 |
 |
|
|
Continuing where the famous Dragonlance Chronicles Books left of, SSI started a new series with the AD&D Champions of Krynn computer game. Even after the good Dragonarmies defeated the evil Dragonarmies in the War of the Lance, there are still pockets of Evil left on the continent of Ansalon, which is located on the world of Krynn. Rampaging through the lands surrounding the cities which are still used as bases of power by the forces of Evil, the characters will uncover a plot by the Aurak Draconian Myrtani to lure the good armies into a trap and wipe them out.
The races available for character generation differ slightly from the ones found in the Forgotten Realms (Pool of Radiance and its sequels and the Savage Frontier series). There are two types of Dwarves, Hill and Mountain Dwarves, and two types of Elves, Qualinesti and Silvanesti Elves. Instead of Halflings one can choose a Kender. They are as tall as Halflings and have a child’s mind. Half–elves and Humans do not differ from the ones found in the Forgotten Realms. Among classes to choose from are Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, and Thief. These are already know from Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds. The Mage class is split into 3 Robes: Black (evil), Red (neutral), and White (good). Characters my only belong to the Red or White Robes, as the Black Robes belong to the enemies. Mages are affected by the phases of the three moons of Krynn (e.g.: Red Mages get bonus spells if the red moon is full). Clerics have to choose one of the gods of Good or Neutrality as their own god. The evil gods are only for the enemies. Each god provides different special abilities to his cleric. A new class are the Knights of Solamnia, who are divided into 3 Orders: Knights of the Crown, Knights of the Sword, and Knights of the Rose. If chosen as a character class, each Knight starts as a Crown Knight, but can later advance to Sword Knight and then Rose Knight.
The game is played in a First Person perspective. A small window in the upper left part of the display, shows the surroundings of the party in a 3D perspective. The combat system has not been changed since Pool of Radiance and still features the same isometric view of the battlefield. A difficulty setting allows adjusting the opponents’ hit points from 50% to 200% of their normal value. The story is terribly stupid and drowned in kitsch that is taken from the Dragonlance Chronicles Books. Even the characters from the Chronicles are forced into the plot of the game one way or the other. Caramon is a captive in the City of Throtl, Tanis is freeing Slaves in Neraka, and the annoying Kender Tasslehoff is the “big help” the characters get when they attack the flying citadel. Not only lacks the game any good story ideas, it is also very frustrating to play. In their first mission in the city of Throtl, the characters will face heavily armored fighters. Since combat abilities of beginning characters are not very good, it usually takes a long time to defeat them. Sleep spells will help, but once those are cast, they have to be memorized again, which takes time and can force a random encounter, which again might include enemy fighters. The random encounters found throughout the game are another problem: too often, too boring, too frustrating, and too annoying. Once the mission in Throtl has been completed, the whole game can be solved within a day. The Knights themselves, whom the characters work for throughout the game, are also very bothersome. On of the characters in the party should be a Knight though, or one of the quests can’t be completed. Although that Knight should not get any money as he will give it to the Knighthood as soon as an outpost is entered. The ubiquitous Draconians seem to be interesting opponents at first, but by the end of the second mission, most players will probably hope that they never see them again. Alas, one has to face them throughout the whole game, right to the final battle. Oh yes, there is also the sweet and romantic love story between Sir Karl, the Knight who sends the characters on one mission after another, and the Silver Dragon Maya, who usually runs around in the form of a young human woman. Another story element copied from the Dragonlance Chronicles.
The game comes on three disks and requires a fourth to store saved games. It requires 1 MB RAM and supports a second floppy drive. Installation to hard disk is possible, but the game will crash on an A1200.
     |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
The graphics are very good as the EGA graphics of the PC have been upgraded and more colors have been added. Special combat sprites have been added for the players to choose for their characters. Those exist only on the Amiga version.
|
|
|
The music is somewhere between okay and a little annoying. The sound effects are nice. Each enemy has his own death sound, depending on his size.
|
|
|
The game can be played with the mouse and/or keyboard. The commands are not difficult and easy to learn. Disk swapping can be a slight problem if the game is played with just one disk drive. Loading times could be a little shorter. The game itself is too frustrating most of the time, so the only reason to actually play it, is to transfer the characters to the much better sequel Death Knights of Krynn. For hard core fans this rating should be 9.
|
|
|
| A lot of the plot elements are simple copies from the Dragonlance Chronicles. Once the game is solved, it probably won’t be touched for a long time. Still, the Amiga version is the best version of this game. For hard core fans this rating should be 9. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Get Amiga Forever with pre-installed Workbench, games, applications, and much more.
It also contains the original Amiga ROM-files, 100% legally!
|
|
|
|
