Sir-Tech is primarily known for its computer RPG series.  Wizardry and Realms of Arkania put the Ogdensburg, NY company on the industry map, and they've never strayed too far from that genre.  The problem with this type of game is that it is usually left to the die-hard players. A beginner would have a hard time jumping into the action in one of these games, and with the multimedia revolution, there are more potential new players every day.  To serve this growing audience of newbies, Sir-Tech has recently released Druid: Daemons of the Mind.  All of the traditional role-playing mechanics are here, but they are hidden behind a point and click interface and gorgeously rendered SVGA graphics.

	The player is the grandson of a Druid, and is summoned in his dreams to a mystical world called Navan.  This place is ruled over by four Druids, each with his own private island devoted to the worship of one of the four elements: fire, water, wind and stone.  There is also a fifth island called the Common Ground where the Druids can meet without treading on each other's turf, which would be a serious breach of security, not to mention etiquette.  One of the four main Druids has disappeared, so the remaining three summon the player to investigate where they cannot.  

	The unnamed player character seems to have something against the concept of shirts, but you can understand why.  After all, he's got a really cool chest tattoo and the best defined pecs you've ever seen.  He travels around the islands, trying to kill off all of the dangerous monsters that have been popping up all over the place recently.  

	But even though you're a really muscular guy with a wicked battleaxe, physical strength alone is not going to cut it in this world.  From the beginning you have a small magical edge.  You wear an amulet that let's you draw on the power of the elements to fabricate spells.  Each side of the amulet represents one of these elements (Fire, Air, Water and Stone) and you mix and match these building blocks into spells.  While you start off with a few all-purpose spells, your travels will reveal more combinations to you, unlocking a lot of versatility and power.  But these spells are not free!  Whatever you cast, it lowers your "mind" points, and if you don't have enough points to cast your chosen spell, you cast a dud that takes the points you have anyway!

	All combat takes place in what Sir-Tech calls "phased real-time."  Theoretically, this means that you have time to plot where you're going to hit your enemy, but if you take too long, he'll attack.  But you are never really given an indication of how long you have to decide whether to swing or block, and the end result sure feels like normal real-time to me.  This is typical of the problems I have with this game; i.e., they all result from taking the "simplicity is everything" philosophy too far.

	To get into a bout of this "phased real-time" combat, you have to practically get right up in the monster's nose before it will attack.  And you won't even be in combat mode until your opponent is also ready to fight, so sneaking up on somebody is pretty much out of the question.  If you're getting clobbered, you can right click to disengage and flee.  In practical graphic terms, "fleeing" means stepping back a few feet.  For the most part, the monster that was beating the tattoo off your chest a few seconds ago will not walk those few extra steps for the pleasure of pummeling you again.  In fact, you can stand there, a few feet away, staring Bigfoot or whatever right in the eyeball, and let your strength score slowly climb back up to nominal, and the guy won't even blink.  This is also true of launching fireballs from a short distance.  Singe your enemy's eyebrows off with a good sulfurous blast, and he will just stand there with a stupid ogre-ish look on his mug wondering why it's gotten so warm all of a sudden.

	The save game feature is likewise so simple that it's annoying.  The file screen shows three figures of our muscular hero with numbers below.  There are three slots, and you can't name them, and you can't see what they look like before you load them.  You just have to remember which is which.

	I suppose I'm being pretty picky here, but that's what I'm paid for.  The beginning gamers that Druid was designed to appeal to probably will never even notice most of this stuff.  They'll be dazzled by the beautiful rendered pictures, engrossed in what really is a very good storyline, and overall will have a pretty good time.  Druid is basically a good game that went overboard on simplifying its gameplay.  More experienced gamers would probably do well to wait for Shadows Over Riva.