Legend of Grimrock

One of the first games I owned for my old Commodore Amiga was Dungeon Master, so playing Legend of Grimrock has been a tremendous nostalgia trip for me. It also reminds me why I never got very far in Dungeon Master: it is spooky as hell. Everything -- at least as far as I have seen -- occurs in enclosed, claustrophobic spaces. Your torchlight only gives you limited visibility, and the darkness and shadows are thick and menacing. You can hear the monsters all around you, shuffling and chittering as they move about, but you can never tell for sure if they are safely enclosed in another room, perhaps in an adjoining passageway, or maybe right in front of you, just outside the circle of your light, waiting to spring at you the moment you approach. And of course, your field of vision is limited to what is in front of you -- so you need to be constantly turning to check behind you and around every corner make sure some slaving horror isn't about to devour your rear rank. And then there are your resources: precious torches for light (unless you choose to rely on magic), food to keep everybody's energy up, and components for making potions to use during battle, all in limited supply while simultaneously being constantly consumed. You have to constantly press ahead, because if you linger where you are for too long, you will either wind up cast in darkness or starving to death. This is the atmosphere that Legend of Grimrock creates, and it is a nearly pitch-perfect recreation of the atmosphere I remember from Dungeon Master, with the main difference being simply the polish that is made possible because we have better technology now. And that atmosphere is something special: you cannot help but imagine the plight of the prisoners you are guiding, their anxiety over the monsters all waiting to kill them, and their concerns about their ever-dwindling resources -- even though they never say a word. Even the magic system amplifies the sense of immersion, at least for me: trying to select the correct runes for the spell you want while some hell-bird is screaming and lunging out of the screen at you helps you appreciate how difficult it would be for a real mage to recite delicate magical incantations while under fire. In short, I have the utmost respect for the atmosphere of this game, even if it gives me the heebie-jeebies every time I play. All that said, although I am giving the game a top score, I do have a few minor quibbles, mainly because I also have fond memories of Dungeon Master 2, and there were improvements in that game that I missed not having here. For one, I missed having some variety in the environments. It could be because I have not gone deep enough yet, but I yearn for an outdoor area (maybe on the side of the mountain?), or some natural caverns, or even just the odd room or corridor with a tall ceiling so I don't always feel so closed in. I also miss some of the additional spells, like the magic porter, and even a few of the originals, like open door and magic vision. Lastly, I like to be able to linger and explore, so I can feel sure I have not missed any details, but since you need food to stay healthy, and the only way to get food is to explore new territory or kill monsters with edible bits on them, you cannot stick around any one place for too long. These quibbles come down to personal preference more than actual flaws in the game, which is why I am not downgrading my score to four stars instead of five, but they are issues that I hope will be addressed by future content.

I never played these sorts of games back in their heyday (didn't have the computer for it), but I loved this grid-based dungeon crawl. The atmosphere of isolation and mystery is thick from the first moment, and the environment, items and characters feel like something from an old school Dungeons and Dragons session. The combat and puzzles are hard- but usually in a good way. This isn't a game that underestimates your intelligence and dumbs things down. It rewards exploration, diligence and analysis, and there are secrets hidden upon secrets everywhere you look. It's a lot of fun going from literally naked and empty-handed to armed to the teeth and in possession of powerful magic items, knowing that your own ingenuity made it possible. There's also an option to turn the automap off and make your own map with graph paper, if you want the game to be even harder. The difficulty can be a drawback sometimes, though- a few of the puzzles require you to be constantly moving, yet the solutions involve switches that are off to your sides, essentially invisible while you're frantically trying to avoid falling down a pit or getting teleported away. A couple don't give you any clues and seem virtually impossible without a walkthrough (one required me to take things off shelves in three places throughout the level- I found the items, but I couldn't use one so naturally I put it back on the shelf. How was I supposed to figure that one out?) It's also easy to accidentally make a party that just plains sucks by choosing the wrong skills or attributes, and while it may be obvious to veterans of these games, I didn't realize that I was supposed to dance around enemies until almost halfway into the game. A single hint about such an essential maneuver would have been nice. And lastly, the final boss... let's be honest, it's rather an anticlimax. Despite these flaws I enjoyed the game immensely, and I'm excited to try the sequel. Highly recommended!

The game starts with your party being thrown into a dungeon. Your goal is to get your party out of the dungeon. There are a lot of good things in this game along the way. You can create your own party. Make custom characters to fit your play style. There are some real challenges oing through this dungeon. The graphics and the atmosphere are great. There are multiple ways to solve some of the puzzles making the replay vallue a plus. I would higjhly recommend to anyone looking for a challenge and a good dungeon crawler. You will have to use strategy, hand eye coordination, and problem solving. I would also recommend this game if you are looking for something different. Give the game a try. Its well worth the money.

I must admit I always enjoyed these tile-based dungeon crawlers and it's good to see a modern take on the genre after many many years of dust gathering. LoG is clearly a very polished and well executed take on the genre - you have keys, hidden wall switches, floor panels that use pressure switches, etc. It's very much "by the numbers" and there's really little that is done differently compared to the classics of old. This is great if you want a modern version of such a game but less great if you recognise the flaws the genre has. For example, they could have added more diverse walls & scenery - paintings, tapestries, unique decorations, etc. to liven the place up and make it feel a bit more unique. The game reuses the same art far too much (something which the games of old were guilty of as well) which is a shame. The game also relies too much on switches, keys and pressure panels - it's all kept as simple as games such as Eye of the Beholder but I still wish there was a better story, some more variety, more unique interactions (think Lands of Lore). Still, the game is great at what it does, even if it doesn't really attempt to improve the genre where possible. It's still very enjoyable after all.

The veterans have recieved a love letter soaked in a pool of nostalgic tears, whereas the young inexperienced novices have been given an unparalleled opportunity to taste with their own tongues what the veterans had been cherishing all this time. And so two gaming worlds merged, if only for a while, and thus the endless argument about how the old games will never be surpassed fell into forgotten. For a while. And for the duration of that while these veterans can have intelligent conversations with the youngsters on the topic of games. And who knows, perhaps it will trigger an entirely new wave of interest even for the archive pieces... ...but I might be pushing my wishes there. As it is now, Grimrock has managed something even its developers themselves surely never dared to hope for. And when a handful of enthusiastic amateurs manage to do something that achieves way beyond their own former ambitions, I as an overly pleased customer simply refuse to complain about anything, despite the fact I technically could. This game is great. It's a great fun and enjoyment for both the seasoned genre lovers AND the green dungeon virgins. And it's dirt cheap. And that's all you need to know.