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Review and Download (if available)

This game is one of my all time favorites, I would have given it a 5, but I can see the logic behind the 4 rating. I just happen to be a huge fan of freeform RPG's, it's a pity they don't seem to make any anymore.

This truley is one of the greatest RPG ever. Offcourse there are no fancy graphics but everything else is here. As for the quests, well what kind of quests do you espect expect take that/kill him? Maybe to conquer the town or sabotage the construction of nuclear device? Besides, point is that you wander around the country and se what happens. And things do happen. You can raise your reputation in different cities, search for satanic villages, destroy black masses and gatherings and such. There are mines, caves, monasteries, towers, othe spots, you can stumble upon cotagge, nice tree, bands, knights, merchants, save somebody, fight demons etc etc etc etc etc etc
Beside fighting agains creatures of hell everything else is like in real life. You can work, attack (you can gain negative reputation as well) or steal, buy and seal, train and study, and everything is without limit. Offcourse sooner or later you'll find out as much as about everythings and will get bored, but tell me, what game actually kept you FOR YEARS ALL THE TIME????? (except Elite :D :bleh: B) )
Offcourse, you get enough, then after some time you want some more and so on.
So please, this game definitly deserves 5 because of what it provides. Noone said that everybody will like it.
I cann't believe that I didn't wrote nothing about this game till now. I really enjoyed playing it.
Small tip: Strength can be increased. Just spend very very much time wandering through the countryside. You will sooner or later stumble upon the "woodman" (or treemen), sometimes they attack, but sometimes Hellhounds chase a poor one. Save position and try to hide him/it for the chase. If you succeed he will offer you a strange fruit. It gives you 4 strength. If you fail to hide him/it you can fight Hellhounds but they kick ass.
So long :)

And it's one hell to crack, too. When I first played it, I kept getting killed, so I brought out my trusty old Hex Editor and tried to boost some money, HP and strength, as those seemed to be the important ones to start out with. Took me twice as long as usual. After that, that game got me hooked for weeks, until the events started to repeat themselves a bit too much. Great game, all by all. Complete freedom in the gameworld. Which game can claim that as well?

I think this is a cool game :ok:
I had lots of fun with it in the past.

But as I tried it again, I noticed that there's a copyright protection :ranting: . You'll be asked at random time to quote a part of the manual. Sorry for my bad english, but I think you all know what I mean. Is there somebody who has also got (a scan of) the manual or even a patch?

And I have a question which doesn't belong here :ot: , but I'll post anyway. About DosBox: Is there a way to get it configured to run smoothly on Win XP? I have always the stuttering, which slows down gameplay to a very boring, yet enervating pace. I think I better look in the right forum, but I'd be happy to get a quick answer at first, like yes or no...

Enjoy! :Titan:

over at this site you can download the manual. :bye:

One of the best games ever made!

Easily the best RPG in this site...

The characters can work, they get old, you can do what you want, go to where you want, be what you want.

Besides it, the game have a great tactical combat - similar to Baldurs Gate.

It deserves a 5... or a 6.

[color=blue][size=7][font=Times] The Darklands web page for patches add ons and all the crap you need to play the game ---------> http://www.darklands.net/

I suspect the version up here is the final: version 7.0, I think. Frankly, 1.0 was unplayable. I didn't review it until something like 4.0, and even then, I had to call into Microprose tech support.

I do suggest amending the review regarding saved games: you can save anywhere, and there's no problem with old data. The only place you can't save is during combat. But really, it's not much of a review. This game had so many innovative features for its time:

1) A thoroughly researched basis in actual folklore and pseudo-science of the early Renaissance in Northern Europe.

2) Realtime with pause combat, that allows you to issue a host of commands to your characters.

3) A full alchemy system, that cleverly substitutes for magic.

4) A full prayer system, that substituted for clerical spells.

5) A clever combat system that took into account wear-and-tear, back attacks, and group attacks.

6) Strongly randomizing elements to the world that renewed gameplay, while keeping the same basic linear plot which appears part-way through.

7) An attractive soundtrack based on early Renaissance music of France, Italy, and the Law Countries (by the guy who now runs GOD games--we both like Guillaume de Machaut).

8) Go anywhere, do anything kinda play, but strong game balance.

9) Innovative character development based on choosing training paths as characters age. I've seen nothing as good, since.

This is one game that has almost never been off my computer. And it's there, now.

What's sad is that MicroProse were originally planning to make this a series, with sequels in Britain, France, Russia and the like. Oh well.

I do think this is one game that requires a new commerical revision, with no changes except maybe graphic enhancement (I don't know about you but I think the drawn graphics are lush and help give this game life, though) just to get it's name and the ideas into the minds of today's gamers. Also, an in-game record of your missions would've helped A LOT. You don't know how many reams of paper I've used writing down what I had to do.

Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you what to do with a big neon sign, which would turn off a lot of today's kids.

Are you sure about this? The reason I ask is that Microprose's creator and first CEO, "Wild Bill" Stealey, was notorious for several things: very un-PC, undiplomatic behavior, and an unwililngness to followup blockbluster hits with successors. Even Microprose's best-selling title, Civilization, didn't get a successor for five years, until Stealey had left. I was also in touch with the original Project Director for Darklands several times after its release--Arnold Hendrick, a very nice guy--and he was quite bitter about the product. He said that Microprose had disposed of all his code, so that if they'd ever intended to do a followup it would have had to be done from scratch. -Not that this wouldn't have been a good idea in any case, given the lapse of time.

I do think this is one game that requires a new commerical revision, with no changes except maybe graphic enhancement (I don't know about you but I think the drawn graphics are lush and help give this game life, though) just to get it's name and the ideas into the minds of today's gamers. Also, an in-game record of your missions would've helped A LOT. You don't know how many reams of paper I've used writing down what I had to do.

Graphics would have to be the first thing to go. Personally, I'd like to see a greater variety of incident in the surrounding landscape, and more variety among the city services. Remember those useless Cloth Guild screens? They were intended to offer the possibility of high quality clothing for sale, which would boost your reception by nobility. It apparently didn't make the final cut. I'd like to see many different Guilds, and more variety among the quests.

Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you what to do with a big neon sign, which would turn off a lot of today's kids.

And it wouldn't provide swords that flare with electricity, or 120 varieties of unique monsters, all in AD&D books. Yep. :D