OK I admit it ahead of time: Part of the reason for this review was due to Yahtzee's rant on "Point and Click" Adventure games and oddly I think he limited himself in that rant so I decided to whip out a game that if you never heard of it before now I'm not surprised because of how odd its genre was on the NES. The game is called "Shadowgate"!
OK first off I know that this game appeared on home PCs as well as the Nintendo Entertainment System, but I personally owned a copy of the NES title and my first thought was *Well this is shit!" but quickly became more of *WOW! THIS IS EPIC!*
The plot is a simple one really: You are a nameless warrior that is teleported by a wizard's spell in front of the gates of Shadowgate Castle and you are given the instructions to defeat the Warlock Lord before he awakens a Behemoth. The game then takes a first person POV where in one window you see where you are, in another the items you acquired, below your main screen is how you move and then the "actions" you can perform throughout the game.
Now I'm going to tell you this: The game isn't of the ball busting difficulty most NES games were back then, but its not a piss easy game either! You CAN die in the game, but its not easy to do. You pretty much have to drink something that you shouldn't, stay in one area too long, cross a bridge you aren't supposed to yet or if all else fails let your torches burn out!
Yeah the fine folks at Kemco(The creators of this game along with Deja Vu, which will be reviewed at a later date) decided that essentially you are getting a "life bar/time limit" in two torches that burn on your inventory screen. At the start of the game you have only one but there are plenty of torches to go around to keep yourself from "dying"(If you are lazy enough to not keep them lit the screen goes black and you break your neck) and a good portion of the puzzles you get to do are easy enough once you understand them.
If you want to play this game its good enough to keep your interest, but it might be a little on the slow side for some. Some people would prefer "Might and Magic" or any MMORPG that's out there, but its not a bad game at all. If you want to put out the money to go look for a copy I'd recommend it because its one of the few "point and click" games that makes it worth my time playing retro.
Recommendation: BUY IT!!!
OK first off I know that this game appeared on home PCs as well as the Nintendo Entertainment System, but I personally owned a copy of the NES title and my first thought was *Well this is shit!" but quickly became more of *WOW! THIS IS EPIC!*
The plot is a simple one really: You are a nameless warrior that is teleported by a wizard's spell in front of the gates of Shadowgate Castle and you are given the instructions to defeat the Warlock Lord before he awakens a Behemoth. The game then takes a first person POV where in one window you see where you are, in another the items you acquired, below your main screen is how you move and then the "actions" you can perform throughout the game.
Now I'm going to tell you this: The game isn't of the ball busting difficulty most NES games were back then, but its not a piss easy game either! You CAN die in the game, but its not easy to do. You pretty much have to drink something that you shouldn't, stay in one area too long, cross a bridge you aren't supposed to yet or if all else fails let your torches burn out!
Yeah the fine folks at Kemco(The creators of this game along with Deja Vu, which will be reviewed at a later date) decided that essentially you are getting a "life bar/time limit" in two torches that burn on your inventory screen. At the start of the game you have only one but there are plenty of torches to go around to keep yourself from "dying"(If you are lazy enough to not keep them lit the screen goes black and you break your neck) and a good portion of the puzzles you get to do are easy enough once you understand them.
If you want to play this game its good enough to keep your interest, but it might be a little on the slow side for some. Some people would prefer "Might and Magic" or any MMORPG that's out there, but its not a bad game at all. If you want to put out the money to go look for a copy I'd recommend it because its one of the few "point and click" games that makes it worth my time playing retro.
Recommendation: BUY IT!!!