Game Type: 3rd
Person Shooter
Platform:
Mac OS Classic
Tested
on: Titanium PowerBook G4/800
Publisher:
MacSoft
Year:
2001
Version:
1.0?
Price:
$50 (Originally)
Graphics:
4/5
Sound:
3/5
Gameplay:
4/5
Overall:
4/5
Teaser
Cristof is an 11th Century Crusader and a darn good one too. But lately
he's had a bit of a crisis of faith. After being wounded in one battle,
he was left in Prague to convalense. And there he met Anezka, a nun
whom he fell in love with. Their unholy romance is interrupted by the
vampires who inhabit Prague. One clan, the Brujahs, embrace Cristof and
turn him into a vampire, a new recruit in their war against the evil
clans. Cristof agrees to help the Brujahs while he searches for a way
to redeem himself from his vampiric curse.
Game
The world of Redemption is based on the White Wolf Role-Playing Game,
Vampire: The Masquerade. You control Cristof and up to three other
companions as they adventure in four cities over two time periods. It's
a basic fantasy setting with medieval weapons and "spells", in this
case the spells are Vampiric Disciplines. Your party goes around
killing vampires and other creatures, taking their stuff, and selling
it for more equipment.
Most of the gameplay is done via a 3rd person perspective, the camera
focusing on whichever character you are currently controlling. The
camera automatically pans to follow the infocus character, though most
of the time you'll simply move the mouse to the screen edge to pan the
camera yourself. It usually works out though often you have to move the
camera around so you can click on a specific spot.
The party can be in one of three states, which affect characters you're
not controlling. Defend and the other characters will not help you,
electing to stay back and protect themselves. Neutral and the
characters will attack if you attack, and will generally attack
whomever you are targetting (often to the exclusion of other monsters
that are attacking those characters). Attack and your compatriots will
attack any enemy they see. You can also limit the type of spells they
can cast, to conserve blood (which powers spells), though that feature
only somewhat works.
It's a very linear game. You basically go from one dungeon (or
location) to another, fighting your way through three levels of
monsters until you meet the dungeon boss on the fourth level. Once you
defeat the boss, you get a chance to spend your earned experience to
increase your abilitites (though you can also do that anytime by
returning to your base). Lots of cut scenes and dialogue scenes
throughout the game to tie the dungeons together. And though you do get
dialogue choices, they only effect your humanity level -- you always
end up moving the story forward linearly.
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It's a fun
game, though once you get a few level 5 Disciplines you
start to rule. The final boss was tough but still easy to beat. Most of
the time you do need your compatriots though with careful play you
might be able to finish the game by yourself. The weird part is that
there are three female roles -- Anezka your love; Serena, a vampire
companion in the Middle Ages; and Lily, a vampire companion in 1999 --
and I swear they're all hot for Cristof.
Graphics and Sound
The rendering engine is fairly good and fast. The 3rd person camera can
do some weird things like go behind walls and bookcases, which is
disconcerting. You can easily tell what each monster is and there are
special effects depending on what spells you have on you (like
invisibility or toughness).
Sound is also good. Ambient sounds are everywhere. Real voices are used
in the cut scenes and voice snippets during game play. Footsteps,
clashing of swords, bullets, the "umph" when you get hit are all clear.
I guess the only complaint is that sometimes there are a bit too many
sounds going on.
Gameplay
For the most part it's very straightforward. The monsters can cast
spells and have different attacks and personalities, but when you get
down to it I just charged forward and attacked head on. That works most
of the time. So in the end the monsters are not all that tough and they
don't play smart.
[!!!SPOILER
WARNING!!!]
The final boss is a good example. You have to beat him twice. The first
time I stayed invisible and cast Immolate on him a couple of dozen
times until I won -- apparently he didn't have any vision spells and
just stood there taking it. The second time I ended up just far enough
away and in a darkish area where I could Fireball him a couple hundred
times until he died.
[!!!END
SPOILER!!!]
In general most of the spells suck. There are your combat spells but
after a while they're repetitive. There are your vision spells but you
don't need them that high. There are charm spells but for the most part
it's easier just to kill them all. Various miscellaneous spells that
you only barely need to cast. Once I had Celerity (speed), Fortify
(toughness), Potency (damage), and Cloak the Gathering (party
invisibility) at level 5 we just ruled the game. Immolate and Fireball
at level 5 also came in useful at the end.
Recommendations
It's an old game so you can find it cheap. Worked well in Classic mode
on my PowerBook with only a bit of slowness. Took me like 55 hours to
finish the game. It's not tough but still enjoyable. All in all, well
worth the money and especially if you like the RPG, it's a nice game to
play. |