Subject: REVIEW: Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon
From: [email-masked] (Omar Siddique)
Date: 3 Feb 1994 01:01:14 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	Eye of the Beholder 2 (or "EOB2") is a first-person perspective,
multiple character, real-time, fantasy role-playing game with an intuitive,
mouse-based playing interface.  It is part of Strategic Simulations Inc's
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ("AD&D") product line.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Strategic Simulations Inc.
	Address:	675 Almanor Avenue, Suite 201
			Sunnyvale, CA 94086
			USA

	Telephone:	(408) 737-6800

LIST PRICE

	EOB2 lists for $59.95 (US), but since SSI is no longer in the Amiga
software market, a number of mail-order retailers have discounted it.  I
purchased it from Creative Computers (in California, USA) for $14.95 (US).

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		1 MB of RAM is required.

		If installed on a hard drive, EOB2 requires 3.5 megabytes of
		free drive space.

		It seems to work fine with accelerated machines, at least
		with the 68030.  I did not test it on a stock 68000 machine.

	SOFTWARE

		It works beautifully with Workbench 2.1 and Kickstart 2.04.
		EOB2 even multitasks, although it uses so much processor
		power, it's unlikely that anything could be done in the
		background (e.g., I couldn't do a 14400 baud download while
		running EOB2).  The game also exits cleanly.

COPY PROTECTION

	The copy protection is of the "look up a word in the manual" type,
and is encountered only once during the game.  I would rate the copy
protection as virtually invisible.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 3000/25, 4 MB Fast RAM, 1 MB Chip RAM.
	1 internal 880K floppy, 1 external 880K floppy.
	Maxtor 120MB internal hard drive.
	Quantum 1.2GB external hard drive (EOB2 was installed here).
	NEC 3FGx multisync monitor.
	Workbench 2.1, Kickstart 2.04.

INSTALLATION

	Eye of the Beholder 2 installs easily and quickly onto a hard drive.
Simply drag the "Install" icon from disk 1 onto the hard drive where the
game should be installed, and double-click on the icon.  I had no problem
with this method of installation.  EOB2 has no trouble with saving and
loading games in progress from the hard drive.

REVIEW

	Well, to begin with, I will assume that the reader is somewhat
familiar with the world of AD&D gaming.  There are many scenarios set in
this world, and EOB2 is one.

	Parties of adventurers journey through this world on quests; some
for good causes, some for evil causes, and some for no particular reason.
In EOB2, You control one such party of four characters, and possibly one or
two non-player characters.  The story begins with the party (which can
either be created from scratch or imported from the original "Eye of The
Beholder", or "EOB1") having been advised of new trouble to the north of
Waterdeep, the town that the intrepid adventurers saved in EOB1. The party
is transported by the mage Khelben, advisor to the Lords of Waterdeep, to
the troubled area, and the adventure begins.

	The party arrives in a small forested region, and soon finds its way
into the Temple Darkmoon, which appears to be a peaceful sanctuary run by
divinely-inspired priests.  Alas, as often happens, appearances are
deceiving, and the party must fight its way through the temple, the
catacombs that lie below, and three towers that rise above the temple in
search of the evil that has taken control of the temple.  The party must face
giant ants, vicious basilisks, spirits of the dead, and many other minions of
evil along the way.

	The screen is laid out in an attractive, functional manner.  A large
viewing window takes up over 1/3 of the screen, displaying whatever your party
is facing at the moment.  The right-hand side of the screen is occupied by a
display for each of the party's characters, showing their names, faces, and the
objects currently in their hands.  In addition, the color of the border around
each display indicates if any characters are under the influence of magic.
Below the viewing window is a compass rose and an array of arrow gadgets
for movement.  At the bottom of the screen is a narrow window in which
text messages are displayed.

	The player interacts with the game primarily through the mouse,
although the keyboard can be used for moving the party (and is actually
better than the mouse for moving quickly).  Various small objects can be
picked up, dropped, and thrown by simply clicking in the appropriate
location in the viewing window.  Spells are cast and weapons swung by
clicking on the items in the characters' hands in the character display.
Clicking on a character's face replaces the character display with an
inventory or statistics for that character.  Inventory is also managed by
using the mouse, by clicking on the object to be moved, and then clicking on
its destination.  Overall, I found the player interface to be exceptionally
easy to use.

	Creating the characters for your party is easy and also mouse-based.
Here, EOB2 does something that I particularly like, and many games of this type
(those not by SSI) don't do.  The program allows the player to modify the
attributes of the newly created characters without having to go through the
rigmarole of rolling random characters hundreds of times, trying to get the
perfect combination of attributes.  This saved me quite a bit of the setup
frustration usually encountered in this kind of game.

	The number of monsters is just right -- not so many as to overwhelm
the player, but not so few as to make the game boring.  Most of the monsters
are encountered only once, but some locations have randomly generate
monsters, such as the wolves in the forest.  Some monsters can turn players
to stone or kill them with a single swipe -- however, I didn't find any that
were exceptionally difficult to defeat (although the beholders were fairly
tough).

