Avernum 3: Ruined World

I've played every iteration of this game since finding a demo of Exile III on a shareware CD as a kid. It was my very first RPG, which really captured my imagination at the time, and still holds up quite well. It has some top-notch world-building and atmosphere, and it's still my favorite in the series. This is a solid remake, with polish added in the right places while leaving the best parts of the core game intact.

My favorite game in the Avernum series. The world feels even larger and more immersive than the first two entries, with the large open world above ground now to explore. The biggest change is the addition of time triggered events. As time passes, things happen and emergencies will pop up that require your intervention. This isn't some anxiety inducing timed event where it's easy to mess up, you are given ample time to complete the tasks, and ample warning. If you want a world on the scope of Elder Srolls games, but with turn based isometric gameplay, this is the game for you.

This is a remake from a shareware Exile III from the late 90's. Its fun and funny and huge. If you like crawling through dungeons and unraveling a continent wide conspiracy, this game is for you.

Avernum 3: Ruined World is a role-playing adventure that embraces the spirit of classic PC RPGs, offering a massive fantasy campaign driven by exploration, meaningful choices, and tactical combat rather than flashy presentation. Developed and published by Spiderweb Software, the game serves as the concluding chapter of the Avernum trilogy while remaining approachable enough for newcomers. Its focus is on giving players a vast world to discover at their own pace, encouraging curiosity and independent decision-making instead of constantly guiding them along a fixed path. Fans of traditional isometric RPGs will immediately recognize its emphasis on storytelling, character progression, and player freedom. The story unfolds in a land on the edge of collapse. After generations of hardship beneath the surface, the people of Avernum finally have a chance to reclaim their future, only to face an even greater disaster. Deadly monsters, mysterious plagues, and widespread destruction threaten both the underground realm and the surface world. Rather than presenting a static environment, the game features a world that evolves as the crisis spreads. Villages are attacked, civilizations weaken, a…

Ok, for whatever reason a save game got lost, so I'm using that as an excuse to make a strategic retreat from Avernum 3. But I have thoughts. The good: First, I enjoyed the story a lot more than Escape from the Pit. It'll run on a potato. Some minor art by OG comic book artist Phil Foglio. A fun little game for coffee breaks at work. Some might say the turn-based combat is too simplistic, but it's not too bad. The meh: No real improvements over Escape from the PIt in regards to graphics, UI or gameplay. It's still teeny-tiny character models. Your party is still bland and personality-free. Levelling up only provides vague and unsatisfying incremental stat improvements. Better sounds and music would have helped. Quests were kinda meh. The verdict: If that saving snafu hadn't happened, I'd probably have stuck with Avernum 3 a bit longer. With a little imagination, you can have a bit of fun. But you really have to come prepared with the mindset that this is a pre-Balder's Gate CRPG, and you do have many more entertaining options available on Steam for the same price.

Returning to Avernum always feels right. The world is huge and the way the surface world changes as you play makes the stakes feel real. The mechanics can be a bit tricky when you hit the tougher enemies later on, but the sense of exploration in these games is hard to beat. [The Breakdown] Graphics: Potato-friendly Gameplay: Solid; tricky late-game combat Story: Deep; great sense of scale Difficulty: Easy to learn / Tricky to master Grind: Average Worth the price? Yes Rating: 8/10