Skip to content
Greedfall is out now, and every so often a game comes along that is quite unique in one way or another, and this is what I have found, here, with this new game from Spiders. They’re not a huge Triple-A game studio like Bioware, but they have released some great games with titles like Mars: War Logs (a personal favourite with an amazing setting), Technomancer and Bound by Flame. None of these titles have particularly set the gaming world on fire, as the saying goes, but they are decent enjoyable games that are well worth playing.
This game certainly features a different setting which is unique to the RPG genre, and it kind of reminds me of Risen but plays like something from early Bioware like Jade Empire!
In Greedfall, you play as De Sardet, who can be either male or female and there are plenty options to customise your character from the off. You are setting off to a new land and initially have to make preparations like finding the governor and getting him onboard, helping the captain of the guard with his purchased weapons and a few other main and side quests. You are to get the governor to his destination, Teer Fradee, so it can be colonised and establish diplomatic relations with the natives there. On top of that, you are trying to find a cure for a disease that has afflicted your people.
The quests alone make this title stand out from other RPGs, as fetch quests don’t feel like fetch quests, since they have meaning to them and multiple steps. When you get to the second area – for example – there is a indigenous person setting up a stall, but the guards keep taking his wares. So you head off to talk to someone about it, and he tells you that if you can get documentation from the required person, all will be good, so off you trot to sort that out. Once getting back to the merchant with the paperwork, the guards have confiscated items and arrested his brother.
Go back to the head of the guards to show the paperwork and find out what has happened to the arrested brother. From there you must see the jailer, who tells you the brother has been sent to the arena. Then you head off to retrieve the confiscated good and must fight alongside the brother in the arena. After winning, it’s then a trip back to the merchant and all is good, and you then carry on the quest line with the brother. It all feels integral and has meaning and weight to what you are doing.
The combat side of things plays similar to Dragon Age, having main attacks and then secondary, which are assigned to the D-Pad like firing your gun or using a health potion. You can also have an additional 2 NPCs joining you whilst on your travels, of which can be changed at you residence. Some quests do require specific people to complete them, understandably. Back to the combat, though, and it is completely real-time, but there is a pause function to allow you to check the battlefield or use items which aren’t assigned a quick slot. It does kind of have a Dark Souls-like feel to it all, with the lock-on and dodging out the way, but nowhere near as hard!
The RPG system, itself, is quite stingy with giving out skill points. You do select a class at the start, but can put points into anything you want to build a really customisable character. This is great, as you can hone it to your exact play style. I spent a good while before setting off to the second area, trying to create a poisoned drink for some guards to rescue the governor. I had the beer and the poison, but I just couldn’t combine them without using the crafting table, but I was missing the required skill and was also a few levels away from being able to do it. In the end, I just had to go the combat route. I found it a bit irksome, but at least the quests have multiple ways to complete them.
There are plenty different types of armour and we -apons available which you can swap out once you have spent enough skill points in the various areas, and your stats have increased. Given the main character is a Spanish merchant, he wears clothing and carries wea -pons, initially, that suits his position.
The sound and visuals on Greedfall are of varying quality at times. Starting with the sound, generally, it is really good. Combat sounds the way it should with gunshots, plus clangs of swords all sounding as they should. There is also a lot of voice works, throughout, on both main and side quests which is really great, as I have seen main quests voiced and side quests become just pieces of text. The voicework, though, goes from great to extremely cringe worthy and cheesy, and occasionally, it just comes across as awkward! The visuals are really nice, the cities and towns feel and look lived in, and capture life in the era. You do get a fair bit of duplication with the graphics though: one example being the tavern in the first town and then the tavern in Teer Fradee, being all but identical in layout and looks. Then you have the faces which can occasionally look like they are from last gen on PS3 or Xbox 360, with animation that can look a little stiff.
Greedfall isn’t a big name game – yeah, it has its faults but it has heart. Spiders are a small developer and they polish their games and are passionate about what they create. Greedfall certainly won’t set the world ablaze but it a game that is well worth playing.
Greedfall is out now on PS4, Xbox One and Steam/PC.
Important info:
- Developer: Spiders
- Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
- Players: Single player only
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
8 8 7.5 8 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!