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Arx Fatalis, developed by Arkane Studios, is a solitary first-person role-playing game that was originally envisioned as the third game in Looking Glass Studios' Ultima Underworld series, following in the footsteps of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Though the developers had the blessings of Looking Glass founder Paul Neurath, acquiring the rights to use the Ultima name from Electronic Arts, who had obtained them by purchasing their original publisher, Origin Systems, proved to be too difficult, and the idea of making it an official Ultima Underworld title was eventually abandoned. Despite not bearing its name, many elements of the final product, from its level-based underground structure to its runic magic system, will be immediately familiar to anyone who has played an Ultima Underworld game.
Plot
The events of Arx Fatalis take place in and around the city of Arx. Long before the events of the game, Arx was a prosperous city led by the noble King Poxsellis. This would soon change, however, as in the year 216 a meteor fell to earth, and soon thereafter the sky began to darken. Lunshire, the son and successor of King Poxsellis, seeing the gravity of this event, ordered the city to be moved into a nearby dwarven mine. The next five years would be an unprecedented time of cooperation among the races, as humans, dwarves, goblins, and trolls laid aside their enmities to ensure their collective survival. In return for their efforts, each race was given its own level of the mine. As work came to an end and all began to adjust to their new home, the sun over Arx went completely dark, and the surface world became a frozen inhospitable wasteland. Other fortresses such as Arx exist, though they can only be reached through dangerous treks across the planet's surface. Finding themselves in close proximity with their neighbors, the old animosities between races soon flared once more, and life in the underground world of Arx is every bit as contentious as it was on the surface.
It is in this setting that the game begins, with the protagonist Am Shaegar awakening in a goblin prison. With no memory of his identity or purpose (Am Shaegar literally means "The Nameless One"), he immediately sets out to free himself. Not long after this is accomplished, he comes across the remains of a human outpost that was recently beset by Ylsides, a group of fearsome warriors. From there, Am Shaegar slowly discovers the plans of a shadowy cult intent on calling forth Akbaa, the God of Destruction, and allowing him to take form in the world of Arx. Discovering his purpose, he sets out to stop the cult of Akbaa or, barring that, to banish Akbaa back to the Noden, the realm of the gods, where he belongs.
Gameplay
Being that it was conceived as an Ultima Underworld title, gameplay in Arx Fatalis is heavily reminiscent of Looking Glass' signature RPG in many respects. Much like the aforementioned game, Arx Fatalis drops the player into a fairly large underground kingdom complete with various factions and hostile forces. Interacting with the world from a first-person perspective, players are free to approach the game at their own pace, with numerous side activities such as cooking and fishing available. While exploration is a key part of Arx Fatalis, it is not quite an open-world game, as the main quest line is very linear, and many parts of the world will be inaccessible until one has reached a certain point in the story. Nevertheless players are encouraged to go off the beaten path, often being rewarded with secret areas or new side quests for their efforts.
Exploring the environment yields other benefits as well, as many types of items, such as potions, weapons, and food, can be created by the player provided they have the proper components. The latter is of particular importance, as In addition to raising one's overall statistics as in any RPG, players in Arx Fatalis are also tasked with maintaining the health of their avatar, with Am Shaegar needing to eat in order to stay in good condition (though he does not have to sleep as was required in Ultima Underworld).
Main Races of Arx
With the cataclysmic climate change forcing their journey into the depths of the earth, the disparate clans of the surface world suddenly find themselves in very close proximity. Though an initial treaty ensures the cooperation of all races as they voyage underground, it is not long before old tensions resurface and the tight quarters of their new subterranean abode leads to disagreements. What follows is a list of the major factions that exist in the underworld of Arx.
 | DragonsAmong the oldest and most powerful of the races of Arx, dragons are said to inhabit locations that reflect their abilities. They are intensely reclusive, so much so that many do not believe they exist. Due to the infrequency of their interaction with other races, very little is known about the origin and nature of their kind. Though they are usually not actively hostile toward outsiders they encounter, the problems of the rest of Arx do not seem to concern them, and they are usually reluctant to aid others when they do not personally benefit. For reasons unknown, all dragons possess no more and no less than 4,815 scales. |
 | DwarvesA race known for its industriousness and ingenuity, dwarves are typically craftsmen, tinkers, or smiths by trade. While other races live underground out of necessity, dwarves do so by choice, and can often be found much deeper below the surface than the people of other civilized nations. Having honed their talents in mining over decades, the exodus from the surface world put a premium on their skills, and many dwarves were influential in the creation of the various subterranean chambers the other races would come to inhabit. The location of what became the city of Arx was once in fact among the largest mines in the dwarven kingdom. |
 | GoblinsThe most populous race of Arx due in no small part to their high birth rate, goblins are also among the surliest and most mistrustful of all underground inhabitants, being particularly suspicious of Humans. Due perhaps to a lack of strong leadership, goblins have never been able to translate their advantage in numbers into any real position of power, though they have cornered the gemstone market in no small part due to their exploitation of the slow-witted trolls. Aside from trolls, they have trouble outsmarting other races, though they are not above other forms of skulduggery when it will get them what they desire. |
 | HumansHumans are possibly the least well-suited to life under the surface, and as a result are not often found far from it. Nonetheless it was they who instigated the massive migration that saw the displacement and relocation of all the people of Arx, as well as the treaties that led to the creation of their new underground homes. These treaties did not hold long past the initial exodus, though humans still see themselves as leaders among the various underground populations despite their status as newcomers. |
 | Rat-MenLike dwarves, the rat-men were accustomed to life underground long before the migration. Often living in the sewers of human kingdoms, they are scavengers much like the common rat. They communicate non-verbally for the most part, which has not led to solid relationships with other races; these poor relations only worsened with the exodus to the underground, as the rat-men moved deeper into the earth, becoming even more elusive. Worsening the matter, they often attack outsiders on sight. They are lithe and nimble creatures, making them natural assassins. |
 | Sisters of EdurneumSecond only to dragons in their mysteriousness, the members of the Order of Edurneum are a secretive and poorly understood group that is skilled in the arts of magic. Several basic facts about the sisters are unknown, such as their origin and manner of reproduction. In the absence of knowledge, many rumors have sprouted, such as notions that they are responsible for the creation of all magic in Arx. Though their overall goals are unclear, these serpentine women seem to have a particular interest in humans, having helped them at several crucial stages in their history. |
 | TrollsWhile most similar in appearance to goblins, trolls could not be more different. Though not smart, trolls are generally easygoing and good-natured creatures, a fact that goblins are apt to exploit. They are not quick to anger, but when they feel they have been wronged their minds are not easily changed. Trolls are beings of simple pleasures and small ambition, and while they seem vaguely aware that the goblins are taking advantage of them, they are not particularly motivated to do anything about it. |
Character Progression
Players in Arx Fatalis do not choose from preset character classes as is common in many RPGs, but rather decide their specialization entirely through the selection of attributes and skills. A player's attributes are a selection of four statistics (Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Constitution) that govern their overall strengths as well as determining what skills they have an affinity for. Skills are specific talents that represent a character's proficiency in a certain talent, such as melee or spellcasting. With each level gained a player may assign one point to an attribute and fifteen points toward skills.
Attributes
Strength - Determines damage inflicted by physical attacks and ability to use heavy equipment.
- Associated Skills: Close Combat, Projectile Weapons, Object Knowledge
Intelligence - Determines overall mana points and magic resistance.
- Associated Skills: Magic, Ethereal Link, Technical Skill, Object Knowledge.
Dexterity - Determines critical chance and accuracy in combat.
- Associated Skills: Close Combat, Projectile Weapons, Stealth, Technical Skill, Object Knowledge
Constitiution - Determines overall hit points, physical resistance, and ability to use heavy equipment.
- Associated Skills: None
Combat
Combat in Arx Fatalis will be instantly recognizable to fans of Ultima Underworld. Melee and ranged combat alike are initiate first by readying one's weapon, which initiates combat mode. In this mode, a small gem appears at the bottom of the screen, which is the charge indicator. This indicator will slowly illuminate the longer the attack button is held, with a full charge being much more powerful than a normal strike. Furthermore, holding any direction when pressing attack will result in a different strike depending on the direction, from an overhead blow to a powerful thrust.
