Hard to be a God - Review @ GameZone

GameZone posts their review of Akella's and Burut's action rpg, Hard to Be A God, giving it a rating of 7.5/10:

…while Hard to be a God has many elements standard to RPGs, it does step away from the stock fare in some nice ways. For example, you can choose different ways to overcome the game’s various challenges, other than merely use brute force. You can use diplomacy (if the chat options allow for it) to create alliances, and you can even work enemies into favorable locations where friendly units will assist…

At first blush, Hard to be a God is an ordinary RPG, but the game starts to unfold as you delve into the depths of the story. There are twists and turns and you will be wondering just what is going on half the time and the other half will involve thinking you have it only to be unceremoniously returned to the land of the befuddled. It is the story that drives this game.

Hard to be a God could have benefited from a better graphics engine, and more sound work. The ideas are there but the game stumbles in the presentation.

More information.

A better graphics engine??? What the heck is wrong with the one it has exactly? Its one of the more detailed isometric/top down engines out there.

It is? What engine does HtbaG use?

Regardless, the game looks pretty crappy. Fuzzy, too much bloom, awkward camera angle. Nobody is going to play this one for eye candy.

Oh well I guess we just see it differently. I thought this and Titan Quest pretty much had LOD nailed without incurring the kind of slowdowns you get in NWN2.

I agree that it isn't something that will sell off of screens and videos, but I also grate with the constant obsession of eye candy. If it is good, it is good. If not, it isn't. I'm playing Betrayal at Krondor now, and that is not suffering for the lack of pixel shaders and bloom …

txa: sure, I agree. Though there's a difference between low-quality graphics and badly designed graphics. HtbaG has a lot of the latter, especially when it comes to overkill on bloom.

Not sure why you'd compare it to TQ, Todd. TQ is made of a kind of bird's eye view and executes its 3D animations superbly. HtbaG has this weird high over-the-shoulder-turned-downwards camera and doesn't execute well.

Personally, I've grown quite a dislike of fixed camera angles.

Not as harsh as incgamers "turd" rating then?

Originally Posted by txa1265
I'm playing Betrayal at Krondor now, and that is not suffering for the lack of pixel shaders and bloom …

Nice. I just bought BoK cdrom version (enhanced music and other stuff), betrayal at antara and return to krondor. After quick demo testing they are as good as ever.

Currently Im listening through feists riftwar saga before launching krondor at which time I will read that book trilogy too to get more background details. It doesnt get any better than this.

If someone needs help, I've got the official RTK guide book here somewhere …
(Among my piles of books … )


To be seriously: The German-language package of "Hard to be a God" has the sub-title "An Hack- & Slash game with Role-playing elements" on its back …

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
To be seriously: The German-language package of "Hard to be a God" has the sub-title "An Hack- & Slash game with Role-playing elements" on its back …

That's how it's being marketed.

I don't think it's a really accurate, but it sure has elements of both hack 'n slash and RPG. Really just another Action RPG. But I think of hack 'n slash as a specific genre, which this game isn't in.

I see.

But to me, it also sounds as if "hack & slash" was the major point, and "RPG elements" were the minor point … like a meal to which flavour or spices are added.

That's the impression I got anyway.