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1993-07-05
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BATTLEMASTER REVIEW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle Master was created by PSS software, and is an overhead-view
swords-and-sorcery-type game. The storyline goes something like this
(very briefly):
"Four main races were created when the broken shards of the Keystone of
Life fell back into the magical cauldron. These races; Elf, Human, Orc,
and Dwarf, were each led by their own King when they stepped out of the
cauldron and left the Tower. Along with the races, smaller splinters of
the Keystone created other species of monsters, which also ran from the
Tower. The four races lived mainly in harmony, until trivial incidents
led to the great wars. Afterwards, one hero was called upon to reunite
the world..."
...And guess who that hero is...
There are about fifty main locations in the world of Battlemaster -
each one is run by one of the four species. You start the game off by
selecting a character. There are four characters out of each of the
four races (Thief, Merchant, Wizard, and Fighter). Once you have
selected your player, you can redefine the keyboard (play is by
keyboard, joystick, or mouse, but you can change any method of control
at any time)
You are then taken to one of the two initial locations. You appear as a
small orc/dwarf/elf/human and if you chose to be anything other than a
fighter, you get some henchmen as well (fighters tend to go it alone).
The henchmen that travel with you are pretty thick, and are of no great
value to you, but can be handy to lure the enemy away - so you can
shoot the enemy in the back!
You get a fourty degree view of the surrounding area, where you move
your hero around, fighting monsters/another race/your own race (!),
collecting food/weapons, falling in rivers or down pits, or solving
some of the gittest puzzles.
By pressing SPACE, the game pauses, and you can either Parley (buy gear
or troops), change weapon, eat, change armour, see what condition your
guys are in, or see your inventory. You can also change battle
formation (pointless).
At some point during the current level, you get a chance to travel
(after you have either completed a certain task, or killed everybody).
This means you can travel to your next location. You are taken to a map
(you also get a paper one with the game) where you can select your next
destination.
The first ten or so levels are pretty easy, but after that it gets
really tough. (I am about half way - [very interesting - ED [oh! I am
the ED!]]) Sometimes you get to a level which you just can't complete.
I am currently at one called Northhome, and I just keep getting killed
by the waves and waves of troops that attack me.
Apart from the virtually impossible levels, Battlemaster is quite an
enjoyable game, with lots of killing (bleugh) and collecting new gear
(phweep). You get a nice sample of a man yelling when someone gets
killed (oddly enough, you get the same sample of a man yelling once a
giant scorpion or dragonfly have been killed as well!)
Overall, I quite like Battlemaster, and RPG fans should not miss out.
Graphics: 7/10 (small, but some superbly detailed landscapes)
Sound: 3/10 (sparse, with one sample, about four other chip effects
and no music. Gets so quiet that even the swish of a
sword makes you jump!)
Playability: 7/10 (lots of things to do on a level)
Lastability: 7/10 (plenty of locations to explore - pity about the
difficult ones)
Overall: 80% (a good graphical RPG adventure)
Article: BLACK EAGLE 5/7/93