Although Revenant has arrived at a time when PC role-playing games are at their strongest, it would be wrong to dismiss it as a beardy weirdy fly-by-night with nothing much to offer the average PC gamesplayer. Okay, so Revenant is a distant cousin of the original Diablo (which is now getting on a bit), and the game's designers have obviously played a bit of Baldur's Gate, but essentially what we have here is a professionally put together 'scrolling' adventure with enough depth to occupy anyone prepared to take it seriously enough.
Spells, wizards, swords and sorcery may never have been presented so 'hirsutely' in the past (except maybe in Garriot's worst efforts), but if you're willing to forgive the fact that the main character is called Locke D'Averam (of The House of Averam), and that the game is full of giant spiders that drop gold coins and chicken drumsticks when you kill them, then you can have a large amount of fun with it.
Graphically, Revenant is very refined. The isometric graphics are excellently drawn, and the interface is familiar and easy to get the hang of. The combat is real-time and draws more from the influence of famous beat 'em ups than from hard-core dice-rolling systems. The only stumbling block is Revenant's storyline, which is trite and cliched. Burnt out, ageing purists will scoff at the cheesy dialogue and dodgy voice acting, but those with thicker skin will stick at it and enjoy what is otherwise a highly competent role-playing game. Revenant is not going to change the world but those of you who like your 'cheese' will enjoy it.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
