Plane Scape Torment (PC DVD)

Whoever doubts that computer gaming is an art-form should play PLANESCAPE-TORMENT.

Words fail to describe the perfect symphony of brilliant ideas, emerging story-line, beautiful environments, mesmerizing music, fun gameplay and detailed coding that makes this game an unsurpassed classic!
I have yet to meet anyone who has played it and not raved about it!

NamelessOne and his companions are characters that will stay with you forever. The graphics may seem a bit outdated nowadays (they are the same as the first BALDUR's GATE, they share the same engine, Infinity); however, true RPG gamers know that graphics are not a self-sustained aim.

THIS IS NOT A NEW GAME. So do not expect an exploding eye-candy or a fast-paced game (try YouTube to check out whether this may not be your cup of tea). One has to let himself immerse into the world of the Planes and the doomed city of Sigil. But their magic shall always stay with you.

This used to be sold out game and could only be found in old stock houses and eBay. Count yourself lucky and treat yourself to this gem. Trust me, you have to have this one!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

How many so-so rpgs have there been down the years? That's right, a whole hell of a lot. How many good ones have there been? A decent number, enough to keep me and a lot of people like me playing. How many brilliantly written and brilliantly plotted rpgs have there been, where your moral choices are complex and make a huge difference to not only the outcome of the story, but the whole style of play throughout the 50+ hours of the game itself? How many rpgs let you resolve events in seven or eight different ways rather than just asking you to fight stuff? (though you can do that too) How many rpgs tread into such murky grey areas of personal and ethical hell and do so wilfully and mindfully? Damn few? Yeah, pretty much.

Planescape Torment is not unique. But it stands up there with only two or three other games in the genre for its multi-layered complexity, and intrinsic moral shading. It was, for it's day, a rather pretty game, with it's fascinating setting (the City of Pain) gorgeously gruesome character models and lovely spell effects. It was one the plethora of late 90's rpgs to use the Infinity Engine and of all of them it was the one to create the most beguiling and entrancing world. It had some good, if limited, voice acting and made excellent use of the concurrent AD&D rule set.

Being over a decade since its been released it has certainly started to show its age and even when new it did have some bugs which caused slowdowns and audio failures. Really though these were and are minor issues compared to what the game represented. This was a great, choice filled, crpg experience. And while there have been several games which it can be said to have influenced (Deus Ex, The Witcher, and most recently Dragon Age: Origins) I don't think that any of them are quite as brave and certainly not as original as Torment.

I have played many RPGs, console and PC and none come close to the brilliance of this game. It really is art. You will NOT find a game with a more diverse and memorable set of characters, the plot and dialogue is flawless and the story will invoke genuine emotion like no other game. You collect and share stories with the other charcters and help solve their problems and you learn so much about them just by talking to em. It's dark, sad and somewhat depressing at times but utterly brilliant.

I would reccomend playing through with a high intelligence and wise character to get the most from the game; you do miss out on alot of dialogue and choices if you don't. Also if you don't have high intelligence you will miss out on some of the most spectacular fmv spell effects seen - even if you only get to really use them at the very end. However you play though it's a masterpiece. The only slight negative is the initial starting area in the mortuary can drag a bit and some may stop playing before they have left it..stick with it though whatever you do.

In my opinion this is the best of all the Black Isle/Bioware games and sadly I doubt we will ever see another game like it.