It's bad news for the people of Silverfall, as their city has been attacked and their defenses have crumbled. The only chance now is to evacuate the city and hope for better days for the refugees of this disaster. A powerful mage vows to fight a rear guard to allow the citizens to flee to the swamps and try to rebuild their lives and their civilization. So unfolds the saga of Silverfall.

Silverfall is a third person role-playing quest driven game. The first thing to do in the game is create your hero. The standard choices of name and gender are offered, as well as four races to choose from. Players can customize their character's facial features, hair and skin color to suit themselves. Once you've set up your hero it's time to play the tutorial.

Unlike most games the tutorial in this game lets you play with a built up veteran wizard to let players better understand how to use and move the character on the game board. The tutorial briefly describes the options available as well as how to power up and gain levels while improving the abilities of the player character.

Moving through the city of Silverfall the wizard must find and defeat the leader of the assault in order to gain time for the refugees to evacuate the city. The game uses several camera angles for play, as you can zoom in and play the game at eye level which will provide the best looks in the game or play it from above to get a better look at surrounding terrain and possible enemies.

The game uses the familiar radar map to show where enemies are. Many of these only generate if the hero comes too close, otherwise they remain hidden so it's possible with careful movement to avoid constant combat. The reason to avoid combat is due to the very unforgiving and old fashioned way death is handled in this game.

When your character is killed in combat everything they are wearing is left in a tomb at that spot. The hero appears in their underwear at the start point of the level with nothing equipped. The only way to recover the lost equipment is to go back to the tomb and recover it. The problem is there is usually something mean and deadly there to prevent it so it's best to be prepared by increasing your level and abilities before trying it.

There is some good news, however, as one of the first missions is to recover a safe for a townsperson that will allow you to store items in. Inventory builds up quickly in the game so it's important to have a place to put things. The alternative is to drop items at some location and hopefully return for them later.

As is common is RPG games, a large amount of armor and weapons types are available. At first you will gain items by killing bad guys, but in time merchants can sell you good items as the game progresses. There are also two tracks for weapons and armor in this game - one for technology and one for nature - and this affects what armor and weapons can be equipped.

The dual nature of the game is a major theme of the quest. You can follow either path or mix them to a certain extent. You can also change how you allocated experience points by speaking to NPCs that have the ability to allow you to redo those choices. This is a nice feature if you decide you don't really like your hero as is.

The graphics are nice if somewhat underwhelming at times. Many of the backgrounds at eye level are simply not there, but the terrain and creatures are nicely done. The combat includes colorful spells being tossed and there is some blood splattering when the hits are scored, but not enough to consider it gory.

The player control is decent using the mouse to point and click. It takes a little time to get used to the mini map and sometimes during combat your hero will lurch forward as the same button to move is used for distance attacks. This can cause some deaths some times as you lurch headfirst into a group of zombies, but with a little practice can be avoided.

Overall this is a very detailed effort with a nice storyline. Not as visually stunning as a game like Oblivion, for example, but still it has a look and charm of its own. The game does become progressively more difficult as it moves along and it really isn't a game that is forgiving to beginners or people who get easily frustrated. A solid effort.

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