Avernum 2: Crystal Souls announced

Common wisdom tells us that sequels are supposed to change things around, replacing existing assets just because and introducing new features to keep things fresh. It's hard to argue with that, but at the same time there's something deeply comforting about more of the same, particularly in more story-focused games such as Spiderweb Software's Avernum series. Following Avernum: Escape from the Pit—Spiderweb's remake of their first Avernum game from way back when—comes Avernum 2: Crystal Souls , a remake of their second. You'll know what to expect if you've played a Spiderweb game before now, and you've probably already made your mind up whether to buy it or not. For everyone else: here's a lovely trailer.

If you're daunted by that big '2' up there, Spiderweb say that "the story of Avernum 2 is self-contained, and previous experience with Avernum games isn't required". As for what's in this game, expect "an enormous underworld, with multiple nations and alien cultures", three separate main quests, "over 100 towns and dungeons" and, phew, all these giant numbers are making me feel faint. Based on my time with the similar Avadon, I'd say it's also reasonable to expect an atmospheric, well-developed setting, great writing, and a few annoying quirks with the interface.

Avernum 2 is coming to Windows and Mac later this year.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.