Avernun Escape from the Pit is a masterpiece

[StranglingManiac]

Have any of you tried this gem? I was never aware of this series but have recently bought the game for my iPad Mini and I must say this has been my best mobile or portable gaming experience to date. This game is huge and in an open world sort of way. Plusthis is some or the best storytelling and writing since Tolkien wrote TheHobbit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwnYfNLHo0U

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""You have been banished to the underworld, never to see the light of day again.

The surface is ruled by the cruel Emperor Hawthorne, master of the Empire. All of the known lands are subject to his brutal command. Everyone who speaks out, who misbehaves, who doesn't fit in is cast into the dark, volcanic pits of Avernum, far below the surface. There, you are expected to die, a victim of starvation, horrible monsters, or simple despair.

But not all of the Avernites have surrendered. With magic and steel, they are forging a new nation deep underground. You can join them and fight for safety. Or freedom. Or even, if you dare, revenge on the surface-worlders who tried to destroy you."

I love the little touches of storytelling in this game through quests. There was a battle that was frozen in time in an orb, for instance, long ago between humans and demons. Inanother quest i started going up higherand higherthrough underworld tunnels hoping to reach the surface only to dind out it was blocked by an outside force with an insigma or emblem of the empire as you try to reach the surface for freedom, or how some of the warriors were a sun insigmia signifying their yearning to return to the surface and see the sun again one day against all hopeless odds.

There are also secret societies or groups in the game, one of them found blue crystals that speak wisdom as you look into them and no one kmows where they came from or who made the, but they were here before the first expedition. They may prove a way out.

[KaioShin]

I haven't tried Avernum yet, but I played a bit of Avadon, which is from the same developer. It's definitely solid. I played it on Steam, but with the lofi graphics I think the game would be better on tablets/smartphones too. Need to revisit that game in any case.

[thr]

I liked the series much better when they were still called Exile. somehow they managed to make their games look and feel worse with the transition into 'modern' isometric, pseudo 3-d graphics.

[MegaManJuno]

Only really familiar with it in its original incarnation (Exile). From what I recall, there was a lot you could do in the game back then, even in the unregistered shareware version.

[Sinthet]

I played the shareware version of Exile and it was pretty great. Never got too far into the game, but I love the freedom it gave you.

[SCO]

Geneforge 5 is a masterpiece. Multiple factions (8 or so), multiple endings, multiple ways of delaying faction choice (most notably, the stealth 'path') and stealing stuff.

Avernum and Avadon are boring sequential grinders. Exile is supposed to be better than all of them and they're the remake and the remake of the remake.

In fact, i stopped playing Spiderweb Software when i realized Avernum 6 has the quest targets marked on the map. I don't hold with quest compass.