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The classic-style adventure game genre seems to be in a bad place right now, at least on the PC (It survives quite well to this day on the consoles, as is evident in titles such as Soul Reaver). The last one I can remember playing and enjoying, up until recently, was Grim Fandango. By classic-style adventure game, I mean the sort of game where you explore a world, pick up toys lying around on the ground, and figure out where and how to use them elsewhere in the world.

Enter Odium (Gorky 17 in Europe). Billing itself as a turn-based RPG and strategy title, it in fact resembles nothing so much as a classic-style adventure game. It does, however, incorporate elements of RPG and strategy games, making this title even harder to classify than Rage of Mages. I remember being intrigued at this title from what little was visible at E3, so finding the beta in my mailbox one morning was a pleasant surprise. After some initial difficulties playing the movies, which I traced back to not having MPEG4 installed into Media Player, I was on my way. Read on to learn more about this interesting title.

The adventure begins with your three main characters reaching the shore of what appears to be a ruined city. Your party consists of three NATO soldiers from various countries, and their apprehensions towards each other help to add flavor to the game's dialogue. Fortunately, your group has a cohesive leader-type who keeps the members from tearing each other apart. At first, you know only that the previous group, helpfully named "Group One", has not reported back recently. As you continue your adventures, you discover more about why they haven't reported back, and what went wrong in this city. The plot has a Resident Evil/Parasite Eve feel to it, and keeps you interested in continuing through the game to find out more. I was well into the story when I reached the effective end of the beta, a combat that did not properly register being completed and thus repeated itself infinitely, and it's got me waiting for the final so I can find out what happens!

Main gameplay consists of searching around the world for clues and items. These items take the form of health powerups (very important, as you'll see in a minute), weapons, armor, and quest items. The first three go into the inventory of the character who picked them up, so remember to share or you'll have some useless party members when combat rolls around. Quest items go into a communal item pool so it does not matter who picks them up. Occasionally you will come across a glowing cross icon, which means there's something you can do at that location. This usually involves bringing the correct item to that location and right-clicking on the cross, where you will get the option "Use Widget" or whatever. Occasionally the right-click clue is not given, and you have to actually puzzle it out (my preferred approach). The controls in Odium are very simple. Select the character who you want to be active (the rest obediently follow), left-click to move, right-click to use.

Combats are scripted, not random as in Parasite Eve. When your party attempts to interact with an object that has a fight associated with it, or steps into a certain area, a fight ensues. Your party can start out stranded on opposite ends of the battlefield from each other, or in the midst of monsters, or having to protect a certain person or object from destruction. Care was obviously taken to make each battlefield a unique place to fight on. There are barriers that cannot be moved through or (sometimes) fired through. Some of these are even movable. One battlefield has a large, precariously-placed container of gasoline barrels. Try not to miss your target here.