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Dark Ages I: The Continents
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| First Impression |
When you first run Dark Ages, you're not all that impressed. It's graphics are mediocre, it's sound is annoying, and you think that it's just another stupid RPG scrolling engine demo. Don't quit yet, though!
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| What It's Like |
Dark Ages I is your average Final Fantasy/Dungeons and Dragons type RPG. You walk around, fighting random battles, buying weapons, getting experience points, and fighting through dungeons. It appears to be a cheap imitation of the original Final Fantasy games (1 and 2 mainly). After you play it for a while, though, it's hidden story and plot come out. It's plot is deep and the story is very good. You are a boy whose family is killed by orcs, and you must avenge their deaths. Pretty simple, but the story has much more depth than that. You have to try it to understand.
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| Other things you should know |
This RPG is one of the first finished ones in QBASIC. That's a feat in itself, but it also has a great story and is full-length, with lots to do. Play it, you won't be dissapointed!
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| The rating |
| Graphics |
Dark Ages' main weakness is it's junky graphics and sound. Everything else about it is great. The graphics aren't the best, but you can tell what things are. They serve their purpose.
*** |
| Sound |
As I said before, crappy music. This program uses three star midis, and uses Qmidi, but has some special routines that check to see if the midi has ended and restarts it, unlike in other games where when the midi is over, you have to wait for a new one to start in a different part of the game. Also, this game compenstates for the people who do not have a Qmidi supporting soundcard, with a program with no sound!
**** |
| Plot/Story |
A full-fledged RPG-worthy plot and story! This story is complex, but not too complex. You can figure out the whole RPG without getting stuck (very much), and it's not very frusterating, yet it is kind of challenging. (Those three dragons at the end are tough!) Excellent job, Mr. Hoopman!
***** |
| Gameplay/Control |
The gameplay is simple RPG gameplay. Arrow keys to move and select, space for your action key, plus menus that are chosen from with keys that are marked (The key to press is in parenthsis.) It serves it's purpose and does a good job at it, also.
***** |
| Overall Impression |
This was a "pioneer" in QBASIC RPGs. It was original, and complete in a time when barely any QBASIC RPGs were completed. I played this game for about 5 hours straight and finally beat it, and after a while, didn't even notice the graphics. (I did run the version with no sound, though.)
***** |
| Total |
22/25*4=
88% |
