What's the hottest PC game out right now? Judging by the sales numbers World of Warcraft is still way ahead of the pack. Now, from a publisher’s perspective the best thing to do is to try and copy the game, hoping for an equally successful title to be made. The problem is, the market is kind of saturated right now, so not only is it hard to penetrate the market, it’s near impossible to make a title that is different enough from the rest yet at the same time generic enough to fit all tastes. A possible solution? Instead of copying WoW have a look at Blizzard’s back catalogue and do your best to mimic one of the games on the list. If it worked out for Titan Quest it sure as hell can for a game that has zombies with cannons sticking out from their abdomen!

It just screams generic

Yes, there are super cool zombies in this game. But before looking further into that, let’s discuss the game’s story. Remember an RPG called Arcanum that was released a few years back? If not, let me refresh your memory. The game was a Fallout style game with a very unique game world. Instead of taking place in a classic fantasy universe the authors decided to put the player into a “what if” scenario where a typical medieval world filled with elves and orcs experienced the industrial revolution. Swords and spells still existed, but barrel guns and steam engines were a common occurrence as well. It may be just be, but I loved the setting. The world of Nelwe follows suit, though the whole technological aspect has been toned down a bit. On the plus side, the whole conflict between technology and nature is a focal point of the story.

Speaking of the story, you should know that it just screams generic. The first few minutes of playing are promising enough, as you are put into the shoes of an arch-mage while he desperately tries to fend off a massive attack on the city of Silverfall. The whole idea is great as it gives you a taste of things to come without coming up with a stupid excuse why your character lost all his power such as memory loss or a family curse. After the short siege (which acts as a tutorial as well) you begin your real adventure and it is here that things slow down. Don’t get me wrong, the story is interesting enough to keep you listening, but that’s pretty much it. With Diablo (2) you wanted the story to progress, you wanted to know what happened to the hero (I’ll admit that the amazing cinematics played a certain role here as well). Silverfall doesn’t have that appeal and I found myself wanting to progress only because I enjoyed the hack’n’slash nature of the combat.

Sword in one hand and an open prayer book in the other

Silverfall is your standard action RPG and except for a few UI changes it plays almost exactly like Diablo did over 10 years ago. You attack with your left mouse button and use special abilities with the right button. Movement is handled via the left button as well. Oops! The left mouse button controls two actions – this is bound to cause issues down the road. Even Diablo, with its stationary 2D camera occasionally had problems with this, so you can imagine all the unnecessary beatings I took because I accidentally clicked the ground next to an enemy instead of clicking on the foe himself. The other way around is even more painful – I died countless times because I clicked on a huge foe (who was covering half of the screen) instead of clicking on the ground next to him. So instead of running past the monster I ran straight at him with my sword in one hand and an open prayer book in the other (Ok, the last bit is not true. I would’ve loved to have one at hand though, considering the ass-whooping I got).

So yes, the gameplay has its share of problems however it still manages to be a fun slaughterfest. The lifespan of your mouse will be shortened significantly due to the insane clicking you’ll be doing from the very start. Other than the camera problems I already mentioned the developers managed to create a robust system that although not innovative still does a great job. The menus are all very intuitive and the skill system is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. Looks like the days of predesigned classes are nearing their end as Silverfall is yet another game where you pick your abilities from a wide variety of skills that are not limited to a certain profession. Because of that you can have an archer who is capable of throwing fireballs or a mage who is quite apt at swinging an axe. Weirder combinations are possible, but as always being a jack of all trades isn’t necessarily the best way to go.

So, this being an RPG one should expect a lot of leveling up. At first you’ll be raking up levels like a madman, but as with every other RPG out there things slow down when you reach the low twenties. By then you’ll probably have a fairly good idea of what you want your character to be, so you’ll still see steady progress being made on your character (if needed you can always reset your skill for a hefty amount of money). Other than leveling up your main source of power will be your equipment. Almost every encounter will drop something, be it potions, money or weapons/armor. While the majority of the stuff is pure junk you’ll still want to collect as much of it as possible, so you can sell it in outposts to make a living. Following the concept Diablo laid out all those years ago some of the dropped items have higher stats than the rest and you’ll occasionally get your hands on some pretty jawdropping items.

Cyber goblins – a mass of goblin corpses held together by mechanical joints

It’s finally time to have a closer look at the foes you’ll encounter during your adventures. Things start out pretty slow and you’ll mostly be killing your regular undead creatures, some more original swamp creatures, not to mention demons and the universally hated dark elves. The list doesn’t end there though. The already mentioned necro canons – half zombie, half canon creatures are amongst the most original creatures I have seen in years, as are their cousins the cyber goblins, a mass of goblin corpses held together by mechanical joints.

The environments don’t lag far behind with their originality either. A lot of the places in the game would fit into any RPG on the market, but some of them are very unique. The authors did a tremendous job of combining 19th century technology with the high fantasy setting, so some of the locales you’ll visit are truly unique. I still believe there should be more emphasis on the technological side of things, but all things considered I can’t really complain.

Titan Quest minus all the ancient Greece stuff

Before starting Silverfall I had no idea what to expect from the game visually. I mean, I knew the game would be a Diablo-like experience with 3D graphics, kind of like Titan Quest minus all the ancient Greece stuff. I was surprised to say the least when I saw that all the characters in the game were cell shaded. I considered disabling the effect, but decided to give it a few hours to see if it grew up on me. I did the right thing, as this unique effect gives the game the needed charm to differentiate it from the rest of the Diablo clones out there.

The appearance in general is top notch, with high resolution textures being present on every step and dynamic lights a common companion during the night. It’s no bed of roses though, as the game requires a monster rig to maintain playable framerates with high settings – I’m beginning to think PC RPGs are cursed with un-optimized engines. I had some trouble with Silverfall in Vista as well, as no matter what I did AA simply didn’t work. Overall the game could use some more polishing, as it feels unfinished in certain parts. The same goes for the audio in the game. It is ok, but it could do with more editing. At least the music manages to leave a good impression, though this is fairly standard for games of this genre.

Conclusion

Silverfall is a decent game, no question about that. Unfortunately it fails to impress on pretty much every level. On the plus side, it doesn’t disappoint either. Would I recommend it to anybody? Absolutely! Action RPG fans who are looking for more of their favorite dish should enjoy the tasty combination of high speed clicking and leveling up. People who like to play with or against their friends will also appreciate the multiplayer component of the game (which is again, generic). What about the rest? Well, if you enjoyed Diablo 2 and got through Titan Quest and it’s expansion pack you can’t really go wrong with Silverfall.

Gameplay	7/10	Diablo 2 in 3D with extra problems and some very unique monsters.
Graphics	7/10	Cell shaded goodness that could do with some optimizing.
Sound	6/10	Sound effects – generic; Music – generic (but still good).
Value	7/10	Hundreds of items will fall of your foes before you complete the main quest. Then you can do it again with your friends!
Preference	6/10	If you adore Diablo style games you’ll enjoy this game as well. Otherwise you might be a bit disappointed.
Overall (not an average)	7/10	A decent action RPG that doesn’t have many faults, but doesn’t offer anything new either.