Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Reception

Reception

Upon release, Arcanum had mostly positive review scores, receiving two Editor's Choice Awards from IGN and GameZone with scores of 8.7 out of 10 and 90 out of 100, respectively. IGN stated that “the story is rich and complex,” praising the character creation, open-ended game play, and size of the game world. They also praised the game for its responsiveness to the player: “A well-adjusted Elf may get more information out of an aristocrat than a surly Half-Ogre, and the conversations you have will be completely different.” IGN did, however, criticize its interface, calling it “ very intuitive, bordering on downright clunky” and the in-game user interface “takes up over a third of the screen.” Gamezone called it a RPG with “some extra bite,” also praising the character creation and game play stating, “This one will be on your PC for months.” Additionally, they praised the “incredible range of equipment that ranges from standard such as swords and armor to rags and coal and empty cans.”

I was pleasantly surprised that I could construct Molotov cocktail bombs from garbage. Insanely cool

The game also received praise from The Electric Playground, which awarded the game 9 out of 10 and calling it "the most diverse and open-ended RPG to date." Game Revolution praised the game, particularly the character creation, stating, “Whomever you are, the world treats you accordingly.” but also criticized the graphics. Game Informer rated the game as 63 out of 100, GamePro gave it 4 out of 5 and Mygamer awarded the game 8 out of 10.

Gamespot gave the game a rating of 7.3 out of 10, calling it a “captivating and immersive role-playing experience” and praising the setting as a “great concept.” They did, however, claim poor combat, lackluster graphics, and unintuitive interface as the main criticisms: “There’s nothing flattering about the dated, washed-out, low-resolution graphics.” The game currently holds an average review score of 79% based on 37 reviews on GameRankings and 81% based on 24 reviews on Metacritic.