ōdi∙um

The Good
The graphics are excellent. The windows, the items, the background--they all sport high-quality art worth taking a look.

The models aren't detailed, but that could have been intentional to make the game run on slow machines, so it's fine with me.

Other reviewers compare it to Resident Evil for the plot and to X-COM for the combat, but in fact it's more like a turn-based spawn of the Diablo series, with the exception that the characters are done in true 3D and--let's be honest--it comes with a better inventory system.

As in the Diablo series, the music and the sound effect are unique and very effective for the mood.

The game mechanics allow you to do many of the things you wish you could have done on a multiplayer game of Diablo or Diablo II, or a single-player game for that matter.

The Bad
Except for the mutant, the allies you pick on the game are worthless, and all of them either get killed or betray you.

The scoring system is strange to say at least. Each character seems to make points in a different way. Sometimes the one who just killed some minor enemy makes the higher score, and that makes leveling-up dependent on luck rather than strategy.

The game has serious display problems. The read me recommends running it under Mac OS 9 for better hardware acceleration, which wasn't big deal back when it came out because Mac OS X was still new and feature-challenged, and most machines at the time were able to double-boot. But even on Mac OS 9 I couldn't get decent hardware acceleration. Only the main menu looked good--everything else looked pixelated.

The game also has problems playing the cut scenes, and most of the time they were skipped.

My biggest complain, however, is the script system. After being defeated, the first boss is supposed to drop a hand that you need to continue the game. Well, sometimes you got it and sometimes you don't. And after reaching the top of the museum, the characters status got reset somehow and I always ended up in the middle of the game with level one characters!

You may think those things are fixable by cheating, but guess what? The Mac port doesn't have any cheats. What were they thinking?

The Bottom Line
With a buggy port done in a time when Mac OS 9 was being phased out but Mac OS X still wasn't ready to take over, Gorky 17 didn't stood a chance on the Mac platform. It's a shame, because even though the concept behind the game isn't original, it's enjoyable.