Arcane Worlds Demo

Unique video game concepts are pretty difficult to come by nowadays, especially since there have been so many titles already. Not only that, but today’s technology allows basically anyone to start creating their own game, using professional-grade graphics engines as well. Hence, it’s a pretty big event when a developer tries something unique for a change.

Arcane Worlds is not unique, on the other hand, since it takes its inspiration from an old classic called Magic Carpet. However, since not a lot of similar titles have come out since its release, the game at least occupies a pretty dry niche and should be able to attract a decent crowd. It also features sandbox mechanics, which are all the rage nowadays.

As such, the game allows you to play the role of a pretty powerful sorcerer and try to defend your castle in a world filled with danger. All sorts of monsters attack you at various points in time, and you must defend using the magic spells you learn along the way. Not only that, but the world can be freely explored from up in the air, given the fact that the sorcerer can fly with ease from one place to the other.

Flying high up in the sky means that you get a good look at the world below, which allows you to observe that the maps are quite small and constrained. The fact that there are no borders and it is round means that you won’t run into any invisible walls, but other than that, everything feels way too constricted. Beside a few birds and giant worms, there is nothing else to decorate the environments.

Thankfully, the visuals are very slick and refined, with nice shadows, great bloom effects, and tasteful level design. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help too much if the islands appear to be deserted and devoid of anything resembling life. You can use magic to alter the appearance of the terrain, but since the game is still in the early stages of development, this option is rather buggy and inconsistent.

All things considered, Arcane Worlds has quite the potential lying under the surface, but no one seems to be digging it out. Hence, the barren worlds and aimless scenarios make everything feel cheap and unfinished, even for an early development version.