G
reedfalltakesplaceina fantasyworldinspiredby
Europe’scolonialage.YouplayDeSade,a maleor
femalecousintothefreshlyappointedgovernor
ofNewSerene.Thisis oneofseveralrecentlyestablished
citiesontheislandofTeerFradee.Actingasa diplomatfor
theConfederationofMerchants,youentreatwithrival
factionsasallthreeofthemsearchfora curetoa disease
ravagingthemainland,whilealsotryingtonavigatethe
delicatepoliticalsituationwiththeisland’snativepeople.
Structurally,GreedfallborrowsheavilyfromDragonAge:
Inquisition.Cutscenesanddialoguearebothdirectedina
similarlycinematicfashion,whilecombatisa hybridof
real-timeactionandpausabletactics.Thegameworld,
meanwhile, is broken up into around a dozen large regions
that can be explored freely, featuring side-quests,
collectible loot and other points of interest.
Greedfall’s most impressive features are the depth of its
questlines and the variety it enables in resolving them. Even
the simplest task, such as helping a native merchant to get a
permittotradeinthecity,willspiraloutintoa muchlarger
andoftenhigher-stakesstory.Atthesametime,most
questscanbesolvedthroughcombat,dialogue,stealthor
moreoff-the-wallsolutions,suchasblowinga holeina jail-
cellwalltohelpsomeoneescape,ordisguisingyourselfin
anappropriateuniformtobluffyourwayintoa specificarea.
Sadly,there’snoareainwhichGreedfallstandsoutover
andaboveanyothercontemporaryRPG.Thestoryis
interesting,butthere’snopaceorurgencytoit.Thewriting
iscompetentbutflat.Thecombatiswellanimatedbutlacks
spectacle.Thestealthmechanicsarefunctionalbutbasic.
Eventheenvironmentdesign,althoughundeniablypretty,
isoddlydrab,withthesceneryallpaintedintheshame
shade of russet.
In addition, Greedfall is thematically questionable. You’re
allied with a nation that has stolen the lands of a native
island people, building cities and consuming resources that
belong to them. The game tries to navigate this problem by
giving you the opportunity to take the side of the natives in
most relevant quests, and through
certain plot devices we won’t
spoil. However, it never gets
around the fact that, however nice
you are about it, you’re basically
the bad guy from the start.
Greedfall is by far the most
capable RPG Spiders has made,
but it doesn’t excel in any area.
The end result is a tale that’s
intriguing, but not especially
exciting. Nonetheless, if you’ve
exhausted most of the big-
budget RPGs, Greedfall is still
a capable game.
RICK LANE/VERDICT
A competent RPG,
but Greedfall’s
impressive array of
features amounts
to a strangely
inertexperience.OVERALL SCORE
60
EXPEDITION
+^ Pretty
environments
+^ Deep quests
+^ Varied solutionsLAND GRAB-^ Generally lacks
spark
-^ Drab colours
-^ Unexciting story
Greedfall/£39.99 inc VAT
DEVELOPER Spiders / PUBLISHER Focus Home Interactive