The story follows a small town in Europe, which has fallen prey to unspeakable horrors. The small team of people that the story builds around, has been ordered to enter the town and find out what happened to the original team that was sent in. The new team consists of three operatives which each hail from different parts of the world. While the worldy feel of the team is appreciated, the accents used are way too heavy. This exaggerated speech can really grate on the nerves every time a team member gets excited or agitated.

The characters themselves each have personalities that show certain strengths and weaknesses. Although these characteristics do little to affect the actual gameplay, they keep the characters from seeming shallow and replaceable. Each character is represented on screen by a real-time rendered character, that with the aid of 3D acceleration, looks pretty snazzy. All of the monsters in Odium are also presented in this manner. By using this method the monsters as well as our heroes are given a much more real set of movements.

The game begins as the small team floats into town in their little boat. Arriving at the docks they are instantly attacked my a monstrosity that none of them are able to identify. These monsters have seemingly overrun the town. Now the team must not only find the first group, but keep themselves alive in the process. Along the way the team meets up with locals and uncovers clues as to why this even occurred.

The first taste of battle is actually very easy. The team encounters a few of the smaller monsters and simply has to kill them. The battle system is made up of a series of movement/attack range restrictions which seem to be based on a grid that is placed over the battlefield. Players get a certain amount of movement/attack points during each turn for each character. Certain areas of monsters are more vulnerable than others, and they are also affected differently depending on range. Monsters are also more vulnerable to certain weapons and methods of attack.

This wide set of variables is what makes the battle situations in Odium really interesting. While the accelerated graphics are impressive for the most part, don't let it fool you into thinking Odium is just a point and click shootfest. A lot of real honest-to-goodness strategy is required in downing the enemy with limited ammo in whatever the current situation may be. Not often do battles in RPG titles also depend on the battlefield as much as the players team. This is another area where Odium differs; some battles include options to use the environment around the player to aid them. For example in one area of Odium, a player can either fight it out with a huge monster, or lure it near an explosive barrel and shoot the barrel causing an explosion which has a devastating effect.

The team can find bandages, ammo, keys/keycards, clues, and new weapons along the way. The variety of weapons in Odium is also very functional. Sure, they could have added a lot of weapons which may look and act different in the physical sense, but really had no impact on the gameplay. Odium's weapons are nothing like that, each one has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. For example the flamethrower may work wonders against monsters located near the port, but against some of the fire resistant enemies, it does little good.

So what we have here in each battle is a list of variables that are simple, but great in number. When promised strategy by Odium, I never thought it would deliver so much on so many levels, and actually keep it fun. Sure, the stat-addicts can sit and count the numbers and tweak the team, but the option to take a less number intensive role in the game is certainly available. This makes the game ultimately more fun for a lot more people.

Although the difficulty does seem to rise with the amount of time spent in the game, the AI can still be a little too cruel sometimes. During battles with monsters, other monsters can show up on the scene and cause more trouble. With the limited ammo and the ever present limitation of health, the enemy doesn't really need that much more help. Battles are somewhat frequent and sometimes it just feels like the deck is stacked against you. These types of situations are a little too tough, and actually happen a little during the first hours of the game, and this can certainly be discouraging.

Point 'n Click is how things get done in Odium. Keyboard controls are almost non-existant. All the menus that are used are laid out in a simple fashion. The separate inventory screen can be a little confusing at first since it is hard to actually tell when you have used or equipped an item. Swapping items can also be a little difficult at first.

For the most part the sound is used to the right extent. While the voices do really seem pretty bad, the rest of the effects used, even the music, are done well. The music is moody and eerie during the adventure portions of Odium, later on it naturally changes tempo for battle. Weapon effects and the groans that originate from the monsters are all kept under control. Gunshots sound like gunshots, and different guns each have different sounds. This level of control was utilized for the simple sound effects, so I don't see why the exaggerated voices were present