Download Shadowgate

At the edge of the forest the door stands before you, the skull that stares at you from over the door gives you a silent warning “Death awaits inside.” With the words of prophecy from Lakmir in your mind, you face your quest and destiny, you are the last of the line of kings and only you can stop the Warlock lord. At this very moment he is casting a spell that will raise a creature known as “The Behemoth” from the depths, and if he succeeds the world will not live to see the rising sun. Sounds like you got work to do!

Welcome to the world of Shadowgate, where as a hero of royal birth you must adventure through the halls and rooms of the dark castle known as Shadowgate. Armed with a handful of weapons, a little bit of magic, and your sharp mind you must find the staff of ages and defeat the Warlock Lord and his mythical minions and stop him from finishing the spell that will mean doom to all you know. If that wasn’t a daunting enough task for you, the Staff of Ages has been separated into three pieces and scattered throughout Shadowgate Castle.

Shadowgate is a First person view adventure game that uses several windows that includes the view window, the command box, the inventory window, the exits window, and the text window. Through use of the view window you can interact with what you see and take items and put them in your inventory. While you can take and interact with most of the items you see, be warned that not everything is useful or even safe.

Shadowgate is full of creatures that want you dead and traps that can be both obvious and some that are rather devious. So as with most adventure games like this, save early and save often, you never know what could be around the next corner. You don’t have all the time in the world to complete your quest either, the Warlock Lord is moving as fast as he can to bring the Behemoth to destroy the world and you have a limited amount of torches which means you have to keep searching for more –lest you fall and break your neck in the dark.

The graphics are highly interactive and functional, but not impressive even for its age. The graphics do help you though in figuring out where to go and what to do, even if they don’t overwhelm you.

The sound consists of growls, spewing fire, opening doors, and punches-among others. They may add a bit to the game, but you could comfortably play this game with the sound off as the music and sound effects are rare and more of an afterthought.

What Shadowgate does offer is a pretty decent challenge and over a couple dozen rooms to explore. Fans of older adventure games will not be disappointed with Shadowgate as it has the classic elements- lots of items, lots of creatures, and lots of ways to die. Again, remember to save early and save often.

It’s time to roll up your sleeves, thrash the Warlock Lord, and claim your crown.

Don't forget to set machine=CGA In order to be able to save, type and prevent the game from freezing.