ADOM Deluxe Review

It is always refreshing to experience a game that plays by its own rules and strays far from the norm when it comes to both style and substance – at least in the context of the modern gaming scene. ADOM: Ancient Domains of Mystery is one such game. It is simultaneously an enthralling and maddening experience that is brimming with more statistics and probability equations than baseball, and contains rich content and a colorful narrative that is in many ways as epic as a Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls title. Yet, ADOM is a frustrating paradox of virtually endless gameplay and exploration that gets largely handcuffed by a limiting firewall of permadeath – an infamous feature shared by most from the largely niche genre known as the “rougelike.” This means a single death will result in a complete wipe of your game, forcing you to return to the drawing board and undergo the demoralizing process of starting all over again.

Despite the endless frustrations of dedicating a great deal of time and effort building up a seemingly unstoppable elementalist, or a speedy and evasive assassin, only to see them abruptly meet their bitter end, I generally felt oddly compelled to jump back on the horse and give it another go. And while this may speak more to my own stubbornness and determination, it perhaps equally speaks to the quality, as well as the sheer breadth of content ADOM provides for those who remain dedicated to its cryptic and unforgiving gameplay. The game proves to be an RPG that simultaneously tests your skills, your patience, and your wits, dishing out the most disheartening of penalties to those who fail, but on the flip side, offering a nearly unmatched sense of accomplishment to those who choose to answer the call.

Upon diving into ADOM on Steam, you will very quickly notice that this is no typical RPG, despite the deceptively cartoony and simple-looking graphic tile-set this remake utilizes. Once upon a time though, during the game’s original iteration for the Linux and Amiga back in the 90’s, a now-ancient graphic style known as ASCII was used, providing the absolute minimum of visuals. Imagine playing what essentially boils down to a computer program, from which all elements within the game are merely represented by a variety of colored letters, numbers and symbols. While this concept may seem absurd and archaic to us coming from the modern day context of insane hardware horsepower and flashy graphics that are approaching photo-realism, at the time this was a viable option for experiencing certain types of games. In fact, there are still some diehards that swear by such methods, as its minimalist approach allows for the endless potential of one’s own imagination to fill in the gaps, much like reading through an epic fantasy novel. As a result, an open-ended RPG/rougelike such as ADOM offers as much of an endlessly rich and rewarding experience as the gamer’s own imagination, as well as determination, allows for.

The charming and simplistic pseudo 16-bit style that has been slapped on to replace the endless jargon of symbols certainly gets the job done, and instantly makes a niche title more palatable to the common gamer. The colorful and detailed sprites go quite nicely with the game’s medieval fantasy flavor. Unidentifiable symbols now emerge as more visually interesting enemy and NPC sprites, and scatterings of blue and green characters are now fleshed out as grass and water tile sets. At the same time, these cutesy graphics almost act as a sort of contradiction within the game, as they tend to undermine the complexity and depth that stirs under ADOM’s cryptic and difficult-to-crack exterior, and clash a bit with its gritty gameplay and dark atmosphere.

To go along with this more modern and casual-friendly visual style, most of the game’s endless list of possible commands can now be engaged by relatively simple menu scrolls and mouse clicks. You can still chose to play the game the knitty-gritty way by entering the endless series of commands; which allow everything from movement, to item usage, to searching for doors, to kicking objects or enemies. You can even be instantly transported back to the good ‘ol days of black backgrounds rife with the mostly indecipherable ASCII characters just by pressing the F10 button which, even if you have no intention on going through the drudgery of this old fashioned style, still comes in handy on occasion as a quick overworld map. While the laundry list of commands are still in place however, the new Steam version now allows the game to be played more like a traditional RPG, with a hint of point-and-click adventure and RTS in there as well. You can merely mouse over to a point of interest, and the game will generously present you with a list of possible commands.

Even with these more “hand holding” elements liberally placed in this modern rendition – which also include a somewhat convoluted and overwhelming tutorial as well as help menus – you will still find yourself spending a great deal of time just getting acquainted with the countless menus full of item/player statistics and keyboard shortcuts. Shortly after you’ve begun the journey, and spent a bit of time fumbling around with these elements, you will likely then find yourself playing around with random items and experimenting with cryptic mechanics. Next, you’ll probably proceed to explore the shrouded world around you, or plummet into one of the massive randomly-generated dungeons, before promptly running into a monster that is well out of your league, or run into a deadly trap, before meeting your swift doom. Then you will wonder just what you did so wrong in the game to warrant such a quick end. Finally, after cursing angrily at the screen, you will feel strangely compelled to return for another run and more abuse. At least now though, you will possess a tad more knowledge which will help you to prepare better during the next run. The first few attempts at playing ADOM are not unlike dipping your feet into a scalding hot tub – it feels harsh and overwhelming at first, but little by little, as you begin to slowly submerge, you become more and more comfortable to the enjoyable experience it provides.

