Such a shame they don't seem to make games like this one anymore. It has the required complexity and plethora of choices for each presented problem, that aren't merely fake choices, as presented in titles like the failure that was DA:O. Although this kind of games doesn't suit the majority of players that want simpler games, the kind that were once most commonly found in arcades/console games, but nowadays have taken over even the pc gaming industry. With everything being multi platform and in extreme dumbed down.… Expand

A fantastic and immersive RPG,with lots of different options,from the type of character you can make to how to act in the game,definitely one of the better RPG ever done,a truly masterpiece of this genre.

Yer single player is wicked but multiplayer stinks you carnt get a worse multiplayer game!!! but the single player is highly addictive.

Very addicting!

Fantastic RPG game from creators of Fallout. I highly recommend it.

The Best RPG ever. You have to run it with the unofficial patch or its too buggy, but once you can get it to run right it is the best.

A great RPG, I have had alot of fun hours with this game, I really wish I had the time to play the game again. and again, and again.. Would be so cool to make a magic character, but I never got to that yet! lol! All the side quests..the main quest...oh lord, this game is just so much fun!

One of the four best RPG's I've ever played. It's up there with Planescape Torment and Fallout 1&2. Admittedly the game is flawed and can take quite a while to get into, but there are very few games which copy this level of non-linearity in story and have such a unique atmosphere. Out of Torment and the Fallouts, this game is also probably the most replayable - every game will be different and satisfying, with some very different endings. Also, check out the unofficial patch, it fixes most of the issues in the game.… Expand

Outstanding game with one of the best worlds ever conceieved, a deceptively simple combat system, and nearly unlimited customizeability. Truly open-ended, the game not only allows you to be evil, but offers a great set of characters, quests and even weapons which will allow you to actually explore the possibilities of being evil. One of the most underappreciated PC games of all time.

Easily the most underrated game out there, and unfortunately it's very unlikely it will ever get a sequel. It has almost everything the ideal RPG should have. Wish other developer teams would push this kind of complexity in their games. The players actions truly shape the character's relations and impacts on the game world. Everyone that doesn't mind dated graphics and and doesn't care that much about the combat all that much should give this one a try!… Expand

Although it initially got mixed reviews upon its release, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - a fantasy/steampunk roleplaying game made by many of same people who made Fallout 1 and 2 - has stood the time and is considered by some to be one of the all-time great computer RPGs. And there is plenty of justification for such a claim: it is a very deep RPG, with a great story, narrative, atmosphere, and rich characters set in one of most detailed and immersive game worlds in the history of computer RPGs. Unfortunately, the depth and detail does not extend to the combat system, which is too simplistic and boring. But still, fans of complex, nonlinear computer roleplaying games, games that are all too rare these days, ought to check Arcanum out, if they haven't already.… Expand

One of the best role-playing games in the world with Planescape, Fallout I/II and Baldur's Gate. Dialogues, many variants of playing, good story. Perfect for beggining of XXI century.

Every so often a game comes along where you read the title, and you look at the box, and you just know it's going to be utter junk. Then on day you're bored, and you see it on the desk of a friend, and you borrow it because you don't have anything else to do and then you wind up never giving it back and paying your friend $20 for it. Arcanum is one of those games that when you think about what's it's trying to do achieve from a design perspective there isn't anything special about it. In fact, the whole idea is trite. What makes the game so good is the execution. If the game was a band I'd say their music was 'tight'. And the music certainly is a highlight of this game. If you look at each piece of the game it's all good but none of it is amazing. Yet all the different elements of the game (questing, music, story, combat) feed and build off of one another in a synergistic way where the whole becomes much more than the sum of the parts. If there is one property out there that I think would make a fine addition to the MMO landscape it's this game. All the elements are there. Blizzard has proved that it doesn't take an amazing story to keep people (including me) glued to their seats. Toss some steam together with some magic and buff it up with a lot of shiny and you have winner. With Orcs flying in planes, in some ways this is WoW before WoW. A worthy game.… Expand

Fallout engine and brand new character development system. Plus nice world and story as a background. Very entertaining fights. Great locations. Some choices'n'consequences. Seems legit to me to call it a role playing game.

One of the best ever. Multiple solutions to quests, believable characters, a world with a rich history, a huge step away from your standard fantasy setting and a soundtrack that I still listen to eleven years after it was released. Very nearly perfect.

