Avernum 3 remake launches alongside free demo

Avernum 3: Ruined World, an HD reboot of Spiderweb Software's old-school fantasy RPG, is out now. It's $18 on Steam and GOG through Wednesday, February 7, and $20 on Humble and Spiderweb's site. There's also a free demo available here

Spiderweb bills Avernum 3 as the conclusion to the initial Avernum trilogy, but also describes its story as self-contained and approachable for people unfamiliar with the series—which I imagine plenty of people are, given its complicated history. 

There are technically six games in the Avernum series (the non-canon Blades of Avernum notwithstanding), which is itself an expanded remake of Spiderweb's Exile series. The first Exile released in 1995, while the original Avernum released in 2000. Avernum 6 released in 2009. 

In 2011, Spiderweb decided to reboot the series while leaning even more heavily on Exile. Which leads us to 2012's Avernum: Escape From the Pit, which carries the subtitle of the first Exile game. Avernum 2: Crystal Souls followed in 2015, and now Avernum 3: Ruined World has capped things off. It's complicated, yes, but it works.

Thanks, RockPaperShotgun

Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.