Unlike a hot tub, however, ADOM is far from a relaxing undertaking. It will require you to have your wits about you, and will often force you to think ahead several steps and weigh your options, like a game of chess. Do you proceed to the next level of the dungeon, or retreat towards the nearest town and stock up on food rations first? Should you put that earned stat increase towards increased agility, or spend it on literacy in the hopes that you can decipher that random spell scroll you scooped up earlier? Do you engage that intimidating looking enemy as you anticipate he will drop some valuable loot, or bypass him to conserve your power points for the upcoming boss? The game is absolutely rife with choices like these, each one branching out to further possible outcomes, and the constant threat of permadeath looming overhead adds further weight to these choices. Strategy and cunning is the key to survival in ADOM. The game is absolutely relentless, and can strike you down with one mere fatal error, causing you to constantly walk on eggshells during a seemingly hopeless journey for glory through the corrupt and violent world of Ancardia.

Everything from rigged doors, to starvation, to poison, and even sacrifices by crazed Chaotic NPC cultists, can bring your unlikely hero to an abrupt end. You can drown from poor swimming skills, run into an ambush of overpowered monsters (I’ve learned the hard way to stay away from the swamp), accidentally zap yourself to death by a wand or spell, or become randomly stuck with “cursed” or “doomed” items that will increase your likelihood of demise. Sure, you can perhaps be rid of the latter burden by utilizing the unique ability to pray or sacrifice to one of the various gods (which you can also utilize as a last-ditch healing move during the heat of a battle), but there is no guarantee they will assist your lowly mortal hero, and you may only succeed in angering them.

While these dangers certainly add to the adrenaline-pumping amusement and drama of this epic adventure, I couldn’t help but feel that the game is essentially rigged to work against you in some aspects. Even for the relentless roguelike standards, there are just too many ways to screw up, and many of them are seemingly outside of your control to anticipate, much less deal with appropriately. Even a seasoned ADOM veteran of many years will likely tell you that he or she still struggles to even come close to completing one of the many endings this game provides, because there are just too many ways to die, whether by personal neglect, or from a particularly unlucky sequence of events that they could not overcome.

To go along with the seemingly infinite amount of ways to be killed, and the countless paths that could lead you there, there are an absolute plethora of statistics, races, abilities, and even a series of zodiac signs to customize your hero with. All of these, in one way or another, provide your character with various strengths and weaknesses, and add to your list of contemplations and decisions to weigh right from the get go. Each class, race, and star sign comes with its share of benefits and blemishes, though some are more newbie friendly than others. There exist certain class and race combinations make for stronger characters, like a High Elf Healer or an Orc Barbarian, while others will prove to be less-than-compatible combinations which force you to truly earn your stripes to make any real progress. Some classes are more obscure, and specialize in non-combat aspects that may benefit at later stages in the game, such as weaponsmiths, farmers, and merchants. Even many of the melee classes seem to come with their share of dangers though, as I often ended up running into an overpowered enemy mob that completely kicked my teeth in before I even really knew what hit me. I found it far simpler to use the magic oriented classes, particularly the Elementalist, as it is one of the few that comes with spells pre-learned. You are also given carte blanche to stand back and zap, burn, or freeze your enemies into instant oblivion. This allowed for minimal risk, provided you keep a close eye on your power points.

In some ways, ADOM plays like those tabletop RPGs of old, complete with massive amounts of text to read through regarding rules, descriptions, and backstory, as well as an endless array of strategies to use within a broad framework. Like a Dungeons and Dragons tabletop experience, you are forced to work within the boundaries of an elaborate, yet rigid set of rules controlled by an in-game programming logic that works with countless pieces of information, statistics, and probabilities. You are granted a somewhat random set of assets right off the bat, each with designated sets of stats. You will notice the descriptions of your weapons and armor provide a series of characters that seem to resemble math equations more than RPG statistics. One example would be (+1, 2d5+3), which means your weapon would give you one point of damage, plus additional points based on the total sum of 2 5-sided dice, plus 3 more damage points… Seems elaborate and strange at first glance, but put simply, it is just the game’s method of melding predetermined attributes with an element of randomness.

Your armor will come with two main statistics – DV and PV. These are essentially different varieties of defensive abilities, the former of which is similar to what many more common RPG fans would recognize as “evasion,” while the latter is more like your typical defensive power. These numbers depend not only on the item itself, but also draw from a hodgepodge of factors from your race, to your class, and even some seemingly miniscule stats such as your satiation level. Then there are spells, which bring a truly convoluted looking algebraic-esque equation that, in short, factors in a combination of the player’s level, willpower, spell efficiency, and distance to travel to its target. You can quickly see how this game adheres to more to the more technical and strategic side of gaming rather than the more linear flashy and cinematic-heavy games that populate the modern era.

