Enclave Preview
We take a hack at this impressive hack-and-slash game from Starbreeze and Conspiracy.
Xbox owners looking for a new hack-and-slash game won't have to wait much longer, since Conspiracy Entertainment and Starbreeze Studios' upcoming action game, Enclave, is slated for release later this month. But unlike most games of this type, Enclave is structured differently--in that it has an incredibly rich storyline, two different single-player campaigns to choose from (light and dark), and a somewhat nonlinear progression that encourages exploration throughout each of its incredibly detailed levels. You can also select from a cast of different characters, each of which has noticeably different strengths and weaknesses that will be exposed as you move from level to level.
Enclave begins by telling the story of a great battle that was fought over a magical land. Seeking this world for himself, the demon Vatar sends his massive army into the magic lands, where they are met by fierce resistance from its inhabitants. Vatar's forces come close to winning the battle until the wizard Zale strikes his staff into the ground, causing Vatar to fall into a massive rift that forms beneath his feet. The magic lands are saved, and the city of Celenheim is established. However, as years pass, the rift starts to close in some areas, allowing the remnants of Vatar's forces, known as the Dreg'atar, to cross back into the magic lands and lay siege to Celenheim. The city raises its taxes to provide funds for its defense, which causes many of its inhabitants to start uprisings within the city itself. Your journey begins as an angry citizen of Celenheim, who has been thrown into jail.
The first character you'll play as in Enclave is the knight, who initially has no weapons or any other means for attack because his weapons were confiscated after being thrown into Celenheim's dungeon. But after a massive fireball strikes the walls of the dungeon, you're able to free yourself from the prison. Naturally, the knight is more adept at melee combat than any of the other characters in Enclave. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's quicker with a blade or that he even inflicts more damage on enemies, but later on in the game, he'll have access to incredibly powerful melee weapons, like morning stars, while the other characters will be restricted to daggers and other small blades. In addition, the knight can use shields, which become incredibly valuable as enemies become faster and stronger.
Melee combat in Enclave can be a little tricky at first. All the characters have a variety of slashes to use, depending on how they're moving around while engaging an enemy, but these slashes won't automatically make contact--you have to constantly move your character around to ensure that you'll actually hit an enemy. This is made even more complicated by the fact that some weapons are slower than others, making it difficult to get adjusted to the timing of an attack. However, the same rule applies to the enemies in the game, so you can move in, hit the enemy, and then move back or sidestep to avoid the attack. In fact, if you don't use that stick-and-move strategy in Enclave, you'll find that your character won't last very long. Switching to the first-person perspective may help some feel a little more comfortable with the combat.
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- Conspiracy Entertainment
- Starbreeze
- Fantasy Action Adventure
- Release: Jul 29, 2002
- ESRB: Mature
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