Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny

"A game definetly worth your money..."

Unless of course it's $100, because no game is worth that unless they have a gold bar inside. Anyway, on to the game. I bought this game a couple years back, and it (At it's time of course, since most computer games now have better stuff than before) was probably the most fun game I owned, and ever played. It's very different from the first Lands of Lore, where the game screen was only faced forward, and if you turned, you'd turn a full 90 degrees. This is a first person game, where you turn as many degrees as you want, move however far you want, and basically a great simulation.

Graphics: A serious 10. The graphics are so incredible. The trees, the lighting of a torch in a dark area, and the glow of lava in a cave. some enemies are a bit... er... blurry, I suppose, when you get close to them, but they're still very well done. Many characters, mainly the ones that talk, were done by real people which were created into the game, so those characters were well done, and not blurry at all. (Unless of course you're one of those people who like to go face to face...)

Sound/Music: Another 10 in this department. You can hear everything going on around you, even the footsteps (Sometimes) of your foes, though it is kind of hard to tell where they are sometimes if you just listen. The fire of a nearby stove is clearly audible, and the crackling of wood as well. Even when you hit a vase and crack it, it has that shattering noise. (Of course, not too loud. Westwood Studios does not want deaf players. :p) People that talk are clearly heard. Battle music plays when somebody attacks you or vice versa, and after a while of no contact, the music fades away into the usual soft music. I like the music, how it's quite soft and doesn't get in the way of anything, like some games where the music is very loud and sometimes makes the feel of the game not so realistic... Usually. :)

Controls: Can't exactly rate this, cause some people have better hand eye coordination than others. The buttons you usually use are the number pad on the far right of the keyboard, F to swing your sword, and S to cast a spell. You can pick things up, if you're close enough, with the mouse. So, you usually have to stop and take one hand off the keyboard and move the mouse. Sometimes it's annoying, but I'd clear out an area before I pick things up anyway... Well, sometimes you don't have that choice and a switch needs to be flicked.

Weapons: Not something I will rate, just some comments. There are so many pieces of armor and weapons and spells and bows in this game, it's amazing. Some swords range from the beginning short sword, to the powerful life draining Darkstorm. I only had one problem with this, though. The bows, even though they say they're powerful, actually aren't. They barely do any damage, which really sucks. Most damage will have to be done from close range, or spells. Not that that's a bad thing of course!

Game play and Replay Value: 9/10 This is one of the few games that I can play over and over. Sometimes, I like to do pretend stuff in some areas. I bet you think that's really creepy. Oh well. There is so much you can do in this game! Lots of things are hidden, enemies lurk in unsuspecting places... You can even determine how people will treat you depending on what you do in the course of the game. Go ahead and kill everyone you see if you so desire. Sometimes though, it's better to be good. And at some points, if you kill, you can come out with more good stuff. Plenty of fun, especially to see the character fall down. The characters that are played by people fall down interestingly sometimes...

Overall: 10/10
Buy this game, play it, have fun. If you don't like medieval RPG's, play it anyway. :p Yes, you gain levels here. I forgot to mention that. You gain two different levels, one of your fighting ability, and one of your magic ability. Attacking causes the fighter bar to raise, using magic causes your magic bar to raise. Also, when you do special things, or kill certain monsters, your level goes up automatically. I personally find myself with my magic level higher, even though I barely use magic.
Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/03, Updated 01/16/03