At first glance Arcanum looks like a role playing game full of great ideas: Its main attraction is its fantasy world, which is set at the time of an industrial revolution, that is about to turn it into a science fiction setting. It is a refreshingly unique place, full of whimsical magic and technical marvels, that has great potential for interesting twists to age-old cliches: How does an ageless being, like an elf, react to the rise of science, which is about to make the magic, that has kept him alive so far, obsolete? Is there a cheaper workforce than orcs, which can be exploited at will, for they are obviously evil and therefore deserve no less? Or what about safety: Should a wizard, whose magical power has an unpredictable effect on machines, be allowed to get close to steam engines or trains? There are so many new stories that could be told…
By the mid-90s, the few former CD-i exclusive titles were being ported to other systems. This sequel didn't even make it to its original home anymore, but instead, it only came out for MacOS and MS-DOS. A clearer statement about the commercial viability of further CD-i releases couldn't have been possible.
Voyeur II places itself in by then known waters. From a remote cabin (which isn't even connected to the regular power grid, but runs solely on solar energy – which turns into one of the issues to solve to finish the game), the player uses his video camera to spy on and record what's going on in the mansion across a canyon. There, a typical 1980s soap opera unfolds. The filthy rich owner of a pharmaceutical company has met an untimely death. It may have been murder. His former associates, friends and family delve into intrigues over who will take control of the company assets. And if the player doesn't prevent it, another murder will take place the same night.
Manual and box already catch the eye of the mystery fan, as – using a lot of dark colours – they summon up a story of magicians in parallel worlds, about magical portals and about a hub called Nietoom. The aura of the phantastic genre is there. The manual also helps understanding the game's starting screen. You find yourself in the bedroom of your late grandfather who, until his death, researched the location of this portal of worlds. The room is shown with a crooked horizon line and the player's avatar is actually nowhere to be seen. Maybe the now missing grandfather is supposed to be symbolic for a world in turmoil. In order to leave the room and to really start your task, you have to – as described in the manual – search the side of the screen until you find a door in the back of the viewpoint. It is only in the next room – the upper staircase of the mansion – that you can actually take a look at the protagonist: a youthful figure neatly dressed in a kind of dressing gown, sporting full, perfectly groomed hair. Though is this prissy grandson the character a Lucas Arts afficionado would like to identify with?
