We make different choices to perk up our drab and wretched lives. Some harmful: alcohol, chemicals, football, Bingo...some not so harmful: bowling, philately... Certainly this escapist need accounts for the phenomenal success of sci-fi and fantasy and hence the phenomenal success of writer Terry Brooks whose Sword of Shannara and subsequent Shannara fantasy novels have enjoyed outstanding acclaim. We were not surprised at Legend's choice of Corey and Lori Cole, the Quest for Glory designers, to attempt to capture the spirit of Brooks' work. Did they succeed? Well, yes...and no.
Shannara is set in the time period falling between the events of the first and second Shannara novels. You lead the party of Jak Ohmsford, son of Shea Ohmsford who had defeated the Warlock Lord from the first novel. Well, shockeroo, the Warlock Lord is back and he is crazed, rabid, amuck. He has unleashed horrific (albeit boringly rendered) monsters throughout the lands. In order to defeat him, you must reforge the Sword of Shannara by uniting artifacts from each of the races, travel among the lands of the Dwarves, Elves, Trolls and Gnomes, avoid (or fight) the monsters and gain support from representatives of the four lands and from the imposing figure of Allanon (the Twelve-Step Druid).
So, do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, let's get the bad news out of the way first. Shannara's designers present us with an Adventure game containing RPG elements. Jak's party contains several other members during predetermined periods with separate inventories and meager statistics, but the linear adventure game structure disables any real "role-playing" interaction. Yes, we are able to talk to the other characters and move objects from inventory to inventory, but many of the facets of traditional role playing were missingù no chance of anyone dying, no variable stats, extremely ineffectual results from most inventory trading...in essence, very little of that for which we play RPG's. But these annoyances pale in comparison to the "Ordeal of the Combat Interface."
It says right in the manual, "While there is combat in the game, fighting should be avoided if at all possible." Obviously someone had played the combat sequences and decided to say "gulp, we'd really better warn them..." The problem here lies in the fact that we are finally given choices about strategy, and then see none of the consequences of these choices. No matter what choices are made, no one dies (wiped out characters go off to "rest" and are just fine about 10 seconds after combat), whatever orders are given, whether one attacks, defends or retreats...it simply doesn't matter. The net result is the same, and I found that a shame. Boringly rendered monsters lean and roar at you (surprising numbers of them appearing exactly alike) and you can then make a phone call or dictate a memo while pressing "Attack", and seemingly a billion hours later, the monsters are gone, and all are licking their wounds. Since there are some battles from which you may not retreat, game progression became very stifled. I suppose that there may be some solace in finding a combination of "strategies" to defeat the monsters in less than a billion hours, but without the possibility of not being able to defeat them, there is no tension, no challenge.
Phew! Now, on a much higher note, while the RPG elements seem to crumble, the Adventure aspect of the game vividly shines through. The characters and story are rich and tasty, with a hot buttered plotline and a creamy nougat center. Legend's ubiquitous graphics engine works well with the material and the voices are for the most part interesting and varied. Brooks fans will find that the tone is very true to that of his novels, and that the essence of his world is present at every turn. The continued reappearance of Allanon at several phases of task completion provides cohesiveness and several points of "mini denouement". I always looked forward to seeing him, and developed a crush on him in short order. Surely he's spoken for.
The puzzles were skillfully crafted ù challenging enough in most cases without becoming non-intuitive, with a few piece o' cakes thrown in for good measure. It wasn't as tough as many Legend games, and will hence appeal to beginners as well as to the MENSA gods of logic.
Traditional fantasy aficionados and Shannara lovers will not be disappointed, nor will most Legend fans...but don't buy this game for its RPG appeal. You'd be barking up the wrong tree. And take the manual's word for it, you really want to avoid combat at all costs. Shudder.
