Target Games
£9.95/£14.95
If you liked Laser Squad you'll probably love this because it's from the same programming team. But rather than take us to the future, Lords of Chaos moves to a mystical land where Arch Mages rule and poverty, war and plague are unheard of.
Sadly the Old World suffers from a build-up of magical energy, Manna, causing many unpleasant changes: strange beasts evolve from normally harmless pets, the dead rise from their graves and other unspeakable things occur.
The populace turn on the Mages, who are trying to find the cause. The cause of calamity seems to be a break in the fabric of reality. The Mages form magic portals, but those who've entered rarely exit.
Revolution takes its toll, the Old World is torn apart by earthquakes, and the Mages survive only by the use of magic spells. Luckily new worlds are created, and the Mages use the portals to move around. They don't live in peace, and are always at each others' throats trying to become rulers of the new worlds: Lords of Chaos.
Up to four players can take part: each plays a Mage who tries to eliminate the other Mages through a portal. Each player takes it in turn to make their move. Magic plays a big part in the game and is most useful to destroy attacking creatures, though more earthly weapons can be found and used. Creatures can be summoned: useful to cross water, or if they can fly, to reach inaccessible places. All decisions are made by using the on-screen menus. As in Laser Squad, it would take too long to explain all the ins and outs - suffice to say the manual gives the player plenty to read. The game has three scenarios, and further data programs are planned, so Lords of Chaos is big.
I liked Laser Squad, and budding and hard core strategists should love this. It has the same sort of feel as Laser Squad, and indeed the same type of graphical detail. Reviews rarely do justice to games as complex as this. Just take my word: it's worth looking out for.
MARK [85%]
Lords of Chaos will please all fans of Laser Squad and strategy games because it's more of the same. Lords of Chaos has a really good story line, and the graphics are the best I've seen on a strategy game for a long time. The full colour sprites and backgrounds are excellently drawn, and the world you explore is full of interesting things, like an animated marsh land, forests to hide in and castles to keep your player safe. If you take the time to involve yourself, you'll be rewarded. The game is a real challenge and promises hours of enjoyment.
NICK [75%]
Blade
£9.95 cass/£14.95 disk
Reviewer: David Wilson
"Don't worry," quoth Matt, handing me a manual as big as the collected works of Mills And Boon. "It's not as complicated as it looks." Gulp. As a rule of thumb, flight sims and strategy games have big manuals, and Lords Of Chaos certainly falls into the latter category. Of course, you'll know this already if you read Macca's Megapreview a couple of issues back. Anyway, off I trolled, game and paperwork in hand, to load up my humble Spec. So what's it like? Blimey, steady on, give me a chance...
Right, here we go... Lords Of Chaos is the product of the feverish brain of Julian Gollop, he of Laser Squad fame. It's a sword and sorcery epic in which you get to play a wizard either against the computer or with up to three pals. There are three scenarios, each of which gets progressively more tricky. Basically you've come from another world called Limbo (nice name, isn't it?). Each scenario takes you to a different world where you have to perform various tasks before a portal appears through which you can leg it back home. Your main challenge is to stay alive (!), but other tasks include collecting treasure, fighting beauties and duffing up other wizards. If you survive a game you're then able to benefit from your experience - you're rewarded with experience points, and you can then spend them building up on the various attributes of your wizard.
Dungeons And Dragons fans will recognise this feature, and be pleased to hear that much of the game system is akin to D&D. You can start a game with a wizard created by the computer, or else use the rather unique Wizard Editor to create your own. Each wizard has a set of attributes and knows certain spells. Furthermore, each spell - and there are 45 in all! - can be mastered at different levels. You will also be able to make potions by finding ingredients like mistletoe, ambergris and holly and bunging all into a steaming cauldron.
After getting this far into the game you'll hardly be wanting to start again, will you? Good job then, Spec-chums, that you get the facility to save games and characters onto disk (or tape) for future use. The graphics are nice and colourful, and some of the little sprites are animated. There's even some sound when you zap creatures with spells, but actual combat is all worked out by the computer in a silent, orderly sort of fashion. All in all, there's lots (and lots and lots!) of depth here - real value-tor-money stuff. Starting with just your wizard you soon conjure up hordes of mystical creatures who you then take control of. Some of the creatures can fly, some can walk, and basically you get to boss them all around, Hurrah! Find yourself some treasure, locate weapons, turn them into magic weapons, get out there and kick bottom.
And that's it really. A whopper of a game - perhaps not the kind of fodder to keep die-hard arcadesters happy, but D&D fans, sword and sorcery nuts and strategy enthusiasts will absolutely lap it up. If you fall even vaguely into any of these categories then you'll certainly want to check out Lords Of Chaos.
Are you a gamer? Do you enjoy loosing yourself in a fantasy world of occult and sorcery? And do you enjoy strategy computer games? If your answer to all these questions is yes then I think this could be the game for you.
Lords Of Chaos puts up to 4 players in wizards robes, primed with spell lists and mana levels with which to do battle against other players or, if alone, the computer's evil wizard Torquemada who, unlike his Spanish inquisition namesake, is not out to kill thousands of innocent people but you.
