Nox (Windows)

Once again, Westwood has brought a near-perfect dungeon hack to the table with Nox.

A necromancer who was orphaned at birth is out to take over Nox.

The powers-that-be decide to get someone from our universe to help defeat this nuisance.

They choose Jack.

One day Jack is casually sitting in his living room waiting for his favorite wrestling show to come on.

The antenna and TV are not working and Jack begins beating on the set.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a white light envelops Jack and propels him into a land of wonderment and adventure called Nox.

As the story opens, Jack has landed on an airship.

The captain will only let him go if he hands over that "strange box." Jack agrees to hand the TV over and the adventure of his life begins. Well-acted NPC's and a slew of sidequests make Nox almost infinitely replayable.

Three character types are available to the player; the fighter, the conjurer, and the wizard.

The stories of each different class begin in a different part of the Land of Nox.

The branching plotline is well thought out and level design is quite good.

Weapons and inventory systems are easy to navigate and even easier to manipulate. The navigational interface leaves some to be desired due mainly to the use of the right mouse button for walking and running and the left mouse button for other actions.

This little snag became a bit tedious in some situations in the game.

Nox is presented in a beautiful three-dimensional isometric view that is very pleasing to the eye. Nox isn't without problems.

While the NPC's are well acted, they have the same general reaction every time that you either talk to them on the street or visit their shop or shops.

There is a very odd tendency for NPC's to wander in and out of all the private buildings such as houses that aren't theirs, which I found very odd.

There are no inventory-based puzzles, but that doesn't hurt the game at all.

The sidequests range from the mundane to the fantastic and provide a good bit of amusement along the way. A patch from the game's official site allows the player to add more quests into the game.

An excellent multiplayer mode allows you to challenge another player or conquer the Nox universe with a friend.

The game is more akin to Diablo than Baldur's Gate, but Nox provides hours of entertainment.

Review By HOTUD