Developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a rich and complex RPG with isometric 2D graphics, set in a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution. The game mixes magic and technology in a Victorian-styled “Steampunk” setting; is completely open-ended, and features lots of different races (humans, orcs, gnomes, elves, dwarves), with complicated – even racist – societal themes developing as you discover the world and interact with its many characters.

Arcanum does have a multiplayer element, but by the developer’s own admission this plays second fiddle to the real ‘meat’ of the game, which is the single-player campaign (multiplayer was only added because Sierra insisted it be included).

After creating a character, the story begins with you travelling on an airship that is shot down by mysterious hostiles, and you are the only survivor.

You discover a dying gnome in the wreckage, who gives you a signet ring and tells you to “find the boy who made it“, that he “escaped” (he doesn’t say where from), and that something “is almost here“, before passing away. A man – a human, called Virgil – finds you, talks to you, and becomes your first follower*. Together you sift through the tangled remains of the airship to look for other survivors. As you leave the area you are stopped by a strange man, who – after finding out that you’re the only survivor – tries to kill you, deepening the mystery. So you – and Virgil – begin a journey to find “the boy” and find out why the airship was shot down.

*= Having Virgil as a follower is optional, but his presence is very useful, as both a healer and a packhorse. You can dismiss any follower at any time, and most will re-join you later, if you ask nicely.

You can add side quests as you discover them, usually by simply talking to NPCs and asking the right questions. These give you the opportunity to earn experience, money, special items, and other bonuses.

Arcanum‘s player character development is very detailed and is divided into eight main categories: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Beauty, Intelligence, Willpower, Perception, and Charisma. By completing quests and levelling-up, you are awarded Character Points to spend on boosting your statistics, allowing you to create a character of the type that suits you. Each character also has ‘Derived Stats‘ (like carry weight, speed, heal rate, poison recovery, damage bonus, reaction modifier, and maximum followers), ‘Resistances‘ (damage, magick, fire, poison and electrical), and you can also improve Health and Fatigue by putting points into them (Fatigue is important because it is needed for combat and spell-casting). Diving deeper, there are also modifiers for combat skills, thieving, social skills, and technological skills. Technological Disciplines have eight separate improvement channels, and Spell Colleges have sixteen different categories of magic expertise. So, for example, you could build a character that is strong with Persuasion, so you can talk your way around things. Or you can create a strong magic user, a melee fighter, or a gunslinger. Arcanum has a lot of latitude for creating widely different character types, and this gives the game serious re-playability.

Arcanum‘s resolution is fixed at 800×600, so you can only see a small part of the landscape at any one time. You can scroll around by using the mouse (by pushing the edge of the screen), or by using the cursor keys, but the distance you can go is limited – maybe too limited. For travel over further distances you’re supposed to use the map screen and set waypoints, but this doesn’t always work as intended (you can set waypoints, click the ‘go’ button, and sometimes nothing will happen, or you can be running and be stopped by a seemingly minor obstacle). If you’re conservative with the waypoint system, then it just about works, but it’s not as intuitive as it maybe should be.

When you’re in the wilderness the World Map screen becomes available, allowing you to fast travel between locations marked on your map. You can find new places by talking to NPCs and getting them to mark them on your map, or you can just explore and find them on your own.

Combat in Arcanum can be toggled between real-time and turn-based, which is a great option to have. When something attacks you, the game will pause for your input, if you’re set to turn-based. Then it’s simply a case of left-clicking on an enemy, when in attack mode. Holding the cursor over an enemy will show a red glowing circle underneath anything hostile. When a battle ends, the game doesn’t automatically continue – you have to exit combat mode by pressing ‘R’.

Other important features are: a detailed character screen; a notebook that covers everything from rumours, to quest logs, to kill counts; an inventory screen that has some really useful features, like auto arrange, and quick-use slots; follower commands and taunts; “Fate Points“, that are earned by completing certain tasks – these are not used to increase stats, but are spent on ‘criticals’ and other chances (for example, you can spend Fate Points on making your next hit a successful critical; your opponent’s next hit a failure; do a full heal, or any number of other chance-based outcomes); crafting (technological, chemical and plant-based); list-based conversations, and the ability to be ‘good’ or ‘evil’.

Arcanum is atmospheric and incredibly detailed, and should appeal to anyone who likes hardcore, Fallout-style RPGs with adult-themed humour. The pseudo Victorian setting is interesting – if a little ‘dry’ at times – but it captures the etiquette, and the hypocrisy, of that particular period of time, while at the same time adding fantasy, magic and technology in an interesting way. If I had any criticisms of the game, it would be the restrictive view window (you can add the “-fullscreen” argument to the executable, to allow toggling of the UI), and the occasional bug. Overall, though, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is an excellent game that is beautifully presented and very absorbing. I’d say that it’s well worth picking up in a sale.

More: Arcanum on Wikipedia
Steam: Arcanum on Steam
GOG: Arcanum on GOG.com