Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Critic Reviews

Although the characters you meet along the way try to guide you through the game, Arcanum really leaves most of what happens up to the player.

Let’s trim it down to a single conclusion: if you like RPGs, get this game. Right now.

A breath of fresh air in the RPG genre, with highly rendered graphics, huge playing fields, and an excellent experience system allowing unprecedented freedom of development, not to mention the interesting storyline.

If you can’t find something to love about this game, dump your computer in the garbage right now. Arcanum epitomizes what people like you and me love most about PC gaming.

A slowly seductive game, a deep and demanding affair with a steep learning curve and a voracious appetite for your spare time. It's all the more impressive that the more time you devote to the game.

This game just rocks!

One of those games that deserve to be played for a long while.

A fantastic game that will keep you enthralled for hours and hours. There are some annoying bugs, but even those can't derail this exceptional gaming experience.

The type of game that reminds me why I do this job – the game is an absolute pleasure from start to finish.

A delightful RPG with plenty to offer to those of you looking for a detailed storyline, rich atmosphere, and one of the best character development systems ever. It's good to see that the RPG tradition is still alive.

I thought the gameplay was good enough to make up for the deficient engine, and I found Arcanum to be a worthy successor to the Fallout series.

I still rate Arcanum as one of my favourite games. For me, it's the game play that really counts, and Arcanum has bucketloads of that!

There truly is a deep, rewarding, and splendiferous RPG behind Arcanum’s dated, clunky machina…but only the most intrepid RPG fanatics will have the patience to dig it out.

Underneath the merely decent graphics and a problematic combat system is an adventure capable of sweeping anyone away with its superb quality.

Also, while the depth of the game means a richer experience, it can be quite intimidating and overwhelming at first, even for the experienced player. Thankfully, there's a 189-page manual and handy Hot Key menu card and map to keep beside the PC while playing.

The most disappointing facet of the visuals would have to be the character graphics which are lacking in detail, are poorly animated and remind us more of flimsy cardboard cut outs that wobble about than real flesh and blood individuals.

New features and a solid storyline should keep even the most veteran players busy for quite sometime.

It's unique setting and departure from more traditional RPG elements will certainly endear it to many players.

Suffers from a host of rather serious flaws, including an overall lack of polish, which can end up making the game disappointing more often than enjoyable for some players. These problems veil what's an otherwise captivating and immersive role-playing experience.

What it lacks in polish, it makes up for with that elusive "fun factor" that you can feel even when you can't always pin it down.