Forgotten Realms: Menzoberranzan
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Interplay Developer: Strategic Simulations Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Strategy/ RPG
Graphics & Sound: Graphics are fairly decent for this ancient masterpiece. Each character is animated really well. You can almost touch them. It’s so sweet. Your maps are mostly of a graph paper type-look with a legend. But if you overlook this, for Menzoberranzan, it’s well worth it. When you run into to NPCs that actually talk, that makes it all better. The sound quality leaves a bit to be desired. Though, of course for this late 80’s game, you can’t expect too much more. The sound always changes when you encounter an enemy, so remember that little tid bit.
Gameplay: Gameplay is along the lines of Role Playing board games, which can be a lot of fun if that’s the type of thing you like to do. Basically, you are set on a one-way ticket to the underdark, with no way out. There are all kinds of interesting creatures to kill and maim, but watch out, because some of them pack a punch. You pick up all kinds of items along the way such as armor, weapons, and potions -- the possibilities are endless. In order to understand where Menzoberranzan is coming from, I would suggest reading the “Dark Elf Trilogy.” As you advance in experience, you automatically get leveled up. So check for new spells and stuff if you’re a Mage or Cleric. I would also suggest saving very often because you’ll die just as much. Just a little hint.
Difficulty: Menzoberranzan is at about a medium level of difficulty in my standards. If you don’t listen carefully to each NPC you talk to, you’ll miss important things like what direction to head in next. Each area has its own little quirk to it. There are certain events that have to take place in some areas before you can move on. This makes it a little harder to figure out, but that’s where listening to NPCs comes in handy.
Game Mechanics: The controls are fairly easy in Menzoberranzan. You just point and click the mouse and that’s it. The view you have on-screen is in first person. This game is fairly long, but well worth the effort put into it. For any Dungeons & Dragons/RPG fanatic, I would say this game is a must buy. You’ll wind up using both buttons on the mouse for quicker play in and out of screens. You also have the option when building characters to give them a booster shot (if you know what I mean).
-Star Flare, GameVortex Communications AKA Jason Faul
Minimum System Requirements: 386/40 MHz IBM DX PC, 4 megabytes of RAM, MS-DOS 5.0/6.0/6.2/6.22/DR DOS 6.0, an uncompressed Hard Drive with 15 MB free, VGA, SVGA graphics card with a color VGA Monitor, 2X CD-ROM, 300 KB data transfer rate, 320 ms access time, continuous read, MSCDEX 2.1 or greater, a 100% Microsoft (or Logitech) Compatible Mouse, Microsoft Mouse Driver version 8.00 or greater, (the Cyberman is supported, but optional), Keyboard   Test System: PII 350, 96MB Ram, MMX Technology, 32X CD-ROM, Win98, Sound Blaster Polk Audio
Jane’s F/A-18 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2