Dungeons and Monsters:
Quote:
Feeling that his death is near, your enemy, Night Tramp, gave the key pages of the Book of Shadows to the lords of dark forces. Knowing that he might come back, he ordered them to hide parts of the book in the most distant areas of the world a mere mortal would never visit and where only the chosen could enter. Your purpose is to take it away from this world!
Introduction:
Already I hear many complain. Oh no not another game from Some Company. Well, if you decide to ignore this game on the basis of the developer, then I say “more fool you” just because it’s from a developer that appears to have had a bad track record with respect to the quality of free games doesn’t mean all of them Not all of their games have been total washouts, well, at least in my opinion. Of course this style of game isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially as it’s not your common arcade game that can be picked up and played with little to learn. This game on the other hand does have some learning to do before you can enjoy the benefits of the game play; so if you’re exclusively a run and gun or a switch on and play right away sort of person, this game isn’t for you.
The game play is from an isometric view point, much like many of the strategy games that are available such as Age of Empires, World and Universe at War, Company of Heroes, the Total War series and Empire Earth to name just a few; though the graphic do seem to have taken a step back into the early console era (apart from the 8 bit graphics) when such games were two a penny. What I mean by that is in games made now there’s usually a lot of superfluous background scenery that although not essential to game play, adds to the beauty of the overall game. Unfortunately this game doesn’t have that, but it does have the game play, which is the most important aspect of this style of game anyway. (If I was given the choice between two games, one with and one without the scenery, I’d certainly plump for the one with the scenery, even if it meant paying more for it) Still, I don’t mean to denigrate this basic RPG game. Because of it’s antiquated looks. (It reminds me of the Alien Shooter games, and a little of the RIP series, though they were not RPG games like this one is. Though to me it’s not a true RPG game because there’s no control over your characters attributes, and there appears to be no character upgrades or spell making; though you can collect spells and potions left laying around the levels.
Anyway, onto the installation:
Today’s game giveaway is a 89.5Mb download, expanding to 98.2Mb when installed.
As with previous Some Company games, there is no desktop or start menu shortcuts installed so make a note of where the game is installed so that you can create your own shortcut. For those who don’t know how to do this check out the game discussion forums where I’ve posted a short tutorial:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2594
The default install path for today’s game is as follows:
C:\Games\
The Game:
The options menu has very limited configurability, with only sound and music sliders available, and as with previous games from this developer, the menu’s are plastered across the main menus page rather than having their own page. It makes for a difficult read when you check out the help menu; but, it’s not impossible.
The combat system is fully mouse controlled, with minor attributes being assigned to the keyboard, for example camera movement and hiding in game menus such as the character panel. When you click on play, the next page allows you to choose your character and game difficulty; though you only have a choice of two characters; a male and female. Movement is accomplished either by using the mouse pointer and clicking to where you want to move to, or using the cursor keys. So ideal for those who either dislike keyboard controlled games or who are disabled.
There’s not much else to say about the game play that I haven’t already said above in the introduction other than it’s relatively easy to play. I think the alterntive game I’ve posted below is on a par or better than today’s giveaway, but that doesn’t mean that it’ not a good game. On the contrary, the extra game is very good, and this is okay.
Images:
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Dungeons%20and%20Monsters/
As a slideshow:
Conclusion:
I suggest downloading it and checking it out for yourself. The images I’ve posted should give you an idea as to what the game play is about, and the video of the extra game I’ve posted, despite not being of today’s giveaway, it is basically the same sort of game play, so if you’re not sure about it, and are concerned that your going to spend hours downloading this on dial up only to find it’s not for you, then check out the video link posted at the end of this post.
I’m spoiled when it comes to games such today’s give away because I have some of the most up to date RPG’s that you can buy, so my scoring may reflect that a little. If you’ve not got any games of this genre, then I’d give it 6 out of 10 because it’s playable enough. Probably one of the better games from this developer. Though personally I’d give it a lower score.
Music:
The in game music can be found in the games folder, and as with previous ‘Some Company’ giveaways cannot actually tell which file is which, so if you wish to change the in game music, you’ll have to do it by trial and error. Always make sure you back up all the ogg files, then systematically change them for the music you like. You’ll have to convert the files to the .ogg format and re name the tracks you use using a suitable audio converter. You can find a couple of these in the freeware library; either/or will do:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/cat/Audio_Video_Audio_Encoders_Converters/
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Recommendations:
Shadowflare episode one: (88.5Mb)
The only games that springs to mind at this point (I’m in a rush to get this review finished) that plays like today’s giveaway are the freeware game Shadowflare episode one and the commercially available Eschalon Book 1,. There are loads more, which with a little research you can easily find. Both these games are great little RPG’s that can be downloaded via the links below. I’ve posted more details of Shadowflare and the actual download link over in the forums though because it deserved more information that isn’t appropriate in this review of another game, lol.:
Images:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=shadowflare+episode+1&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
Download Link:
http://www.shadowflare.us/download.htm
Eschalon Book 1: (101.6Mb
You can read reviews from the link below.