"This was one of the first games I played in 1999 that had me pulling an all-nighter game spree on a weekend. Good contender for Best of the year!"

---from the review

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Darkstone

Click game box (above) to purchase Darkstone, if still available.

A Review By Techtite

The frequent opinion of Diablo was (and still is), "Excellent...too bad it's not in 3D, though." Many people have since tried to capitalize on one or two Diablo clones, though few try to one-up this classic 2D game, and be 3D accelerated. Darkstone, delivered from the oh-so-natty acronymed Gathering Of Developers, changes all that; a well-made, extremely addictive game.

The single player storyline is a lot like Diablo in most respects; while on your way to defeating a greater evil --"Draak"-- you must complete a sequence of mini-missions. Each mission consists of a four level dungeon/basement/secret lair. Each entered dungeon is different from the previous ones, in textures and appearance (and, quite frequently, enemies). Along the way you complete additional missions, requested by villagers in town; often special items you might find if you search every chest and container in the current dungeon. Some villagers will even give you a bounty for defeating the tougher henchmen of Draak, which are also often found in the current (or next) dungeon you face.

Random mapping is also incorporated into Darkstone. This includes the missions themselves, some of which you may not even see, if you only play the game once! There are more subquests than can be included in any one game, so you often have a whole set of brand new quests when a new game is started. Each quest is quite unique, and well worth playing the game over at least three times, to see them all. The dungeon maps for each mission are equally random and different with each game, so even re-playing the exact same mission might be quite different. In addition, some subquests could result in different results depending on your resolution of the problem, or your character class (fighter, magician, thief, or priestess). In one quest, a man asking you to save his wife will gripe if you took too long, and not give you an additional reward.

The 3D acceleration is well handled. Instaneous texture change when weaing new armor (shown at left) is one of many nice touches. While objects in the way of your view become opaque when walked behind, you can also change the angle of vision at any time, quite easily. With the keyboard arrow keys, you can zoom in and out, and rotate the camera angle a full 360 degrees! I would have liked to be able to adjust the gamma/brightness level within the game (as in most cases, gameplay on my AGP 3Dfx card is often quite dark by default), and the game is stuck in one singular graphic mode (640x480, which for this Voodoo 3 owner is quite a waste of power). However, the graphics are top-notch otherwise, and since they are often seen as a medium shot or a long shot (not a close up), it shouldn't be that much of a concern to gamers that higher resolutions are unavailable. At the extreme least, realistic lighting and other 3D effects are in large supply.

Gripes are few. For one, the final boss is a tad too tough; if not equipped enough, he could defeat your duo like a flame to tissue paper. Speaking of which, the mere choice of a duo is a little limited for RPG fans; a larger team option would have been nice. The randomness of dungeon maps also seems hindered, due to the more linear scope of the sub-missions. Even so, however, the game remains a fun time...

The end result is a very engrossing game. You solve one mini mission and can't wait to solve the next. Halfway through the main story, dark magic strikes its heavy blow; the sky goes dark, the rain starts to fall, and the DarkStone itself rises in the center of town. The mid-game lighting change of a cheerful, happy town into a dark, foreboding land is very effective; a good message to defeat this villain ASAP...and a good reason to keep playing. This was one of the first games I played in 1999 that had me pulling an all-nighter game spree on a weekend. Good contender for Best of the year!

---Techtite