jjm (10/22/82)
There was a request recently for reviews of home micro games... WIZARDRY is the best computer game currently available for home micros (it runs on APPLE machines). It outsells all other games in the same way that VisiCalc is outselling business software. WIZARDRY is a D+D type game, for a party of up to six individual characters. Each develops their own skills, spells, etc. Password protection is provided so that several players may use the same disk and not worry that someone else will steal items from their character. An extensive set of spells for both priests and mages is provided. (There are 8 character classes - fighter, mage, thief, priest, ninja, bishop, samurai, and lord). Travelling within the dungeon is represented in perspective in one section of the screen; other sections display character status, active spells, and available commands. During combat, a picture of the opponent replaces the view of the dungeon corridor. A very large selection of monsters is provided (not only the usual orcs and dragons, but LifeStealers, NightStalkers, Wyverns, and so on.) After exploring the dungeon to a certain extent, the players are given a quest... but I won't spoil the excitement by saying too much about that. Ask about WIZARDRY at your local computer software store. WIZARDRY I (Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord) costs about $40.00, and WIZARDRY II (The Knight of Diamonds) costs about $25.00 (no instruction manual is included with W II.) It is without a doubt the most involving role-playing game (either human or computer) that I have ever seen. Jim McParland character name: "Oyama" Evil Samurai, level 17
doehring (10/27/82)
I have seen the game which you describe ( or one very similar ) about 6 monhts ago. I agree that the concept is very good, but the thing is so darn SLOW. You can hear that disk humming all the time. Also, the picture of the characters you are fighting aren't too swift either, I mean, why can't they use nice graphics, rather than the line graphics they do use. The view you get while going through the maze is really nice and does change quickly, about as fast as you hit the buttons. Finally, I think that the version I saw was for an Atari 800, which might explain the speed and/or poor graphics. It is a nice game, I only wish rogue was like it is..... Martin S. Doehring decvax!yale-comix!doehring