A few minutes ago I was checking out the video review for Dante's Inferno...and after the five plus minutes of slandering, I decided to see what the gamers had to see about the review. And the overwhelming response was....the review was horrible. I myself haven't played Dante's Inferno yet, GoW wasn't my brand of gameplay. To me to seems like anyone that can mash buttons can beat the game. I vividly remember watching a good friend getting destroyed by a boss on a boat; and after watching him fail for three or four attempts I took the controller, mashed some buttons, and got through the boss easy as pie. So, since Dante's gameplay does resemble that of GoW....I don't think I will be purchasing it anytime soon. But the point is...Gamespot...you seem to be slacking. In an attempt to gain "level" so I can post my own reviews, I rated many games I have played over the years. And I was surprised and shocked at some of the scores Gamespot handed out. There are many examples of poor scoring by gamespot, like GTA. A 10? 10? Need I say more? Well I will give one more example. Arcanum. It's an older RP for PC. I can honestly and confidently say that this game was epic. Screw paying to play WoW online (although it is fun and addicting). I'm tired of the same old gameplay from Diablo 2. Give me Arcanum. An amazing RP, with an in-depth story about the battle of Magic versus Technology in an evolving world. There are several cities spread out across a continent, think Oblivion. Remember the map you can pull up and "fast travel" with in Oblivion, or just run city to city killing beasts and other creatures along the way? Very similar to Arcanum. Not only are there cities, but numerous landmarks and hidden treasures and quests all over the map. Not only is Arcanum a huge game, but the story is very well played out and sucks you in. Your adventure starts when a Zeplin you are aboard...crashes. You are the only survivor and as you are venturing through the wreckage, you come across a "gnome" that asks you to take his ring, along with a message to an old friend. And so your adventure begins. As the story unravels you will begin to learn about the old dwarven clans, the dominate religion, and encounter a couple of twists along the way. Just like WoW, you gain experiance and can learn new skills such as spells from a Variety (and i mean variety!) of magic schools. Anything from the simple "Harm spell", raising the dead, buffs, and healing spells. You can learn new talents from a variety of Schools on Technology which allow you to build traps, guns, and even new "enhanced" armors. But unlike WoW, you are directly responsible for placing your Stat points into different stats. And each stat has helpful and unique properties. Some stats simply increase strength and life, others increase your speech or your ability to learn new technology/magic skills. There are NUMEROUS ways to build a character. There is also a "good/evil" meter. But how do you become good or bad? Quite simple really. Throughout the course of the game, you will encounter many side quests. Choosing to complete some quests will either result in a "-" reputition gain or a "+" reputition gain. Sometimes while on a side quest, there will be a twist and it will turn out the person you're working for is actually the evil do'er. You can either complete what they asked you to do, or help the other person foil thier original plans. There is also a meter that shows whether you are more Magically or Technology inclined. This not only effects the skills you can learn or items you can wear, but it also effects the way people treat you and whether or not you can use common day luxories like the brand new train system. Another nice addition to this game is your ability to create your own party to your liking. Depending on whether you are good, or evil, people you may come in contact with through quests or just sitting around in the local pubs may decide to join your party. Your party can hold up to four people including yourself. This comes in handy, especially if you're a mage and can't take alot of direct damage. For example, you can recruit an ogre and use him as a tank, you can have a healer/swordsman, a dog, a dwarf, a hunter, and more. Arcanum isn't the best of games. For it's time, the graphics are pretty good. There's no real soundtrack, just some relaxing classical music that never really changes unless you engage an enemy. The game play style is much like diablo. Navigate using maps and using your cursor to move, attack, and cast spells on enemy units. The story line is pretty good, and will keep you interested as you watch the battle between magic and technology progress, learn about the dwarven clans, visit the elves, learn about dark elves, local lore, and more. The ending also changes depending on paths you choose and quests you do or don't complete. And there are near countless ways to create a character in the game, you could easily spend hours and hours playing this game, just to play the many different styles like thief, mage, swordsman, scientist etc. Arcanum is definetly worth your time, and in my book deserves nothing less than a 9.0.