The Masterpiece Collection
               SSI/TSR - PC CD-ROM - œ44.95?
         (Distributed in Europe by Mindscape Int.)

                 Review by Richard Hewison

The Masterpiece Collection is a compilation for the PC spread
across four CD-ROMs comprising of six different SSI/TSR games.
Each one is an official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd
Series product. The games included are as follows: Ravenloft:
Strahd's Possession, Ravenloft: Stone Prophet, Menzoberranzan,
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager, Al
Qadim:  The Genie's Curse.

This collection comes in a flimsy and surprisingly light-weight
box when you consider the number of games included. The four
CD-ROMs are held in slots in the supporting cardboard box inside
- no CD cases, envelopes or sleeves of any kind in sight. What is
also surprising at first is the minimal set of printed
documentation - a few reference cards and that's it. The first
thought is - where are the manuals? No wonder the box is so light,
when the manuals aren't included! It wasn't long before the truth
dawned. The manuals come on the first CD as .PDF files - viewable
(and printable) by installing and using ACROBAT by Adobe. What you
get is an exact replication of the original manuals with all the
screens, artwork etc. Whilst it's a good idea from the publisher's
point of view, the buying public has got to use up their own
printer paper and ink to get the documentation! Fortunately I knew
someone who was willing to Laserprint the files for me, so my poor
old Bubblejet didn't have to over do things.

Now to the games themselves. I've seen "Dark Sun: Shattered Lands"
before, and I didn't like it back then. It's an overhead but at a
slight angle view RPG where you directly control your character.
It's set on a dry desert planet and the graphics are average to
say the least. Combat is very fiddly and you can only rest
characters at official 'camps' which you have to locate first.
I'll admit that I haven't re-installed the game to see if my
opinions have changed over the last two and a half years, and it
makes me even less inclined to install the sequel "Dark Sun: Wake
of the Ravager".  Sorry folks but maybe I'll get around to them
at a later date. Fortunately, there's much more interesting stuff
to look at in this compilation.

"Al Qadim: The Genie's Curse" is an odd game. The story is set in
a time and place not dissimilar to 'Ali Baba and the Forty
Thieves'. This game is also viewed from overhead but at a slight
angle (it isn't isometric) and this put me off to begin with due
to its similarity with "Dark Sun". Again you directly control your
character. At the very start of the game you have to steer your
character (who you can name whatever you like) around a giant
maze, avoiding traps and other dangerous obstacles whilst trying
to keep ahead of an energy force which is effectively forcing you
to go through the maze as quickly as possible. I've not played
this one for very long, but it looks like an arcade adventure
rather than an RPG. Controlling your character directly with the
mouse takes some getting used to. Not one of SSI's better efforts
if you ask me.


Fortunately the other three games in the compilation are much
better by comparison to those above. The two "Ravenloft" games
along with "Menzoberranzan" are first person RPGs in the style of
"Ultima Underworld".  The nice thing about these three games is
that they use a special graphics mode - 320 x 400 - which is half
way between standard VGA (320 x 200) and the crisper but more
processor and graphics intensive SVGA (640 x 480). The result is
very good - the character screens (statistics, inventory etc) look
very nice thanks to the extra resolution. The 3D engine employed
in the location graphics isn't quite up to scratch though when you
compare it to the likes of "Ultima Underworld" or "Doom", but
after a while you forget this and get on with the quest in hand.
(The graphics can look a little garish and muddled, and you soon
notice how flat the landscape is. No stairs or sloping floors
here!). If you've played any of the other SSI AD&D games before
(e.g. the 'Gold Box' series or the "Eye of the Beholder" trilogy)
then you will immediately feel comfortable with the magic spells
on offer and the way Clerics and Mages use them (memorizing and
praying for spells etc).

I've not played "Stone Prophet" or "Menzoberranzan" but I
installed them to have a quick look and they look just as good as
"Strahd's Possession" but with a refined graphics engine thrown in
for good measure. I look forward to playing all three. Whether I
can resist reading Alex's solutions to some of them (as found in
SynTax) is another matter entirely!

To conclude, this compilation has three dodgy looking games (both
"Dark Sun" titles and "Al Qadim") and three good looking games
(both "Ravenloft" RPGs & "Menzoberranzan"). When you consider the
price they would have cost individually, this compilation is very
good value - especially if you can find someone willing to print
the manuals out for you!






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