This game is one of those gems that just didn't do as well financially as it should have...it had a unique setting, a fun story, and great gameplay and still I never heard of it until I saw it in a game exchange years after its release. I feel that it was most likely missed by most people due to other big games that released around the same time. What I liked so much about this game is that the setting was interesting, they had the guts to base a game entirely underground where the sun had gone out, the races had tunneled underground to live, magic was used to grow food, and the spells were really innovative (shields that seal up doors, set magical traps, summon creatures, etc.) and original. The enemies didn't level with you so if you wandered into an area while you were too weak you basically had to retreat or get your butt handed to you.

Another thing that made this game neat was the level of interactivity with the environment and objects. Fire spells light torches, you can use objects to repair other objects, weapons could be poisoned, food could be cooked, you could fish by creating a fishing pole. On a totally unrelated note I was addicted to the music that the bard played at the castle, it was beautiful. All in all I loved this game due to the fact that it was a truly original idea...I hope that any future games released by this company will utilize the same level of interactivity and creativity when it comes to plot.

What did you like or dislike about Arx Fatalis? Did you miss out on this title that somehow managed to stay off the radar and gain a cult following rather than explode?

What is this game?! i haven't see that before!!!
must be awesome

My favorite part is the writing runes in the air thing.

My favorite part is...everything.

Mine is well, a no brainer, its the dang magic system!

Never had I had so much fun casting spells, i remember at my best i was drawing the runes for fireball and some of the more complex spells within seconds (i timed my fireball, just around 1.85 seconds to 2 seconds)

P.S.: word of warning for arx fatalis newbies, dont cast summon demon or greater demon summon, YOU'LL REGRET IT (giant mutant rat killed me)

I like the sound effects of the game. In Morrowind, I didn't enjoy the sound effects as much. The interaction with the actual objects were a little bit better in some ways than Morrowind was too. I like how there was more actual voice acting in the game than Morrowind was. Basically, I like this game more than Morrowind, if not equal to Morrowind. If there is a cheat in the game tons of cash by just entering a cheat code such as one cheat code enter for like 10,000 gold or something, then I would definitely like the game more than Morrowind.

I liked how blatantly old-school it was in its design - a nice chunk of nostalgic dungeon exploration, spread over 9 levels. It wasn't the most innovative of games, but I enjoyed its spell-casting system, messing around with items and splitting goblins in half with a battle-axe. Reminded me a lot of Ultima Underworld...

I also remember being quite freaked out by the crypt mission - it seemed to go downwards forever. Very claustrophobic and atmospheric, and the sound effects were cool.

Was a sequel ever planned?

I like everything about Arx Fatalis! It is such an epic game, which deserves so much more attention than it has received! Now that Bethesda has acquired it, perhaps it will get some more attention, but not enough!

I also missed the game when it was first released. I first noticed it when re-installing Gothic 2 some years ago to play that again, as that came with a demo of Arx Fatalis. So I bought it, and I loved it!

I bought Arx Fatalis quite a few years ago for 20$ at Gamestop, pretty much an impulse purchase (having recently gotten off my Morrowind-furlow), and I absolutely fell in love with it. The game is great, very old school. The design philosophy is very much first person immersive sim RPG. The spell casting was marvelous. You had to draw runes on the screen in real time with your mouse in order to cast spells. Took the difficulty of combat casting out of dice rolls and put it in the simulation. Extremely atmospheric and great exploration elements. Spelunking for Gandalf.

Some cool moments I remember.
* Having just got out of goblin prison with only a dagger (and having dumped my stats into spell-casting and objects), I come across this intimidating Goblin Lord. I need to get past him so I pick up an object and throw it to the other side of the room. I sneak over to this cell and pull a lever while he goes to investigate the sound. The gate opens. The goblin sees me. I run inside. The goblin follows. I run outside, and just as the goblin is underneath the gate I pull the lever again sending it crashing down. Goblin's head is torn off and blood spurts everywhere.

