Legends of Valour - Kixx
                 (RPG for PC, ST and Amiga)

                 A review by Julian Gregory

It seems that the only games I get to review these days are those
which seem to have about for ever. Perhaps this is because I still
object to paying out large sums for new ones.  Back in the days of
the good ol' BBC I used to receive review copies. (hint hint!!).

Anyway back to Legends of Valour. This was originally issued by US
Gold in 1992. My copy came from Kixx. It was easily installed and
takes up just under 8 Megs.

The story begins when you arrive a Mitteldorf, a city which your
cousin tells you is the place to make your fortune.  As with all
RPGs you will need to generate a character. The main
characteristics are strength, intelligence, speed and health. You
also get to choose your race from Human, Elf and Dwarf. A nice
touch is that you can also choose your gender.  This has no effect
on the stats, but will affect how you are treated by people you
meet.

When I first entered the city the first thing I noticed was the
sheer size. You can wander virtually everywhere in the city and it
would be very easy to get very lost. Fortunately the game comes
with a printed map with spaces to add taverns, shops, prisons,
hostels, temples and other important places.  The only problem is
that you will have to locate the vast majority your self. I spent
several hours just entering buildings to see what was about and
adding details onto the map before starting over again. I am sure
that saves time in the long run.

Usually I find that first impressions of a game turn out to be
correct. Here I initially wandered around, not really knowing what
to do and was not terribly impressed. However this is a game where
you are rewarded if you persevere.

Around town you will come across various other persons and
creatures. Try to avoid the Militia who are supposed to administer
law and order. At one point you will need to be captured and send
a night in jail. This is all too easy to achieve. There are many
ways of being arrested; my favourite is looking through a window.
Apparently the owner is considered to have paid tax on the window
and is therefore the only person allowed to look through it!
The majority of the creatures come out at night and you can then
catch all sorts of diseases from them.

Of course you will need money to survive and this can be obtained
by stealing or fighting the inhabitants. This will lead to
injuries which only time or more money will heal.

Obtaining enough money is the hardest part of the game and I found
I was spending large amounts of time fighting, obtaining objects
to be sold, resting and eating. (Sounds just like real life,
particularly the eating and resting.

The game seems to me to have taken bits from the Ultimas in that
it is possible to speak to the other inhabitants of the town.  The
choice of things to say can depend on your previous actions.

You will quickly find out that you will need to join a Temple, a
Guild and a Fellowship. Before this is permitted you must show
that you are worthy. To do this you have to undertake various
tasks. The first ones are very easy, but soon become much harder.

One annoying point to me is that you can only save a game at an
inn, tavern or hostel. There are also only 8 save positions
available.

All in all, this is one game I can recommend, if you are prepared
to put in the time to become established, particularly in sorting
out the map.






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