Everyone remembers Diablo, with its dynamic hack n' slash, complex yet simple quests, and of course the countless amounts of obtainable weapons and accessories. Most of us wish for a new volume of Diablo to add to our libraries. Unfortunately, it appears we will not be receiving one of those anytime soon. In the meantime, we are going to be offered Silverfall, the latest title by Monte Cristo Games and Atari. In recent months, we have been bombarded with several MMORPGS: World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes to name a couple, and several others are on the way. Apparently, Monte Cristo has a way to compete with such stiff competition - massive player controlled options.

The main story is set in a world of fantasy dominated by the opposing powers of technology and nature. You must choose between these forces in order to conquer all forthcoming quests and save the principal city from falling. Two companions will accompany you on your journey through the fascinating world of Nelwë. Decision-making is key throughout the game, as your choices influence both storyline and accumulation of skills. In fact, the decisions you make will determine which ally you have for the final battle. You will start by creating your character, like most traditional PC RPGs. You will be able to choose from several character traits, like skin color, hair, and sex of the character, which will play a different role for the story accordingly. Throughout the game, you will also have the ability to receive up to 121 skills for total customization of your characters. Each race - humans, elves, trolls, and goblins - will have their own unique skill set, but you will not have to follow those exactly. Defeating your enemies will unlock new skills and attributes that you will be able to use to modify your character throughout the game. The decisions you make will determine more than the final battle. From how you customize your characters to who your ally will be will determine the physical structure of Silverfall, as well as the items sold through the shops.

The appeal is that you will not be doing this all alone. There will be up to eight companions scattered around the land and up to two of them will join your quests. Unfortunately, you will not control them, but you will be able to control their A.I. behaviors. The downfall to setting this and then journeying out on a quest is that if one of your members isn't cooperating the way you'd want, you'll have to travel back to town in order to change their behaviors around, this will most likely harm the fluidity of the story. In addition to the main storyline, you will be able to experience new storylines and quests through the cooperative mode with up to eight other players. The up side to this will be the new storylines, however the downside to this is that once you start a game using co-op, you will have to finish it with those same people until it is over. As a bonus, you will be able to export your already built up character online, which negates the need to start from scratch when playing online. For more of a player-controlled story, the game will ship with an editor that will allow you to write your own storyline, drop in monsters, and construct your own environments. These player created storylines will also be available for play in cooperative mode. The main quest and the cooperative play will not be the only source of hours of play either. With over 200 side-quests to complete and an extensive amount of items to collect, you will greatly broaden the already ample amount of game time to over 25 hours.

Graphically speaking, Silverfall does not look that impressive. This may be an unfair judgment because the only source for graphics are the screenshots. However, if the screenshots are any indication of the details in the game, the environments look decent. Unfortunately, it is the character shots that leave you puzzled. With the heavy dark lines surrounding the characters, the screenshots give a discerning cel-shaded appearance. While many reports say that the game will not be cel-shaded, it is unknown for sure at this time. The score of the game will represent both sides of the conflict. From the musical samples available on the game's site, you can tell that there is a distinct difference between the technological and nature sounds. Overall, Silverfall could become a cult sleeper hit over the next few months. With a growing need for complete customization racing through the market, we could finally have a title that will satiate our appetites. Even with judgment still out on the actual game, Silverfall is shaping up to be an entertaining title, especially with its massive strict player control over the storylines. Silverfall is set to hit stateside towards the end of March so be sure to check back for our full review.

By Matthew Walker
CCC Freelance Writer