What was your first kiss? When was the first time you fell in love? When was it that you first found your thoughts consumed with the desire to return with open arms to the object of your passion? Don't lie to me, you'll only be lying to yourself (and an inanimate computer screen); if you're reading this than you've already found your first love and you've been chasing that same feeling ever since. We all have. Every game we play, whether consciously or not, we compare ruthlessly to the exacting perfection of our first true love, to that first game that truly made us fall in love with gaming- our first kiss with the Gaming Goddess (or God if you're of such persuasion). This is the story of my first kiss; Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura. Just Writing the name still sends chills down my spine as I remember the untold days I spent playing trough that world, living countless lives and touch countless others. Arcanum for me is the game that no other game has ever lived up to, and no other ever will. Agh! Enough of my sappy ramblings. You don't want to know about my gaming love-life, you want to know why YOU should care about this game. What is it about this game that will suck you in and travel with you for time to come?

Arcanum is a game that hearkens back to the now passed golden age of the Isometric RPG on the computer. Indeed, Arcanum marked the genre's dieing days; few Isometric RPGs followed after Arcanum as 3D (often First-Person) RPGs began to dominate the field. How do I describe what made Isometric RPGs on the computer unique and special? I suppose its just one of those things you experienced in their hay-day (and understand what I'm saying) or you didn't ( and you don't). If you've never played one I'd suggest you give one a whirl if for no other reason than for a history lesson. Their controls and such can be a little confusing at first (as Arcanum's are) but they're usually more than worth the learning curve.

One of the strongest aspects of Arcanum is that it embraces whole heartedly the two foundations of any RPG; the first being story. The premise behind Arcanum is that you are the lone survivor of a mysterious blimp wreck. Yes, I said blimp wreck. You see, Silverfall wasn't the first, and clearly not the best, game to set a fantisy game in the middle of an industrial revolution. In so doing Arcanum managed to tap into one of the few areas of fantasy that seem to have been largely overlooked by most video-games and modern works of literature alike. The concept of conflict between the the works of man and industry verses nature and magic go as far back as Tolkien (and probably even further back than that). It's against this backdrop that Arcanum tells a story that manages to embrace this conflict without using it as a crutch to avoid telling a tale of its own, and it manages to do so quite well. The story is deep and fairly involved as you travle all over the game world, which is fairly sizable if difficult to compare to modern 3D RPGs, trying to uncover the many mysteries around your blimp crash (which range from opaque religious riddles to political intrigue and ancient history). Theres a lot to take in here as the world of Arcanum is full of life and history. It could take weeks, if not months, to explore everything there is to be learned and experienced in Arcanum. Ultimately, the storyline itself in Arcanum probably isn't going to win awards or make you stop reading Harry Potter but it does its job well. If you take your time to dig into it you'd find a lot of meat to sink your teeth into; which I'd say is one of the biggest strengths of its generation.

So, I mentioned two foundations that make a great RPG; the second one is freedom. Now this is where Acanum comes up all Spades and becomes truly addicting. Acanum has most of the D&D-esq features of character generation but was one of the few at the time to have no ****system. There are quite a few different races (from 'halflings' to half-ogres and from gnomes to elves) all with their own unique traits. There's also a fairly broad selection of skills wich fall into three categories; Magical, Technological and neutral. None of this would mean anything if you didn't have freedom though, but in Arcanum you're free to go anywhere and do anything (and in Arcanum they real mean it!). Here's an example: You stumble into town from the wilderness with barely anything to your name but the clothes on your back when you come upon a merchant shop. The merchant inside has an item you absolutely 'must have' but you don't have enough to buy it. No you have choices to make. You could engage the merchant in conversation or simply use a charm spell in hopes of raising his disposition and then hope that he'll lower his prices enough. If that doesn't work or its not enough then try haggling with him to see if he'll lower his prices further. Maybe you don't have a way with words or haggling so instead you could try gambling with him (you win you get it for free, but losing isn't a good idea). Well, maybe you've never been one to trust random chance so you could diced to leave the shop and hunt trough the trash bins of the town for a lock pick 'till dark when everyone's asleep, pick the lock on one of the shop's doors or windows, sneak in and then find yourself with another question; to pick the locks on every random container untill you find the item you're looking for or try to pick the pocket of the sleeping shop owner to see if he has a key. Lastly, if all else fails and morality is no issue simply break down the front door (once the guards are out of sight obviously) and cut down that anoying shop owner in his sleap so that you can rummage through his things in peace. That is just a taste of the kind of freedom Arcanum offers, and its that freedom that will leave you coming back for more. Further, you're not alone on your journey as new followers will often become available. One of the more interesting feature of the game's party system is that KOTOR II wasn't the first game to allow you to say an evil party member from themselves or to seduce a goody two-shoes into taseting the apple. Lastly, Something I didn't tell you about the story-line is that all this freedom actually means something. While the storyline steadily continues in roughly the same direction, your choices can have a significant impact on HOW you get there. Choices like 'become an errand boy for a wealthy captain of industry or simply kill him and take what you need' appear frequently and have a significant impact on game-play and the stories outcome.

This game, for me, epitomises everything an RPG should be. Is it perfect? No, but it has it where it counts, and will keep anyone who gives it a try coming back for more. Unfortunately, If you want to give the game a go you'll probably only be able to find it online at some place like Ebay. I didn't discus things like Graphics, sound, or controls because I plan on covering those in my review (wich will follow later).Now If you excuse me, I have a date with the Goddess.

Thanks again for reading everyone! I'd love your comments so comment away. This is obviously my first try at this series so any suggestions you have will be really useful.

-Fade2Gray