Ancient Evil is a hack-and-slash role-playing game, similar to Diablo. It has a good story, good graphics and is a lot of fun.
If you are the type of person who likes to play hack-and-slash games just to kill a lot of monsters, Ancient Evil will be a great game for you. If you are the type of person who likes a well-written story and a consistent plot, Ancient Evil will also be a great game for you. The plot in the game will not be clear from the start, but will be gradually revealed.
In Ancient Evil you can choose between playing a warrior, a ranger, a spellcaster and a thief. You have taken the challenge to explore the Crypt of the Ancients. For centuries this crypt has been the ultimate challenge for any adventurer. Originally, the crypt was a resting place for the ancient gods who created the world; later (about 400 years ago) a great mage called Alaric turned the crypt into an adventurer testing ground. Alaric offers 10.000 gold pieces to the adventurer who can explore the crypt and live to tell the tale. Thousands have tried and died. Only one hero, Jetraal the Heroic, succeeded. Later he died under mysterious circumstances. As you fight your way through the levels of the crypt, you will find books about the crypt and the monsters in it. You will also meet the ghost of Jetraal, and you will soon discover that an evil plot is being hatched in the crypt. You will have to figure out the plotline yourself, as it would take much of the fun out of the game to reveal it.
Ancient Evil is shown in a 3D isometric view, which is very nice to look at. There are a lot of different monsters in the game, and your character's appearance will change when you change his weapon or armor, so the graphics will not get boring. The sound in the game is fine, too.
It is very simple to play this game; it takes just two minutes to create your character, and the controls are simple. The only minor drawback I could find is that it can sometimes be difficult to navigate your character through narrow places.
All in all, a great game that should not be missed.
The game is not a DOS game. It will run under Windows XP with Windows 95 compatibility (right click on the executable and select 'properties'. Select the 'compatibility' tab, and choose 'Run in compatibility mode for... Windows 95').