Planescape: Torment

*****

PC

Black Isle Studios

$99.95 Mature 15+

Review: Peter Eley

The measure of a role-playing game is to what extent it involves the player in the plot.

You need to become the character if you are going to stick around for weeks, even months, of playing what, by their nature, are complex games.

Planescape: Torment creates a rich environment that is intellectually compelling and visually stunning - a combination that make it the best RPG of the past year.

It's a spin-off from the rather gothic Advanced Dungeons and Dragons role-playing books, and lives up to its dark origins.

You will get the picture from the start: the game opens in a morgue where zombies guard disembowelled and headless corpses. Gritty stuff, and not much humour to lighten it.

While it will not be to everyone's taste, Torment is another first-rate game from Black Isle, who produced 1998's best RPG, Baldur's Gate.

You get a lot for your money: Torment comes on four CDs and should keep even hard-core RPGers occupied for a few full moons.

The game is strongly driven by plot. You take on the role of the Nameless One, a grimly lean sort of dude who wakes up in the morgue with amnesia. Who are you, and why are you there? To find out you will need to work through two gigs of gameplay.

And all the time you will build your character, literally, for the Nameless One's personality is shaped by the decisions you make as you progress. Fight, and he will become more and more aggressive. Talk your way out of trouble, and he will become a sensitive new age sort of guy.

The game takes place on Planescape, the setting for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, which is ruled by the Lady of Pain.

It is a richly immersive world, enhanced by excellent graphics and sound, where words matter just as much as weapons.

Like all in-depth games, it takes some picking up. A whole range of character attributes, weapons and spells need to be mastered. And the rather clumsy interface, with fiddly small buttons, is more of a hindrance than a help.

Required: Pentium 200 MMX, 32Mb Ram, 4Mb video card. Pentium 266, 64Mb Ram recommended.

* Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz