Presentation : C
Graphics / Animation / Sound
Dwarf fortress is a very unique game I would have to say. It uses ASCII graphics, meaning all you Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) players might be familiar with this one. But the creators were not going for a graphic intense game they, wanted it to have a very open world and let you do just about anything you can think of, but the graphics can stop that process. Although the game is still in Open Beta and the creator Tarn Adams says they are still working on a lot more for the game, Dwarf Fortress has endless potential and there is no true end to it.
Obviously the sound and graphic quality is low but the games makes up for a lot in all the other categories. This game pulls from the most graphically intense program and computer, your brain. This is obviously a game for those with large imaginations and hardcore gamers, and if you have both of those qualities then this game can become very intense.
Single Player : A+
Game mechanics / Length / Difficulty
I have thought about this section over and over in my mind and I can’t give this section lower than an A+. The game mechanics, length, and difficulty of this game are wild, there is nothing bad I can say about this section. The Game mechanics are unworldly, they allow you to do just about anything. Feel like killing that grass? Go ahead no one cares. If you thought games like Skyrim and Fable had a lot of “free world roaming” and “do what ever you want” features this game out does them all with the amount of stuff you can do. And the funny thing is, they are still in Beta, they aren’t even done yet! The world is as big or as small as you want it, the difficulty can be set to easy, medium, or hard and the world is always changing and full of history based on what you do. Make a dwarf fortress that was destroyed 3 games ago? It’s still in the history, you can even play adventure mode and explore your own ruins.
The length of the game is pretty much, as long as you live, so just build and prepare for battle and random disasters, they are going to happen! This game can be ridiculously difficult based on what setting you have set and what random encounters you have. All in all I’ve never seen a game like this before and I don’t think we will see a “Graphically Intense” version of a game like this for years. Minecraft? Ha! Childs play.
Multiplayer : D
Game mechanics / features / Online features
This game doesn’t really support any type of online features, but you can save your world settings and history and a lot of people in the Dwarf Fortress community will pass them around to each other to check out and see what they have done. So there is still some form of multiplayer but not much.
Replay Value : A
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC / (If retro does it stand the test of time?)
This games’ replay value is non stop for anyone who enjoys this type of game. You will have endless hours of fun bashing creatures, making new legends and fortresses and even making new worlds to explore and create. I would be surprised if this game doesn’t last for years to come and, when everything is actually finished, be there for multiple gaming generations. This kind of game is a building block and an inspiration to other games. There really isn’t any DLC or Bonus content, but there really is no need for it, the game generates everything it needs itself. Even the Creators don’t know what is going to happen to you, and that is a lot of the fun!
Overall : B
I’ve never truly felt I needed to give an explanation about an Overall score before but I feel I should for this game. I only gave it a B for a couple of reasons. True the game is very graphically lacking but that isn’t really the true reasons to it. It is the difficulty of a non hardcore gamer to pick up and play. If I hadn’t already played games with ASCII graphics before I wouldn’t have had a single clue what I was doing from day one, and the game is very difficult to figure out how to play. But the game has so many redeeming factors to it I couldn’t score it any lower either.
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