*The first time I was just randomly putting runes together that I thought might form a spell and actually cast something similar to what I was trying to do.


* Summoning a demon thinking it will destroy my enemies. Only to have it turn around and attack me.

I remember getting terrified when the

"I'm Hungry" The many ways to acquire food to fulfill the Hunger need was a nice addition in the game.

Cookiing food ! that was such a cool feature, and a nice surprise.
I'm glad Bethesda aquired this IP, couldn't think of anyone more suited to take care of this franchise.
PLEASE MAKE ANOTHER ARX GAME!

Same here. Its a great system. http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj125/Gizmojunk/ARX-3a.gif

**And has deducible undocumented spells hidden in it ~As well as an Ultima Underworld easter egg spell (whose runes don't exist in the game as stones, but are easy to guess)

Am I the only one awaiting a sequal? Wouldn't that be awesome?

Oh wow, I freakin' loved this game when I played it forever and a half ago. I still have it on the Xbox, lol.

Yeah, the magic system is the thing I remember the most. I remember beating the game then going online to find cheat codes for a second playthrough and finding that they were input using the magic system. I was just like "Oh, you clever girl."
Also, the dwarven forges.

@Mister I hope they make a sequal too!

err....no.
I'm sure everyone here wants another game , also there's my post only 2 above yours...

Cooking is the best , spells are a bit annoying for freshmen but they are fun for veterans

Wow! This was a title I thought I had seen the last of. Soooo glad I am wrong.
I loved a lot of things about this game. I appreciated that you could prove to yourself the outside was a death sentence by opening the door to the outer world and being flash frozen. I loved that the game artists weren't afraid of saturated primary colors. The place was creepy and grungy and beautiful at the same time. I dare say, if this game had come out with a toolset, and was as easy to modify as morrowind, i would consider this title over mw. the main drawback was having to be a dirty dude. my satisfaction in the gameplay overshadowed the games quirks and bugginess, if you gave me a copy right now i would play it.



Arx is on the same buy twice list as Arcanum, Mw and TOEE.

And... You could get the bards drunk, and they would play off key.

There's something therepuetic about cooking food on an open fire or grill

Seriously though, the fact that the cooking mechanic is in there is an indication of the developers appreciation of having 'simulation style' software systems powering parts of the game experience. That's what I like about old games such as the Ultima series, specifically Ultima 7 Parts 1 and 2 as well as Ultima Underworld. If done correctly such game systems enhance the sense of immersion you experience while playing. Too many games rely far too much on pre-baked, one-off, highly scripted scenes at the expense of a truly immersive world you feel compelled to explore. The very best games have both simulation AND highly scripted gameplay mechanic in them. That's what Todd Howard and his team are quite good at and is why the Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3 titles are some of my favourite games to which I keep coming back to for replay.

A friend of mine once said "If I die I want to go out in style, travelling at terminal velocity while skydiving."

"Me too!" I replied, knowing full well I'll be found slumped over my PC keyboard playing one Zenimax / Bethesda (also Bioware) game or another

I have faith that Arcane's next game will not dissapoint.

Arx comes from a time when games still required a usage of brain to beat. Easily the best casting system, right after Black & White that was a tiny bit more polished (imo). Puzzles anyone? Now those were some serious puzzles that took me a lot of time to figure out. Not like those sorry excuses for puzzles we got in that recently released extremely popular game.

I know right... I seriously hated the puzzle in the crypt to get the Shield when I was like 12. I raged on for several days, and then said [censored] it and stole Krahoz...

I demand arx 2! i also am happy to announce arx fatalis as one of the greatest games in the world. alongside system shock 2, deus ex 1 and vampire the masquerade: bloodlines.

Actually, this is the spiritual successor to that great gem of a game! *(Dev confirmed) Ultima could've still been around here today if not for the diabolical E.A.'s act of brutally murdering U9 and thereby sealing the franchise in it's vault...UOL doesn't count as MMORPGs svck in comparison to single player games.