Death's Halls

If anyone ever considers themselves an authority on videogames, they will have had to have played Planescape: Torment.

Most modern RPGs are similar to Oblivion, because Oblivion sold masses. Torment didn't, but it is in every way a better game. While Oblivion was shallow and generic, Torment is a sprawling warren of clever writing and fantastic storytelling. It was the polar opposite to Dungeons & Dragons, and all fantasy in general, which released it from the genre's clichés and inevitable outcome. It was new, and clever.

Planescape is as much a response to other games as it is something entirley original; the aim of the game is to die, as you play an immortal, which in itself is an interesting game mechanic, and promotes a intelligence-based approach instead of a violent one. The game is so devoid of things that characterise fantasy games: no knights, no dragons, no swords, no armor, no castles. In Oblivion the easiest enemy is a rat, whereas in Torment there is a super-colony of hive-mind rats who are impossible to kill. You can expect nothing and everything from this game.

And the "serious" parts of it as well: the nameless protagonist changes, but there is one thing which stays the same, and this is the Philosophical question at the heart of Torment: What is power What is Existence without death? What constitutes the self, and identity? What is the nature of power? And the central question: What is, and what changes, the nature of a man?

Torment is the most memorable game I have ever played. The game is designed to draw you deep into it, and rewards you more the further down you get. There is a brothel designed to cater for every intellectual sense; whores for arguments, for storytelling, for listening. There is a city which is alive to the extent it is "pregnant" and gives birth to an alleyway. The citizens speak in a medievil English dialect, all of these things add to the feel of the game, and there are many, many more things stitched up within the wonderful tapestry that is Torment.

It is everything a narrative should be, and it is probably the last great RPG ever

Edit: I've just realised my copy has doubled in value. £34 of Amazon, blimey!