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Through the mists
of time in the dim and distant
past a proclamation was made
throughout the land.... Yea,
verily, PSS will produce a true
computerised role playing
game and it shall be called
Swords And Sorcery, to follow
the alliterative vogue. But as
time passed many scoffed and
said that such a task was
beyond the heroes of the age.
And then one day the clouds
rolled and the heavens
thundered and the earth shook
and the postman delivered a
package. Only two years late
S & S had arrived.
The groat thing about Dungeons and Dragons and the like as far as I'm concerned is that they fire the imagination and draw you into a convincing world created by the games master. A lot of that involvement comes from playing with like minded people (or for those who have never become involved, loonies). Obviously you lose that element with only the hum of the computer to keep you company. Role playing games are also notorious for the involved mechanics of running a world; constant dice rolling, looking up tables and consulting charts is conducted by the referee. But a good dungeon master will make it all look effortless and create an ongoing narrative with the players. Again the computer fails because the cluttered screen is far too busy. Familiarity will help you accustom yourself with the relevant windows, but even then I'd have preferred less of the bones showing. Above all though, the dungeon should be believable, and it's the curse of bad players to create chamber after chamber of monsters. Unhappily the, computer reproduces this 'hotel corridor' syndrome perfectly, replacing subtle traps and vivid description with continuous battles. Not that it's all bad, and I'm sure S & S will become a cult of sorts. There's room for better dungeons as later levels are added to the core MIDAS system. And the-true spirit of the game starts to come through if you get a chance to indulge in a little casual conversation with a monster before combat - the battle cries and insults are great. You also train your warrior at the start in various skills and attributes can be increased. But in the end I found it all too mechanical to do what it set out to, which is indulge the player in role playing.
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