69 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
69 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
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DRAGONSTRIKE
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DRAGONSTRIKE is an AD&D game from SSI that's placed in TSR's DRAGONLANCE world.
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Set during the War of the Lance, the game is essentially a combat flight
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simulator in which you fly Krynn dragons instead of airplanes. Although it
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incorporates several role-playing elements, DRAGONSTRIKE is not an RPG; quite a
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few of the current flight simulator programs feature at least as many
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role-playing characteristics as this game does. (This review is based on the
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IBM-PC version.)
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You start out as a Squire (i.e., Level 1 Knight) in the Solamnic Order of the
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Crown. As you successfully complete missions, you advance in rank. Eventually
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you're invited to join the Order of the Sword. There is no need to do so; you
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can complete the game in the Order of the Crown. If you chose to become a Knight
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of the Sword, you will eventually be invited to join the Order of the Rose.
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Again, you do not have to switch. The main difference between the orders is
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their difficulty: As a Level 3 Knight of the Rose, your missions are harder than
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those of a Level 3 Knight of the Sword, whose missions are in turn harder than
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those of a Knight of the Crown. The increased difficulty is partially offset by
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the opportunity to fly a more powerful dragon, however.
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Flying a dragon is much simpler than flying an F15: It's basically
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seat-of-the-pants aviation. The only "modern" instruments are a crystal ball
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(radar) and an Arrow of Enemy Detection, which help you get close to the enemy.
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The remaining "instruments" are merely substitutes for your own senses. Gameplay
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mechanics should be very familar to those who've flown a simulator, and very
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easy to learn for everyone else.
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You fight a set sequence of battles. When played in order, they correspond
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roughly to the War of the Lance as described in the DRAGONLANCE Chronicles.
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The designers did a superb job of creating a dragon-combat flight simulator.
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Besides the obvious breath weapon, the dragons automatically attack with fang
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and claw when they fly close enough to an enemy. In addition to death by breath
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attacks, you can be knocked off your dragon, or be "pin-cushioned" by arrows.
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Unfortunately, DRAGONSTRIKE's implementation does not match its design. There
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are no overt flaws, but when measured against the current state of flight
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simulators, this game seems behind the times. For example, you don't have a full
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range of views: "Scan" and "look down" are missing. There is Ad Lib sound board
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support, but only during the opening and closing theme music (which is quite
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nice, by the way); the sound during actual gameplay is minimal and consists of
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mediocre PC-speaker effects.
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The game box recommends a 6MHz AT or faster PC. However, on my 12MHz AT with a
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very fast 16-bit VGA card and the display options set to the minimum, the
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response is still slightly erratic. The handling of control units is another
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example of outmoded operation: You must explicitly specify keyboard, mouse, or
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joystick input; the program can't figure out on its own which unit you're using.
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However, there is one well-implemented feature: You may re-map the keyboard
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controls to whichever layout you find most comfortable.
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DRAGONSTRIKE relies on an off-disk protection scheme that's reasonably easy to
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use. The package came with only 5-1/4" floppies.
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AD&D fans -- and especially DRAGONLANCE fans -- will no doubt enjoy this game.
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Flight simulator fans, however, will find the program either lacking in
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execution, or pleasantly free of the complexities of a modern combat flight
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simulator. In any case, game box recommendation notwithstanding, a 12MHz
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processor should be considered the minimum acceptable speed.
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DRAGONSTRIKE is a good game, but not quite as good as it could have been.
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DRAGONSTRIKE is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and distributed by
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Electronic Arts.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253 |