Posted on: February 21, 2020
Jezebel1988
Games: 248 Reviews: 100
It came too late. Far too late.
ANVIL OF DAWN came out late (1996) and it manages to look worse than the games that preceded it. Far worse actually. The dungeon tiles look ugly and I never really liked Dreamforge's art style (the studio who also made RAVENLOFT and MENZOBERRANZAN). Typical for the studio is the horrible voice acting (horrible over-acting, probably done by the studio's employees like the janitor and cleaning lady) and dialogue. The HUD is unnecessarily huge and ugly too. There are cringe-worthy cinematics with ugly characters. There are 5 pre-made characters to choose from for a player character, one uglier than the other. You can re-distribute their stats (Strength, Stamina, Agility and Magic) as you choose turning the warrior looking guy into a spellcaster and the spellcaster into a strong barbarian. There is no party in ANVIL OF DAWN but you do catch up and interact with the other characters from the beginning. Combat is simple: click on the weapon icon - just like in EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. Mash that button and you will often stagger most enemies. Spellcasting is done by clicking on the spell icon, every spell has an icon below the weapons. This could have been done much better and just clutters up the screen. The dungeon design ranges from bad to good, one of the best looking dungeon being later in the game with a cool fog effect. And that is really a pity: some aspects of the game, for instance the gloomy atmosphere are quite good. Then there's the terribly drawn sprites, the abysmal voice acting and some wasted opportunities (at the beginning when you visit the court wizard to teach you the first two spells, the dialogue is always the same, whether you go in as a barbarian with zero magical talent or a professional mage, he will comment on your lack of talent). Too bad, but this game is underwhelming, then and now.
Is this helpful to you?
