O.D.T. (PC)

CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
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Overall score: 4.8 (2.0 stars)
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Josh Smith
• Reviewed on: 12/14/1998
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 10/31/1998

To escape or die trying is your objective in Psygnosis' bid for a new genre hybrid. O.D.T. combines Tomb Raider-style 3D third-person shooting with rudimentary Diablo-style RPG elements for a not-so-new-feeling gaming experience. Set in that netherworld between futuristic gauss rifles and turn-of-the-century dirigibles, what seems innovative in the cutscenes and on paper sinks in the gameplay department like a lead zeppelin.

The airship Nautiflyus, looking much like the one from the cult film Pervirella, was on a mission of mercy to deliver the magical Green Pearl to the disease-ridden city of Calli, when it took a shortcut across "The Forbidden Zone" and crashed into a dark tower of evil or something. Now the ship's captain and the Pearl itself have been kidnapped by blowhard sleestak aliens, and it's up to the four remaining members of the crew to seek out gas for the ship's balloon (oddly littered in handy carrying cases throughout the tower of unspeakable evil), the Pearl, and the lost Captain Lamat himself.

You play one of four crewmembers. There are no actual character classes per se, but there are significant differences between each character. Stats representing armor, weapon control, spirit, and experience outline each character's strengths and weaknesses. Thus, character traits range from bruiser Maxx Havok's high defenses and deft weapon handling to the mysterious Archbishop Solaar's potent occult faculties. As in any RPG, the characters gain experience, spells, and more powerful weapons as the game progresses, and experience can be applied to raising the characters' vital stats. Beyond that, however, the game doesn't really offer the addiction quotient of, say, Diablo, with its hundreds of randomly generated "individual" magic items, compelling quests, and truly varied approaches to play. To its credit, the stats do make a big difference, and O.D.T. rewards the favoring of one stat at the expense of others, since new spells and weapon power-ups require ever-increasing stat minima. Replay value is severely damaged by the game's primitive save function, which requires you to reach save points scattered conservatively throughout each level. Few, if any, PC gamers are likely to enjoy the "extra challenge" provided by an adventure game without the option of saving at any time.

The bottom line with O.D.T. is that control plain stinks. Try it with a keyboard, try it with a gamepad (the game does not support a mouse); it makes no difference. It's awkward and buggy. Try to jump over a small rock, and suddenly you're floating in the air next to it. Climbing up and down ladders, and for that matter, hanging off railings to retrieve hidden power-ups, is a dangerous prospect indeed, since both are achieved using the same controls as walking toward the precipice in question while tapping the B-button (or the spacebar on a keyboard). Combine this awkward control decision with the game's marginal location tracking, and you'll be plunging to your death with alarming frequency.

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