Akalabeth: World of Doom

Akalabeth, while historically important, is a game that really isn't very much fun to play today; and was surpassed by titles like Wizardry within a year of its commercial release. It is extremely repetitive and clunky, with very little in the way of tactics or exploration, and is frustrating unless you abuse the use of a certain item. I don't recommend Akalabeth unless you played it as a kid and are feeling nostalgic, or are simply interested in the origins of the Ultima series, but there is nothing in this game that wasn't done far better in Ultima 1. Simply put; it just doesn't compare favourably with most other rpg's.

From a historical viewpoint, Akalabeth, Richard Garriott's first game, is a real gem for every traditionalist gamer. It shows the very beginnings of everything that lead to the modern CRPG-genre after all. If you are into the history of RPGs, this forefather of the fantastic Ultima-games is a really interesting view into the earliest days of these games. The basics of modern RPGs are here, but everything is still very rough, not very user-friendly and you'll die a lot. I never finished this game, but it holds a strange attraction to me even in these days. I recommend the 1998-version (in the bonus section) as it features (some) colors and background music.

When you think about graphical dungeon GUI's such as Might and Magic, you will see the simplicity of point and click your way around the town. In this game, the developer combines the text based adventure genre with very simple vector graphics for it's time and creates a wonderful story that's simple to follow once you read the manual and get a feel for it's text commands. I don't think it would be something kids want to play on Christmas Day especially when they are getting their new video game systems or brand new games under the free but it would be a treat on Christmas to play and when you have nothing else to do. True Nostalgia here. Very impressed with this offering and it's free so why not add it to your account without financial risk?

I am a product of the modern "go to this point, kill this guy" kind of gaming. As this game is an old school kinda game. Since downloading it I have started 5 games and starved to death 5 times, trying to get used to the whole needing food thing. But if you grew up on these games or want to see what your parents played as kids, this game is totally for you. It make take my a long time to learn how to get food management down, but it will be a long time well spent.