A Tale in the Desert

 PC
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Just Adventure
    91
    You can’t begin to experience the complexities of this game or reap its full benefit during a review period. If I had more free time right now, I would embrace A Tale with all of my gaming heart and dive deep into Egypt.
  2. IGN
    89
    Incredibly ambitious and delivers more than I expected. There are so many different things to do and so many different ways to play the game that I can't imagine anyone getting bored.
  3. Gamer's Pulse
    84
    The whole time I played this game I enjoyed myself thoroughly... The world is gigantic and the people are so friendly that it just begs to be played.
  5. GameSpot
    77
    The designers themselves have stated that A Tale in the Desert is about creating a society, and watching the experiment in action is almost as enjoyable as taking part.
  6. Computer Games Magazine
    70
    It's a beautiful, creative tale told in the desert of originality, a startling flower in a wasteland of murder-and-loot online games. [July 2003, p.71]
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  7. Computer Gaming World
    60
    While I found the game a refreshing diversion from the usual slash-and-loot online fare I've become a little worn out on after years of play, I did find the heavy focus on interaction with other players to be too much of a good thing. [July 2003, p.82]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. DESERTTALES
    May 7, 2019
    10
    TEN OUT OF TEN. BEST GAME TWENTY NINETEEN. GOTY GOLD EDITION SUPER PLATINUM 2021+ AND BEYOND!
  2. AndaraBledin
    Dec 1, 2015
    8
    A Tale in the Desert is a rare breed of MMO for which the "end game" is the game ending and beginning anew. This review is for Tale 7, whichA Tale in the Desert is a rare breed of MMO for which the "end game" is the game ending and beginning anew. This review is for Tale 7, which is under new management from Pluribus Games, who are doing a great job of updating some of the legacy systems and tuning the speed of advancement and updating decade-old settings.

    ATitD takes place in ancient Egypt where after a short tutorial, you are a freshly-minted Citizen of Egypt. There is very little direction to point you on your way, but there is a rich and necessary wiki to help you understand the world you find yourself in. You will gather resources, and learn skills, and grind crafting, and gain levels, and pass tests, and help raise pyramids and complete monuments for the 7 disciplines found in Egypt.

    You can choose to focus on a narrow thread of skill, or you can choose to try to do it all. It's entirely up to you and how dedicated you can be to the advancement of Egypt. There is no combat, but there is definitely conflict, as people vie for limited resources, and compete for limited test passes. You can attempt to play the game solo, but to really prosper, you have to make friends, forge alliances, take advantage of public resources provided by other players, and become an active member of the community. Also, you will probably need to make substantial use of the wiki and a plethora of player-created helper pages. Macroing is also perfectly legitimate (and a must for those who suffer RSI-related issues), provided you are at the keys at all times.

    The graphics aren't stunning, but they're effective. The audio is vital to several tests and skills, and headphones are recommended. There is situational music that is beautiful but repetitive. The interface takes quite some getting used to, but after a while you'll realize why it is designed the way that it is. Travel is initially very tedious, but gets marginally less so as you advance and more options become available, both to individual players and to Egypt as a whole.

    There are guilds. There are personal guilds and public guilds and guilds in multiple parts because there are more members than a guild can hold. You can belong to as many guilds as will have you and as you can handle being a part of, each with it's own individual chat tab. Guilds can be for resource sharing, or for socializing, or for managing advancement of research, or four resource management, or for focusing on a particular discipline, or for even an individual test or skill. Once you have paid the tuition to learn the skill, you can create your own guilds simply by building a guild house and giving it a name.

    The client is lightweight and the vast majority of patches are done on the fly without requiring that the game go offline. The developer is invested and approachable and cares about making it a worthwhile experience.

    Pros: An amazing community. Varied and robust crafting systems. More to do than you could ever manage on your own.

    Cons: Advancement can be tedious and/or grindy. The wiki is essentially required reading. There is more to do than you could ever manage on your own. The game requires significant time investment to do more than dabble. The interface can be arcane and inscrutable.

    I highly recommend that people try this game. The game has a 24-hour of play time as a trial, about 25-50% of which will be taken up with going through the tutorial and figuring out how the interface works. Once you're a citizen, you can find a mentor to help you get settled in Egypt proper and start your new life. It's not for everyone, however, particularly those that like dynamic battles and epic encounters over exploration and creation and conflict without combat.    … Full Review »
  3. Dustin
    Jan 2, 2007
    6
    Interface! I honestly believe there is an interesting game somewhere in here, but holy-awful interface Batman! I had to click through about 7 Interface! I honestly believe there is an interesting game somewhere in here, but holy-awful interface Batman! I had to click through about 7 drop down menu's just to change the color of my characters outfit. The concept is compelling and well done, but the interface is a huge impediment. The game was built by a very small team, so I can accept a certain lack of polish, but I don't appreciate wading through and endless serious of drop down menu's to do anything. There are also a number of settings whose default values are bafflingly stupid. The default behavior is for a pop up window to force its way to the front every time your character hits something it can't walk over. This can be incredibly frustrating if you get stuck on a hill. Oddly enough you character STARTS on a hill, on which it is easy to get stuck. You can alter this setting, which I imagine nearly everyone does, but to do so you must of course navigate several levels of drop down menu. According the the creator, 80% of the people who try the game out don't make it through the tutorial section. I suspect this is primarily do to the terrible interface. If they put a little time into fixing that, they might have a real hit on their hands.… Full Review »
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