The combat takes on a sort of Final Fantasy Tactics vibe, placing static enemies within a grid and allowing movement in only one of four directions within a turn-based system. Yet, despite ADOM stressing the tactical and the complex in many aspects, the fighting mechanics are actually quite basic in many ways. This is ironic considering you will spend the majority of the game taking on a massive and diverse pallet of enemies. The simplistic nature of combat nearly reaches a disappointing level, as the bulk of it consists of taking turns landing swift shots at the opponent, which are laced with extremely minimalistic animations (though some of the spells look mildly neat). In all fairness, I still generally found these swift battles fun despite the repetition, though a large part of it could be attributed to my giddy anticipation for much needed experience points, and the random assortment of treasures you are gifted following a victory. And considering how frequently the enemies are randomly thrown at you, perhaps having quick and easy fighting mechanics is the better way to go anyway.

You will need that extra time to constantly monitor your character’s situation, analyze your intricate stats and identify items, chat with NPCs who give you subtle bits of a surprisingly entertaining backstory, detect traps and hidden doorways, create potions, and generally plan your attack for the next dungeon crawl and/or quest. You can even spend some time at the casino or take on farming if these sorts of activities are your forte. Assuming you live long enough to take advantage of these diverse experiences and abilities, ADOM provides an almost Minecraft-esque level of both personal customization and freedom.

Make no mistake about it, ADOM has the potential to offer near endless replay value if you are up for the prevalent (yet often rewarding) onslaught of abuse. A large amount of time could be spent simply playing around with the massive amount of various race and class combos, as there are an absolute plethora to choose from, and everybody will find a different preference. But that is only the beginning of the critical decisions the game throws at you. As you progress, you will tweak your skills, abilities, and even get to choose your path, Fable style, towards either a “lawful”, “neutral” or “chaotic” alignment. These alignments affect your abilities, circumstances, and overall experiences throughout the game. Between the randomized dungeons scattered throughout the perilous grassy and mountainous overworld, as well as the random items you are given each playthrough, you could see how ADOM ensures a truly unique experience every time you set forth for a new adventure.

Unfortunately, it was sometimes difficult to summon the desire to dust myself off and set forth for that new journey after investing hours in a failed one that preceded it. While the game gets far more interesting and unique as you progress, you will generally find yourself having to go through the same motions again to kick off your adventure, at least during the first couple hours or so. This includes basic tasks like gathering enough food, talking to the same NPCs to earn the same quests (which generally include slaying some boss or NPC) and uncovering the same familiar landscape on the overworld. Things like this bring the game to the verge of feeling like a chore at times after repeated playthroughs. And its cruel nature almost guarantees that you will be starting over and replaying these first couple of hours repeatedly, particularly if you are going into it without doing a fair bit of online research and/or are unfamiliar with the strange and unforgiving intricacies of the rougelike dungeon crawler.

The absurdly random and relentless difficulty is a barrier that will ultimately act as near immediate dividing line. While the spruced up graphics and more palatable interface at least partially help to provide a less intimidating and more casual friendly RPG experience, this game still will only appeal to a rather small niche. You will likely either “get it” or you won’t. For those who do get it however, the game’s brutality and the trials and tribulations that await even the most hardcore of gamer ironically acts as one of ADOM’s greatest appeals. It is such a difficult challenge to master enough to the point of gaining real progress, let alone complete, that it provides virtually endless replayability.

On top of this, it also brings out that competitive spirit of trying to outdo your last performance and reach that nearly unreachable zenith of finishing the game; a notion almost as rooted in fantasy as the premise of the game itself. The addition of the leaderboards, along with a surprisingly detailed list of your in-game action and achievements, further adds to this characteristic of self-competition and provides enticement to commence a new journey with a new race and/or class. And for those gamers who are intrigued enough to keep their ADOM experience going but are too frustrated to carry on in the main game and the vulnerability that comes with it, the Steam version also includes a weekly challenge mode that throws different situations and goals at you. There is also an “exploration mode” which will grant you a handicap in the form of a wand from which you can summon any in-game asset or ability. This inevitably allows you to venture farther and reach those more interesting moments that you may have spent months pulling out your hair to fight your way to otherwise.

These little additions offer a nice diversion and change of pace from the typical ADOM grind, though the main single player mode will provide more content and gameplay than you will ever need anyway, as long as you have the patience and the stamina to keep trying. Even though I perished countless times, it was reassuring that I usually found myself progressing at least a tad farther, and ending with a higher score each time. You continue to die, and you learn from your experience, which increases your chances (however slight) to make a significant run next time around. If I were to keep pressing on for several months, who knows? Perhaps one day I could possess the ADOM expertise gathered from my hard lessons of heroes that have long passed on, and reach the gaming holy-grail of ADOM by conquering the vast Caverns of Chaos while achieving an “Ultra Ending.”

ADOM is an experience that some will cherish, and others will loathe. But if your style of gaming includes challenging obstacles that reward cunning and persistence, while tossing hand-holding simplicity aside; and if you crave a rougelike RPG as deep as your imagination and your patience allows, you will likely find ADOM more that suitable to fill your needs.