ōdi∙um

The Good
Odium is a good, solid game. Basically, it's a long series of turn-based battles (like X-COM, only rather more Chess-like). The RPG elements are pretty good, too - You get experience points, go up in levels, and increase your weapon skills the more you use a particular weapon. The battles are generally a lot of fun, and, while not very realistic, do require plenty of strategic thought. There is a wide range of weaponary to find and use, and a wide selection of twisted mutant enemies to use it on.

Perhaps the best thing, though, about this game, is its graphics, which are exquisite. There are loads of different locations, and the painstaking attention to detail in every scene is awesome. The 3D engine is equally fantastic. The character models, animation and lighting effects are very, very impressive.

The Bad
As the game is really just one battle after another, and each one takes quite a long time to play through, I found myself playing this game in short bursts - Only playing through a couple of battles before I felt like I needed a break. When I came back, I always enjoyed it, but the game does become tiresome easily.

While the combat and RPG elements of this game are well done, the adventure elements are very lacking. All you need to do is pick up everything you find, then, when you get to the place where an item is needed, the game will basically tell you what to use. There are only a couple of places in the game which require minor amounts of brainwork.

The script and voice-acting are bad. But that's OK, because the voice-acting is bad enough to be pretty amusing. Despite improvements in stats, your soldiers' characters never actually develop, nor do their relationships with each other, so by the end of the game, you'll still be in charge of the same old trio: Sullivan (tough, angry Canadian), Ovitz (sneering, cynical Polish guy) and Trantigne (wimpy Frenchman). There are plenty of dodgy accents in this game, too.

Any other things to complain about? Not really - Except that the ending is disappointing.

The Bottom Line
Odium is a very playable, high-quality game, with a lot of fun in it. It successfully blends elements of X-COM, Fallout and Alone In The Dark, while having an overall character all of its own. Its graphics are wonderful, and you have to play the game to experience them. However, Odium is not quite good enough to be 'great', and I don't think I'd really want to play through it more than once. That said, I enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone.