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Kraven · 11-04-2004, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeN

Finally, the game itself is supposedly really short.

Well, just to give you a taste of how long it is, I have a total of almost eight hours of gameplay (I played it last night after work for another 6½

) and so far I've only completed 14% of the total game

So I don't know how short is short to them, but I'm still only on the second "level" I suppose it is. You start in Eregion and move on to the mines of Moria. I'm in Moria right now and only just moved on to Eastern Moria (since there are two parts Western & Eastern). It's been pretty fulfilling so far. And I'm not arguing with you about the length, just disagreeing with what IGN had to say.

As far as the rest of their comments I have to agree that they're right on. With the exception of the lack of "shops" to buy equipment, I don't really find that a mark against the game. You get everything you need from the treasure chests you find scattered throughout the levels. These treasure chests provide you with everything you need, healing potions, armor upgrades, weapons, rings, brooches, elfstones, etc. So the choice to not include stores is pretty warranted since you get the same system with the chests instead of the laborious nature of finding a shop, searching through all its inventory to find the best value and equipment and then bartering for a trade.

Also since there is no shop system there is no money. Which makes it a smoother system (for me anyway) because you don't have the extra worry of what I stated before, finding a shop, buying, trying to sell to get the most money, etc. It cuts out all that extra work and you get a better system. You keep all the previous items you found. So if you upgrade to a steel breast plate from your leather one, the leather plate is still in your inventory. Same thing with rings and elfstones. This enables you to switch out to the item that best suits your need at the time. One ring may be more powerful against a boss than the one you're wearing, so you switch them out on the fly and can fight with those stats. Instead of selling objects that may appear obsolete, you may need those "obsolete" items for a future enemy.

*gasps for air* Anyway, look for my review soon. I chose not to read IGN right now because when I write a review I don't want any outside "distractions" that may influence me either consciously or subconsciously while writing my own thoughts on the game.