HWM Singapore — May 2017

82 HWM | MAY 2017

Torment: Tides of
Numenera is a game
plucked straight out of
the 90s and fused with
modern mechanics. The
backgrounds are in HD and
characters are fully 3D,
which look decent from
both afar and up close. If
you zoom in though, you’ll
ȴnd neat little touches like
cloth swaying in the wind or
trees rustling.
Torment puts you in the
shoes of the ‘Last Casto΍’.
Previously the body of an
immortal being called the

CONCLUSION

Satisfying

modern-retro

romp with an

emphasis on

role playing

rather than

action.

Torment’s isometric view is both

charming and archaic.

Changing God (who changes

bodies whenever he tires of

them), you gained your own

consciousness when the

Changing God left you for

another host.

Over time, the game

graduallyȴlls you in. Akin

to a ‘choose your own

adventure’

book, Torment

places heavy

emphasis on

reading the

mountains of

text thrown at

you. It does get

tiresome, but

luckily, the text

is wonderfully

done, with

colorful

(sometimes

graphic)

descriptors of what the

game wants you to know.

Talking, interacting with

stu΍and exploring take up

the bulk of the gameplay.

Combat is reminiscent of

the early Fallout games

where an area is cordoned

o΍and everything is

governed by turn-based

action points, from

movement to attacking.

You can avoid most of them

though through using your

Might, Intellect or Speed

points (depending on the

class you chose at the

beginning of the game).

These points also govern

the success of actions you

can take while

interacting

with people or

things.

Fun as the

game is, there

are some

notable issues.

Scrolling isn’t

as smooth as it

should be, with

hitches as you

move around,

interact with

characters,

and screen stuttering.

This happens even on my

PS4 Pro with Boost Mode

enabled. Then there are the

insanely long loading times.

Going from one area to the

next can take upwards of

ten seconds.

Despite itsȵaws, I still

found myself enjoying my

time with Torment. It’s an

8.0/10

TESTED & RATED

SINGAPORE

PICTURES

INXILE ENTERTAINMENT

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2PSNCOU2GBCTPD,VNCOCS?
@YSalehuddin Husin (GameAxis)

interesting RPG, a type

rarely seen nowadays, much

less on a console. Those

weaned on Joe Dever’s Lone

Wolf books will deȴ nitely

dig it.

AT A GLANCE

DEVELOPER

inXile Entertainment

PUBLISHER

Techland Publishing

PLATFORM

Windows, Xbox One,

PS4

GENRE

Role-playing

PLAYERS

Single

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