Wizards & Warriors (PC)

Review by: Terrel

Reviewers Score: 8 / 10

Posted: August 24, 2007

Wizards & Warriors
System: PC
Genre: RPG
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Score: 8/10

This is not a remake of the platformer on the Nintendo. D.W. Bradley, the brains behinds Wizardry 5-8, is back with this classic!

Graphics (9/10)

First, I am rating the graphics compared to other games at this era. For games released in the year 2000, the graphics are incredible. Great animations, very detailed creatures and environments, but a few things are still quite pixilated. Quite amazing for a game of this age is that 1024x800 is the normal resolution, so even with today’s LCD monitors, this game looks good. The only part that could have been improved is the intro and end movies as they look quite rushed and poorly done.

Sounds (9.5/10)

Amazing! The sound effects are perfect and music fits the dungeons and landscapes perfectly. The part of this game that stands out the best is the environmental sounds. They are so perfect, that some dungeons are actually better without music. Nothing is better than making your way through an eerie crypt than hearing ghosts wailing and moaning, bones shifting, rocks shifting and the pests scuttling around in a dark room to get your heart pumping! Another thing that this game has that most don’t in this era is full NPC speech. The speech is very well done, although the only thing I have against it is that you can’t skip speech, once it starts, you need to listen to the whole thing.

Storyline (9/10)

As you create your own characters, there is no background story for the main characters. Much like almost all RPGs, you start off with a mild quest that ends up introducing you to main story. Every NPC you meet in the game will have lots to say and will help explain the history of the land and the areas that you are in. Also the Narrator, that cuts in from time to time, adds much to the story as well and makes it feel like you are truly playing a book.

Gameplay (7/10)

Much like other first-person RPGs, you click to kill and cast your spells throughout the game. The main difference is that this game combines turn-base and real-time gameplay very smoothly. All of the characters and creatures are real-time until they attack, but until then, they are free to move around as they please. This does cause a few problems though as spells that are cast are still real-time, meaning there are several times you have no choice but to flee after casting some spells or fighting some enemies that do large attacks. This is also handy as you can destroy large groups of enemies with certain spells from a distance preventing them from even getting close enough to you to attack. There is also a wide variety of character classes that you will be able to get during the game. You start off as a Warrior, Rogue, Priest or Wizard, but will soon have the ability to cross-class, join guilds and complete around a hundred side quests that litter the game. Unfortunately, there are also a few game stopping bugs that may occur randomly during the game, like small passages that you can’t get through as the clipping thinks you can’t fit. This can get very annoying and at times frustrating, but often can be fixed by having a smaller character as the leader; Pixies are your friend, and don’t make an entire party of large Omphaaz race characters or you’ll never beat the game. Another thing I hate is that even if you identify a weapon or item, it doesn’t tell you if is cursed or not, you only find out after equipping it. As the only way to remove cursed items is by paying a cleric a hefty fee to remove them, often significantly more than they are worth, it gets very pricey. Don’t even think about equipping them again or you need to pay the price again. You’ll find you have no choice but to save before equipping new items.

Replayability (7/10)

As there is so much to explore and a wonderful reset adventure option that allows you to start the game over with your current level and items (all but the main quest specific items), you can continue to play the game even after it is done. Chances are that you will never experience all the classes and quests one time through, especially since several classes are only available at the very end of the game.

Overall (8/10)

I am quite impressed with this game, and would recommend any old-school RPG gamer to play it, stating of course you can get a copy of it now. You should be able to find a download for it on the internet somewhere :). Even with the few bugs that are in the game, I am sure you will find it enjoyable.