First Impressions:

Graphics:

Provided you have a decent 3D video card and the processor power to run it, The Wheel of Time is a feast for the eyes. The buildings, sky, water and even rock faces look almost lifelike. Water splashes as rain falls into it; Lightning lights up the surrounding scenery; Fires give off smoke; Even the bloodstains look realistic, and wounded enemies can be tracked by following the blood trail. The entire environment shows fine attention to detail and will likely make you sit around for several minutes just drinking in the sights. At least until some Trolloc comes along and starts harassing you.

The characters are well drawn, along with their clothing and equipment, although many show a curious lack of emotion on their faces. In the later levels, you will come across an enemy known as Machin Shin. The first time I saw it, I just stood there and watched in amazement until it killed me. Really! The special effects too, are unforgettable, although once the action starts, you might not pay too much attention to them.

Sound/Music:

The music is catchy and atmospheric, particularly with some of the later tunes which contain background noises such as drips, echoes and growls. Combined with the graphics, they add tremendously to the feel of the game. The sound effects are original and sharp, although not groundbreaking. Good use of the sound effects are present throughout the game, such as hearing the crackle of a fire around the corner and voices of enemies talking. Voice-acting is done well, although Elayna’s script sometimes sounds a bit forced. The other characters sound much better, on average, and their interaction makes for some very engrossing cut-scenes. Make sure you listen to all the character taunts in the game, or you’ll really be missing out on some hilarious lines.

Gameplay:

This is where The Wheel of Time really shines through. The story of course, lends much strength to this game. Each level is punctuated by masterfully done cut-scene movies, which help unfold the story. They are, however, rather large in size, and ‘skipping’ may not be uncommon throughout the movie sequences. The ending also seems a bit of an anticlimax, although considering that Legend couldn’t put too much in without infringing on Robert Jordan’s Intellectual Copyrights, it was probably the best they could do.

Character development is present throughout the game, although this is gained more from the cut-scenes than any actions the player does. The Wheel of Time remains first and foremost a first-person shooter, although it probably couldn’t have gone wrong with some in-game character interactions.

The interface is simple, if a bit messy. Your health, carried items and current status are displayed up the top left of the screen, while your available weapons are down the bottom. However, there are so many various ‘weapons’ (Actually called Ter’Angreal) in the game that it can be quite easy for one to forget where their, say, Reflect Ter’Angreal is located. There are no less than 40 different Ter’Angreals in the game, and only 10 can be used at any one time. Fortunately the game allows you to customize the Angreal Bar to place your most popular ones in easy to reach slots.

Another good point about the game is the tutorial. The tutorial itself could be part of the story, and fans of the novel series will smile at the way it was designed. (No secrets given away here folks! Play the game yourself!) It guides new players through many of the various actions and styles that the game will test the player with. Although it lacks a fighting tutorial, the player should be able to figure out rather quickly what to do in a fight. The game not only tests your speed finger skills, however. There are many points in the game where taking on your opponents head-on is an invitation to suicide, and careful study of your surroundings and environment can reveal alternate methods to victory. This was an excellent bonus in my opinion, and made for a much more enjoyable experience.

Enjoyment:

The Wheel of Time is one of those games that you rarely play through the Single Player missions again after you complete it, because you already know what is going to happen. Nonetheless, depending on your individual skill and/or desire to explore everywhere/do everything, it may take you a fair while to get through the missions. Because items not used in the previous missions are carried over to subsequent missions, you often have to watch your equipment and not go blasting away at everything you see, for there are several missions where there are very little supplies to carry you through.

A downside to the missions is that often they have but a single path to completion. At times this is beneficial, because some puzzles can take hours of brain-racking to solve, but overall, I would have preferred it if there were alternate ways of completing a mission. For example, in one mission I had to open a doorway where the switch was on a ledge high above me. The only way to get to it was to venture through this enemy-filled outpost. (Obviously the designers wanted you to go into the fortress!) However, perhaps they should have made it that if you had saved a Flight Ter’Angreal (Not present in the game, but it should have been!) from the previous stage and used it to fly up to the ledge.

The major drawback to my enjoyment of the game was having to turn off many of the game options for the game to run at a reasonable speed. The Wheel of Time is to date the only game I have ever seen that has a ‘Safe mode’. The instruction manual even gives several suggestions on how to speed up performance. Some options are not really noticeable, (such as blood trails and fog in the air) but others can make a lot of difference. (such turning Master Detail to Low. Everything starts to look really blocky and plain after that.) To some people, this may not be so much of a problem, but for someone like me who enjoys playing with everything on to get the full experience out of the game, it is a real letdown.

Multiplayer:

For those players looking to jump straight into the action with no strings attached, multiplayer offers two different variants: Arena (which is the standard Deathmatch "Blow away everything that isn’t you" style.) and Citadel (which is similar to Capture the Flag, although with a much finer grasp of strategy.) In Citadel, you each take control of a leader of one of four different factions (The Aes Sedai, The Whitecloaks, The Forsaken or The Hound.) and try to capture the other factions’ Cuendillar Seals. Meanwhile, you have to defend your own Seal from being captured. To do this you have not only your other team members, but several different forms of traps and units to place around your Citadel. The combination of all these factors leads to an interesting setup that requires both skillful fingers and a swift mind to win.

That being said, however, if in Single Player your game is already running like a drunken cow, it might be best if you stayed away from Multiplayer altogether. Unless your system is about a 750 MHz monster with at least 128 MB of RAM, don’t even try being a server. Even having a single player in your game can tax it immensely, and even crash it halfway through.

Overall Impression:

An engrossing, entertaining game, with many surprises lying in wait for players. Were it released maybe another year or two down the track, this is certain to have been a must-buy for everyone. However, if you’re a fan of the novel series, there’s no question. Buy it now! You’ll love this game!

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

This game seems to be fairly gender-neutral. While you are playing a female lead character, she is by no means represented as a simple sex object. From her speech to her clothes, Elayna comes across as being sophisticated, determined and tenacious. This impression is strengthened by her actions and her behavior in the movie sequences. No Lara Croft here, folks.