~Thunderscape (MP)

Review extracted from the Internet.  Written by Matthew Peckham.


Been playing it for 24 hours now--I promise to make it nice, long, 
accurate, and to the point. . .

Category: Roleplaying
Developer: SSI Special Projects Team
Publisher: SSI, A Mindscape Company

Required to play: 486/66 MHz IBM PC
		  8 MB Ram
		  MS-DOS, DR-DOS 5.0 or greater
		  An UNCOMPRESSED Hard Drive with 25 MB free
		  VGA video adapter (contrary to multiple magazine
		  screen shots footnotes, SVGA graphics are NOT 
		  supported)
		  100% Microsoft (or Logitech) compatible mouse
		  MS Mouse 9.01+ or Logitech 6.3+ mouse driver
		  Double-Speed CD-ROM, 350 ms access, 300 KB 
		  transfer rate 
		  550,00 byters of free base ram
		  6,800,000 bytes of free XMS (Extended, NOT 
		  Expanded)

Recommended: Pentium or DX4 system (anything below 486/66 will start
showing slightly choppy frame rates--though it will still play 
roughly equivalent to speeds in games like Arena and prevous SSI 
first-person games).
		  12-16 MB Ram
		  Medium Install: ~50 Hard Drive
		  Quad-Speed CD-Rom Drive

~The New System:
	
	This is SSI's new role-playing world, called ADEN; it will 
extend from copmuter games into the realm of role-playing 
(pen-and-pencil) games, novels, and collectable card games.  I 
suspect SSI is attempting to become the next TSR.  They are rumored 
to have split with TSR for that very reason--wanting to reap ALL the 
profits from their fantasy role-playing games.  What better way then 
to use TSR to boost them to the forefront of computer role-playing, 
then work backwards by building their own system.  And what a system 
it is...(more on that later)
	
	Ten years have passed since Aden was at peace.  It is a world 
of steam-powered technology called "mechamagic" combined with sorcery.
Something called "The Darkfall" has engulfed the land.  The sun is 
eclipsed (no daytime anymore, thus everything is always night) 
permanently.  The creatures roaming the land are called Nocturnals.  
Your goal in Thunderscape is to turn back on a great magical shield 
at Skellon's Pass, the last barrier between the Nocturnals and the 
whole of the Northland.  The shield extended across the gap from the 
Radiant Citadel to Vanguard Keep.  This first game takes you on a 
seemingly massive journey through twenty levels including the Radiant 
Citadel, Vanguard Keep, and the ruins of Karegh-Konan, and ancient 
ruined city of the deep dwarves.
 

~Manual and Errata: * * * (three out of five stars)

	The manual is fairly detailed when it comes to the game system 
itself (in its preliminary stages of  course).  Nice sections on 
spells, creatures, and tons of interesting weapons from swords to 
steam powered guns and needlers.  It only gets three stars for two 
glaring omissions: (1) A more detailed explanation of what's going on
in Aden.  They literally give you roughly five to six paragraphs (on 
on page) of what happened with the Darkfall, what you're doing there, 
and what needs to be done to complete the game.  Considering the 
detail of the game system, I'd have expected more history (esp. with 
this being the first game in the series).  (2) Certain undocumented 
commands (someone please tell me if you can find them) like the 
ability to look up and down.  Contrary to some posts on internet, you 
CAN do it (Page up, Page Down) and the way it's implemented is very 
nice, but someone completely forgot to document this in any of the 
accompanying literature.  Otherwise, 41 well-designed pages 
(including a tutorial to get you familiar with the system).
 
~Introduction, Voice Acting and Music throughout: * * * 1/2 (out of 
~                                                            five)

	The intro looks wonderful and the music/sound with the intro 
is downright eerie.  Only problem is it _does_ looks a little grainy 
and could have been viewed in a bigger window (for all us quad-speed 
owners).  The voice acting is very well done, as good as anything 
else out there so far.  The music is very similar in style to Wake of
the Ravager (i.e. plays directly off the CD, techno/rock style, 
several tracks, etc...)  It's good if you like that kind of stuff in 
your CRPG (as opposed to crashing Beethoven-esque or Rachmaninov 
string stuff...)  You can turn everything on and off, of course.
 

