Death Realm's RPG Lair of Despair

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INTRODUCTION

"Today, there are not many role playing games available for the PC."

That seems to be what is said around the game industry for awhile now. In actuality, there are quite a lot of RPG games for the PC. Many of them may not be new games, but RPG games last forever.

There are many games that have lasted throughout the years and are always a thrill to play. The Might and Magic series, from III to V, will always be treasured as some of the best role playing games ever. I can still play them to this day with lasting hours of fun and entertainment. Not as well as MM3, but still fun, is the Eye of the Beholder series. The EOB series will be fun to play until the end of time as well as the Ultima series. From Ultima 7 - The "Black Gate" to Ultima Underworld, these games have set the pace for the RPG games to come.

There are very few games out for the PC RPG'er, but worry not, there a lot of games in our near future. From the lands of New World Computing, comes the highly awaited sequel in the Might and Magic series. Might and Magic VI, rightfully named "The Mandate of Heaven", is sure to please any RPG fan.

Also coming out soon will be another sequel in The Elder Scrolls series by Bethesdasoft. ***** is the sequel to the highly anticipated TES: Daggerfall. *** from Bethesdasoft says that they are not pressured to release this game as they were with Daggerfall. If you are at all familiar with Daggerfall, when it came out, it was flowing with bugs. **** is sure not to let many of us down as Daggerfall did.

Also from Bethesdasoft is a role playing game much like Daggerfall, but not related to The Elder Scrolls series entitled Battlespire. Unlike Daggerfall, this game will be able to be completed in 40+ hours.

There are many games out there that are fun to play and you will find reviews for many of them. Throughout my page, you will find game reviews from Daggerfall to Anvil of Dawn to Might and Magic VI, "The Mandate of Heaven."

First we must start with the criteria that makes up a good RPG game.

CRITERIA

Graphics

Some people believe that a game is not good unless the graphics are state of the art. This is not true. Take Daggerfall for instance. Daggerfall is one of the best RPG games out (to my opinion and among others), and the graphics are made up of sprites. Technology oriented players have been demanding games to be made up of polygons. The difference is that RPG games are made for the content, not always the graphics. Still though, Graphics are necessary. The graphics should be crisp. The games should have a 3D aspect to them. If not the characters, the houses or etc.. If a game is made up of a large world, high resolution graphics and characters made up of 150 polygons, it could make for a pretty choppy game play. The graphics should be realistic and appealing to the eye.

Storyline

One of the most important aspects to the game is storyline. Many people do not feel the same way with my opinion. Personally I believe that a game needs to have a good storyline. Many people these days only want good graphics. Without a storyline, my interest is lost. Going around slaying people just to get gold to buy armor and weapons to slay people to get gold etc. gets pretty boring after awhile.

Characters

Another very important aspect of a game is the characters. I feel that you should have the option to choose the race, ethnic, gender, class, skills and attributes of their characters. These are all very important to the game and is useful when you can set these to the standard you want your character to represent. I personally like the option of character parties. Having more then 1 character adds to the variety of play.

Character Attributes

Along the lines of characters is the different attributes. It never did make sense to me that a robber or thief would raise levels by killing people. If a robber were to raise levels, it should be by pickpocketing, stealing or breaking into shops.

Towns

I feel that a RPG game should be made up of detailed towns. I like the fact of going into a town and meeting different people. Towns should all look differently, just like the real world. I never did really enjoy the games where you spend all of your time in a dungeon. Different shops, guilds, taverns, banks and homes should make up a town.

Sound Effects

The sounds of a game should put you into the world. You should hear the sounds that a live person would hear in the respective days. The music should put you back in time. The wonderful sounds of bag pipes and other traditional Medieval and fantasy sounds and music should appear in the game. Music is a very important part of a game that helps set the mood. If the music is not respective of the timeline in which you are playing, the attention and respect to the game may be lost.

Now for the Reviews.

REVIEWS

Daggerfall came out in 1996. It was one of the most anticipated role playing games that may have ever came out. This pressure caused Bethesda Softworks to push to a early release date. This caused improper and incomplete testing of the game. When it was released, there were many bugs in the game. By now, all the bugs should be worked out and if you buy a copy, it should be error free. If not, Bethesda Softworks willingly supplies patches to the game. If needed, follow the link at the bottom of this page to visit Bethesda Softworks.

