**Apparently planar daemons drive broadswords through their thighs to show how badass they are.
I'm back again to talk about yet another game from my childhood, probably one of my favorites. The game's called "Slayer," released by SSI, based on Dungeons and Dragons, and from first glance is just another dungeon-crawling role-playing game--and in fact it is...
...However, there are certain things about it that makes it great. First off, you can completely customize your character, including their class, race, name, statistics, and all of the good stuff you'd expect from a game based on Dungeons and Dragons, but the real kicker comes after you create your character. Before you enter the dungeon you're also allowed to customize it, this includes how many levels are in the dungeon, how many monsters, what monster types are encountered, how much treasure, food, potions, and traps are in the dungeon, as well as other things. This, coupled with the random generation of goodies in each level of the dungeon adds to a very high replay value.
**"It's time you did something about those monsters under your bed."
Really, SSI? Is that the best you can come up with for a tagline?
Really, SSI? Is that the best you can come up with for a tagline?
Another good thing about Slayer is the music, there are a few drab pieces, but overall it has some interesting tunes, some of which left me waiting in anticipation for the next to come. I think the music, save for a few pieces, was well made, and definitely fun to listen to.
Overall, the game isn't that hard to get into, either. Basically there's two buttons, one of each controls the weapon or item in your left or right hand. If you're a certain class you can duel wield, and each item in your hands has a cool down after use, which leaves the item greyed out and unusable until this time limit passes (though this is always short for weapons, and only a bit longer for spells, and enchanted items.) Aside from this you also have an inventory screen which, at the click of the button, you can use items such as rations (to replenish your hunger gauge,) potions that do a plethora of different things, some of which are even bad for you (such as poison,) and several scrolls you can find throughout the game. Aside from these things there is also a camp menu that allows you to rest, check the map, save and load games, and all of that good stuff.
Now on to the bad points:
Possibly the worst thing about this game is the fact that there really isn't any story. in fact, I don't think I remember reading anything about the story in the instruction manual; you're just thrown into the first level of some random custom dungeon and are expected to fight your way to the last level, where you're supposed to kill this big boss for no other reason than just bragging rites. Yeah, there's an opening cinematic, but it's pretty damned cryptic, and doesn't help promote any kind of storyline. This takes a lot away from the game for me, but that's no reason not to play it, I suppose. It's good hack-n-slash fun, and I guess if you really need a story, you can use your imagination and make your own up; I mean, that's what Dungeons and Dragons was all about--being creative.
Also, from what I can tell, even with the random placement of items and other goodies, the basic design of each level of the dungeon never changes, so after some time, you're going to get bored of going through the same levels, so that really hinders replay value.
All the same though, if you're looking for a decent role playing game on the 3DO, this is well worth your time. Pick it up, give it a try, and have a blast cutting your way through each level of the dungeon in search of fortune and fame, only to realize you've wasted twelve hours of your life playing a video game.
