Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom

"Fun Fun Fun.....but extremely hard."

I've been a fan of DnD for quite some time and when I got this game I was delighted. It's a very hard and long game. I will not deny that this game is almost impossible. It is fun though.
Now I must do that rating different parts of the game.

Graphics 7:Not too bad for a SNES game, not the best I've seen though. The monsters do look well done and their shadows are also done nicely. Not the best, but good.

Gameplay 10:I love playing this game. You get to pretty much make your character. Picking Race, class, and alignment. You also get ''bonus points'' which you deposite into stats. Your characters have the ability to change classes which makes it very fun. The game is very hard as I've mentioned, but it's fun. It takes forever to get levels. The more complicated your class is the harder it is to get levels. This will take so much of your sleep away it isn't even funny. There is a wide range of equipment, ranged from cursed to godly.

Sounds 5:The sounds are repeat all the time, though they are very fun to listen to. I always find myself wistling to the tune after playing for 5 minutes.

Difficulty 10:Hardest game I've ever played, but I enjoy a challenge. I'm tired of easy games such as Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger (no offense to those games, as I love them very much.) This game will take forever and 5 days to complete. You have to reset if a high-level character dies so always save. It costs tons of money to revive a character. I mean tons. I've mentioned that leveling takes forever. The monsters are usually a lot harder than you would expect.

Replay Value 3:If you can actually make it through this game alive and healthy, the replay value isn't much. I suggest after beating this game leave it for awhile. You'll come back. You just get an urge to go and play it.

Overall 7:This is an averaged number.

Buy or Rent:You have to buy this game to actually have a hope of beating it. Renting would be just like a demo.

Good luck anyone who wants to give this game a try. You need a lot of spare time on your hands for it, either that or spend 5 years playing it little by little.
Have fun with this game. I know I did. Good luck!!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/03, Updated 06/06/03