LANDS OF LORE 3

                 Reviewed by Stefan Herber

I think that the original Lands of Lore was the first or second
RPG I actually played. In those days I can recall playing it with
the walkthrough on my lap trying to fathom the difficulty of this
new genre. I must have learnt quickly as I soon mastered "Arena"
with only the odd call to the helpline for the riddles I didn't
understand.  I replayed the original just before taking on the
long awaited sequel and retrospectively wondered why I had such
difficulty originally. But like everything else we live and learn.

I wasn't sure whether to buy part 3 - the reviews were for the
most part lukewarm and LOL2 must be counted as one of the most
disastrous gaming experiences I can remember. But I succumbed in
the end despite for once a pile of unplayed RPGs cluttering up my
floor (for the record I still haven't started Baldur's Gate or the
latest M&M opus.) So - does it shape up?

Well it's pretty good but far from perfect. It's really more
action/adventure than RPG - stats exist but are beyond your
control and there's no character generation. I also found it
difficult to warm to the main character who is a wet behind the
ears 17- year-old with a bloodthirsty streak and an enormous
opinion of himself. There's plenty of magic but most of the spells
are so weak that I hardly used it until the final showdown where
magic becomes very important. The compulsory arcade sequences and
"secret areas" are there and unless you find one of them early I
doubt you'll survive the first serious mission. And - horror of
horrors - if you want to improve your stats fast the only way is
to go through a practice arena in one of the guilds which I
eventually found tedious in the extreme. The other really annoying
thing is that you're never really certain which areas to explore -
try and do them in the wrong order and you'll last about 5
minutes. Would it have been so remiss to give you some idea of
which of the areas to go to next?

But there are consolations. The story line is quite strong, the
combat (if you get the order right) challenging but never
overwhelmingly difficult; and the game does give you a certain
leeway in that there are 4 guilds all with their own missions. In
fact the missions often consist of revisiting certain areas you
may have already cleared and researching to find the missing
person or object which wasn't there the first time. They hardly
add a great deal to the game but at least they improve your
standing. I understand it's easier to advance if you only join a
couple of the guilds - as usual I wanted to play all the quests so
I joined all of them. I think you could probably get by just being
a cleric and warrior though some of the thief skills were very
useful.

However all told it just didn't have the allure or replayability
of the first episode or for me the challenge of a true RPG like
"Fallout 2" (of the most recent batch) or any of a dozen others.
Still I enjoyed it while it lasted (it's not very long). I do wish
however that someone would realize that there is no place for
arcade sequences in RPGs UNLESS they serve to improve your stats.
The only ones I can remember doing this properly were the Ultima
series. But then only a very forgiving person would pretend that
the last two LOL games were RPGs anyway. In view of the commercial
success I've no doubt they will continue but next time, as with
the Elder Scrolls, I'm not going to be tempted unless I'm sure of
what I'm buying. My major concern at the moment is that the most
awaited game of the last 5 years - Ultima Ascension - is going to
be yet another action adventure with limited stats that pretends
to be an RPG. At least we already know that the next Indiana Jones
is not going to be a challenging "point and click" adventure game-
its going to be another Lara Croft wannabe. I've no doubt
Lucasarts will add something special to it but I have grave doubts
whether they will get any of my money.








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