Nethergate - Review @ GameShark

Dhruin

Dhruin

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It's rare to see a review of a Spiderweb game on a larger site but GameShark has a critique of Nethergate: Resurrection by well-known writer Troy S. Goodfellow (1up, among others). The score is a sold 'B' with the aging engine and long text exposition criticised. Inexplicably, the lack of automap is also listed as an issue -- which left me confused, because you can see the Automap button clearly in the screenshots provided, down in the bottom left. Am I missing something? Here's a clip, anyway:
It’s a stretch to say that if you’ve played one Spiderweb game you’ve played them all, but there is a lingering sense that each new game is a module on an existing engine more than a new experience. Vogel has set himself up as a story teller, and this story is pretty good. It’s got the usual ancient evils and ethnic misunderstandings, but it makes effective use of literary devices beyond the usual fantasy clichés. There’s dramatic irony (Romans love to talk about how awesome Nero is); legendary tropes (three magic hags) and a little humor (a battle of the sexes within a spider colony.) And the Celtic side of the story is parallel to the Roman. You have two separate adventures here with one side fighting for freedom and the other keeping the empire together.
Click to expand...
More information.
 
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And if you are going to sit and map every dungeon you enter, the more familiar the better.

That’s right – no automap. The game’s “Book of Answers” is certainly helpful in places, but in some circumstances you will be left to figure your own way out of the maze. And the cheat book’s maps are just one more step toward helping you, well, cheat. But that’s part of the buy in – you know going in that Spiderweb cuts corners on things that gamers take for granted in modern role playing games. At least there’s no 1-800 hint number.
Click to expand...

What have I missed here? You couldn't possibly miss that big Automap button - especially as an experienced writer...is he using the term in some way I don't get?
 
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No automap in the zoomed out mode, but it certainly has an automap in dungeons etc.

edit: oops I checked again and it does have automap in the zoomed out mode as well.
 
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Amusingly the text "That’s right – no automap" appears directly below the "Automap" button in the screenshot.
 
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