Supplementing the combat system is an optional stealth mechanic which allows players who are skillful enough to avoid detection altogether. As is typical in such games, attacking from behind while undetected yields a significant damage bonus, and players with high enough stealth rating can pickpocket as well. Whenever a player is in conditions conducive to stealth, such as dim environments, an icon of a crouching man will appear in the lower left of the screen to indicate that the player's presence is hard to perceive.
Magic
Like much of the rest of the game, the magic system in Arx Fatalis is heavily inspired by Ultima Underworld. As in that game, spells are cast through special runic symbols whose associated runes must be found and memorized before use. These runes do not represent spells in and of themselves, but rather components of spells, with each rune possessing a fixed property that, when combined with other runes, can create various effects. To prevent the player from having to rely on trial and error in order to discover spells, the Spell Book is automatically updated with new possible rune combinations when a new rune word is memorized, though there are some spell that can only be discovered through experimentation.
Once the necessary runes are contained in the Book of Magic, a spell is cast by tracing the corresponding symbols in the air. In order to prevent frantic spell casting in the midst of battle, and also to allow easy access to frequently used spells, up to three spells can be pre-cast and stored. Any pre-cast spell can be unleashed with a single button press at a later time.
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Food Preparation
Though it is a fairly rudimentary one, Arx Fatalis contains its own in-game food preparation system that allows for various types of consumables to be combined, cooked, or both. Most of these recipes consist of simple, one-step procedures, such as heating raw meat in order to create cooked meat, though a few of them are slightly more involved. Baking an apple pie is perhaps the most complicated recipe, as it requires the player to create dough, roll it, add apples, and then cook it. What follows are some of the more common food combinations.
Recipes
- Water & Flour = Dough
- Dough & Fire = Bread
- Dough & Rolling Pin = Uncooked Pie
- Dough & Apple = Uncooked Apple Pie
- Any Uncooked Pie & Fire = Cooked Pie
- Any Uncooked Meat & Fire = Cooked Meat
Potion Mixing
Though slightly more involved than cooking, potion creation follows the same basic idea of item collection and combination. There are three steps involved in creating a potion. The first step is to convert the component ingredient into a powder through use of a mortar and pestle. Next, the newly created powder must be funneled into an empty bottle. Finally, the ingredient must be heated with a distillation apparatus to create the final product. All potions are created from plant matter, with each plant producing a set type of potion.
Formulae
- Fern -> Poison
- Medicinal Herb -> Antidote
- Morning Glory -> Mana Potion
- Snowdrop Flower -> Invisibility Potion
- Water Lily -> Life Potion
Later Support and Source Code Release
In an unusual move, Arkane Studios, nearly a decade after the game's initial launch, patched Arx Fatalis to version 1.21, primarily to increasing performance and compatibility on more modern systems. The game's source code was released at the same time, and while it is uncommon for a single-player game to be patched so long after its release, some speculate that it might be a means of increasing awareness of the relatively unknown developer before the announcement of their newest project.
Original System Requirements
Minimum
- Operating System: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
- Processor: Intel Pentium II 500 MHz
- RAM Memory: 64MB
- Hard Drive Space: 750MB
- Video Card: 16MB DirectX 8.0-compatible
- DirectX: 8.0
- Sound Card: DirectX 8.0-compatible
Recommended
- Processor: Intel Pentium III 900 MHz
- RAM Memory: 256MB
- Video Card: 32MB DirectX 8.0-compatible
System Requirements (PC)
Minimum
- OS : Windows XP / Vista
- Processor : 1 GHz processor
- Memory : 256 MB RAM
- Graphics : 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7
- Hard Drive : 500.9 MB available space
Recommended
- OS : Windows XP / Vista
- Processor : 1.4 GHz processor
- Memory : 512 MB RAM
- Graphics : 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 9
- Hard Drive : 500.9 MB available space
Availability
Arx Fatalis can be purchased at GOG and Steam.