	The graphics are well done.  They are smooth and aesthetically
pleasing.  Most of the artistic talent was applied to the monsters:  there's
only so much, after all, that one can do with hallways and tunnels!  Most of
the creatures perform some kind of action when they attack the party; for
example, the beholder's eyes distend and its mouth opens.  The one thing
missing, however, is true animation of monsters.  Although they are animated
when attacking the party, monsters simply move from one spot to the next in
a single motion -- they don't actually use their legs to walk from one place
to the next.  This is the only weakness in an otherwise visually pleasing
work.

	The sound is acceptable for this type of game, and includes the
footsteps of monsters, the sound of doors opening and closing, the clicks of
switches and buttons, the growls of monsters, and the screams of your
characters as they die.  Some faint, ominous background music might have been
appropriate, but its lack is never really felt when the party is busy trying
to hack a monster to pieces.

	Finally, the plot is both acceptable and cohesive.  It carries itself
forward through "story screens" which contain information, graphics, and often
choices for the party to make, as well as through occasional scrolls and
plaques found in the party's wanderings.  The puzzles are relatively simple,
and often rely upon finding a particular secret door, pressing a certain
button, or finding a specific object.  They key to playing this game well is
paying attention to all the details.  There are things tucked away almost
everywhere.

DOCUMENTATION

	The documentation consists of a data card containing Amiga-specific
installation instructions, and a rule book.  The data card contains all the
information I needed to get going.  The rule book contains material to set
the scene, instructions on how to choose party members, material describing
the different kinds of characters available, spell lists, tables showing
when characters advance in level, and a bestiary with pictures and
descriptions of monsters.  The documentation should be clear even to a
beginner -- more experienced players will only need to skim the rule book.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

	LIKES

	Basically, I liked how playable the game was.  I never felt
overwhelmed by the monsters or puzzles I came across, but I was challenged
enough to keep playing.  The game is also a good length -- it doesn't seem
to drag on forever like some dungeon games can, but neither does it end
before it really seems to have begun.

	DISLIKES

	I didn't really have any dislikes.  However, I did think that some of
the items in the game, such as the six polished shields the player has to
have before entering one of the tower levels, were a little hard to find.
The inexperienced player, upon discovering that he or she has to go back and
re-search several levels of dungeon, might be discouraged at this point.
This, however, is why the experienced player searches every nook and cranny
along the way.  :-)

	The only missing feature thing that I think the game could use is
auto-mapping.  However, the dungeons weren't quite complex enough to require
auto-mapping, and as such I don't fault the game for lacking this feature.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Eye of the Beholder 2 is similar to several other products available
for the Amiga, including Eye of the Beholder 1, Black Crypt, Dungeon Master,
and Might & Magic 3.  Briefly, I'll describe the differences and
similarities between those products and EOB2.

	Eye of the Beholder 1 is very similar to EOB2, though some of the
levels in EOB1 are more complex and convoluted than any in EOB2.  EOB1's
graphics and sound are similar to EOB2's, although EOB2 has more "story
screens" to forward its stronger plot.  The monsters are different between
the two games, as well.  If you thought EOB1 was good, then run -- don't
walk -- to the phone (or your local dealer) and order EOB2.

	Black Crypt is another comparable product, with a similar look and
feel.  Its sound quality is somewhat higher than EOB2's, but its plot is
slightly weaker.  Basically, if you liked Black Crypt, you should like EOB2.

	Dungeon Master is an older game which was one of the first
mouse-driven, first-person perspective dungeon games.  It is similar, but
has relatively primitive graphics in comparison to EOB2.  Since Dungeon
Master has trouble running under Workbench 2.x, I haven't played this game,
but I would imagine players who enjoyed it would like EOB2.

	[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Faster Than Light, the makers of Dungeon Master,
	have an updated version of the game that works under AmigaDOS 2.0.
	Contact FTL at the address in your manual for upgrade information.
	Mine was free -- I just wrote FTL a letter asking for the update.
	- Dan]

	Might & Magic 3 ("M&M3") is somewhat different from EOB2, in that its
game world is much larger, with many dungeons and continents to explore.
M&M3's graphics also look somewhat more primitive than EOB2's, and M&M3
takes quite a while longer to complete.  However, the gameplay perspectives
are similar (first person), and the combat system, while physically
presented differently in each game, is based on the same concept of clicking
on characters' weapons and spells to activate them.  M&M3 players might
consider EOB2 too short a game, but will enjoy it anyway.

	There are other games of the same genre that also use a first-person
perspective that I won't go into (so this section doesn't end up being as
long as the rest of the review!), but these include Dragon Wars, the three
Bard's Tale games, the dungeons in the Ultima series, and others.

BUGS

	I did not notice any bugs.

WARRANTY

	Standard 30 day warranty on the media (disks) only.

CONCLUSIONS

	I liked EOB2 a great deal.  Anybody who likes dungeon-oriented
fantasy games will like this one.  The game is nicely balanced, with enough
puzzles and dungeons to sate the explorer's appetite, but not so many as to
frustrate the game player.  While it is real-time, at no point do you feel
as if you're being rushed, and there is no time limit on gameplay.  If you've
ever enjoyed hacking your way through mobs of slavering monsters or
appreciated the pleasures of exploring twisting dungeon passageways in search
of evil-doers, you definitely should give this game a look.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1994 Omar Siddique.  All rights reserved.

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