Ancients 1: The Deathwatch
                (PC RPG on SynTax Disk 487)

                  Reviewed by James Judge

Ahhh, how nice it is to receive a quality PC RPG these days. Along
with this game Sue sent me The Land, Dragon Hunt and Bandor, so it
can't do anything BUT look good against these 'examples'. Still,
it's more than a case of comparing this game with Dragon Hunt - it
really is a good game.

There is no plot whatsoever. Instead you are just told where a
sewer entrance is and left to your own devices. But along the way
you do come across a few clues as to what your ultimate aim is and
just where you are headed and it ends up that your party of four
heroes is off to save a fair damsel (actually, a fat, naked angel)
who has been whisked away to an evil keep, just outside of the
town.  You can't get into the keep overland as it is protected by
a magical forcefield, and so you must enter the depths of the
sewer to see what is cooking down there. At the last level of the
sewers you come across a teleporter that will either take you to
part 2 (if you've paid the $23.95 registration fee), back up to
the town or to the keep, where you undergo a fierce battle to save
this pile of blubber. Erm, I mean the fair damsel <ahem>.

To get to the teleporter you must go through seven levels of
sewer, killing beasties and collecting a few items that will help
you along the way.

There are plenty of fights - with a wide variety of monsters - so
that'll keep all you blood-lovers happy. For the more quiet,
I-like-a-good-old-riddle type person you aren't in luck. There are
only two 'problems' in the whole game which should be easily
solved (one using your brain, the other using chance).  Still,
that doesn't matter - the levels are varied, the monsters are
random and it is pretty difficult.

Your party consists of four characters - either the four supplied
with the game, or you can make your own party. It's normal D&D
fare - elves, dwarves, humans, mages, fighters, clerics and rogues
along with a host of statistics that you can re-roll to your
heart's content.

You start the game in the town where there are five places of
interest. The inn (for rumours and a place to kip), the casino (to
try and make more money if you need to), the temple (to heal or
resurrect characters), the equipment shop (to buy equipment) and
the guild (where our characters go up levels). After wandering
around a bit it's off down into the dungeon for some fun.

The graphics are very good - better than most I have seen. The
only gripes I have are mainly to do with the graphics engine. If
you are zipping along the dungeon at a fair old pace (as I'm wont
to do) the walls flicker and the top half disappears for a split
second. This gives you the impression that you're walking through
a kind of spirit world.  The second gripe is the size of the
buttons you press to select certain options - some are fine, but a
few are so small you need to take time to position your over-sized
cursor, something I don't like.

Then there is the text box. This is fine in itself, but sometimes
it doesn't clear itself, and you are left with weird words telling
you what's going on.  Also there's no 'scroll-back' option, which
would have been useful to see what damage certain characters
suffered in battle (the box just keeps on scrolling while enemies
attack you and in the later levels, when you face about 15 attacks
per round, the text soon gets wiped off). Finally a couple of
times there are a few messages that you can't read because the box
has lopped off the first couple of lines.

Then, of course, there are the obligatory spelling mistakes. You
know, you fight the GARGOYL, while casting CURE SERIUS [wounds].
Sound is non-existent, which is a shame. A few bangs, booms, drips
of water and 'aaaarghs' wouldn't have gone amiss in this game.

Magic and fighting are simple. To cast a spell just select the one
you want (from either the mage or cleric list). To fight just
click on the action you want to perform and you're away. The
fighting is in rounds, so you don't have to be ambidextrous to
survive in this game (but you need to be damn lucky!).

Other than that the game is standard RPG fare. There's nothing
outstanding about the game when compared to commercial 3D-step
RPGs (as in DM) but in the shareware scene it is a piece of gold
against iron. The only problem is that it is relatively short - it
took me two days to complete it (playing on and off) and that was
with restarting half-way through. Also it is relatively empty -
take the combat dimension away and you've just got a few empty
rooms and passages.

So, who would go for this kind of game? Well, if you're a beginner
and don't want something involved then this might be your cuppa -
but probably not, as there isn't much to keep you busy. No, I feel
that you'll enjoy this game only if you can only spend a few
minutes every day on the game. This game offers the depth that you
need. Other than that it is for the RPG buff - if you've played
them all and want to have another easy feather in your cap get
this game - you won't be disappointed.

                              - o -