DESCRIPTION

Though Helen of Troy's face may have launched a thousand ships, it never brought a warrior back from the dead. But that's just what the rescue of Lord Tendrick's daughter, Andria, calls for. Enter the Revenant, Locke D'Averam, plucked straight from a curvy crucifix in Anserak (the "Hell of Hells") by none other than Lord Tendrick's sly sorcerer Sardok. Locke D'Averam's mission: to save the town of Misthaven (indeed, the entire world) and rescue the damsel in distress from the evil Children of the Change cult.

A Revenant, defined literally as one who returns after a lengthy absence (including death), might not particularly like the sorcerer or noble who summoned him — or appreciate the fact that he's been brought back at all — but as part of the summoning spell, the Revenant is obligated to obey his master. The Revenant's memories are erased upon return, but the skills he held in his former life can eventually be relearned, with practice. In the case of Locke D'Averam, both his memories and skills are coming back to him at an accelerated pace, as he ventures throughout the Isle of Akhuilon and discovers his true purpose as it pertains to the fate of the world of Ur.

Revenant features an original interface for a CRPG, based primarily on joystick or gamepad control. By training with Jong, the combat master, players can learn a number of combination attacks, which make use of multiple input buttons. Should players so desire, keyboard or mouse control is also available, or any combination of all three devices. Locke is able to both walk and run through the world, and he has a number of diving and blocking moves that help him defend himself. Locke's movements, as well as those of the other characters in the game, were developed using motion-capture technology, so much of what players see onscreen is quite fluid.

There are also plenty of moving set-pieces, such as hand-puppets on one of the streets in Misthaven and rolling ocean waters coming in along the island's shoreline. A number of sound and light effects decorate the gamescape as well, such as with the pulsating teleporters that Locke uses to teleport back to Misthaven, where he can sell or acquire magic items, weapons and armor. Also, the cut-scenes feature enough graphical quality that some players may confuse them for video.

Aside from movement, Locke makes his way through the world by conversing with or overhearing Revenant's other central characters. For every dialogue option, Cinematix Studios included professionally accented voice-acting.

The game did not ship with a fully developed Multi-player Mode. Currently, only deathmatch-type multi-play is available, where players assume the role of one of the adventurers in the game and have at each other online. Cinematix Studios plans on incorporating a more developed Multi-player Mode in an upcoming patch.

Revenant also features an original, talisman-based magic system. As he acquires the talismans and learns how to combine them, Locke becomes able to create more and more of the 3D-animated spells, including single-attack spells, such as Fire Flash, which engulfs a single enemy in a painful burst of flame, defense spells, such as Nourish, which creates food for Locke to eat and replace health and mana with, and area-attack spells, such as Quicksand, which temporarily sucks all the baddies onscreen down into a swirling pit of damage-inflicting swampy-looking goo.

While Revenant borrows generally from the common CRPG motifs (wizards and warriors, medieval-heroic setting), the specifics of the game are noticeably original, both technologically and aesthetically. Aside from what's already been mentioned above, Locke will encounter a number of unique monsters, such as the acrobatic Druhgs (pronounced DROOgs), the ninja-like Ramage and even a colorful dragon or two, or three. While the weapons Locke can use are pretty much standard fare, many of them do have unique abilities. The same goes for the magic items in the game, such as the amulets, rings and bracelets. Every piece of armor that Locke wears is drawn in full detail onscreen; this is true for every different weapon he wields, as well.

Cinematix Studios also included a game editor for those adventurers out there who are unsatisfied with the world as it is. Created levels can be exported and imported via the Web, offering a possibly endless variety of scenery for Locke to lose himself — and perhaps find himself — in.

Whether you're interested in a hack-and-slash graphic actionfest, a subtly penetrating storyline or you just get a kick out of leveling up and developing your character, Revenant swings broadly and aims to satisfy. ~ Gil Shif, All Game Guide