I spent this morning playing the demo of Eschalon : Book 1 from Basilisk Games - And it kicks serious butt!

It’s been along time since I got into a single player RPG. The last one was Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and before that the all mighty Fallout. I didn’t even really like Baulder’s Gate that much… What Fallout, Arcanum and Eschalon all have in common is that they feature turn based combat - I’m a sucker for turn based games.

Infact everything in Eschalon uses up a turn. Movement, drink potion, try break down a door, cast a spell etc… But because the game provides smooth animations and particle effects the gameplay just flows nice and smooth, giving a sense of continous play. The turn based combat provides for some interesting tactics and your enviroment becomes important if you wish to secure an advantage. Fighting in doorways always provides protection from being overwhemed - And if you want to escape from monsters, shut the door on them.

The plot doesn’t seem to be too revolutionary, and involves the player awakening in a strange land with amnesia, not knowing who he was or why he was there…

But the combat and exploration, as well as the stats-driven character development is where the game really shines - It just Ooozes old school cool with modern UI developments. Which is the area I feel fails alot of indie games. The graphics are well polished and are slightly reminisent of commerical 2D games released sometime around 2001, which appeals to my senses.

The Demo Provided me with about 3 hours of gameplay, which was enough to decide that I like the game. Usually If I play any game that I’ve downloaded for longer than 20 minutes, it means there’s something special holding my interest.

The only thing I felt that let it down is that movement is a bit too slow. I’d like to see the ability to run, sometimes walking from one side of the map to the other it can take a bit too long - Also, if you want the automap to actually work you’ll need to spend some of your precious skill points on the ‘cartographer’ ability.

The team at Basilisk games have done a really good job and have really raised the bar as far as Indie CRPGs are concerned. If I wasn’t totally skint for cash at the moment, I’d purchase the game no worries.

You can see the game trailer on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqSkCka_Ijg