ADOM? What is ADOM? I am sure that is what you are thinking. Let me take you on a little quest. By little I mean BIG quest. Not a puny little World of Warcraft or Skyrim quest. I am talking about a rogue like quest. Rogue like? What is rogue like? Wait! Isn't that what the call FTL? Yes, yes that is what they call FTL, but compared to true rogue like's of the past, FTL is child's play. I invite you, invite you to try one of the best CRPG's out there. I invite you to embark on a quest. I invite you to embark on the ADOM quest.
Now, cutting out the silliness. For those of you who are dumbfounded by what I said, I will try to explain a little better. First, a little bit of vocabulary. A CRPG is not a Warband mod. It in fact, stands for Classic Role Playing Game. Some examples would be Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, Fallout 1&2, Deus Ex, and games as modern as Arx Fatalis. Rogue like is basically a form of CRPG. It is sometimes found in non-crpg games, but not usually. A modern example of a rogue like is FTL and Minecraft hardcore mode. Some old examples of rogue likes, which of course are the best rogue likes are ADOM, Angband, Crawl, Rogue, Nethack, and ToME. In a rogue like, once you die, you die for good. That's it, no respawns, no reloading saves, no respecs, nothing. You lose, you get nothing. Well actually, you get a damn awesome experience. Achieving victory in a rogue like was a very prestiegous bragging right once upon a time.
Now that you know those terms, you probably have a good idea of what ADOM is like. So, how does that make ADOM a great quest? Well ADOM and all the other crpgs and rogue likes I listed are great quests because compred to todays RPGs, they are not a cakewalk. Knowing your character could die forever at any moment, even after putting 20 hours into it, is intense. That intensity absorbs you. When playing these games, no matter the graphics, you will be immersed beyond any other game you have played recently, I guarentee it. You will feel an attachment to your character unlike any other game character you have played as before. Now you are probablywondering what ADOM looks like.
You are now probably thinking, mother of god, that is ugly. Indeed it is, but don't let the looks turn you off. D&D would not be such a popular game if the looks of it ruined immersion. I promise you that you will not regret giving ADOM a try, even if it is just to experience a videogame of the past, and one of the founding fathers of true RPGs. In order to enjoy ADOM to it's fullest, you will have to play it like D&D and imagine in your head what is going on around your character, honestly though, that is one of the biggest charms of the game for modern day players. What other game do YOU create as you play, that is fairly new?
If the graphics really do bother you, then I at least urge you to go to this site:
http://www.gog.com/mix/must_play_classic_crpgs and try out one of their CRPGS found in this list. Many of them have more modern graphics. I guarentee you they will give you a very enjoyable experience.
For those of you interested in ADOM, you can download it from it's producer's website for free at
http://www.ancardia.com/Also, just as a final bit of convincing of how good ADOM is, ADOM II was put on Indiegogo (kickstarter for Indie games) and raised nearly 100 thousand dollars in just a few days.
For those interested in more FREE roguelikes, some with more modern design and graphics, visit here:
http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
