Avadon: The Black Fortress

[Peregrine]

I'm not sure if anyone has been playing Jeff Vogel's latest RPG from Spiderweb Software, or not - didn't see a thread on it. It's out this month on Windows and Mac, and for the first time in a long while it is a new series and not one of the Avernum or Geneforge games.

Apparently there has been some controversy about this one, with some people feeling that Vogel is going away from the traditional large, set-piece battles in favor of smaller affairs - I haven't played a ton of the game yet so I don't know, but I am enjoying it.

I particularly like the world the game is set in - five nations banded together for self-protection and formed the Pact - using their shared resources to fend off barbarians, monsters, and other threats from beyond their shared borders. At the center of the Pact is Avadon, a huge fortress from which the Pact extends its power, in the form of spies, warriors, and mages who look for threats to the Pact, and then ruthlessly crush them once found.

Your character is a Hand of Avadon - a warrior sworn to its service and at the beck and call of its leader, Redbeard - the most powerful and feared man in the Pact. You will be sent out on missions throughout the lands, investigating, stopping threats, and doing whatever else you are told to. As with many of the Spiderweb games, you will have to make decisions on your journey that will have an impact down the road - perhaps even questioning your loyalty to Avadon itself.

Some new features of the game are that you have a choice of four other Hands to take with you on your adventures, each with their own backstory and opinions - definitely a step up from the silent party members of some other games. Your character also has a basic "skill tree" so you can decide what abilities you want to focus on as you level up.

I'm a longtime Spiderweb fan - even if the graphics are old-school, the writing is top notch and the games are always enjoyable - this one, so far, is no exception.

Reviews

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Gear Diary

[JAG]

I played the Exile trilogy (Avernum predecessor) way back in the day. Those were some fun games overall, huge amount of gameplay for the amount the games cost. I never did outlay for Avernum / Geneforge games though every now and then I took a look at them.