Just played a bit of Arx. It's pretty awkward and stiff in terms of control. It also seems prone to crashing.
Make sure you patch it up to the newest version -- b/c that kills many of the game's bugs.....out the box, it was basically "beta in a box...."
W/ Arx all patched up: I had trouble w/ it crashing all the time on my older PC, but it ran great on my new one. Never had an issue w/ it.
It has some pretty good elements, but because the graphics are dated the overall appeal is not impressive, especially with the permanent fog. It looks a lot like Heretic II. I'm sure I would have appreciated more had I played it in its day.
Arx did look great, for its day....
All this Arx talk makes me wanna go play it some more.....hehe. I do need to finish it. It is good stuff.
Graphics aside, it just feels too awkward for me to continue playing. The interaction, the magic system, and the inventory just don't feel "right." This might be one of those games I'd rather watch than play.
I liked Arx's hand-to-hand/melee combat. For its time, it was very good. Still holds up quite well, if you ask me. And the violence is sweet, w/ the "Fatalities" and all for final blows -- depending on where you swing and how powerful it is, you can sever body parts: torsos, legs, arms, and heads.
I really did like how Arx can let you switch b/t the "mouse cursor" mode and the "regular mode" for when dealing w/ inventory and talking and stuff.
Arx's magic system is something you'll really have to learn -- to be honest, it's for Arx experts, I'd say. B/c you might have to also remember what rune combo does what. You can always do an autocast, though. Me, I prefer the magic system in Dark Messiah. Namely, I find the biggest problem is that b/c Arx doesn't allow you to "pause" when drawing. I don't mind drawing the runes and all, but it can get tough to draw when in actual combat to actually draw it right....
I'll have to be patient and wait for Dark Messiah!
I am looking forward to it.
