games. For those that aren’t and don’t feel up to the risk of trying something with a little less mass market appeal, you would probably be better dipping your toes into the RPG world with something with a bit more action.