Nick F

Well, here it is. Avowed. Maligned before it even came, it was doomed to have a poor reception by many gamers. Let me start by stating that I abhor woke themes in games. I like deep stories with twisting narratives, free of interjections of political ideology or references to the modern zeitgeist. So far, I've played Avowed for about 10 hours. To make a long story short, I like it--for what it is. Combat is fast, the controls are great, and it is challenging, especially if you aren't geared properly. But the AI sucks. The gearing is very basic. The visuals are very good, a little inconsistent at times. When it comes to my biggest gripe, that has to be the dialogue and characters. The writing is poor to below average even at its best, SO FAR, and there isn't one character that I give a damn to know better. The story seems to be pretty standard--not great, but also not terrible. Overall, this game doesn't compare to the Obsidian of old. Coming in with expectations like that puts this game at a 4, maybe 4.5. But with measured expectations, properly adjusted for what we knew about the game coming in, this is a 6-7. It is fun, especially the exploration. The world is begging to be explored, even if the payoff is spotty in terms of satisfaction. Often with exploration, the journey is the gem--not the destination. They do it reasonably well in this game. Again, if you expect a FO:NV or even an Outer Worlds kind of experience, you'll be let down quickly. But if you know what to expect, there is fun to be had here. 6.5