Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magick Obscura | 
| From: Vivendi Universal
Buy New: $12.00
as of 11/25/2009 02:20 CST details
New (8) Used (17) Collectible (1) from $8.99
Seller: Nana's Reading Room
Rating:  143 reviews
Sales Rank: 5321
Format: CD-ROM
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 95
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: CD-ROM
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 95
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.5
Model: 71047
UPC: 020626714983
EAN: 0020626710473
ASIN: B00004TTHT
Release Date: August 22, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Automatic character management features let you delve into the quest at hand for action-oriented players. | | • | Explore a huge game environment, with dozens of cities, dungeons, and towns to find. | | • | Meet more than 300 unique characters and 280 different monster types across the land of Arcanum. | | • | Multiple paths to victory abound in the scores of quests surrounding the main storyline. | | • | Accurate day/night cycles affect the gameplay, from combat to thieving skills. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Arcanum is the first game to come from the development house Troika Games, LLC, started by former Fallout team members Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson. This team takes the depth of gameplay and world-building in role-playing games to entirely new levels of realism and excitement.
Arcanum creates a compelling new world where magic and technology coexist in an uneasy balance. As Arcanum opens, the mechanical age has only recently arrived in this ancient land where Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and other races have learned to survive in the new sprawling industrialized cities. But this radical shift from magic to technology has created a potentially explosive situation. As the townspeople and other thinkers begin mass production of light bulbs, batteries, eyeglasses and guns, the Mages grow leery. This tightly wound setting is the starting point from which the character must set out on his quest.
Classless, point-based attribute system allows for limitless creativity in guiding your character's development.
Complex stat system underlies every event taking place within Arcanum
Amazon.com Review
Most role-playing games are set in a fantasy world, and if they're not directly related to Dungeons & Dragons, they at least follow the blueprint of the D&D rules. Not so with Arcanum. Set in the world of steampunk--a genre of fiction that puts forth the idea that computers and other advanced technology existed back in the late 1800s--Arcanum's world is fantastic and instantly recognizable at the same time. The game begins with the crash of the L.F.S. Zephyr, which you were aboard. Things go from bad to worse as assassins try to kill you. Meanwhile, you struggle to understand why people think you are the reincarnation of "The Living One." Developed by Troika Games--which is staffed by many of the people who created the excellent Fallout games--Arcanum takes the conventions of the RPG genre and turns them on their head. Instead of binding players to a specific character class, such as Paladin or Barbarian, Arcanum lets you create a completely unique character. Experience points can be distributed in any area, so you can create a character that's a thief, magic user, and gunslinger all in one. In addition, you can specialize in either magic or technology, which will impact how the other characters in the game deal with you. The world of Arcanum is simply massive, and the story is extremely detailed. The main plot will provide you with 30 to 40 hours of gameplay, and the side quests will add another 10 to 20 hours to that figure. The quests run the gambit from fetching items to finding a cure for lycanthropy, and they're all well designed. Arcanum is viewed from a third-person isometric view--similar to Diablo II and Baldur's Gate II--and the graphics easily compare with any other RPG on the market. The characters are modeled nicely, and the backgrounds and structures are very detailed and really add substance to the game. Unfortunately, even on a high-end system such as an Athlon 1.33 GHz, the game suffers from long loading times, and will occasionally slow down during combat. Those minor problems aside, Arcanum is a sensational game. The open-ended nature of the character-creation system guarantees replayability, and the setting and story will offer relief for anyone tired of Diablo II's dungeon crawls. --Kilmic Robbins Pros: - Great story
- Numerous quests
- Ability to completely customize character
Cons: - Long loading times
- Interface can be overwhelming at times
Amazon.com Product Description
Imagine a place of wonder, where magic and technology hold equal sway, and an adventurer might just as easily wield a flintlock pistol as a flaming sword. A place where great industrial cities house castle keeps and factories, and home to dwarves, humans, orcs, and elves alike. A place of ancient ruins and steam works, of magic and machines, of sorcery and science. Welcome to the land of Arcanum.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 143
good but with problems October 25, 2009
Rachel Andreatta
To start out with its really a fun game, has a very cool story. Its 2D overhead like Fallout or Balders which is what I like personally. Problem is that the thing has lots of bugs in it that drove me crazy trying to fix just so I could play it. The combat system is a little funky and not ballanced very well if you ask me. But the story and atmospere makes up for it. What ever you do, make sure you patch it before playing.
I would also like to add that its got the best re-playability I've yet to see in any time.
Greatest RPG I've played March 29, 2009
Carl Severtsen (Altanta, Ga USA)
The variables in the game play make this such a unique game, each time you create a new character the posibilities are endless and throughout the game play (in turn based or real time) the results of your actions are never the same. If you create the exact same character and try to play the game through the same way the game is always different
 Short Review March 23, 2009
Travis Vengroff (Florida, USA)
This game is very long, is very open-ended, and has a VERY HIGH replay value. If you like Diablo (2) or Baulder's Gate (2) then this is probably for you.
One of my top 10 RPGs November 12, 2008
Voyager (State of Confusion)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ok, pretty much everything I have to say about this game has been said numerous times already.
This is one of the finest RPGs ever made. It ranks up there with Fallout, Planescape, and the Ultima series.
If you love RPGs, you've probably already played this, but if you haven't you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
Yes it's old, yes the graphics are dated, but none of that seems to matter once you start playing. It does what any good RPG can do, let's you role play, and it does it magnificently well.
Arcanum but not with Vista!!! November 4, 2008
Stacy Michelle Jones (Sanger, CA United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved this game, and wanted to play it again, but I had gotten a new computer since I last played, and now that the new computer has Windows Vista, I can't play my game any longer. There is no fix for it that I can find. And I've looked everywhere!!! So make sure you have an older version of Windows, and not Vista if you want to buy this game!!! It's WAY worth it if you have the right computer!!!!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 143
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