Avadon: The Black Fortress Demo (2011) (Mac) (Spiderweb Software)

Jeff Vogel has just released his latest old school RPG "Avadon: The Black Fortress" and interestingly enough, this is the first game he's released for years which does not belong to either of the long-running Avernum or Geneforge series. For now the demo and full game is only available for Mac OS - Macintosh being the "lead platform" for all Spiderweb Software's games - but rest assured that a PC release is coming later this year as well.

No one who has played a Jeff Vogel RPG before will be surprised to hear that Avadon continues to refine, polish and visually upgrade the basic isometric turn-based gameplay without changing the fundamentals drastically. That being said, there are some pretty noticeable changes this time around - starting with the character creation, which instead of letting the player build a party from scratch starts out with a single character chosen from one of four classes. It seems that Vogel has opted for a Baldur's Gate-like system by which the player meets pre-defined NPCs in the game which can then join his or her party. While this takes away some of the customization commonly associated with retro RPGs like this, it should presumably allow for a more interesting integration of the player-controlled characters into the game's narrative than would have been possible if they were created by the player him- or herself.

Also new is the skill tree, which apparently replaces the more traditional stats allocations of earlier Spiderweb Software games. I could see this in particular being something that long-time fans might get a bit upset about, but at this point it's too early to tell whether there's less depth here or just a very different presentation of the available character development options.

A seemingly minor change is the removal of keyboard controls for movement across the screen. Interesingly enough, this seems to have been done for two reasons; partly because Avadon - unlike Avernum or Geneforge - plays out in a "gridless" realtime mode inbetween the turn-based fights, and partly because Vogel plans on porting this new game to a platform without a keyboard. Yes, in case you hadn't heard it Avadon is actually supposed to to come out for the iPad as well as the PC/Mac. Personally I don't own an iPad, but the idea of an old school Ultima-esque turn-based RPG climbing the charts on the Itunes Store makes me all warm and fuzzy inside...

Buy the full game or download demo here:
http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com


Note: I apologize for the white keyboard symbols at the bottom of the screen, which are the result of a mistake I made in setting up the video recording software used to capture this footage (it's the first time I've actually recorded a game in Mac OS). Also, the game can be played in significantly higher resolutions than this but the capture program couldn't handle that so I had to switch to 1024*768 for the purpose of recording this video.

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[Leimrey1985]

Sadly this music leaves a lot to be desired. The most important thing... the music. There is barely any. Sorry, I can look past it's bad graphics but no music at all? Sorry, even Eschalon provides me with more.

[Demiath]

Of all things, I don't think a lot of people would pick the *music* as being the most important thing about an isometric old school party-based, turn-based RPG. But, by all means, if that is your personal priority then so be it.

[stinky472]

Just because it's one the most sorely lacking things in a game doesn't mean it's the most important. It's just the most lacking.

[Demiath]

As an expression of your personal take on the issue that's all fine, but I interpret the original commenter as expressing a much stronger (and therefore more controversial and in my view misguided) emphasis on music as an extremely important part of even a deliberately old school RPG experience.

[Blashyrkh22]

Music in RPGs is EXTREMELY important for the atmosphere and the player's immersion. I don't think Baldur's Gate would have been what it was without the music.

[Demiath]

The music in BG is nice, for sure, but it's only there to establish a mood - it does not define the gameplay. Given a choice between a great game with great music and a similarily great game with less good music I would obviously choose the former, but that's really as far as you can legitimately go with that argument. At the end of the day, what defines a video game is the actual gameplay (for the same reason, vague things like "immersion" are overrated compared to core mechanics).

[Fistwagon]

This game looks like it will be great but I'm a PC user so I can't play it yet. One thing i really love about these games, you can play em with a coffeecup in your hand... or a Sherlock Holmes pipe. Distinguished turn-based combat for distinguished gentlemen.

[Leimrey1985]

Absolutely right. Battles against Dragons in BGII are truely epic. Desperate and heroic to the core. You know that you fight against an overwhelming foe, not only because of the stats, but because of the music. We aren't in the 80' anymore. Mass Effect, or heck, take SNES classics like Lufia. Whoever fought against a Sinistral knew that he was about to kick the bucket. Or to stay with the Indie theme, just try Eschalon. Not remarkable music and sound but worlds better than Ava

[az4u100]

Exactly, for me personaly good music can break or make a game, it also gives the necessary atmosphere to the game world, from what i have seen so far the game looks rather pale, there isnt a whole lot of collour used in the environments couple that with the fact that there is no music doesnt really help players to immerse themselfs into the game world.

[Leimrey1985]

CONTINUATION: And don't let us forget that many great games had us enthralled not only because of their gameplay, but also because of their stunning soundtrack making our andventures oh, so much sweeter. I could name quite a few problems I had with Avadon, but that damnable restrictions don't allow me to write that much. But just to make it short, I do play RPGs a lot. Western, Japanese, you name it. But Avadon lacks in narrative, graphics and music. You don't need to share my views

[Leimrey1985]

Wow, I didn't expect such a reaction to my comment. To think that this took start because of my bad english. No, Music itself isn't the most important thing in the game, so much is true, but still underlines and characterizes the game itself. And who didn't get pumped up after an awesome battle music against a tough nut of a boss? Sorry, but this game lacks not only heavily in immersion, but also in its actual gameplay. But thank you for your respectful answer.

[cr9527]

Wish they stayed with Avernum 3's engine, that was probably the best in the entire series. :(

[Demoras]

I love the graphics, seriously. Everything about this game reminds me of gamedesign in the 90s! The pre-rendered sprites and backgrounds, the sound design, the gameplay.. I love it :D