Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau chose the 17th century because it’s a “moment in history where exploration was important”affinity for two-handed weapons,
meanwhile, got us out of a pinch on
more than one occasion.
Speaking of which, if you’re looking
for in-depth combat Greedfall,
doesn’t quite deliver. Bouts are just
a simple case of knowing when to
parry and dodge before you go in for
the kill yourself – even the few boss
battles won’t force you to shake up
these tactics much. A powerful ‘fury’
attack can be unleashed to deal
heavy damage once its meter is fully
charged, but it all just comes across
as a little uninspired. Luckily, much
of this is made up for by the ability
to craft gear or improve it by way of
slotting in key items. All the effects of
these can definitely be felt in battle.
Fall down
There’s a lot to be desired just from
a pure technical perspective, too,
sadly. Because, despite looking quite
beautiful at times – the many open
forests and dense city spaces make
great use of believable lighting –
nothing will distract you from the
story more than the incredibly poor
lip-syncing, repetitive interiors and
rampant texture pop-in. None of these
are enough to ruin the experience
when taken alone, but occasionally
they’ll occur in such quick succession
that it’s impossible not to be sucked
out of any immersion; Greedfall’s true
identity as a mid-tier title aiming
for double the scope is revealed in
these instances. At best, it adds
to its charm. At worst, though,
these hiccups rip you out of what is
otherwise an engaging tale.
In the end, Greedfall can’t quite
muster up enough of its own creative
ideas to usurp any of the RPG greats,
but that doesn’t mean its tendency
to riff on established traits makes it
any less endearing. There’s a clear
attempt here to bring the best of
Bioware, CD Projekt Red and certainUbisoft epics together all under one
roof; it’s just that sometimes doing
this serves as a reminder that there
are other, more polished games out
there in this vein you could be playing.
Saying that, Greedfall understands
that sometimes smaller is better.
As such, a pared-back scope and
thoughtful quest design absolutely
works in its favour. QTALKING
TREES
For all the ways
Greedfall lets you
approach scenarios
with your choice of
either stealth, combat
or silver-tongue
strategy, it’s a little
disappointing that
there aren’t more
dialogue options used
to swerve the story.
When these
opportunities do crop
up, they merely give
you an option to
simply agree or
disagree with a
task-giver. Although
companions will at
least comment on
these goings on, and
even interact with
one another. So, the
more you change up
your party members
the more likely you
are to hear what they
think of a situation.“Nothing will
distract you from
the story more
than the poor
lip-syncing”
FAR LEFT You are
placed in hub
areas, rather
than a wide
open world.
RIGHT There are
several items of
gear De Sardet
and their party
can equip,
tiered from grey
to gold.OXM VERDICT
A mishmash of all
your favourite RPG
classics, distilled
into an ambitious
colonial adventure.7
LEFT Creatures
are inspired by
various fantasy
tales, adding to
the uniqueness
of the setting.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 089REVIEW