Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos
| Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Westwood Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Interactive |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, NEC PC-9801 |
| Release | 1993 |
| Genre(s) | computer role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos is the first installment of the Lands of Lore series. It was developed by Westwood Studios and distributed by Virgin Games, Inc. The game presents a real-time, three dimensional view from the character's perspective that is similar to the interface used on the Dungeon Master game and the Eye of the Beholder series.[1]
Plot
King Richard LeGrey is the leader and 40th heir of the Gladstone Keep and the White Army. Gladstone is the base of operations for all of the civilized areas. The White Alliance has been defending it from many threats for three generations.[2] The King is worried about Scotia, an old witch and ruler of the Dark Army who has recently acquired a ring called the Nether Mask, which allows its user to assume any form of any power or capability.
King Richard gathers together his armies and seeks a champion to go see Roland at his manor on the Southern Continent and retrieve the Ruby of Truth.
The player has to choose among 4 playable pre-made characters:
- Ak'shel: a Dracoid, an ancient race of dragon-lizard hybrid origin, specialized in magic.
- Kieran, a Huline, an ancient race of human-feline hybrid origin, specialized in dexterity. He is the canonical hero, as revealed in Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny.
- Michael, a human specialized in strength and fighting.
- Conrad, another human, who is a well-balanced combination of all.
When the hero finds Roland, he learns that the Ruby of Truth has been stolen as Roland dies. When he returns to Gladstone, he sees Scotia poison King Richard and escape. He must visit the Draracle and obtain the recipe of an elixir that will save King Richard.
Once they have the recipe, the party must travel the Lands of Lore to find the ingredients, while simultaneously learning as much as possible about the Nether Mask in the hopes of defeating Scotia.
Versions
The game was critically acclaimed and was followed by two re-releases: a CD-ROM "talkie" version in 1994 which featured an additional narrative history of the Lore of the Lands by Patrick Stewart (who also voices King Richard), and a Special "White Label" European Release in 1996
References
- ^ Petreley, Nicholas (December 20, 1993). "Lands of Lore". InfoWorld. 15 (51): 85. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ [1]