Immerse yourself in an epic experience more powerful and realistic than anything you've imagined. Using innovative technology Stonekeep draws you into its dark reaches so completely you'll forget it's just a game. Your feet will walk the ancient corridors. Your hands will wield weapons of metal and magic. You'll battle disembodied foes, rescue your allies from evil, liberate a massive dragon from bondage and discover an experience more realistic than you expected.
Step into the mystery of Stonekeep and begin a quest through dark corridors, treacherous sewers and subterranean realms of faeries, magic and the living dead. You'll discover a world where darkness reigns and where you become part of a detailed story line that unfolds at your command.
Defeat evil, reclaim your immortal soul and experience an adventure you will never forget.
Age requirements: ESRB Rating: TEEN with Animated Violence.
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 512MB RAM (1 GB recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
I am new to Stonekeep and have only gotten a little way into the game, but I can tell you it is simply fun.... full review
Yes, the graphics look like they are from yesteryear, but in a sense it brings back the nostalgia and charm of the old arcade games. The graphics also do not detract from the game play itself. And this is where Stonekeep really shines is in the game play.
If you are fan of dungeon crawls and hunting for items in both seen and unseen areas, this game will easily scratch that itch for you. Hidden items can be found in piles of debris, hidden items in stones in the walls and of course on enemies.
For the time in which it was made Stonekeep is quite intuitive to use. Form the equipping of your character by simply clicking on any item from your inventory or fallen victim and placing it into your character's hand. Eating food for healing is the same drag it to your character and he will simply eat the needed item.
One very nice feature is that you can equip weapons in each hand of your character and using your right and left hands are as easy as pressing the right or left mouse button respectively.
Another cool feature is that some enemies will stop fighting and effectively cower and whimper for you not to hurt them anymore. It really is a nice touch.
You do not start out with a map and so it may take a little time to find the location of where the book is kept that will show you your stats, dungeon lay and other needed information. But, again this is part of the fun of the game; it is all an adventure.
The characters and voice acting is rather well done for the era of the game. In fact the voices are better than some newer games I have played.
I may update this review as my quest to find the 9 receptacles and free Stonekeep progresses, but suffice it to say, this is $5.99 well spent.
Pick it up and give it a go, and travel the halls of Stonekeep, but mind your health, as the enemies show no regard for your helpless estate.
What a great game this is! The intro is one of the most movie likes in many a year! Have to say shame (maybe just at the moment!) that you cannot get the 120 odd page novella that came with the game.Maybe someone who has it can pdf it up and send it to G.O.G for them to make available, if G.O.G. cannot do it themselves in conjunction with Interplay!... full review
Anyway, back to the game: This is a great immersive dungeon crawl - some great digitized graphics, voicework, special effects and sound effects! The game is first person move one square./turn at time type game, but the graphics and sound are so immersive you soon feel you are playing the game 'normally'!You can use the cursor keys or the WASD keys, so everyone is catered for!
The game does have a quite hard start, but once you get a weapon,some armour and your journal things get a little less challenging - for a while! The first time the goblins throw rocks at you (and maybe kill you!), you will know you have an interesting time ahead! HINT: Put the rocks in the rock back, put the bag in your hand, and then throw the stones at will!
The enemy AI is pretty decent - although in a dungeon they - and you -can only move around so much! Watch out for secret levers and cubbyholes, as they abound and carry important items on occasion! So far I am only on level 2, but I am already totally hooked! This,surely, is up there with Utima Underground and even more modern games like Arx Fatalis!
Do yourself a favour - if you like in anyway 3D RPG's, you need to check out this game!
Then Stonekeep is the game for you!... full review
A first person western RPG in a very similar style to Eye of the Beholder II, Stonekeep has you taking the role of Drake, a young man returning to his destroyed home after a 10-year exile. As Drake you must travel deep underground to retrieve the essences of 12 Gods to defeat the Dark Lord; Khuul-Kuum.
Stonekeep plays in 1st person, in real time. However, unlike Doom and it's ilk, you move a set distance (a single map square) every time you push 'forward'. Due to this, the game has a slow pace, and maneuvering in combat can be tricky if you don't want to be hit. The screen 'spins' when you turn, so an enemy or chest in front of you will *always* be in front of you if you occupy the same map 'square'. This can be frustrating when trying to escape a bad situation! It does make some combats quite tense and exciting, though.
Like most RPG's there is a wide variety of weapons and armour to experiment with, from staves to swords to arcane wands. Also, you can throw many items, rocks, daggers, axes, even molotov cocktails. Interestingly, you don't 'level up' in Stonekeep. Instead, your skills with various weapons increase depending on how often you use them. With your main 3 attributes 'Strength, Agility and Health' increasing depending on how often you get hit, how much you move about, etc. I found this a simple and intuitive way of 'levelling'. This means you don't have to waste any brain cells thinking about your character build.
Combat is simply point at bad guy and click to swing. (Right click for right hand, left click for left hand) Weapons take time before you can swing 'em again, and baddies do have vulnerable spots. Combat is pretty fun, to be honest. Simple and fun.
Due to a Mystic Scroll which changes items into simple pictures you can carry an infinite amount of items in Stonekeep. Inventory management is a list, with each item being represented by it's picture. I would have preferred being able to 'group' items based on type (Weapons go here, etc.) but that's because I'm an OCD nut. You can use page up, down and the home end buttons to quickly traverse your inventory. You will be pressing those a lot, by the way. Being able to carry many items means you will have a BIG inventory in no time.
Luckily, the game pauses for you when you bring up your inventory screen, so you can take time to scan which particular item to use during combat. Watch out, because your enemies will be throwing stuff and using healing potions, too!
The game does provide some inventory management items, such as a key ring so all your keys can 'become' one item, an a quiver for arrows, a bag for throwing stones, etc. So your inventory shouldn't give you much of a headache.
One thing I really liked was the interactive journal. I catalogues Drake's stats and items, as well as maps. You can edit most entries, (For example, when you figure out that the green potion gives you a strength bonus, you can change it's item description to reflect that.) which is nice.
Like Eye of the Beholder II you are given very little story at first (unless you read the background novella which shipped with the original boxed game) but your story builds as you discover scrolls and notes and interact with NPC's. Is the story any good? Well... I never did finish the game, but it seemed OK. A few different factions inhabit the ruins of Stonekeep. It is fairly standard High-Fantasy fare, though.
Like Baldur's Gate you can have a variety of NPC's join your party to fight by your side. These NPC's are encountered at various points in the dungeon. You get to micro-manage their carried items, too. These NPC's have their own personalities and will talk to Drake often. Some NPC's won't adventure with others, so be careful! (The Elf and Dwarf character won't travel together, for example)
The graphics were great for their time. Real actors rotoscoped for the most part. The voice acting is very cheesy, but to be honest, not *too* bad as to be a distraction.
The levels can look very 'samey', after a time. You'll be referring to your map to get your bearings often!
Ok, I have rambled on FAR too long, but if you were a fan of the Eye of the Beholder game series or even the Lands of Lore series, I'd say give this a go. You'll have a blast!
Faithful)
UK_John)
Aedwynn)