A History Buff Gets Medieval

Author's Rating:

Pros: Entertaining audio, lots of lives

Cons: A lot of hazards to learn

Author's Review
My favorite kinds of games are those that involve a maze of some kind. Then add some obstacles and some tools and a goal, and I'm happy. I like games that are intuitive and that don't take much time to learn but a lot of time to master. This game is easy to play, though it is a little difficult to figure out exactly what causes you to lose a life and what the goal is.

The game is set up as a multi-player game, with up to four players. But one player can easily play. There are four different warriors to pick from that have different levels of speed, strength, and weapons. The warrior travels through the old dungeon, picking up keys and other protection and health, while battling different monsters.

The different tools add health and weapons, while battling the monsters takes those tools away. It appears that so many collisions with the monsters takes enough health and weapons away that you lose a life but it is difficult to tell. The monitor that measures these things is not all that clear and somewhat difficult to interpret. The warriors do not shoot anything so no need to be fast on the buttons. A joystick or arrow is used to maneuver the warrior the right direction and simply running into the monsters kills them. Fairly simple concept, but not quite clear which monster does what.

Audio - The intro has some really neat sound that makes you feel like you're in a movie studio, a prelude to the rest of it. The warriors have different, yuppie type voices that are cute. They have amusing things to say as they go through the maze, such as "love the moola," and "I coulda had my hair permed three times already." The background music is neat and there are sound effects when the tools are picked up and when the monsters are squished. There is a background monster voice too, that urges you not to wait too long.

Video - The video that goes along with the intro is as interesting and amusing as the audio. The graphics aren't overly sophisticated or detailed, but are detailed enough to lend realism and a three-D effect. The monsters are fairly simple in appearance but there are lots of them. Again it is somewhat difficult to determine the different roles of the monsters, but this is largely because there are so many types.

Help - The help manual is one of the better ones I've seen for a game. For any program for that manner. It explains how to play the game, what all the different tools are for, and what the monsters do. There are so many of them, that that is why I said it takes longer to learn. It explains the different levels and the periodic "super monster" that you have to defeat.

Besides the challenge of learning the different weapons and monsters, about the only other thing I wonder about is what makes the warrior go to the next level. Other similar games I've played you have to pick up a key, or a tool, or kill all the monsters, or something before you go on. This one you just seem to have to find the portal. But you don't have to do anything first to go through it.

Overall, I enjoy playing this game. It's entertaining and even when I'm not exactly sure what is going on or why I just lost a life. But I have sixteen of them total, well worth it if this was an arcade game. I recommend it to those who like games with mazes. But if you like games that are heavy on strategy this game is probably not for you.