We've recently been given a chance to delve deep into the world of Arcanum, the Victorian fantasy RPG in development at Troika Games. As is commonly known, the team at Troika consists primarily of Interplay alumni, whose past credits include Dungeon Keeper, Fallout, and Fallout 2. Naturally, we had high expectations as we approached this beta build of the game. Fortunately, what we've seen has, for the most part, impressed us--the game seems huge, deep, and open-ended. The world of Arcanum presents you with a humbling array of options from its very outset, and the theme seems inspiringly consistent throughout. Those anticipating an experience similar to Fallout will find their hopes to be spot on--the team at Troika has lived up to its legacy quite well and seems to have delivered an experience as intricate and engrossing as that of the Black Isle classic, in a world just as lovingly crafted and believably populated.

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Arcanum--as the game's world is called--is a fantasy realm like no other. Set in a world just on the heels of its industrial revolution, the game takes all the trappings of high fantasy and sets them alongside steam engines, assembly lines, and industrial economics. In the world of Arcanum, magic-wielding high elves coexist with gnomish bankers, orc wage slaves, and dwarven mechanics. The dichotomy between magic and technology is very real; magic users cringe at the sight of a steam-driven locomotive, while electric lights flutter and fail in the presence of magic. All of this has a tangible effect on the game's systems--if your characters specialize in spellcasting, scientific constructs, such as guns and medicines, will often prove useless to them. Conversely, if your characters are staunch technologists, magic spells will flicker in their presence, robbing them of the ability to be magically healed, hasted, or otherwise enhanced. Luckily, the game's character-generation system is very versatile and open-ended, and it lets you walk the delicate line between magic and technology--if you're so inclined.

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As you'd expect, the system bears more than a superficial resemblance to Fallout's S.P.E.C.I.A.L system. The classless system lets you allocate character points to attributes and skills of your choosing, granting you the ability to specialize in both broad and specific areas. You can learn both magical spells and technological disciplines, on top of a host of useful weapon proficiencies and skills. You can also set your characters' backgrounds--Arcanum's version of Fallout's traits--which grants them bonuses but also imposes penalties. Simply put, the number of options presented is staggering--80 spells are divided into 16 magical colleges and 56 technological schematics (technological equivalents to spells), which are divided into eight disciplines, and that's not counting the skills. From the game's very outset, you're made to learn that specialization is key.

All the characters you'll encounter, however, have their own sets of skills and affinities, so you'll definitely have access to skills you may have missed out on if you enlist the proper characters into your party. And with a world as rich as Arcanum, you'll definitely be motivated to do a good deal of exploring for such a purpose. For more information on the game's character-creation system, check out our previous coverage.