Most gamers are familiar with Bethesda's Elder Scrolls fantasy roleplaying games, like Morrowind and Oblivion. One title they may not be so familiar with is the first (and so far, only) installment in a series of spin-offs called "The Elder Scrolls Adventures": Redguard.
Released in 1998, Redguard is a 3D, third-person action/adventure game for the PC similar to Tomb Raider, set in the Elder Scrolls fantasy world of Tamriel. The player controls Cyrus, the titular Redguard, as he explores the island of Stros M'kai searching for his missing sister, Iszara. The story is quite good, a tale of political intrigue and revolution on this Imperial-occupied island south of the Redguard homeland of Hammerfell. You can explore the island's varied and interesting environments in any order you please, from the town of Stros M'kai proper and the system of goblin-infested caves beneath it, to the ancient Dwemer (Dwarven) ruins in the mountains and a sinister necromancer's private island off the coast.
The graphics were great for the day, and still hold up pretty well now. There's a good range of color, the setting is quite large and interesting, and the characters are well-designed and detailed. There is occasional clipping and other graphical glitches, but they're easily overlooked. The voice acting is good for the most part, especially for important characters like Cyrus. But some of it is pretty horrible and irritating, like for some of the random townspeople.
The controls, frankly, are something of a mess. The camera often will be at a bad angle, blocking your view of the enemy you're fighting or the jump you're attempting to make, especially in cramped areas. And the controls for swordfighting are rather unintuitive, so most fights devolve into button-mashing. A good portion of the game, unfortunately, is made up of combat, but most of it involves more adventure-oriented gameplay - puzzle solving and conversations with NPCs. These aspects are better: the puzzles are fun and interesting, involving the collection and combination of items like a traditional point-n-click adventure game, and also some platforming and environment-based puzzles (which are only sometimes frustrating, namely the giant mechanical scarab in the Dwemer ruins...) The conversations, when not with one of the aforementioned horribly-voiced characters, are enjoyable and interesting, with well-written dialogue.
So in conclusion, Redguard is quite an enjoyable adventure, especially for fans familiar with the Elder Scrolls setting that would enjoy a break from the staggering depth and complexity of the RPGs. You should definitely check it out if you can find a copy on the cheap (which assuredly any copy you find would be) and you can deal with the rather poor combat.
Released in 1998, Redguard is a 3D, third-person action/adventure game for the PC similar to Tomb Raider, set in the Elder Scrolls fantasy world of Tamriel. The player controls Cyrus, the titular Redguard, as he explores the island of Stros M'kai searching for his missing sister, Iszara. The story is quite good, a tale of political intrigue and revolution on this Imperial-occupied island south of the Redguard homeland of Hammerfell. You can explore the island's varied and interesting environments in any order you please, from the town of Stros M'kai proper and the system of goblin-infested caves beneath it, to the ancient Dwemer (Dwarven) ruins in the mountains and a sinister necromancer's private island off the coast.
The graphics were great for the day, and still hold up pretty well now. There's a good range of color, the setting is quite large and interesting, and the characters are well-designed and detailed. There is occasional clipping and other graphical glitches, but they're easily overlooked. The voice acting is good for the most part, especially for important characters like Cyrus. But some of it is pretty horrible and irritating, like for some of the random townspeople.
The controls, frankly, are something of a mess. The camera often will be at a bad angle, blocking your view of the enemy you're fighting or the jump you're attempting to make, especially in cramped areas. And the controls for swordfighting are rather unintuitive, so most fights devolve into button-mashing. A good portion of the game, unfortunately, is made up of combat, but most of it involves more adventure-oriented gameplay - puzzle solving and conversations with NPCs. These aspects are better: the puzzles are fun and interesting, involving the collection and combination of items like a traditional point-n-click adventure game, and also some platforming and environment-based puzzles (which are only sometimes frustrating, namely the giant mechanical scarab in the Dwemer ruins...) The conversations, when not with one of the aforementioned horribly-voiced characters, are enjoyable and interesting, with well-written dialogue.
So in conclusion, Redguard is quite an enjoyable adventure, especially for fans familiar with the Elder Scrolls setting that would enjoy a break from the staggering depth and complexity of the RPGs. You should definitely check it out if you can find a copy on the cheap (which assuredly any copy you find would be) and you can deal with the rather poor combat.
