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Publisher: Spiderweb Software
Developer: Spiderweb Software
System requirements: Windows XP/Mac OS 10.4 or later, 800 MHz CPU, 32 MB graphics card with OpenGL support, 512 MB RAM, 200 MB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now
The very first PC game I can remember being enamored with is Dune II (the second game would be Starcraft). In fact, it was Dune II that prompted me to convince my dad that our home needed a PC. My first computer was purchased during my junior year of high school (2000), and if I remember correctly, I ended up killing the hard drive by filling it full of games and other nonsense. It’s now 11 years later, and I’ve found myself transported back to a time when games weren’t regurgitated piles of cud. If you have a moment, go to Avadon: The Black Fortress developer Spiderweb Software’s website and read their Promise page. Spiderweb’s passionate manifesto is a cuff to the ears of jaded gamers everywhere. The company offers a one-year, money-back guarantee with their games, versus the usual return policy we face: “If you’ve played it, you can only exchange it for the same game.”
I’m not a Spiderweb fanboy or loyalist. Prior to playing Avadon, I was unaware of their existence. But as a responsible game reviewer does, I’ve snooped around their website and lurked their Facebook page to get a sense of what they claim, compared to what their fans and detractors say. I’ve played Avadon. I’ve finished my snooping, and the results are in. I’ll admit that I haven’t finished it; this $25 game boasts more than 30 hours of gameplay, and when you have a backlog of games to review, 30 free hours is a luxury you don’t have. However, I’ve invested about eight hours in the game, enough time to get a sense of its mechanics and story. There’s a possibility that it takes a nose dive in the tenth hour and completely sucks. But if it does, Spiderweb has given you a year to get your money back.
 Avadon‘s story reminds me of the fantasy novels I’ve read and loved in the last half decade (Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time, the Night Angel trilogy). Avadon — or the Black Fortress — is the last bastion of hope for the corrupt lands of Lynaeus. The corruption appears to have bled into the political structure of the Pact, which has its headquarters at the Black Fortress. Your goal as a newly inducted protector of the Pact is to ensure its survival and the influence of the five nations that formed it. However, through encounters with mercenaries, members of the Pact, and Redbeard, the Lord of Avadon, you hear conversations that force you to question the Pact’s purpose and fortitude. While not every line of dialogue is worthy of a Pulitzer, the overarching story of the game is on par with novels you can’t put down. I usually could care less about a game’s story; I just want to blow stuff up and separate a few heads from their bodies. But with Avadon‘s extensive side quests and main story quests, I found myself engrossed in the story as well.
Spiderweb prides itself on retro-style graphics that give room for a deeper plot and game mechanics. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve played a game by a developer that exhausted their resources on visualizations, only to neglect the story’s immersion and features. Avadon is a full-featured, turn-based RPG, and if you’re not opposed to reading a lot of dialogue, I’m convinced you’ll love the game. The main quests and side quests include objectives that range from straightforward to “I wish I had an online walkthrough for this.” When you enter a new area, you’re given the option of selecting two (of 4) party members, whose classes include the quintessential warrior, assassin, shaman and sorceress. I was relieved to find that no matter which two character classes I choose to accompany me, the remaining two classes still level up while not being used. This allows me to experiment and tune my strategy without worrying about keeping the characters’ levels even. The graphics are a throwback to when an entire system’s combined memory and processing were far less powerful than a single GPU used in a current-gen gaming PC. But this is one of the reasons why I enjoyed Avadon so much. The game’s RPG mechanics are dialed in, the story is engaging, and not an ounce of resources is wasted on excessive system requirements. If you own a computer, it will run Avadon and you will enjoy it – unless you have no soul, in which case nothing can improve your gaming experience.
 After eight hours of gameplay, my only complaints are minor mechanics and soundtrack issues. For example, pressing the ‘G’ key brings up your inventory, but pressing it a second time doesn’t close the window. I found myself slightly aggravated at having to use my mouse to close a window that my keyboard opened. My other issue is with the repetitive background soundtrack. I’ll admit that I found the ambient noises preferable to silence, but more randomization and less transient peaks would have been nice (at times I thought I heard a baby talking). Beside those minor issues, the only other obstacles in the way of other gamers loving this game as I do are the text-only dialogue and turn-based fighting mechanics. But if you’re turned off by either of these, it’s likely that your problem is with the genre itself, not with any shortcoming of Avadon.
