Favourite Avernum Game

[Inthrall]

I was looking at peoples profiles, and I saw lots of people had different ideas about which one they liked best. So, I made a poll.

[Slith Lord]

I think the good old classic A1 is maybe the best one of them, I did not yet try A4 though!

[Dikiyoba]

I didn't really like the interface of A1 as much as I liked the interface of A2 and the ability to be sliths and nephil is better than being just humans. Plus, A2 was the first game I got my hands on, so it is the one to which all others are compared.

 

Dikiyoba.

[COWboy]

I like A3 best. Mostly because i felt that it had the best balance in the game process. A1 has too little story and A2 has got too much, i have not yet tried A4

[Ephesos]

Ah, such a classic topic. Though I see that you forgot to include Blades of Avernum in the poll...

 

A2, hands-down. It is the first of them that I played, so I just felt a lot more comfortable with it than A1. That, and A2 had cooler animations for spells and such.

 

A3 wasn't so great when compared to A2, claims of open-endedness aside. And A4, while an improvement over A3, still has a few problems of its own, which knocks it down below the level of A2.

[Lattan]

I also say Avernum 2. It has some fairly important interface advancements over Avernum -- I really like seeing health bars on my opponents and having a quest list -- and has a better story than Avernum 3. Plus actually ending Avernum 3 was irritating.

 

And probably not least, Avernum 2 was the first SW game I played.

[Alorael at Large]

A2. It has the best story and the quest list.

 

—Alorael, who would call A2 the best just for Dark Waters. That section is worth playing by itself.

[Kingy]

A2 by far. Its the only one I beat more than once. At last count I think I've beaten it 4 times.

[Niemand]

Definitely A2. I like the feel of the game, and the story is my favorite (though I haven't played A1). I felt that I actually had more choices to make freely about where to go and what to next in A2 than in A3, really.

[K.I.L.E.R]

Avernum 2 because it is the most challenging of the 4 games and exploring the world in A2 actually felt like you were exploring a whole new world with lots of surprises and things in A2 never went the way you expected them to go.

[Tyranicus]

They all have good parts, but A2 has the best plot. A1 was really good too, but the lack of a quest list and no right-click look makes it annoying.

[Bomber]

I like A1 better cause you get to meet all the dragons, assasinate hawthrone and find the exit to the surface world.

[Eldarion]

Avernum 2.

 

Avernum 1 is okay, but looking is a right pain in the, I use the mouse for everything :\

 

Avernum 3 was the first one I played andalso the first I won, but the first 2 main quests are way too easy, and all the quests aren't connected enough. I mean, you can win the game only completing 3 of the 5 main quests.:\

 

In Avernum 2 all the main quests blend together, and you have to play them all to win. Plus beast ceremony is dang useful, divine aid in A3 is so annoying only using it once a day

[IT .]

A3

Is Great better graphics harder enemies cool items Nightime (I only wish everybody would go to sleep at night Robbing time! }:-D )

[Socane]

I liked Avernum 3, Mainly because it's the first one I really played and beat, I get the feeling i'm missing out alot on Avernum 2 though, Going to have to actually finish that game sometime...

[Donald Hebb]

Avernum 1's plot: "Empire is evil. Kill demons. Kill emperor. Leave."

 

Avernum 2's plot: "Empire is evil-er. Meet the Walking McGuffins. Retrieve the Non-Walking McGuffins. Blow up portal. Kill demon-emperor."

 

Avernum 3's plot: "Empire is good-er. McGuffins are evil. McGuffins make plague. Kill plagues. Kill Queen McGuffin."

 

Avernum 4's plot: "McGuffins are evil-er. McGuffins make plagues again. Kill plagues again. Kill Queen McGuffin again. Kill Queen McGuffin again-again."

 

...

 

Where's the difference? A2. You're never going to be compelled to do anything very often in the Avernum universe, but from chapters 1-3 of the game, you will want to play because you don't know what will happen next. The endless waltz of "Kill, loot, sell" takes a backseat for a while as Jeff actually tells a compelling story, and the Vahnatai (before they too simply become another source for new monsters) are actually interesting.

 

And hell- even the gameplay in chapter 4 of the game is better than average in Avernum. The "plague" in this instance actually makes some sense, and the party takes a more lifelike (although still unreasonably powerful) role.

 

Some of the dungeons even have character. For instance, the Portal Fortress- that thing actually succeeded in giving off a feeling of bleakness (much moreso than Garzahd's fortress).

 

And okay- so combat in A2 gets stale relatively quickly, but that's the way things work in all of these games. A2 doesn't lose much on a comparative basis.

[mohd yusuf]

I think avernum3 is best because i'm more comfortable with it.I haven't yet bought any of those games A2 was ok and A1 is just plain humans.

[The Lurker]

I've only played the demos so far, but I thought the Avernum 3 demo was the best.

 

(Since I haven't played the full games yet, I'm not going to vote).

[nikki.]

I like TM's analysis more than the games I think...

 

Actually, I voted A3. It has the surface and night-time. Those things appeal to me greatly.

 

Close second was A2.

[Rent-an-Ihrno]

i understand you demo-playing guys. it took a long time between the demos and the cd-pack for me, and its really like this: the a3 demo is best, but the full a2 is best by far.

all the important reasons have been listed.

though i might add:

a2: what an atmosphere! phew!

all the others: what an atmosphere. pah.

[Dikiyoba]

I remember using the "back to start" command after completing the demo of A2 as far as possible just to see what was beyond the barriers while waiting for the registration key. That one additional outdoor section my party could travel around (though I couldn't enter any towns) was fascinating.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Ash Lael]

I realise I'm late to the party here, but I find it amusing that TM doesn't know the correct meaning of the term McGuffin .

[Tyranicus]

Quote:

Originally written by Dikiyoba:
I remember using the "back to start" command after completing the demo of A2 as far as possible just to see what was beyond the barriers while waiting for the registration key. That one additional outdoor section my party could travel around (though I couldn't enter any towns) was fascinating.

I did the exact same thing, but I kept getting killed by the giants.