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Ask
anyone remotely associated with gaming who the
Butcher is and you're in for quite a tale. Most
will spew forth accounts of death and
dismemberment, detailing perilous battles with an
evil beast, a monster so vile it murdered women and
children for mere pleasure. The Butcher is just one
of many lasting icons from Blizzard's 1997 hit
Diablo that will live forever in the minds and
hearts of gamers everywhere. Surprisingly, though,
unlike most titles of its caliber, the success of
Diablo remains uncontested -- until now.
While
most industry watchdogs are keen on Eidos' Revenant
as the true Diablo killer, a small, relatively
unknown Swedish developer has something else in
mind. Hard at work for the last year and a half on
an isometric fantasy RPG adventure called Clans,
ComputerHouse AB and publisher Strategy First just
might have the surprise hit of 1999 on their hands.
Strategy First, the development arm behind titles
such as the Man of War and Steel Panthers series,
acquired the rights to publish Clans in November
1998.
The
basic premise behind the game is standard stuff.
The ancient land you inhabit is in peril. Four
clans, once at peace with each other, now fight for
survival against an evil demon and amongst
themselves. Warfare, plagues and flames have almost
engulfed the entire world, a place once full of
peace, life and prosperity now submerged in famine,
desolation and filth. An ancient castle high up in
the Misty Mountains is said to house the artifacts
necessary to break the death cloud and return peace
to the land. Standing in your way, however, is a
powerful demon who lives within the legendary
castle. Although each clan has sent its greatest
warriors to beat this beast, none of the warriors
were heard from again. Now, at the point of
despair, the clans send their last and greatest
champions to destroy the demon, take possession of
his treasure and return peace to the
land.
The
races that make up the clans are Barbarians,
Warriors, Elves and Dwarves. As the player, you
have the ability to be the hero from any one of
these races. The clans differ in strengths and
weaknesses, and as such the game plays uniquely
with each. The Barbarian clans inhabit the harsh
and rugged outlying areas of the land and have
chosen to send their champion Stoneskin. Stoneskin
is well known for his great strength and vitality.
A fighter equally good with the sword or axe, magic
is his dominant weakness. The champion of the
city-dwelling clan is the warrior Alaric. The son
of a noble family, Alaric fought many for the right
to face the demon. A combat contest to the death
was held, and after using a great combination of
swordsmanship and magical abilities, Alaric stands
alone.
The
forest-dwelling Elves remember when the demon first
came to the land and the evil that has spawned
since that day. Leayandor fought for the privilege
to banish the demon, and with his natural magical
ability, enhanced by years of training, won that
right. Leayandor also has limited martial arts
capabilities to aid in fighting the minions of the
demon. Thorfinn represents the Mountain Dwarf clan
in this quest. His mastery of the axe has blessed
him all his life and was the prime reason he was
able to crush the Ogres in their attacks on the
Dwarven mines; hence, his warrior name, Ogrebane.
Thorfinn is exceedingly strong physically but weak
in magic.
As
you can tell from the character descriptions, some
will use magic and some will not. For those who
choose to rely on the arcane, the magic system in
Clans is very simple to understand. When you find a
scroll, you automatically gain the ability to cast
the spell associated with it. Each spell has five
levels of intensity. By combining two scrolls of
the same spell, you increase the power of it and,
subsequently, deal that much more damage. Some
spells I've played with so far are Fireball,
Explosion, Confusion, Lightning Bolt and Meteor
Rain. Fireball and Lightning spell effects are
fairly self-explanatory. Confusion will cause your
enemy to freeze for a few seconds, allowing you
pummel them into submission or retreat if you're in
danger. Meteor Rain is an area effect spell similar
to the Cave-In spell found in Dungeon
Keeper.
While
there are many similarities to Diablo, in many ways
the look and feel of the game is very different.
Role-playing gurus should note Clans is by no means
in the same hardcore vein as Baldur's Gate; rather,
it plays like a combination between Psygnosis'
Ecstatica II and Diablo. Managing statistics and
such via the abilities screen is simple. As you
progress through Clans, you'll find items, such as
rings, that enhance your abilities. Some rings
increase the damage of your sword or axe while
others increase the damage of certain spells. Still
others increase abilities, such as agility and
life-force. Other than rings, your primary
assistant in your quest for the kingdom will be the
many potions to be found. Potions can poison, give
health or mana, increase strength and magic, or
improve your life-force. Conversation and dialogue
are limited but effective. In your quests, you'll
find money in various places, and eventually be
able to buy weapons and items from carefully placed
merchants.
The
visuals are very detailed but smaller than what
we've become accustomed to. The graphics aren't 3D
accelerated via hardware; rather, the game uses a
proprietary engine that displays some of the best
non-accelerated 16-bit graphics around, capable of
techniques such as real-time colored lighting and
multi-layered 3D objects. These effects are good
enough I had to make sure I wasn't running in 3D
accelerated mode more than once. The game world is
broken into pieces, much like a puzzle, and players
traverse from location to location without the
ability to see into adjacent rooms. This could have
been a downfall to the overall experience, but
ComputerHouse AB has done a nice job of ensuring
gameplay events, such as creatures pursuing people
from room to room, are not affected. I've been
testing a recent beta and am happy to report
enemies do follow you through rooms and doors,
often relentlessly.
A
robust single-player game will thankfully be
accompanied by an equally powerful multiplayer
feature. You'll be able to adventure through the
entire quest cooperatively with up to three other
players or competitively in a type of competition
called Gold Rush. The object, of course, is to exit
the level with more gold than your competitors. The
parameters for winning can be a predetermined time
limit, a set amount of gold or a certain number of
monsters killed. This balanced attack on the
fantasy role-playing action genre should turn a few
heads this spring. Strategy Plus obviously has a
good eye for quality and appear to have a prime
candidate for sleeper of the year.
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