Enclave

Enclave is a one-of-a-kind game that lacks in polish what it makes up for with its replayability and well-written story.

 

 

 

Developer: Starbreeze Studios

Publisher: Swing! Deutschland, Conspiracy Games, Vivendi Universal Games

Release date(s): July 19 2002 (EU), July 29 2002 (NA)

Platform(s): Xbox, PC

Genre: Action Adventure

 

 

 

First released in 2002 on Microsoft's Xbox, Enclave later witnessed a PC release in 2003. Though Enclave is without a doubt not without its flaws, it's still a very enjoyable game that offers a considerable degree of replay value.

Enclave picks up after the end of a brutal war between the Kingdom of Celenheim and the forces of the demon lord Vatar, known as the Dreg'Atar. During the final battle between these two warring factions, the wizard Zale gives his life to cast a spell that tears the land asunder, thus preventing the Dreg'Atar from sending reinforcements to aid their main force. 1000 years later however, the rift separating Celenheim from the rest of the land began to close and Vatar prepares to rise once again to take control of his mighty armies. Although Enclave places little emphasis on character development, the game still manages to present a fairly interesting narrative, driven to a greater degree by the events of the story rather than the characters. Siding with either Celenheim or the forces of the Dreg'Atar outland tribes, you assume control of a collection of nameless characters who are entrusted with important tasks by their leaders, that eventually lead them on a journey across the rift and beyond. Key developments in the plot are depicted primarily through a number of short, in-game cut-scenes. While Enclave's story doesn't do anything spectacular, it does present a few unexpected twists and turns towards the end, resulting in a satisfying and decent plot that gives context to the main characters' actions.

After choosing a side, the player embarks upon a number of missions that lead them through various locales, including deserted temples, castles, forested areas protected by elemental guardians and virtually every other setting that one might expect to come across in a typical D&D setting. Each mission usually involves getting from A to B whilst collecting gold and defeating the numerous enemies that block your path, in some cases acquiring several key items along the way.

Between missions you'll be given an opportunity to change the selected player character as well as his/her equipment, with the ability to purchase new weapons and armour using the gold collected during missions.Characters are divided into one of three types, including those focusing upon melee attacks, ranged attacks and magic-based attacks. While melee characters are capable of wielding strong melee weapons and shields, their ranged combat skills are somewhat lacking. Ranged characters in comparison are adept in the use of bows, but have no means with which to block enemy attacks, while magic-based characters are able to attack foes from a distance as well as block enemy attacks at the expense of some mana. For the most part this formula works well and the missions feel well-paced with plenty of action, and moments of respite when required.

Near the end of the game, the lack of a checkpoint feature can become a minor annoyance, as you approach the final portion of a long mission, only for a key character to die, thus forcing you to restart the mission from the very beginning. A greater issue however is the mission design itself. Some missions are clearly geared towards a certain character, which becomes evident after the fifth failed attempt at making it past the third group of enemies encountered, after choosing a character whom the developers didn't seem to expect anyone to choose for that particular mission. A prime example of this can be seen in the penultimate mission from the Celenheim campaign, in which the player is presented at the start of the level with a powerful melee-focused enemy, as well as a minimum of two ranged combatants who can easily whittle down a magic-based character's mana by forcing them to stop incoming attacks, before reducing their health to zero within mere seconds.Hit detection issues are also present, though this is more noticeable when playing as a ranged character.

Most of the time the AI does a good job of presenting you with clever and fierce adversaries to fight, but on rare occasions enemies will freeze up and stand on the spot until you move past a certain invisible line drawn on the ground. Other times enemies can be easily fooled into committing suicide by walking into environmental hazards. One mission in which this can be put into practice sees the player coming to shore and arriving on a beach guarded by a few ranged combatants. If the player moves close enough to each one, they'll draw their melee weapons and proceed to follow the player wherever they go – including into the water, which proves fatal for them (though for some reason, not the player).

Despite these flaws, Enclave's gameplay is still a very fun enjoyable experience, and the option of replaying most of the missions as any character from that mission's respective campaign ensures a great deal of replay value, even if this can sometimes present some scenarios that are nearly impossible for certain characters to overcome.

Most of the character models are fairly well detailed, though some of the characters' faces are lacking in areas and look too basic in comparison to the rest of the model. Environments also benefit from a high-level of detail and lighting effects, the latter which often create a powerful atmosphere for each setting. Water has been surprisingly well animated and; from a distance; looks fantastic. A scene that stands out as a prime example of this can be found during a mission titled 'The Sanctuary' while staring out towards a lake set against the backdrop of a golden sunset, as the sunlight reflects of the water.

Enclave features a subtle, if well-crafted soundtrack. Each track lends itself to give each setting a unique feel, even though a number of tracks are re-used for certain missions. Dynamic music adjusts to fit the situation, with its tempo increasing and decreasing when the player is in combat and out of combat respectively. The sounds of bowstrings being drawn, swords clashing and explosions going off all sound as they should. The majority of characters have also been well-voiced, though a few characters seem to have suffered in cases where their voice actor/actress has over-exaggerated and tried too hard.

Enclave is a game that; despite its flaws; ends up being a relatively solid game with decent gameplay and an interesting plot to back it up. A fun game worth purchasing, even if it is a little rough around the edges.

 

 

 

Rating 84/100