108 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
108 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|
|
THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES
|
|
|
|
THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES is the third game in the AD&D "Forgotten
|
|
Realms" series from SSI. Characters from THE CURSE OF THE AZURE BONDS can be
|
|
transferred directly into this program. Characters from THE POOL OF RADIANCE can
|
|
be transferred indirectly through AZURE BONDS. The designers have managed to
|
|
find yet another way for transferred characters to lose all their items: The
|
|
characters are given some magical weapons and armor in compensation, but not
|
|
enough to properly equip everyone. However, it is possible to quickly acquire
|
|
more magical items very early in your mission.
|
|
|
|
This review of THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES is based on the IBM-PC version
|
|
(V. 1.00), which came on 5-1/4" disks. It supports joystick and mouse. Copy
|
|
protection is manual-based, using the Journal when starting the game, and the
|
|
Rule Book (randomly) when saving the game. (Note: Some Journal entries have
|
|
titles, and the words in the title count as part of the Journal entry in the
|
|
copy protection scheme.) The AdLib and Game Blaster cards are supported for
|
|
theme music, but game sound effects are strictly via PC speaker. However, the
|
|
Sound Blaster card will not work with this version of the game. The program
|
|
recognizes it as an AdLib card, but does not work properly.
|
|
|
|
While SILVER BLADES is the third program of a series, a beginner can start
|
|
here. The beginner won't understand the references to the prior games, but
|
|
understanding them is not necessary to winning SILVER BLADES. Newly created
|
|
characters have 200,000 Experience Points, which is level 8 for a Fighter.
|
|
|
|
SILVER BLADES offers many features that make it suitable for a novice. First,
|
|
the difficulty level can be set by the player. This idea is from THE CHAMPIONS
|
|
OF KRYNN -- another SSI AD&D game, but in the "DragonLance" series. However, the
|
|
difficulty setting appears to work differently in SILVER BLADES. The difficulty
|
|
of the battles seems to be determined by the ability of the player's characters,
|
|
as in the previous "Forgotten Realms" games. The difficulty setting seems just
|
|
to establish the upper limit for the battle generation, and the frequency of
|
|
random encounters. Second, the difficulty of the battles is easy in the
|
|
beginning, and only really hard in the endgame. Third, the game has a built-in
|
|
clue book in the form of the "Well of Knowledge." Fourth, major portions of two
|
|
of the first three mazes in the game are given in the Journal. (Note: The map on
|
|
page two of the Journal for this version of the game has two errors. There is a
|
|
door that is not shown, and the six-squares-long north/south corridor is only
|
|
five squares long.)
|
|
|
|
Veterans of POOL and AZURE BONDS can skip this and the next paragraph. For
|
|
interested beginners, the SSI AD&D games are very heavily combat-oriented.
|
|
Combat uses a unique 3-D system based on the miniatures system. This is a
|
|
reflection of one of the inspirations for the original D&D games. The series
|
|
also features very interesting interactions with Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
|
|
The player has to make judgments as to whether an NPC is friendly or hostile,
|
|
truthful or lying. The player also makes decisions as to whether to help or kill
|
|
any NPCs encountered.
|
|
|
|
These are not games in which you can kill everyone indiscriminately with no
|
|
penalties. They usually require a large amount of mapping, although SILVER
|
|
BLADES has some very nice mapping aids built in. The games are event-driven:
|
|
Nothing happens until the player does something. There is also no real-time
|
|
limit, although the game often implies that there is one. Realism is definitely
|
|
a second priority to playability. Housekeeping details, such as food, are
|
|
assumed to be automatically taken care of by the player's characters.
|
|
|
|
The command menu is the same one used in THE CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN. The mouse is
|
|
better implemented. Double-click is now available to point and select items.
|
|
However, double-click does not work as expected in several places. An example is
|
|
the Money screen of the Loot screens. This is a reflection of the fact that the
|
|
menu system is still primarily keyboard-oriented.
|
|
|
|
SILVER BLADES has several very useful new features. You can now store surplus
|
|
items in the town vault in Ambergris. It is no longer necessary to have a banker
|
|
character to hold the excess loot. Scrolls can be Joined into bundles. (Note: A
|
|
bundle can contain a mixture of cleric and mage scrolls, and also readable and
|
|
unreadable mage scrolls.)
|
|
|
|
The game also has new levels. Within racial limits, all characters can advance
|
|
to level 15 (except thieves, who can advance to level 18). There are new,
|
|
higher-level druid, cleric, and mage spells to support the higher character
|
|
levels. The higher character levels mean that (except for thieves) nonhuman
|
|
characters are at a disadvantage: They cannot advance to the new levels.
|
|
|
|
The maze coordinates are always shown, even when the Area command is not
|
|
available. The experienced gamer will appreciate this, as some of the mazes are
|
|
huge! There are 12 mazes that are greater than 80x60 in size. Fortunately, only
|
|
one of them requires full mapping. (Note: The coordinates display is not always
|
|
updated immediately or correctly when entering a new square. This most often
|
|
happens when moving from one maze to another. Rotating the party will correct
|
|
the display.)
|
|
|
|
THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES is as long as THE POOL OF RADIANCE, with the
|
|
speed and efficiency of THE CURSE OF THE AZURE BONDS. The game is very linear,
|
|
although the player is free to ignore the linearity to a large extent. There are
|
|
also some optional side missions, but the player has only one chance to take on
|
|
the side missions when they are presented. There is also one optional, very
|
|
difficult battle -- much like the Beholders Conference in AZURE BONDS. The early
|
|
battles should be very easy for the experienced player, but the endgame battles
|
|
are quite challenging. While none of the required battles has quite the
|
|
difficulty of the legendary Slum Trolls battle in THE POOL OF RADIANCE, the
|
|
sheer size of the endgame makes it strategically very difficult.
|
|
|
|
THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES is perfect for lovers of the previous games,
|
|
combining the best features of THE POOL OF RADIANCE, THE CURSE OF THE AZURE
|
|
BONDS, and THE CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN. SILVER BLADES doesn't offer quite the rich
|
|
variety of POOL, but then, this storyline takes place in a remote rural area:
|
|
The player shouldn't expect the diversity of a metropolis.
|
|
|
|
THE SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and
|
|
distributed by Electronic Arts.
|
|
|
|
*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
|
|
|