Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder

"Save the world from the floating eye of DEATH!!"

I noticed there was only one review of this game and they gave it only a ''2'' I think. Bah! They must not have gotten far enough to enjoy it. Yes it's an RPG. No it isn't like the Final Fantasys with stupid storylines and love triangles. This is simple dungeon crawling and monster butt kicking. So many RPGs rely TOO heavily on graphics, storylines and how cool their spells look. To them I say ::blows raspberry:: Read on to see why this is not only a good RPG but an all around great game.

STORY: 9/10

The townsfolk of a small village have always lived in fear. They never left their houses after sundown due to one thing, a Beholder. A very vile creature, it can cause even the bravest knights to drop their weapons and run. Many adventurers call this monster ''The Eye Tyrant'' as many know that to face one, is to face certain death. Well, one of these ''eye tyrants'' lives in a cavern not far off from the village. Finally, four brave souls step forth to face the cavern, its traps, monsters, mazes and even the beholder itself. Will they succeed or will they simply become piles of bones like so many before them?

CONTROL 7/10

The controls aren't too hot in this game. Originally on the computer, the style carries over to the SNES. You must move a cursor around to an area and push ''A'' to make your party move in that direction. To attack you must drag the cursor ALL the way over to your character's portrait and hit ''B'' on their weapon to cause them to attack. To cast a spell you must go to the menu and select it. Luckily, the game auto pauses when you are choosing a spell. It'll take awhile for you to get the hang of the controls but like in most games, you'll get so good at it, it'll be like a 6th sense.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

Kind of boring but also very good at the same time. Yeah I know it sounds weird. You're in one cavern the whole game so be prepared to see the same walls over and over. Other than that, the monsters, NPCs, character pictures, weapons and armor look great. Monster's move around the maze and swing their weapons if they have one. You see spells being cast, by you and the computer. Other than the walls, its very good for its time.

SOUND: 7/10

Average here. Swords and axes make the ''swish'' sound. Mace's and war hammers make the ''thump'' sound. Monster's hiss and roar at you as you would expect them to. The music sets the mood but get kind of annoying after a little while. As I said, it's average. Though it is nice to be able to hear monsters trying to creep up on you.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

It rules in this section. You can make your own party of four, with different races, classes and of course, make them male or female. You pick out how they look and through the course of the dungeon, equip them with different armors and weapons. You gain levels, making your party ready for stronger enemies and allowing them to memorize stronger spells. Monsters will actually hunt you down but also act as they would in real life. Smaller monsters run if they see one of their buddies struck down by your mighty blade but any undead will never for they know no fear. Things such as dark elf parties will actually attack in groups, using strategy such as using warriors first, backed by clerics and mages. It's very challenging and it'll be awhile before you beat it.

OVERALL: 9/10

A great game. Hardcore RPG. If you want something where you have far too many hit points, monsters look goofy and spells that look good but couldnt cause me to catch a cold, go somewhere else. This is Dungeons And Dragons. This is not for someone looking for a love triangle. You wanna feel like your saving people from a horrid creature or just wanna have fun slashing down monsters who actually look like they could kill you, pick this up, you wont be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/02, Updated 08/10/02