Lichdom: Battlemage Review
I'm still playing right now but I figured I should comment on some of the positive aspects now that I have a better grip on the gameplay and am not rushing a review before leaving for work. First, the impact of magic is badass. When you play, particularly when using fire spells, the first thing you will notice is that the impact of spells is unlike any other game out there. Embers shoot off of enemies, and there is even a nice touch where nearby foliage can be scorched. I adjusted my graphics preset to medium and am happy to report that there seems to be very little loss of visual fidelity while at the same time a noticeable increase in performance. I still wish there were more advanced options, and choosing a preset is definitely favorable to customizing your options, as it will often result in worse performance.
I maintain that the level design is very linear, however, there are branching paths. Upon starting a new game I was able to experience a rather engaging mini-boss fight that I did not see before. As for being able to run past enemies, it is not as severe of a problem as I initially thought. Enemy AI is fairly competent (ranged enemies keep their distance and even take cover from spells while melee enemies rush you as expected), however, the problem seems to be that enemies are tethered to certain areas. This is fixed in a few areas, like the boss arena, that require you to jump into an arena, however the problem still persists in many places. I would like to see enemies be able to follow you wherever you go and maybe even a new enemy type that can outrun the player.
Animations are very high quality. Incinerating skeletons and watching their burning forms recoil and slump to the ground is satisfying, and all the enemies move and attack in realistic ways.
I still think that the slow motion dodge (though extremely cool) is a bit too powerful, though I definitely see the merits of ranged combat now that I have to deal with the pesky archers. If anything, AOE attacks seem underpowered considering they take longer to charge up than any other attack and are used for close range, a situation where the dodge move would most likely be far more effective and easy. I'm sure there will be plenty of balancing, though.
So yes, I definitely recommend buying this game right now. This build is very solid as far as pre-alphas go and if I were you I would definitely grab it for the discounted price now.
****End Edit
From what I've played so far, I can say it is alright, especially for pre-alpha.
There are not a lot of spells that are available right now, but I'm sure they will be added later. First the things I don't like:
-Sluggish movement
-No jumping
-Lack of crosshairs and ambiguous UI
-Problems with dialogue being voiced (don't know if voices are integrated yet or this is my problem) and some artifacting problems
My biggest concern, however, is the level design. I was able to beat the entire game (thus far) by simply running past enemies and then later spamming the slow motion move that burns/ices a path. Very disappointing. Spellcasting right now simply isn't that fun. Most enemies rush you and certain spells are FAR more useful than others. The basic projectile spells pale in comparison to your slow-mo and AOE attacks, but take a similar amount of time to charge.
I can say that the game does look pretty good, particularly in the lighting department, though it is not perfectly optimized yet. Again, I will require some more playthroughs. As of right now I have run through the first mission and about half of the second one. The story is fairly nonsensical, unfortunately. It looks like effort is being put into it, though, so maybe more context will be established in the future. Right now it is DEFINITELY pre-alpha. As long as some of the balancing problems are fixed, the game is optimized a bit better (and we are given some advanced graphics options), then this will be a worthwhile release. Right now I'm coming away feeling lukewarm about the whole thing, but that isn't a bad thing at all considering the early state of the game.
Review by: I AM ERROR
Video Gameplay Lichdom: Battlemage:
No comments:
Post a Comment