~Game System: * * * * 1/2 (out of five)

	Wow.  It's really nice, and _really about time_ to get a good
CRPG (in the presently stale market).  This one more than makes up 
for the extra six months we're all waiting for Lords of Midnight and
Daggerfall to come out.  Graphics are the very best looking VGA I've
ever seen in a role-playing game.  They absolutely blow Arena/Ultima
Underworld/previous SSI attempts/etc...out of the water.  The 
viewscreen is nice and big (more like Arena than past SSI/TSR 
attempts).  You have a compass overhead (of course), and your much 
simplified interface lined up below.  Kudos to the interface.  It's 
the easiest (while maintaining complexity) I've ever used.

	8 races currently make up the character creation roster 
(dwarves, elves, faerkin, ferrans, goreaux, humans, juraks, and 
rapacians).  You have 11 archetypes (professions) consisting of 
fighter, martial artist (yes!), healer, monk, knight, ranger, 
swashbuckler, rogue, thief, sorcerer, and wizard.  NOTE: All 
character can use magic _and_  wear armor (thank god) in Aden: what 
makes a better or worse magician has to do with how many spell skill
points you have (i.e. wizards start out with a lot).

	You stats consist of Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, 
Health, and Willpower (a bit scaled back from AD&D).  Other 
statistics are health points, mana points, experience, level, and 
gold.  You then have a wide array of skills: acrobatics, axes/maces,
bows, cast spells, fencing, firearms, knife, martial arts, pole 
arms, shield, stealth, swords, fast talk, lock picking, merchant, 
pick pockets, see secrets, xenology.  There are 27 spells (the spell
effects are incredible--best anyone's set up yet).  22 monsters make
up the bestiary in Thunderscape (they're also the best looking--huge
--you've ever seen.  It looks likes they rendered them on an SGI or 
something, then scaled back the resolution a bit.  The result--some
really nightmarish stuff).

	Combat is handled beautifully.  Instead of hack 'n' slash 
(via Arena, DOOM, previous SSI RPGs, UW1 and 2, etc...) combat is 
phased and somewhat strategic.  Missiles and Spells are still 
real-time when you're far away from an enemy, but as soon as you get 
within reaching distance, the computer goes into phase-time combat.  
You can then select multiple attack modes for each character, 
choosing from: standard attack, berserk attack, attack for vitals, 
feint, mighty blow, shield bash, kick, close combat, defensive 
attack, stop thrust, dodge, flee, hife, backstab, shoot, aim missile
weapon, confust foe, parlay, or bribe.  You also have the option to 
"execute last orders for multiple rounds of combat to avoid 
reselecting everything for each character is you wish."  Definite 
four and 1/2 stars for the combat system (IMHO).  It's the nearest 
thing to perfect we've seen in a first person role-playing game.
	
	Automap: you either hate it or love it.  It's right out of 
Cyclones--it's a complex series of isometric polygons either shaded 
or unfilled and built upon each other.  You can zoom in, zoom out, 
and rotate the map any number of multiple ways.  I love it 
myself--you'll find a lot of posts in Internet groups from people who
hate it, then a few who like it.  To each your own, I say.

	Movement: You have the standard fare 8 directions, plus the 
ability to look up and down, crouch, run, and jump.  It's pretty 
much System Shock though the movement model isn't quite as advanced.
Movement itself is VERY fluid--it "feel" right the way System Shock
"felt" right.

Sidebits:
	There are riddles similar to Arena (four lines with one word
answer) that add spice to the game.  One thing I'm struck by is the 
sheer SIZE of the playing world.  The buildings are just huge, and 
the cliffs have roughly six-seven levels with multiple cave entrances
that branch all over the insides of the cliffs.  The thing that 
amazed me is all these levels are represented together (in other 
words, you don't go to a texture mapped staircase and then load the 
next level via. Ultima Underworld or Arena).  Everything is 
represented in 3D (like System Shock) and so everything feels 
"virtual."
 

~Overall: * * * * 1/2 (out of five)
 
BOTTOM LINE: If you're a true CRPG fan, you MUST have this game.  
It's not just a "tide-me-over" until Daggerfall or Lords of Midnight.
 It's its OWN revolution. . .
 
Oh yeah, check out the neat SVGA demo of ENTOMORPH on the CD, SSI's 
next Aden game set in overhead perspective (ala Dark Sun, Wake of the
Ravager).
 
Mail me for questions, things you disagree with, or anything else.
 
-Matthew Peckham, MSN      

