CRPG Addict - Review Roundup (Part Nineteen)
In this week's recap of early reviews by the CRPG Addict we have only one game he'd actually recommend by his own criteria: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday. One of the Gold Box games, of course. Naturally that doesn't diminish the historical influence of other games, particularly those very early ones that but hinted at the role-playing goodness to come.
1990
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990)
The game was almost the perfect length, and although I eventually found combat a little boring, I can't say I was ever bored with the game overall. (..) on the whole the difficultly level was pitched just right. (..)
The final score of 46 sits 14 points below Curse of the Azure Bonds and 10 points below Champions of Krynn. As I said before, most of my satisfaction with the game comes from the Gold Box engine itself, but this setting didn't make the best use of that engine, and it simply doesn't strike me as a great setting for an RPG in the first place.
Lords of Chaos (1990)
"Scenario" games occupy a minority of RPGs. The others on my list so far have been Sorcerian, Paladin, Eamon, and SwordThrust, and I haven't been captivated by any of them. (..)
The final score of 28 puts it below the threshold (35-40) at which I really recommend a CRPG. I again want to emphasize that this game's primary purpose is not to be a CRPG, and thus it isn't the developers' fault that I'm playing it as part of a pathological quest to hit every game tagged as such on Wikipedia or MobyGames.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1990)
At it's core, Elvira is an adventure game, not an RPG, and like many adventure games of the 1980s and early 1990s, it has the virtue of brevity. It took me about six hours to fully explore it and figure out the puzzles, and another two and a half hours to win it with a fresh character. (..)
That gives a final rating of 29, which sounds like I didn't like it very much, and I didn't--as an RPG. It's a decent adventure game, the presence of Elvira notwithstanding, but it lacks the combat, economy, and equipment that would have made it a true hybrid.
Dark Designs I: Grelminar's Staff (1990)
Dark Designs is an unpretentious, short, somewhat satisfying little diskmag game that distills the most common RPG themes into a nice package. It doesn't break any new ground, but I don't think that was its goal. (..) The final score of 31 is pretty good for a diskmag game. It's a little below what I'd put on anyone's "must play" list, but it's certainly good enough to pass an afternoon (..)
Vampyr: Talisman of Invocation (1989)
The game offers too few tactics to justify the raw difficulty of the monsters you encounter. Dungeon exploration is a frustrating, thankless experience, as you never find anything but a few key NPCs and a ton of random monsters along the way. Though in appearance it evokes Ultima, it has no complexity in its inventory, economy, spell system, or NPCs. (..)
The final score of 28 puts it lower than the threshold at which I typically "recommend" a game (which is around 35). It was certainly worth a look, though, and if they ever stumble upon this entry, I congratulate the developers for accomplishing this much at such a young age.
Early Years
Orthanc (1975)
Another top-down dungeon crawler, a clear adaptation of "pedit5" (..) The final score of 16 makes the game not as good as Moria or Oubliette--it simply doesn't have enough content--but still fun in its own way.
Avatar (1979)
Avatar is impressive now and must have been mind-blowing in 1979. It draws from the best elements of the PLATO games that preceded it (particularly Oubliette, but also Moria and Orthanc) and anticipates games to come, including roguelikes and MMORPGs. (..) Avatar ends up with a score of 32 on my GIMLET to Oubliette's 31.
Dungeons and Dragons (1980)
The game is the very definition of "forgettable," and its omission even on a "comprehensive" list of RPGs would be perfectly understandable. (..) I give the game an 10 in my GIMLET, with 0s in the "NPC" and "economy" categories, 2 in "quests" and "gameplay" and 1 in everything else. It simply doesn't have enough RPG elements (especially character development) to be a good game.
Hellfire Warrior (1980)
The enterprise took me about eight hours. I'm giving the game a 20 on my GIMLET scale. Its best scores are 3s in "encounters" (the monster and room descriptions add a lot of atmosphere), "equipment," "character development," and "gameplay" (I like the choice of levels and the overall nonlinearity). It does poorly in "NPCs" (there are none) and "quests" (I don't like that the game doesn't really acknowledge the quest in-game) and "graphics, sound, and interface." Combat remains disappointing in the series, which continues to exclude any magic.
Apventure to Atlantis (1982)
It's not much of an RPG. The combat is almost entirely action-based rather than attribute-based, the inventory is all for puzzles, and the character development is extremely limited, consisting only of wizards "leveling up" from casting spells. (..) The final score of 25 makes this the highest-ranked of the Clardy "Campaign" series. It was fitting end to a group of early games that featured some interesting elements but didn't have a lot of impact on the development of the CRPG genre.
The Caverns of Freitag (1982)
Freitag is a minor title, even for 1982, and it only earns a 15 on my GIMLET scale. Its economy, creatures, interface, and quick gameplay are worth a few points. I think it's impressive what Shapiro was able to accomplish as a young developer working alone, but I'm glad we're in an era in which the success of Wizardry started producing CRPGs of greater depth and complexity.
Dungeons of Daggorath (1982)
Dying in Daggorath is a memorable experience. It can happen from enemy's blows, attacking too quickly, or even just running down a corridor too fast. Your heartbeat gets faster and faster and suddenly the world fades. (..) it's a wonderfully tense period in which you're wondering if you've died or if you'll shake it off and live to fight a little longer. (..) On my standard GIMLET scale, it does okay in the areas of combat tactics, sound, and overall gameplay, but even with a bonus of 3 points for its original elements, it ends up with a measly final score of 22.
Warrior of Ras, Volume One: Dunzhin (1982)
Warrior of Ras, Volume One: Dunzhin begs to be bred with some other dungeon crawler of the era, like Temple of Apshai or one of the Robert Clardy or Stuart Smith games. It has some ideas too good to ignore, but it lacks too many RPG elements to fully enjoy as an RPG. (..) In a GIMLET, I can only give it 22 points, including a couple of bonus points for its innovations.
Sword of Fargoal (1982)
Sword of Fargoal is an audio treasure chest in which every effect is a gem, (..) making it one of the only games of the era that I wouldn't dream of playing with the sound off. (..) Although it's fun, innovative, and charming, Sword of Fargoal isn't much of a role-playing game under classic definitions, and it doesn't do terribly well in the GIMLET, earning only a score of 19.
Explanation of the the final score: The GIMLET.