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Right from the start of the fabulous game, "Dragon Lore" projects you into a world of adventure and mystery which is bound to captivate you.
You are Werner Von Wallenrod, an orphan living in a realm lost in time. You leave to travel across these lands and meet fantastically surreal characters who help you in your quest for truth. Your father was assassinated by the Devil's Horseman, Haagen Von Kiakonov, has vowed to destroy everything you know and love. Just before your father died, he was able to entrust you with a farmer in the kingdom, but now the hour has arrived for you to take up arms and defend your country.
Inexperienced in the art of combat, you must prove yourself all throughout the voyage that awaits you.
The scenario of "Dragon Lore" is unquestionably of first choice and quite original. However, certain aspects require a laps of time before acquiring a taste for it! The character you control, Werner, is displaced by means of the mouse which proves impractical. A small dragon appears on the screen permitting you to observe the direction in which your character may move (left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down), but he can only turn at 45 degrees with each movement. This slows down the action and renders the game a little less realistic at times.
Moreover, as your point of view in the game is of the first person, good orientation skills will help you keep track of position. Other actions that can be accomplished are indicated in the mouth of the "dragon-cursor". A ball in the dragon's mouth means you can pick up an object. For example, a hammer in the dragon's mouth means that you can accomplish a designated action. When the cursor transforms into a dragon's eye, this signifies that you have stumbled upon a place of interest and may take a closer look in more detail.
Up to now, even if the movements are a little slow, the interface remains quite easy and simple. Things get a little more lively when you must place objects in your inventory or take them out. In order to be in your inventory, you must click on the right hand button of the mouse up in the top left hand corner of the screen. If you click when you are not in the top left hand corner, the action becomes "throw object" and you are forced to try and find it again! The same goes for when you are in the inventory. To place an object you must click on the right mouse button, because if you click on the left mouse button, you will exit from the inventory and need to do it all over again. In any case, the interface used in "Dragon Lore" is frankly not one of the simplest.
Regarding the graphics and the animations that you will discover throughout the game, there are no complaints and you easily enter into the atmosphere of a role-playing game. The combats that you will have to carry out during your quest resemble those of a role-playing game. For example, you role the dice to see if you hit your adversary or not. Not too exciting... but let us take a look at the better side of things to savor "Dragon Lore" as an adventure game.
In this regard, you must pay attention at all times if you want to solve all the puzzles you encounter (some of which can be very puzzling) in order to continue your quest.
You will also have a spell book at your disposition, that is, if you manage to find it. The different creatures that you meet will give you hints or objects permitting you to advance. Generally you must help them in order for them to help you!
The last critical remark about this game is that it lacks research concerning the sound effects and music. Unfortunately, although this could have added to the atmosphere of the game, they are not terrific.
Mindscape,
GRAPHICS ------------------ 96% Priority House, Charles Avenue,
SOUND ------------------ 90% Maltings Park, Burgess Hill,
MUSIC ------------------ 92% West Sussex RH15 9PQ, England.
GAMEPLAY ------------------ 85% Tel: +44-(0)444-246-333
INTEREST ------------------ 89%
Mindscape,
60 Leveroni Court,
OVERALL ------------------ 90% Novato, CA 94949.
Tel: 415-883-3000