Now that we are past that, less go onto the review. Daggerfall has lived up to everything I have expected from the game and even MORE. In my opinion, Daggerfall is the best RPG game ever made for the PC.

Graphics -

As you notice, my criteria states graphics as the first aspect. In retrospect, graphics are not the most important. The graphics in Daggerfall is nothing revolution in the terms of polygons. The game sticks with sprites and I feel does a wonderful job of it. The graphics have a very much 3D feel to them. The characters, enemies and other scenario is great. What the game lacks in graphics, is surely made up in the rest of the game.

Storyline -

I quote from the Daggerfall chronicles:

"When players ask what the story of Daggerfall is, I imagine Macbeth asking what the story to Macbeth is before the play begins. You are ... the hero of the game--the story is what you decide to make of it. ... it is your aims and ambitions that frame the story. After all, role-playing games are plays in which the stars are members of the audience."

"You have a challenge ahead of you. This game is designed to encourage exploration and reward curiosity. You are not required to follow a path of righteousness nor a path of depravity, but both roads and everything in between are open to you--just like in real life."

"And so we turn the question back to you, "What's the story?" It is not for us to answer. Follow your own spirit and tell your own story in your own way."

I believe Bethesda says it best as stated above. Even though the future of the game is in your hands, the past is not. Daggerfall follows the footsteps of The Elder Scrolls: Arena. You are on a ship which encounters a deadly storm. You are shore bound and wake up in a tunnel. Simply said. What ever happens after that, is entirely up to you. If you choose to follow your character class (whatever it may be), then do so. If you are a robber then you may choose to have your life follow the path of one. It is entirely up to you.

Characters -

There are many types of character classes in the game. You may choose between:

Thieves
Burglars
Assassins
Rogues
Acrobats
Bards
Warriors
Knights
Rangers
Archers
Monks
Barbarians
Mages
Sorcerers
Healers
Battlemages
Spellswords
Nightblades

You may even choose the character's background, attributes, skills, reputations, race and homeland.

Attributes -

From the chronicles of Daggerfall:

"It never made sense to us that a thief became a better thief after killing a troll, but he would never become better at lockpicking, no matter how much he practiced, until he killed another troll."

Daggerfall does a wonderful job of raising levels and attributes. You raise your skills by practicing the respective skills.

Towns -

Once again, Daggerfall does a wonderful job. The towns are detailed and you will never speak to 2 people with the same name. How you speak to the people also effects the response that you will get in return. You can practically do what ever you wish in any town. If you wish to climb a house, and your skills approve of it, then do so. If you wish to break in a house and steal the clothes, go ahead. If you choose the life of an assassin and wish to kill when given the urge to, feel free. Your life is what you make of it and is only determined by your actions.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of towns, dungeons, temples. Think of the United States and how many states there are. That is about the size of Daggerfall. There are over 40 provinces, each made up of 20 + towns. It is simply amazing. And you can go to any one of them either on foot, horseback or ship.

Sound Effects -

The sounds of Daggerfall are grand. When you walk through a town, you know you are in a town. The sounds of pigs in the background and cows give you a sense of township. When you mount your horse and begin your voyage with your cart trailing behind, you hear the wheels crushing the rocks and splitting the dirt behind.

Battle sounds are great as well. When you attack, you hear the sounds of two sounds hitting, just as in real life. When you fight a bear, you hear the bears grunt as you begin battle.

The sounds in Daggerfall are so real, you feel that you are there yourself. Bethesdasoft did a wonderful job on this aspect of the game. Every sound, music, click and clang reminds you that you are in a land with evil, good swords and sorcery.

Overall -

In my overall review of Daggerfall, I made a strong statement that Daggerfall was the best RPG game ever made. It gives you an open book filled with blank pages, and what you decide to put in it, is entirely up to you. I highly recommend this game. Even with new RPG games coming from Bethesda, Daggerfall will always be a hit. Nothing can and will compare to it.

Betrayal in Antara

Betrayal in Antara is the sequel to Betrayal in Krondor. I have not had the opportunity to play the game therefore unable to base my criteria on it. I have read much information on the game and will give a review of what it is to be like.

The story focuses on a crumbling empire. The heroes of the game find themselves in quests involving racial hatred, societies, assassination and even more in order to save the crumbling empire.

You play a trio of characters including a magic caster, archer and fighter. Their names are Aren, Kaelyn and William. Just like Krondor, the game lets you choose a few skills that you want emphasized for each character. Just like in Daggerfall, the more you use the skill, the higher it grows.

