I can't fault this game. It's perfect for early nineties tech combining with Dungeons and Dragons. It's just not withstood the test of time. The sound is bad, graphics are not good and gameplay...... oh, it's still good. Controls are simple and it's 2D, you point and click for everything barely need a keyboard at all. My only gripe is they never made a remaster, hardly any kids today want this kind of experience when theyve got full HD immersive blah blah. I love the game. I love Dark Sun Shattered Lands. This era was the pinnacle of D&D imo. The ageing effect has lost one star. Maybe i've played it too many times. Doubt it. I'll only stop when I die.
Not to be confused with another game of the same name, Stronghold D&D is a great old title, combining aspects of RPG and city building in a very unique way that has a familiar formula which has often been repeated since in other games. I personally think this one is the grandmamma of them all The basic game is to create your five lords, each a Dungeons and Dragons original rules character class. Your stats will affect your people and your city, EG high charisma will mean more chance of a increased pop and high int means better mage spells or a little more income. Each class has it's own building strategy but it all follows a basic rule. Build farms/forests to get income and food. Build marketplaces to get a common fund. Build housing so population can increase. Your Pops are also your army which depend on your lords class, there's fighter(which can either be an archer or a melee fighter), mage(ranged attackers controllers), cleric(healers and close fighters), thief(fast close attackers but weak), dwarf(melee fighters), elf(spellcasting archers) and halflings(similar to thief) You either 'Home' or 'Ready' a pop. Home for building, ready for sending to somewhere by selecting a square and using the attract -/+ button. Battles are automatically fought when you encounter an enemy, don't expect your level 1 feeb to survive by themselves. If you are attacked and your pop dies at home the buildings begin decaying with noone to look after them. Don't let that happen. It's a very simple game with great depth and replayability and i'm proper glad I can once again experience it.
The game has aged but hasn't lost it's edge, it's just as good as it always was. A fantastic space strategy RTS. I don't think I need to say more.
I loved the old school Star Control on the Megadrive and was eager to try this out. It plays in a very, VERY, similar way to star control 2 with all the exploring planet hopping and RPG style diplomacy with ye olde top down 2D ship to ship battles. Pretty decent graphics wise, a little cartoony but I didn't mind. Sadly it just gets a little repetitive, especially since I played Star Control 2 to death and back. I was hoping for something a little different. Well put together but ultimately a little dry and tedious, sadly the original games still rule the roost.
Westwood studios made so many brilliant games across many genres but this one is still one of my favourites. A brilliant dungeon crawl. I don't seem to remember dying quite so often but then I guess my reaction times suck now. Love the voice acting and the little asides the characters make throughout the game it all adds to the fun "Ew zooks! Have you changed your footclothes lately?" Definitely the best of the Lands of Lore series.
Anachronox was not a favourite when I first bought it way back when. It had an odd control system, was not what I expected of an RPG of the time and took ages to get going. The control system I got used to. The unusual RPG aspects quickly became likeable quirks and once past the initial down-and-out solo detective bit of the story it became much more engrossing. There's no way i'm spoiling this game, what the creators of it made was short of brilliant - but not far from. At times it reminded me of FFVII, sometimes Guardians of the Galaxy, other times it seemed to be a trendsetter. I see many aspects of this game used in others long after. OK graphically it's aged badly but I think nearly all people who play these good old games don't play them for superficial looks. It's story and content and enjoyability that counts and anachronox delivers. Lol moments, funny dialogue and REALLY quirky aliens and characters (Vox for instance) If you have this game and are frustrated at the start, persevere and I think you'll find a little patience will be rewarded.
I want to give five stars because I have such fond memories of the game. I'm not because the game has a couple of limitations. It still is so darn close to five out of five. If I were to describe this game it would be a land grab with army building and basic city building aspects with a minor RPG aspect (aka the quests for your heroes.. which i think are a major opportunity missed-thus flawed) It's a game based on the original D&D rules set in Mystara, which I adore. There are provinces to attack and control, castles and other buildings to create in those provinces, which is great. But because they are strictly true to the old skool Mystara, clerics and mages are limited to certain tiles for building their respective creation buildings which can be an issue. Battles are fought top down (reminiscent of Gauntlet TBH) and im still (re)learning to use the keyboard but it doesnt affect the gameplay much if you know how to build up your army. I still love it even after thirty odd years so it cant be bad.
Its an old DOS game I used to love. Still do. vast land and lots of NPCs to meet, a clever yet simple skill system and a game that got me into reading Fantasy novels.