My infatuation with Spiderweb Software, its business model, and Avadon: The Black Fortress might seem premature, but it’s a product of being worn-down by AAA titles and their developers’ false promises. Avadon isn’t the prettiest game available, and the gameplay isn’t groundbreaking. But it’s things like the retro graphics and the mom-and-pop business model that have drawn me in. I don’t want a several thousand-dollar website and blockbuster-sized budget. I want an immersive game backed by a developer with integrity, and a desire to win fans one at a time. Spiderweb has that, and I hope they continue to honor us with games such as this one. The best support I can give to a company is to tell readers to buy a game. Buy Avadon. Neither Spiderweb Software nor I have any hesitation about standing behind its value.
Our Score: 
Our Recommendation: 
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Cool – I’m going to check this out. I’m a big fan of retro-style turn-based RPGs.
So ugly… =( still, I’ve downloaded the demo and am going to give it due diligence.
Hmm…
I started the game and beat the very first dungeon. So far so good, but a number of complaints too:
1) It let me select 2560×1600 resolution, but I still see a low-rez (1024×600) game surrounded by a black field.
2) Because of that everything is tiny and I often can’t see if there is anything on the floor. I had to play it with my nose to the screen, even though I have perfect vision.
3) It’s annoying that you cannot pick up objects by clicking on them. If I see something on the floor, I have to walk over to it and then open up the inventory to select “items on the ground”.
4) Some items are unclear on whether they have any use. I am carrying a rope, a set of dice, a scalpel and a pair of scissors with me simply because these are the tipe of items I’d pick up in a pen-and-paper DnD campaign, but I have no idea if they are just vendor trash or dead weight, or whether I can use them somehow.
Otherwise not bad, and not as ugly as I initially thought.
Oooo, I hope these guys do good and somebody shows up at their door with bags of money in both hands. We need more developers like this. I really find myself missing turn-based RPGs and strategy lately (esp. after the major letdown of Civ 5). Heck, I was almost ready to run out and buy a console just reading about Rainbow Moon!
@psycros:
I doubt the “somebody at the door with bags of money” thing will happen, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing because people that give you lots of money can also try to alter your vision to the extent you lose what you were noticed for in the first place. More likely is that a small but dedicated fanbase will support them, and low financial requirement of developing turn-based games that are not visually flashy or have gimmicky mechanics will allow them to survive where others crash and burn.
Hey guys, thanks for reading my review and for leaving input
@Marco – I’ve typically not enjoyed turn-based games, but I think that was because I didn’t understand any of the combat strategy. Now I’m warming up to it.
@Alaric – I figured out that a lot of items are in fact worthless and pointless (at least I never found a use). The only things I would pick up were the items worth the most. If I couldn’t use them I would see them. The inventory management can be discombobulating. I’m attributing that to Spiderweb Software being a very small developer and not having a lot of alpha/beta feedback during the development stages.
@Psycros – I share Ravenus’ viewpoint. I just hope Spiderweb Software gets enough money to continue doing what they love, free from corporate control, while making enough profit to make it worthwhile.
I’m just glad we get indie titles to look at on a regular basis. There’s a lot of good stuff out there, if only you can find it.
If an indie game does well enough to attract corporate backing, I would assume its because the potential sugar daddy sees the unique attraction of the product, and would be smart enough not to mess with the formula. If a publisher is just looking for the next WoW, Sims or CoD clone, why would he ever knock on the little guy’s door? He’d go to the usual suspects for his next round of rehashed titles.
It’s mostly an economics of scale thing. They go to smaller developers because their price tag is smaller. large, more competitive developers, have more people wanting stuff from them, so their time is more valuable. And they have lawyers, which are often a pain to deal with.
The game is actually utmost cool an we’re just running a giveaway of it on All Your Lives.
AS for publishing, indie games have their own channels now if you will, so their at less and less of a disadvantage, but admittedly far behind.
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