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WIZARDS & WARRIORS
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Fantasy role playing at its best
By WILLIAM BARKER
A friend once asked me RPG stood
for. I told him 'repeat play syndrome'. He asked where the 's' came from
and after a heated debate about the synergies between the letters 's',
'g' and garden gnomes - fearing he would try to take away my games - I
split his skull in two with a silver bladed battle-axe.
Soon after mopping up the blood it was time to install Heuristic Park's
FRPG (the 'f' stands for fatal) and embark on what would be, I knew, a
rewarding investment of time. D.W. Bradley helped out with much of the
game and most core RPGers will know who this bloke is.
Possibly most famous for Crusaders of the Dark Savant, circa 1992 (Wizardry
7), Mister Bradley has a talent for creating absorbing and entirely playable
titles and this is more evident than ever with Wizards and Warriors.
The plot goes something like this: In Gael Serran, a realm full of evil
trolls and scantily clad pixies, something sinister has arisen. An undead
Pharaoh named Cet Ude D'ua Khanhas (his friends call him Sugar Daddy)
busted out of a magical jail and is raiding 7-Elevens with alarming frequency.
With the help of a reptilian overlord and a messenger straight from the
Gods, you must defeat this evil slurpee-devouring fiend. But that's not
all. A sacred and magically imbued weapon, the Mavin Sword, is the only
object capable of obliterating this undead wrongdoer once and for all.
From the outset, you can see Bradley's influences on the game. From the
six-member party's to the magic system - it is all styled in typical D.W.
spirit. After watching the intro you begin your adventure in a small village.
The village is a 2D image that uses parallax scrolling to great effect
and will have older gamers thrashing around in fits of nostalgic ecstasy.
In essence, this simplified town system streamlines buying, selling and
questing as everything is within easy reach.
From here you must go to the inn and create a party. There are numerous
races to choose from, each with pros and cons, but only four character
classes. This isn't really an issue as later in the game, when your characters
have a propensity for slaughter, you will unlock a number of exclusive
classes, such as the ninja and warlock.
The game is played out in real-time and two choices are available for
combat: phased and real time. This was initially my first gripe with the
game, but persevere I did. With a little help from father time, the combat
system grew on me. Phased would be the pick of the two as the style of
game and intensity of some battles will leave you gasping for breath in
the real-time combat mode.
Those who have been spoiled by the likes of Final Fantasy et al will stare
at W&W; reproachfully as there is little strategy involved. If you've got
a big enough sword and a super-charged spell-book then slay away. Otherwise
it's a case of trying other means, such as confusion spells, some magical
items or perhaps even to retreat.
The gameplay is definitely the best portion of the game. Completing the
hundreds of quests and slaying all the capitalist pigs, err, beasties,
will be what keeps gamers going. It's all too addictive if you ask me.
The only problem I had was with the mouse control - they won't let you
invert it. Damn you Heuristic Park! Damn you!! Otherwise it's all peaches
and cream.
The audio/visual aspect is in there but there's not much that needs to
be said other than it fills in the gaps that the gameplay couldn't. 3D,
texture maps, plenty of trees, that sort of thing. An arbologists dream
you might say.
In the end, Wizards and Warriors is a massive undertaking that will do
for fans of classic RPGs what silicon did to Baywatch. It's all good.
ORIGINALITY 90%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 70%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 80%
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