Enclave (PC)
Reviewed by: soundtech
Reviewed on: 13-Jun-2006
- Summary
- Enclave has the potential to be a great RPG, but instead it falls short in many ways.
- Ratings
- Overall: C
- Gameplay: C-
- Graphics: A-
- Learning Curve: B-
- Replay Value: D+
- Sound: B+
- Pros
- Nice graphics
- Interesting music
- Can play different character class each mission
- Cons
- No control over saving games
- Game "locked" up several times
- Hard to control character during combat
- Can only play Character Classes that you find
- Low replay value
- Can only choose equipment at beginning of level
- Links
- IGN's Enclave Site
- Black Label games Enclave
- Images
Description
When I first started playing Enclave, I thought I was in for a treat. However, the more I got into it, the more I saw that it lacked a few things that would have made it a great game.
Enclave is an RPG in which your character is sent on many missions to try to rid the land of evil goblins, wizards, and many other creatures.
Gameplay
This is the area that I had most of my problems with this game. The first being that you had no control over when you could save your game. The game would automatically do it for you. Most of the time I don't have a problem with that, but in this case, the game would only save at the end of each mission, or if the mission were lengthy, there would be checkpoints in it that would save your game. I didn't care much for this method of saving, because if you died, then you would have to start at the beginning (or checkpoint) of the level. Not much fun.
It also seemed very hard to control your character during combat. I adjusted the mouse sensitivity quite a bit, but still found my view of the situation acting erratically. My character seemed to be reacting a lot slower than the enemies, which made it hard to land any serious blows on them. You start the game as a Knight, and after the first mission can choose to stay with him, or play as the Huntress. The latter is only available because you find her during that first mission. That is how choosing a character class is done in this game.
During the missions, you will encounter other classes, and they will fight by your side. After the mission that you find them in, you get the chance to play that class if you so desire. This method of character class selection was a love and hate thing for me. I liked the fact that you get to choose a different character class on each level, but I also would have liked to have been able to choose any of these classes at the beginning of the game.
Equipment was another issue with me. The only times you get to buy more equipment, or sell what you don't want, is at the beginning of a new level. This goes to show how much I am used to being able to get some great stuff from dead foes. Although, in its defense, you usually had plenty of gold to find, which enabled you to buy lots of goodies.
And finally, I had several occurrences of the game "locking" up on me. I am not sure what was the cause of this, but it became quite a nuisance. There probably are some patches on the internet that might help with this problem, so if you encounter the same thing, than that is what you should look into.
Graphics
The graphics were one of the best features of Enclave. Everything was very well animated, and the game was a pleasure to look at. Your character's appearance changes with each new set of armor, giving the game a great sense of detail.
Learning Curve
The game did not fall too short in this area either. There were several pop-up boxes that would appear on the gaming screen whenever you came across something new. That helped considerably. There was not a full-blown tutorial section, but there was enough of the before mentioned help screens to provide for a quick learning curve.
Sound
This was another pro for this game. I found the music to be very interesting in this game. With most RPG's you expect to have robust, medieval type of music, but with Enclave you got some eerie, even freakish type of background music. The voice tracks for NPC's (Non-Player Characters) were good, but your character didn't say that much during the game. Swords clanked when you used them, and spells exploded with loud bursts.
Replay Value
As you might guess, I don't think this game has much of a replay value. The lack of freedom with many of the things I mentioned before, like character class selection and so forth, make for a low replay value. As I have said before in other reviews that were a low score like this one, your experience with this game may be totally different than mine.
Your Fellow Gamer,
Bobby
Enclave is an RPG in which your character is sent on many missions to try to rid the land of evil goblins, wizards, and many other creatures.
Gameplay
This is the area that I had most of my problems with this game. The first being that you had no control over when you could save your game. The game would automatically do it for you. Most of the time I don't have a problem with that, but in this case, the game would only save at the end of each mission, or if the mission were lengthy, there would be checkpoints in it that would save your game. I didn't care much for this method of saving, because if you died, then you would have to start at the beginning (or checkpoint) of the level. Not much fun.
It also seemed very hard to control your character during combat. I adjusted the mouse sensitivity quite a bit, but still found my view of the situation acting erratically. My character seemed to be reacting a lot slower than the enemies, which made it hard to land any serious blows on them. You start the game as a Knight, and after the first mission can choose to stay with him, or play as the Huntress. The latter is only available because you find her during that first mission. That is how choosing a character class is done in this game.
During the missions, you will encounter other classes, and they will fight by your side. After the mission that you find them in, you get the chance to play that class if you so desire. This method of character class selection was a love and hate thing for me. I liked the fact that you get to choose a different character class on each level, but I also would have liked to have been able to choose any of these classes at the beginning of the game.
Equipment was another issue with me. The only times you get to buy more equipment, or sell what you don't want, is at the beginning of a new level. This goes to show how much I am used to being able to get some great stuff from dead foes. Although, in its defense, you usually had plenty of gold to find, which enabled you to buy lots of goodies.
And finally, I had several occurrences of the game "locking" up on me. I am not sure what was the cause of this, but it became quite a nuisance. There probably are some patches on the internet that might help with this problem, so if you encounter the same thing, than that is what you should look into.
Graphics
The graphics were one of the best features of Enclave. Everything was very well animated, and the game was a pleasure to look at. Your character's appearance changes with each new set of armor, giving the game a great sense of detail.
Learning Curve
The game did not fall too short in this area either. There were several pop-up boxes that would appear on the gaming screen whenever you came across something new. That helped considerably. There was not a full-blown tutorial section, but there was enough of the before mentioned help screens to provide for a quick learning curve.
Sound
This was another pro for this game. I found the music to be very interesting in this game. With most RPG's you expect to have robust, medieval type of music, but with Enclave you got some eerie, even freakish type of background music. The voice tracks for NPC's (Non-Player Characters) were good, but your character didn't say that much during the game. Swords clanked when you used them, and spells exploded with loud bursts.
Replay Value
As you might guess, I don't think this game has much of a replay value. The lack of freedom with many of the things I mentioned before, like character class selection and so forth, make for a low replay value. As I have said before in other reviews that were a low score like this one, your experience with this game may be totally different than mine.
Your Fellow Gamer,
Bobby