Developer: Spiderweb Software
Publisher: Spiderweb Software
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC
Avadon 3: The Warborn – Review
You stand as a man of the law, as both judge and executioner, over a land thrown into chaos. Choose you class, recruit your companions and set out into the barbarian lands. It’s time to bring the fight to the enemy, so make your choices, choose your side, and find a way to end this war once and for all.
Story
A group of nations stand unified against the Farlands, the dangerous barbarian lands that surround them. Known as The Pact, this alliance has kept your people safe for years and at its centre stands Avadon, The Black Fortress. Avadon maintains a small army whose sole responsibility is to safeguard The Pact and protect its lands. To do this, Avadon’s warriors are awarded special rights. They are not bound by the laws of other nations and can command anyone they meet and expect to be obeyed to the letter.
Avadon 3 is the third game in the series, but you need not have played the previous games to appreciate and understand the story. The Pact is currently in dire straights, the Black Fortress has pretty much been destroyed and the alliance faces attack from all sides, as well as spies and rebellion from within. You must take on the role of a Hand of Avadon, a servant of the Black Fortress. Your word is the law and you alone must ultimately decide the fate of the world.
It’s easy to kill and maim random NPCs, but when you get to know their motivations and their families and realise that they are just fighting to stay alive, will you still find it so easy? Will you murder a helpless ally as ordered, just because your superior believes they are withholding information? Even when you’re certain they are not?
You will be presented with powerful choices and moral dilemmas that have a real and profound effect. Will you choose to support The Pact to the very end? Or will you betray them for untold power and glory? With several different endings and hours of side quests to explore, expect to embark on an epic journey that adjusts personally to you and branches with your decisions.
Graphics
With only very basic graphics and simple isometric sprites, Avadon 3 has a very old school look, but don’t let the lack of fancy graphics put you off. For some, the graphics will be something that they are unable to look past, whilst for others it will make them nostalgic to the legendary RPGs of old. Regardless, if you can stick with it, you will find that you can easily forgive any clumsiness for the ability to explore an incredible world.
The graphics may be very simple, but this simplicity allows the game to explore greater depths, in greater detail than would have ever been possible with more advance graphics, at least not without using an enormous budget.
Sound
The sound is again very simplistic. There are plenty of background sounds and sound effects, but a complete absence of a score or voice acting. Expect to have to read every conversation and exchange yourself, something that will certainly not phase older gamers or fans of classic RPGS, but may put off some younger players, or those that simply refuse to read (lets face it, we all have friends like this).
Gameplay
As an RPG, Avadon 3: The Warborn makes use of many of the features that you would expect, as well as some more unusual or antiquated mechanics. Expect to spend plenty of time exploring, searching through containers, and breaking into places that you probably shouldn’t be going into. You can also steal things that don’t belong to you (just don’t get caught), and chat to NPC’s for quests and information.
The quest system works pretty much as you would expect, you have a journal with a list of your quests and a description for each. However where many modern RPGs spell everything out for the player (objective markers, which direction to go in and hints on what to do), there isn’t much hand holding in Avadon 3. You are given a vague quest description and you must find locations on your own. There are objective markers but they aren’t always easy to find, or discover. Likewise you must remember who gave you the quest and go report back to them when you think that the quest is complete as the game doesn’t always provide you with this information.
You must choose your class from a list of five, but you will collect companions that fill various roles so you will have the opportunity to use each class in battle. The battle system, like much of this title is very old-school. You can press a key to enter battle mode at any time, or else the game will switch automatically when something attacks you. Combat is turn based, you can move your characters and attack or use abilities. The abilities themselves vary with class, and have their own cool downs, expect to be setting shit on fire with your mage and simultaneously cleaving heads in twain with your warrior.
Battles and quests award experience which you can use to level up your characters, increase attributes, and buy new skills. You can also do some measure of crafting and enchant your weapons and armour with powerful rune stones. This is pretty standard as RPGs go, but nonetheless satisfying. There are hours and hours of side quests hidden in the game, so you can abandon the main quest for a while and go exterminate a nest of giant magical ants, or whatever floats your boat. Although you should be sure to save often before exploring strange places, you can very quickly go from exploring a mysterious basement to getting absolutely slaughtered by a family of mutant zombie troll monsters. Trust me, I know.
Conclusion
With an excellent story and choices that actually matter, Avadon 3: The Warborn proves to be a great role playing experience. If you love story games and really getting immersed into the story and the lore, then you will love this game. The old-school design gives the game a great feel and scope, although it may be difficult to swallow at first. The title would definitely benefit from a bigger focus on sound and graphics, but that’s all a part of the old-school aesthetic, and it definitely shouldn’t be the only reason stopping you from playing it for yourself.
Avadon 3: The Warborn - Review,
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