Antara incorporates the true-3D polygonal terrain and a seemingly endless gameplay. Antara offers improvements over Krondor, but just seems to be an upgrade of it.

Antara's world has a variety of dozens of towns, but still has no animated inhabitants. This lack of animated inhabitants gives an empty feeling during game play. The only way to speak to people, is to find an open door and double click on it. Upon double clicking, a conversation box opens and you may find yourself on a quest.

Antara provides many upgrades over the original Betrayal in Krondor including:

Hand Drawn Characters
Improved Dungeons with curves and bends
20 spell "skills" to be learned
More then 50 spells with wonderful graphic effects
640 x 480 SVGA artwork
More Realistic Battles
Better Attack Options
Automated Mapping
Review of Previous Conversations Option
Magic Research
Hex-Mapped Combat

After reading many reviews of the game, I have had the urge myself to go out and purchase the game. The game seems to have a wide variety of effects and seems to be a lot of fun. If I wasn't in the middle of Daggerfall (everyone knows it is a little hard to have 2 RPG games going at the same time), I would buy the game for myself. If you are looking for an easier game then Daggerfall where you have to follow more of a certain plot, Betrayal in Antara seems to be the game for you.

Anvil of Dawn

Anvil of Dawn is by the wonderful creators of the Might and Magic series, New World Computing. New World Computing has to be my favorite company due to the fact of the Might and Magic series. Anvil of Dawn is not a sequel in the series and truly does not get the equal praise that Clouds of Xeen received.

Anvil of Dawn is a good game in all respects. Anvil of Dawn is really the first quality RPG game in a long time. It doesn't try to dazzle you with wonderful graphics or sound. It goes back to where RPG started, a good storyline and plot. Not to say that Anvil does not have good graphics nor good sound, because it does.

Anvil of Dawn leaves you as the soul person in the game. You do not have a character party. You are on a mission to kill the warlord who is trying to take over your world (typical RPG plotline).

Anvil of Dawn is far from being perfect. It follows the traditional RPG game, collecting clues, going through dungeons etc... While it is the best RPG game in its era, there are newer games that are much better. With even better games on the way, Anvil of Dawn is not a game that I would get into at this time. It would rather recommend that you wait for The Mandate of Heaven to be released later this year from New World Computing.

Some full and more complete reviews can be found at:

Other Games

There are always a load of RPG games out there that are enjoyable.

Recommended Games:

Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra
Might and Magic IV - Clouds of Xeen
Might and Magic V - Darkside of Xeen
Diablo
Eye of the Beholder 1
Eye of the Beholder 2
Ultima Underworld
Ultima VII - The Black Gate
Ultima VIII - Pagan
Wizardry 7
Stone Prophet
Menzoberenzen

Not-Recommended Games:

Stonekeep

Upcoming Games:

From Bethesdasoft, comes 2 new games, 1 being Battlespire. Battlespire is to follow the footsteps of Daggerfall, but not to be confused to be the sequel to it. Throughout Battlespire, you will find many similarities to Daggerfall. The characters will be made of sprites, unlike the ever growing polygons.

Battlespire is sure to live up to everyone's standards and fulfill their wildest fantasies for a RPG.

For more information on Battlespire, Bethesdasoft's recent release of RPG action check their web site out at:

Bethesda Softworks - Battlespire

Might and Magic 6 - The Mandate of Heaven

On June 19, 1997, The 3DO Company announced the 6th sequel to the hottest RPG in the business, Might and Magic. The Mandate of Heaven combines first person movement with real-time and turn-based play.

From the words of Jon Van Caneghem, President of New World Computing:

"Classic role playing on the PC lives on in an industry where new technologies and hi-powered computers reign. Taking the genre to the next level combining the latest in 3-D graphics with the right story line Might and Magic is known for, this sequel will delight gamers everywhere."

Much like the traditional Might and Magic, the player leads a party of adventurers as they explore vast lands and dark dungeons. I am sure there is plenty to say about the game but New World Computing says it best and you can visit them at:

New World Computing

CONCLUSION

Throughout this page, you have seen many reviews and opinions being expressed. You must remember, that these are my opinions and thoughts. What you may feel is a good game may differ then mine. I encourage you to play these games and try them out for yourselves. A good game is in the eyes of the player.

Good Luck on your Journeys

- Death Realm (Jason Gajewski)

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