Lending heavily from the style of Laser Squad, Nick and Julian Gollop have improved upon their last creation and created a world of strategic sorcery where you go in with the single outlook of kicking some magical ass.
Players can begin with a random character with various spells and abilities but if they find him a bit baggy for their style of gameplay they can tailor a wizard to their own specifications.
So, you're all settled any ready so what do you do? Each wizard begins with various ability scores - mana being spells, action points are used up with each movement or task undertaken with stamina, constitution, combat and defence points depleting on each turn that they are called into use. A graphical display shows each ability and its present level.
Each wizard, along with the characters that he summons to help him, is selected by joystick and then manipulated according to the current menu. At the beginning of each game it's a good idea to conjure up some confederates. Battle is done on the ground, in the air and with things that have been dead too long. Any of the the (un)dead can only be vanquished by using magic, hitting them with magical weapons or putting them against one of your dead and wiffy companions.
Your wizard controls each of the characters to the point of even hitching a ride on mountable monsters. These are very useful because it means the rider can conserve movement points and use them for spell casting and creating the very necessary potions which can only be done by collecting the needed ingredients and putting them in the same space occupied by the cauldron. Add to this mixture one wizard and use the relevant potion spell.
Potions are integral to the game as is the interplay between the wizard and the creatures under his control and careful use of spells is needed to progress through a game to the exit portal which will take the wizard back home where he will be awarded experience points - used to increase the number of spells known to the total of 45 and to increase the effectiveness level of each spell. Also, experience points can be spent increasing wizards abilities.
Wizard's and their abilities can be saved allowing their use by players in later games so if he should disappear in a cloud of octarine smoke, he can live to cast spells another day.
As with many plan view RPG games, the whole format has really been superseded by the latest batch of graphical Dungeon type games that has increased the appeal of the genre to include the arcade player. However, where Lords of Chaos really scores over them is in the depth of gameplay that is available and the level of board game strategy that is involved. Playing against your friends or even just alone, the three included scenarios will be complemented by extension modules which will add two new scenarios for 4 - 6. So, if Lords of Chaos appeals to you, then be sure that you could spend quite some time playing it.
Mythos have created a game that is ideal for the board war gamer and the role player with clear, recognisable graphics and all controlled from the joystick once the complicated control system is mastered. Sound is lacking but this will only annoy the committed arcade freak and should not detract from what is an absorbing and challenging game.
Blade/Mythos take the traditional route to table-top style Role Playing in this battle of magic.
The world of Role Playing Games is not a medium that lends itself easily to the silicon box, but the formulae for the transition are now more developed to the market. The latest wave of games like Dungeon Master and Castle Master, have taken the plan view RPG and turned it on its 3D head. So is Mythos' Lords Of Chaos a retrograde step or are the disadvantages of memory hungry Freescape and 3D graphics easily overlooked by the more traditional gamer?
Lords Of Chaos puts up to 4 players in wizards' robes, primed with spell lists and mana levels with which to do battle against other players or, if alone, the computer's wizard Torquemada who, unlike his Spanish inquisition namesake, is not out to kill thousands of innocent people but you.
Although similar in style to Laser Squad, this time around the team of Nick and Julian Gollop have created a world of strategic sorcery in which its holistic approach gives a real feel of waging war with a warlock.
Players can begin with an "off the peg" character with various spells and abilities but if they find him a loose fit for their style of gameplay they can tailor a wizard to their own specifications.
Each wizard begins with a list of abilities - Mana being the most important as this translates directly into magic spells. Action points are used up with each movement or task undertaken with stamina, constitution, combat and defence points depleting on each turn that they are called into use. A graphical display of each of these current levels are shown for each wizard which reduce during play. Each wizard and the characters that he summons to help him, are selected by joystick and then manipulated according to the current menu. At the beginning of each game it's a good idea to conjure up some companions - something that flies, something earth bound and something that's most certainly dead. Each of them can at least do battle with the enemies that fly, drag knuckles or is long since dead and impervious to material weapons.
Your wizard controls each of his characters, to the point of even hitching a ride on mountable monsters. These are very useful because it means he can conserve movement points which are used up in spell casting and potion making which can only be done by collecting the needed ingredients and putting them in the same space occupied by the cauldron. Add to this mixture one wizard and use the potion spell.
Potions are integral to the game as is the interplay between the wizard and the creatures under his control and careful use of spells is needed to progress through a game to the exit portal which will take the wizard back home where he will be awarded experience points which can then be used to increase the number of spells known to the total of 45 and to increase the effectiveness level of each spell. Also, experience points can be spent increasing characters abilities and wizards can be saved during the game allowing their use by players in later games.
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter
RELEASE BOX
Atari ST, £24.95dk, September
Amiga, £24.95dk, September
Spectrum, £9.95cs, September
C64/128, £9.95cs, £12.95dk, September
Amstrad, £9.95cs, £14.95dk, September
No other versions planned.
Predicted Interest Curve
1 min: 3/5
1 hour: 4/5
1 day: 5/5
1 week: 4/5
1 month: 3/5
1 year: 2/5
All information in this page is provided by ZXSR instead of ZXDB