This game is ugly (not because its graphics aren't cutting edge - it just looks bad), buggy, terribly balanced and in general gives off the impression of being rushed. Those rather large flaws aside it's an excellent RPG with a solid story, some interesting characters, a world with plenty of things to discover and one of the best character creation systems I've ever used in a CRPG. One of Troika's great unfinished masterpieces. Three stars, four with the unofficial patch.… Expand

What? Multiplayer sucks! That's right kids are good friends at Sierra decided to do a half A**ed job on the multiplayer intending to defraud people into buying the game because it says "Multiplayer" on it, but in reality the limitations, problems and bugs in multiplayer are enough to make you swear off Sierra for life.

The most accurate critique of this game is on "Angelfire". Clunky, quircky, and so unpolished, you might actually call it "unfinished". A huge disappointment after having played Fallout I and Fallout II. I was intrigued by the story, and tried to force myself to continue just out of curiousity, but finally could not put up with the bugs and the tedious interface, as well as the absolutely pathetic hoax of NPC control.… Expand

The bomb with hundreds of paths to choose in the game and tonzzz of diferent tecniques to learn if you dont like this shave you head off.

Hey Kel R? How can you expect the multiplayer of a primarily single player game to be so good? It would rely on the community. It was just giving one more mechanic for players to toy around with. If you bought the game for it's multiplayer option then you don't know nearly enough about RPGs to rate them.

Arcanum by its concept is much like fallout 1. Fans of the Fallout games will find a similarly interesting setting, sense of humor and alternative solutions to quests. Fans of complex RPGs will be surprised by the depth and length of the game. However if you are more interested in a linear game like diablo or elder scorlls games, do not bother with this one. The steam-punk setting is fantastic and well-designed. The plot is long and involved. The system for using technology is quite fun. Characters can literally take bits and pieces of things and assemble them into everything from hand grenades to healing salves. The major disadvantage of this game is the combat. There are no party damage whatsoever, so you can just throw grenade everywhere without hitting yourself and party members which quite ruin the fun of combat. Critical hits and misses are too common, with sometimes drastic results, such as scarring or even crippled limbs. Also you can not control your party members directly, and their behavior will sometime frustrated you.… Expand

This game has a lot of faults, some of which are quite annoying but from a RPG perspective it is absolutely top notch. Fantastic character creation and development, great replayability, lots of joinable NPCs, some tough decisions to make and lots of charm. The magic/technology dichotomy is handled very well and the narrative is more than respectable. I enjoyed it and if you can forgive its faults you will too. This game could have been a 10 and I don't think I will say that about too many games that I score an 8. Definitely worth your time.… Expand

So summarizing, it's ugly, boring gray cities, boring violin music, bad fightings system, bad interface, overall bad gameplay, plot i got to know wasn't interesting (up to where i need to go visit dwarfs mountain, i did a lot quests in tarrant and 2 cities below it, ZZzzzz), it took me much persistence and attempts to play it for around 15 hours if not more. Btw i loved fallout and fallout 2. baldurs gates, torment, icewind dale. THEY HAD CLIMATE THIS GAME TOTALLY LACKS.. It's just boring, no wonder it never had big success, developers made some grave mistakes when creating this game.… Expand

One of the best RPGs I have ever played, the setting is great, the writing is good, and the freedom is amazing. If you like Fallout 1/2 then this game is for you.

I still can't fathom what it was with this game, Perhaps it was the typical fantasy characters clad in Victorian clothes, drowned into the yawning chasm of the industry. Perhaps it was the greatly-rendered lore of the old days of magic succumbing to the might of technology, in the wake of an industrial revolution taking over the land. Or it was just the whole-heartedly written story, filled with characters and quests that feel reminiscent of some old-fashioned nineteenth century novels, inter-wined with oily twinges of a waning fantasy realm. The music itself literally merges the land of Arcanum with melodies thriving with joyful, yearning feelings, at last gifting the player with a wistful affection. The Rpg features of Arcanum allows the player to shape their character entirely, with no constraints whatsoever to hamper its creation. As your hero faces a series of challenges - including a fearsome foe whose deeds may doom the entire world - the narration does involve compelling, gray-shaded moral choices, which will ultimately challenge deeply the philosophical concept of life. Word has it this game is marred by a number of bugs/glitches and poor graphics alike. Its vastness in any field, however, well makes up for its flaws; as for graphics, just go buying Dragon Age or some other top-notch graphics, non-flawed, soulless Rpg.… Expand