Sometimes I wonder, "Do I expect too much
of games on my mobile phone?".
It's a valid question as the platform is undoubtedly
a novel one and prone to requiring many shortcuts
to make traditional genres succeed.
Whether it's something as obvious as the control
issues inherent to the touch screen, or something
less consider like trying to pack in as much
action between text messages and phone calls,
a developer's job is not an easy one.
However, no matter where you fall on the issue,
one thing is clear: An unfinished game is
almost universally undeserving of praise.
And here we sit with Ravensword: Shadowlands,
the much awaited sequel to Crescent Moon Games'
original Western Action-RPG, and we wonder
how such a tangled mess of bugs, poor writing,
incomplete interfaces, and all manner of quirky
gameplay decisions could have been released
in to the wild.
First, lets take stock of what's on offer
and what it means for iOS gamers.
Shadowlands is, for the most part, a generous
helping of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion alike gameplay,
complete with roughly defined skills, statistics,
weapons and spells to earn, steal, or loot
from the expansive world.
Players aren't given much choice about how
to play the early portion of the game - mostly
melee weapons and shields unless you pilfer
a game-breaking blunderbuss in the first town
- with specialization occurring much later
on.
Don't get too excited though, the options
are fairly mundane - increased damage with
the weapons of your choice; higher experience
or gold; minor perks for using stealth; etc.
The game sets you up as a jack of all trades
and that's much how your character ends up
feeling once you dash past the main talents
required for your playstyle.
Much like any RPG there's a numbers game played
out behind the scenes, but it's one you're
not given much of a chance to understand.
Weapons increase their damage numbers over
time; armor gets bulkier and its stats increase
too, but at no point are you told how useful
those numbers are.
Enemy health bars are essentially a shroud
for how much damage they can absorb, and the
player stats are reduced to four basic numbers,
given little in the way of meaning as you
struggle to work out how useful a single point
(which is all you're given after leveling
up) is to your character.
The longer you play, the more the game's sins
pile up: Food is never adequately explained,
so you'll automatically eat with no idea of
why you're eating or what it's doing (quick
note: once you're out of food you'll slowly
'starve' reducing your natural health regeneration
- you're not afforded the chance to regulate
this action); creatures regularly clip through
the environment, count as obstacles while
dead (until they dissolve), and even prevent
you from stealthing despite being a corpse;
occasionally you'll earn a defense point for
simply being in combat; some creatures seem
to have projectile fists that can hit you
despite being out of range; and your weapon
is regularly 'sheathed' for you despite wanting
to keep it out to prevent a time-wasting 'drawing'
animation.
All of this and more awaits you, and yet...
and yet it still remains ambitious in its
design; epic in its scope; and grand in its
execution.
Ravensword: Shadowlands may be a failure,
but it's a magnificent failure that, given
enough patience and forgiveness, remains without
peer on the platform.
Had these problems been dealt with before
release, the game would easily be a contender
for the best game the App Store has seen for
a while, but as it is it's a sad reminder
about how far a game can fall.
