US Gold
£9.99 cass
Reviewer: David Wilson

Dragons Of Flame is the latest addition to US Gold's series of games inspired by TSR's Advanced Dungeons And Dragons. Remember Heroes Of The Lance? Well, that was the first AD&D game which appeared way back in March '89 and received a hearty thumbs-up (a Megagame no less, fact fans) from Phil 'Snouty' South. Dragons Of Flame is another one in the series, and continues the scenario established in that title. And what a scenario it was...

Everything takes place on the Planet Krynn. It's been 300 years since the old gods deserted the populace and left them at the mercy of the evil Queen Takhisis. I guess the folks lust had to Krynn and bear it (groan), especially after the Companions (a bunch of heroes upon whom everyone was pinning their hopes) went and got trapped by the Draconians. To cut a long story short, the chums were rescued by Elvis just in the nick of time - er, sorry, that's Elves. Anyway, this is where you come in, getting to control the Companions, via whoever you elect as their leader. In the meantime, Krynn is in a right old two-and-eight. There's all manner of man and beast wandering around, you can't turn corners for bumping into chests (good news for Maria Whittaker fans) and evil is most definitely afoot. (I quite like feet. Why do they always have to be evil?)

The game system tries to emulate the D8D system, except with only one player and with the computer as Dungeon Master. All the characters have the familiar list of attributes (strength, wisdom, dexterity, intelligence) and these help you to strategically employ the 'best man for the job' (to coin a phrase, but let's not be sexist - there are 'Companion chicks' as well). (Sexist! Ed) With trillions of spells and numerous commands at your disposal (accessed via menus) you set out on your quest to unite the good folk of the land and duff up loads of baddies.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Er, the only problem is the game doesn't live up to expectations. The graphics aren't anything to write home about (you only ever see one character, ie the same sprite, a rather slim masculine warrior type - even if you choose to control Tasselhoff Burrfoot, a rather fat mamma with ginormous ears), and I found the control system infuriating to say the least. Basically, you press the usual Up/Down/Left and Right keys in the combat sequence (along with diagonal jumps and high or low blows) but - and here's the tricky bit to get to grips with - when you're not in combat your Left/Right keys move you physically left and right on the screen, while the Uppie/Downie keys toggle your viewpoint to east west again. So going left or right takes you, er... east or west. All this probably sounds totally clear (unusual but clear) and I'm sure you're thinking I'm a right old simpleton, but, believe me, it is very easy to go around in circles. With only about three basic backgrounds wandering around corridors soon becomes tedious.

Fighting monsters is okay. You keep having to flick to character charts to check physical and magical weapons etc then hack. There is some variety in that you can hack up, down or in the middle and that you've got both close-combat weapons (swords and the like) and range weapons (arrows and spears). However to kill a few you'll be wandering around uninspiring corridors for ages. Although these computer interpretations can't compete with real D&D (with loads of chums, maybe some little lead characters, and those jolly little pointy multi-sided dice), D&D strategy addicts probably won't think it's too bad. Sadly, I suspect your average Spec-chum (like humble ol' me) will be left uninspired.

REPLAY

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Kixx
£3.99
021 6253311
Reviewer: Jon Pillar

Eyebrows the Dwarf surveyed the game with interest. "Why, by the beard of my adopted grandmother, it appears to be another of those Dungeons and Dragons thingumajigs," he declaimed. Fetlock the Elf nodded. "Aye. It features the same party of characters, voluminosity of instructions, depth of play and style of graphics as its predecessor Heroes Of The Lance - a game that was reviewed in the seventy-third issue of this very magazine." The two companions loaded the game on Whoaboi's magical Speccy. After struggling with the pedantic control method and becoming hopelessly lost in the first set of badly-illustrated locations, they smote the artefact with Paula the magic sword. "I daresay the fans may get something out of this," growled Eyebrows, "but for the rest of us tis a production of stultifying dullness and ineptitude." Fetlock nodded. "Taking the human element out of Dungeons and Dragons is indeed a bit silly," he agreed wittily. Extinguishing the camp fire, the companions galloped off, trampling the tape with righteous indignation and large horses.

Label: Kixx
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Alan Dykes

Delve into the realms of the mythical land of Krynn with this, the latest sword and sorcery escapade, and most recent installment in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons saga.

The sequel to Heroes of The Lance, Dragons Of Flame pits your characters against the might of the evil Draconian forces and their monstrous allies. Fight a vast assortment of nasty creatures; from trolls and zombies to griffins and even dragons, as you push forward through a variety of playing areas with thoughts of destroying Takhisis - the Queen Of Darkness - embedded securely in your mind.

There is a large and sprawling map screen to shuffle around and search on, but watch out for wandering monsters. When you inevitably bump into a horde of meanies, the screen switches to a side-on view of the action and it's here where all of the fighting takes place. Your characters can use a variety of hand weapons though some also use magic, with spells such as powerful fireballs and magic missiles! Be careful though; some of your enemies are more than capable of using spells too - and many of them are far more powerful than you!

Killing loads of baddies increases your experience, and hitting certain targets bumps up your experience level, which in turn gives the characters under your control more powers, better spells and suchlike.

Heroes Of The Lance was a fun, if somewhat repetitive, slice of role playing fun and frolics, and Dragons Of Flame turns out to be more of the same. Graphics are impressive for this kind of game, and there's lots to see, do and, best of all, kill. It can be very easy to literally get lost in Dragons Of Flame, so make sure you have a piece of paper and a couple of pencils handy! While things become a little dreary after a while, this is ultimately a title with a lot of life still in it - certainly a lot more than some budget offerings doing the rounds.

ALAN:
I really like Dragons Of Flame. It more than successfully bridges the gap between strategy and beat 'em up genres, just like its predecessor, Heroes Of The Lance. Darn fine title.