Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura Gets the Steam Treatment

It took the game quite a while to find its place on the biggest digital storefront for PC, but it’s finally made it. Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura is now available on Steam for $5.99/€5.99/£4.99. The title probably needs no introduction for visitors of this website, but in case you are not aware, it’s a steampunk-meets-fantasy RPG developed by the folks at Troika, whose founders came directly from Interplay’s Fallout 1 team.

Arcanum presents a compelling vision of a world where technology and magic are constantly at odds with each other and presents the players with a complex tapestry of mechanics. Unfortunately, the large number of moving parts, the fact that the game catered to the preferences of both turn-based and real-time fans, and the large amount of content ultimately lead to an extremely buggy game at release. These days, fan patches are available, but basic balance problems still affect the game.

To be honest, I have my bones to pick with Arcanum. Dialogue often isn’t very memorable, the plot takes a nosedive halfway through the game and becomes total nonsense near the end, and the interface is incredibly annoying to use. That said, the benefits — its memorable quest, the sheer scope in terms of possibilities, the great music, just to name a few — greatly outweight the negative, and I highly recommend you give the game a chance if you haven’t already but like the genre.