Wizardry 8
Created by: Sir-Tech
Genre: First-Person CRPG
Where to get it:
eBaySystem Specifications or Requirements:
- 64 MB RAM
- 4X CD-ROM drive
- DirectX 6.0
- Windows 95
My party explores Lower Marten's Bluff -
The party engages Sadok T'Rang(screenies are edited to conceal my party member names. they were nsfw)
Wizardry 8 is by far one of the best computer Role-Playing Games I have ever had the chance to experience. Let me begin by first stating that I've never played any of the other Wizardry games, though should I ever come across them, I will certainly devote some time to playing them.
Wizardry 8 takes a step beyond your typical grid-based dungeon crawling first-person RPG. If you've never played a CRPG before, often times they are first person, allowing you to control a party of four and navigate a grid-like series of mazes or dungeons (similar to might and magic). Wizardry 8 took this further by introducing full 3D, mouselook, party formations, and a slew of other neat features such as the ability to switch between turn-based (phased) or continuous combat modes.
The ultimate aim of the game is to collect three artifacts, perform a ritual, and ascend to become Gods. Standing in your way are hordes of native monsters and creatures, hideous undead, ghouls, spectres, and other nasties including the spider-slug T'Rang, or the militaristic Umpani, and the mighty Dark Savant. If you've got a party from Wizardry 7, you can import your final save game and carry them over into Wizardry 8, allowing you to carry on with your accomplishments, skills, abilities, etc along with minor story changes (for example, if you had allied with the Umpani in Wizardry 7, you will start at their base camp in Wizardry 8).
Wizardry 8 plays much like you'd expect a CRPG to handle. There are a multitude of dungeons (and some hidden dungeons, too!), plenty of outdoor areas to explore, vast amounts of equipment and gear to find and utilize, as well as potions, spells and abilities. Wiz8 has a ton of classes and races, from psionics to ninjas, along with dracons and mooks. This allows you to create a party that fits your play style best. Character generation allows you to also choose personalities for your characters, which controls how they interact with each other (whether they voice agreements or disagreements with one another) and NPCs. Along with your party are two slots for "RPCs", or recruitable party characters. These are people with their own goals, personalities and abilities who may wish to join your party. Their personalities are such that there are places where they just won't go. Myles, a rogue from Arnika, won't visit a place called Marten's Bluff because he's heard it's a death trap, for example. He's just too afraid, and will have to be left behind should the party wish to adventure on. These personalities add a lot of depth and, well, personality to the game, and that I appreciate greatly.
Puzzles are abound in Wizardry 8, and some of them are often so complex that they require you to backtrack much later in order to solve them. In a monastery, for example, is a door that requires a key from the next town over, but only if you get a pass from the monastery, which is hidden behind an impervious glass wall that can only be shattered if you ring these bells at the right setting.
There are plenty of traps as well, and avoiding them requires a keen eye for nuances in the floor, such as pressure plates, or texture differences. Opening a locked door or trapped chest requires the completion of a small "minigame" of sorts. Locks display a series of tumblers, depending on their difficulty, and characters with the pick lock skill can attempt to lift all the tumblers to open the lock. Traps need to be inspected first in order to identify the trap. Depending on your skill, you may or may not identify the trap correctly, and this process is key - disarming the trap requires the proper use of the right tools. Use the wrong tools and you risk setting off the trap.
The only downside to the gameplay that I can admit to is combat. Combat ranges from small skirmishes (yay!) to immense, hour-long torture sessions (boo!). This is drawn on mainly by the slow movement rate of your enemies. They move, you move, they attack, you attack, repeat. Their movement will take up a good 40% of the combat time. Fortunately, this is resolved by a community released tool (linked to below) which enhances the enemy movement speed so that combat is much shorter, although it can still seem like a chore sometimes.
The classes and races are varied. Valkyries (female only) have the ability to cheat death - knock them down to 0 HP and they have the chance to get back up again with 50% of their HP. Lords are two-weapon masters and regenerate HP on their own. Monks are martial arts masters and can instantly kill opponents with a melee attack. Races further add on to these abilities: Dracons can breath acid, lizardmen regenerate stamina much faster than any other race. Faeries are small and hard to hit, but can wear very few of the items in the game.
The graphics are what you'd expect from a game released around 2001. They suit the game nicely, tie in well, and every area feels like it belongs, without ever becoming too outlandish or garish. Spell effects are brilliant (ego whip projects a bristling blue whip that lashes at your foes) and you can easily tell what each spell is and does by its effect alone. Monsters visibly display their damage as they become weaker (brigands receive black eyes, cuts, and gnashes, while acidvines move slower and more erratically, robots emit sparks and lose pieces of their armor), there's weather, day/night cycles, particle effects. It is all very pleasing to the eye and creates a world that feels "real".
The sound effects in Wiz8 really shine. Party members talk to you and to each other. NPCs are all voiced-over and each has a voice that suits them. All the sound effects really fit the game and they blend well with one another. Music is dynamic, ranging from area tunes to "cautionary" dungeon music, to light combat, heavy combat and even "deadly" combat music.
The interface can seem a little overwhelming to a new player, but the steep curve is worth it. The only drawback I can imagine is the poor shopping system - you can't compare what you're buying to what you have without exiting a shop and opening a character panel. It's tedious and drawn out, and seems like it could have been done better. However, despite that small set back, everything else seems to mesh together in a very tight and streamline manner.
I highly recommend Wizardry 8 to anyone who is a fan of the CRPG genre, and anyone who enjoys a good RPG with a lot of depth, clever puzzles/riddles, and exploration.
Final Scores:
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Interface: 8/10
Overall: 86%
External Links:
Wiz8Fast Combat UtilityWizardry 8 DemoWizardry 8 Patch
