From: jennifer@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Jennifer Schlickbernd)
Subject: Re: So nobody liked DarkLands?
Reply-To: jennifer@jato.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Lab - Pasadena, CA
Distribution: "world"
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 01:58:15 GMT

10770151@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (MARK JAMES) writes:

>Hi, just reading through all the postings here about DarkLands, it seems
>like a pretty disapointing game.  Anybody like to do a review here, or just
>tell me what they didn't like about it?  Anybody like to tell me what they
>did like about it?

>Ta Muchly dudes.

Well, I like it.  It does a lot of things _very_ well, and very differently
from the Ultima/AD&D genre and clones.

A little background about my tastes in CRPG's....the last CRPG I played
was Magic Candle I, and I quit because (like every other Ultima clone)
you had to back and forth and write down all this stuff (which seemed
to me to be pretty stupid, since if the computer can't keep track 
of information, what good is it??).  I got tired of being led by the nose
around the game.  I also got tired of endless tedious combat systems
as found in U6 (I never played U7) and the Gold Box series.  Mindless
dungeoning didn't appeal to me either, and while Ultima Underworld was
interesting to look at, I didn't stay with it.

BUT, Microprose is known for quality in games, and I knew they weren't
going to release just another Ultima/Gold Box clone, so I went ahead
and bought DK.  Glad I did. 

First the bad news--the game is buggy.  Particularly in the interiors
of places such as castles.  They didn't do some very basic things that
nearly any other CPRG would do such as mark what you are wearing (you
can sell everything you have on and are using and the game won't
even hint that you need the stuff), the save game files are not in
_any_ sort of order, you can save infinite files and only 9 show!
So, you can end up in a situation where your last save is not shown.
Players can't trade formulas between them, even though the formula
is described as a piece of paper.  The castle interior interface
is _tedious_.  I understand what they were trying to do and they did
it, it's just too flipping slow!  The garbarge in the designers notes
was insulting to other games that have been released, but that's
another post entirely.

The good stuff--the graphics are _beautiful_.  In town or hamlets,
you get pictures that look like watercolor.  They add so much to the
atmosphere of the game.  The sound is good on my Soundblaster clone
(Tboard).  The game is completely non-linear.  When you start, apparently
there is no plot, but as you play, you get more and more clues as to
what you are really supposed to do (and it's not kill the evil Foobar).
In this way it's like Might and Magic (my favorite CRPG of all time).
You can go anywhere, you can go everywhere.  You don't need money,
but it's good to have it for those weapon/armor upgrades and potions
you want.  Of course if you get a lot of money, you can always give
to the Church and hope for a virtue upgrade.

The character creation system is not random, you can create the exact
same character as many times as you want.  There are a lot of choices
to be made while creating a character, and some have said that the
character creation system is a game in itself.

The combat system is the best _I've_ seen, since you finally get a sense
of the timing of combat without the tediousness of having to control
each player's every move.  You can see that your Halberd is slower
than your long sword.  The characters can be told who and how to attack,
but if you don't tell them, they'll make their (mostly) sensible choices.

The interface is very nice..reminiscent of Star Saga with it's menu
choices, but much more artfully done.  You also have to _live_ with
the choices you make, and unlike any other game I've played, many
choices are not necessarily right or wrong.  Killing is sometimes the
best answer, sometimes not.  You may not know until you try it.  BTW,
you cannot "raise" your characters from the dead.  They make a big
deal of this in the designers notes, but to me it's not that big a deal.

The magic system has a nice flavor, although there really isn't much
difference between Ultima's reagents and DK's alchemy.  Your alchemist
can make potions from formulas or anyone can buy potions.  Saints
can be beseeched to help, and all the party can do this.

I like the game very much.  This isn't really a full fledged review,
there's a lot more to the game, but hopefully I've added something to
the other comments made here.

Oh, BTW, you don't need to go into the mines or the interiors of 
castles to play/win the game, and the game appears to be replayable,
something we haven't seen since Wiz I in CPRG's.

-- 
Jennifer Schlickbernd                     Jet Propulsion Laboratory
jennifer@jato.jpl.nasa.gov or elroy!jato!jennifer@csvax.caltech.edu
72466.3413@compuserve.com  Voice:(818) 354-1167