Sprawling retro dungeon crawler Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is out now on Steam, GOG, and direct from developer Spiderware Software’s website. Set in the underground world of the title, Avernum offers around 50 hours of blissfully nerdy CRPG exploration.
The first game in the series was defiantly old-school, perfectly capturing that feeling of playing through a classic ADD adventure module. The sequel looks to build on those fine foundations with a tonne of new magic items to find and enemies to smite.
It’s from the mind of Jeff Vogel, founder of Spiderweb, who’s spent his career specialising in demoware RPGs that eschew fancy graphics in favour of storytelling and deep tactical combat. They’re not for everyone, and the rough edges in the design do stick out awkwardly at first, but stick with them and you’ll find some really interesting world-building, and satisfying combat and exploration.
This one also promises three separate “game-winning” quests to defeat the bad guys, over 100 towns and dungeons, and 60 spells and abilities to try out, so it’s not short on stuff to do.
Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is on promotion on Steam for 25% off until January 21. GOG.com has a similiar deal offering £2 off the asking price.
