Dragons of Flame - SSI/US Gold RRP œ24.99
                  (Graphical "action" game)
                     
                     Review by Roy Sims

Dragons  of  Flame  is  the  fifth  in  the  series  of  official
'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons' games from S.S.I, following 'Heroes 
of  the Lance' (A Dragonlance action game),  'Curse of the  Azure 
Bonds' (A Forgotten Realms fantasy R.P.G,  and not yet  available 
on the ST), 'Pools of Radiance' (Another Forgotten Realms fantasy 
R.P.G not yet out on the ST),  and 'Hillsfar' (a Forgotten Realms 
action game).

The  series  is neatly divided between the fantasy  role  playing 
games and the 'action' games. 'Dragons of Flame' is classified as 
a  Dragonlance action game,  and thus requires more skill on  the 
joystick side than on the role-playing side of things. This helps 
to  explain the game's short-comings as far as us adventurers are 
concerned.

The  game  gives you control of a party of up to  10  characters. 
Whenever  the  party  moves,  the characters move together  as  a 
unit.  This  means that you can't split your group  up.  It  also 
means  that  the  party is represented on screen  in  either  the 
overhead 'Gauntlet' style view or in the side-on view as a single 
character.  In the side-on 'combat' view, the character's graphic 
depends  on the marching order of the party, i.e. only the  first 
character (the leader) is seen.

The  quest  requires  your party to enter  the  fortress  of  Pax 
Tharkas, rescue Princess Laurana, and free the captured women and 
children  of Qualinesti.  There is also an ancient  sword  called 
Wyrmslayer  to  be found in the hidden caves  of  Sla-Mori. 

Your party consists of a mixture of magic users, clerics, dwarves 
and  fighters.  Each  character has their own long  and/or  short 
range weapon(s) at their disposal.  Magic users also have a  long 
list of spells available,  including casting fireballs,  webs and 
other magical spells.  The cleric can cast spells that cure light 
wounds,  raise dead characters or cure fatal  injuries.  However, 
these spells can't be cast indefinitely as they draw their  power 
from the disks of Mishakal which will eventually exhaust. 

Other  wandering characters can join your party if you  have  any 
spare  places, and  some have to if you are to  complete the game
as  they provide clues or additional  abilities  that  your party
may lack.

Other  than wander about the map,  if you hit the Space Bar  then 
you are given access to a number of commands,  which include  the 
ability  to  change  your  marching  order,  take  objects,  give 
objects,  consult  the  quest map,  see your  current  experience 
points as well as be able to save your game.  Whilst this menu is 
on screen, the 'action' is effectively paused.

So how does Dragons of Flame play as a game?  Well,  the graphics 
are  nice  and colourful (much better than the drab  graphics  in 
Heroes of the Lance), although some of the side-on graphics are a 
bit  naff in places.  The command system is simple to use and  is 
reasonably  comprehensive.  However,  the  majority of  the  game 
requires a lot of joystick bashing. The combat section is far too 
hard. The odds are stacked too heavily against you. You don't get 
the chance to explore much due to the hordes of monsters that get 
in  your  way.  The joystick control is also  confusing  and  the 
characters  are  far too weak.  The healing clerical  spells  get 
exhausted  too  quickly as the party quickly dies off  after  yet 
another attack.

To  conclude,  the  game  looks nice and  early  impressions  are 
favourable  but  in the end it concentrates far too much  on  the 
action  side (which wouldn't be so bad if the characters  weren't 
so  weak  and vulnerable) and not enough on  the  adventuring/RPG 
elements.  Frustration soon sets in as you try to find the secret 
entrance  to  Pax  Tharkas only to die time  and  time  again.  I 
haven't  got very far in it for that exact reason,  and unless  I 
find  that entrance quickly at the start then I'm not  likely  to 
bother trying to solve it in the future.