Can you say Diablo?

Out of Strategy First comes a curious PC game called Clans. On first sight, one might be tempted to think that this plays a lot like Diablo. And one would be right. Unfortunately, even if the two RPG endeavors came out at the same time, Clans would fall short in comparison.

Clans is not exactly the same. One of the obvious differences is that Clans is a more zoomed in view. This has good and bad repercussions on the playing experience. The good is that a more visually stimulating environment can be produced. The down side is that places that you are in are very cramped. This, in turn, forces Strategy first to use these small rooms. These rooms can only be walked through and seen one at a time which can get annoying when they are empty. You come into some room take ten steps and then go into a next room. Meanwhile, you have to forge constantly through new screens/frames.

The story itself seemed to be lacking. They have the beginnings of a nice plot built up with the introduction, but it never progresses into anything. You're left simply trying to kill Orcs, elves, etc. To be honest, there aren't enough of these characters in my opinion, as well.

There are some good sides to Clans. You are allowed to be one of four different characters. Each of these characters is quite unique, and you can even use one of these to create a unique character (as far as abilities). The best part of Clans (and where it is actually better than Diablo) is that is has interesting puzzles that are well woven into the plot.

The music and sounds are fine. Some of the dialogue can be fairly interesting when not monotonous. My favorite is when you confront the little goblins, they exclaim, "I kill you!", in their tiny shrill voices.

The bad qualities of this game sadly outweigh the good ones. So, the overall feeling when you finish playing this game is not that thrilling. Fortunately, it doesn't cost that much so you aren't left with that bad a taste in your mouth.