Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/4671-5.790/dmg-5786/dck/defend.doc/defend.doc

Text File | 1998-10-23 | 6KB | 96 lines

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                         Defender of the Crown Review
                        By Chris Shadowmeister Jenkins

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        This was the first game I ever  got  on  my  ST.  That was 8 years ago.
Ironically, the first game I got was  better graphically and sonically than any
other ST game I've ever bought.   Presentation  wise, Defender is tops.  It was
probably produced in that now fairytale  age when game makers actually lavished
effort on games without any thought of the  cost.  Those days are gone, but the
games are still here.

        The plot is written by an American and thus bears little resemblance to
history  but  it's  complex  and   believable   (well,  maybe  not  believable)
nonetheless.  The story says that king Richard  the Lionheart is off in Turkey,
killing turks because they're  not  Christians.   He  gets killed or something.
Meanwhile, England has  been  invaded  by,  of  all  people, the Normans(!?!?).
Three Norman lords arrive from Normandy and quickly set up shop in the south of
the country.  Forgetting that Richard the  Lionheart  was himself a Norman, the
plot says that three Saxon lords  built  themselves castles in the north, ready
for a mighty battle to take place.  You step into the fray as one of the lords:
Geofery Longsword, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Wilfric the Wilde or Cedric of Rothwood.
        It's your job to raise and  army  and  then  go off to fight the Norman
lords.  You do this by using  some  of  your  treasury to buy some soldiers and
maybe a few knights.   Once  suitably  equipped,  your  army  can  ride off and
capture some territory, and then use the extra taxes to grow even bigger.
        When you meet an enemy army,  or  try  to  invade their lands, a battle
ensues.  Alas,  battles  are  a  bit  silly.   The  casualties  are  calculated
according to one variable - the leadership  of  each general.  If he has a high
leadership then he'll win the battle.   If  low,  it's losing time.  This means
that a massive army can  be  wiped  out  by  quite  a small one.  Daft.  Simple
strategies such as Knights Charge and Outflank  Enemy can be employed, but they
generally don't succeed unless your  leadership  is  pretty high.  Why couldn't
they have put a little battle  screen  with  little men running around?  I know
this was 1987, but still....
        If you're ever fortunate enough to  be  able to attack an enemy castle,
you're given the opportunity to  bash  down  its  walls with a mighty catapult.
One click of the mouse  and  it  starts  to  click  slowly back, another and it
releases its boulder, or alternatively, you could  load it up with a dead horse
to spread disease, or some boiling oil to start fires.  Once you've used up all
your boulders, it's time  to  fight  another  battle,  the  result  of which is
decided entirely by leadership, again.
        There are a couple of other sub-games  you can participate in.  You can
decide to go and raid another lord's castle.  By cutting up a few men with your
sword, you can steal all your  enemy's  gold. Alternatively, you might fail and
get chucked in the dungeon until you pay all of your own gold as a ransom.
        The most  graphically  splendid  (and  most  frustrating)  sub  game is
jousting.  If you hold a joust (or if  one  of your enemies does) then you have
to try to bash  everyone  else  off  their  horse.   Alas, it's amazingly hard.
Seeing a perfect looking knight coming  towards  you  makes  it hard to line up
your lance properly.  Even if you  do,  you  have  time your thrust to coincide
with the collision of the lance with  your enemy's shield which is stupendously
hard.  In eight years, I've only won the joust twice.

        Graphically, Defender of the  Crown  puts  every  game  ever written to
shame.  Ever heard the catchy marketing phrase "graphics so really you could be
there"?  It usually means "steer  well  clear,  these  graphics could have been
done on a Speccy".  Defender of the  Crown  has graphics which would do justice
to the oft used slogan.  The graphics  must  have taken years to draw.  They're
perfect.  Puuurrrrrfect.  Be it a  castle,  some  men  fighting  or a knight on
horseback galloping towards you  at  fearsome  speed, they're always brilliant.
Strange, really, cos the game only comes  on  two  disks.  How do they fit them
all in?
        Sound is amazing too.  I'm not  sure  if the music is actually sampled.
On the one hand, it sounds infinitely  better than any chip music ever written.
On the other hand, it doesn't  sound  quite right either.  I've certainly never
heard half the instruments used.  The trumpets  you heard in the joust sub-game
don't sound like trumpets but they certainly  don't  sound like a load of beeps
either.

                                    Verdict

        What a nice looking game!   What  a  nice  sounding game!  What a silly
game!  Alas, you've guessed it.  It  hasn't  got  much  in the way of gameplay.
Move your armies around, get thrashed at jousting AGAIN and fight some battles.
What there is is pretty good fun,  though.   I've actually completed it a total
of one times.
        If you find this game anywhere then snap  it up.  I'm not sure if it'll
work on an STE, but STFM owners should step right up and buy the nicest looking
game.

Graphics:       99%     If a game deserves a mark like this, DOC does.
Sound:          90%     Amazing, man.
Playability:    70%     Small portions but many courses.
Lifetime:       60%     You'll get bored, but you'll come back later.

Overall:        89%     A damn fine effort for 1987, I think.

Or you could play:      The utterly pathetic Rocket Ranger.