An Elder Scrolls Legend

                        Battlespire

                  Reviewed by Vic Horsley

This game can be played on any computer from a 386 up although it
was probably meant for 486 and low Pentium. It is now five years
old and had been stowed away, I'd forgotten why, as I had never
completed the game. Having now reinstated it, I soon found out why
I hadn't finished it (bugs).

Bethesda Studios originally earmarked this game for DOS.  Halfway
through the making of it, they decided to configure it to run in
both DOS and Windows 95. But it was never really successful and
caused many problems, the main one being that it missed its launch
date. And because they pushed it through as soon as possible, many
snags were never put right.  This means there can be many crashes
but you can overcome these if you follow the setup closely
(something I did not do when I first attempted to play it)

From the setup, configure your computer's sound drivers and not
the built in game drivers (these cause most problems with the more
modern computers). It may mean you lose a few sounds but these
will be minimal and better than losing the game completely every
few minutes. Another small problem is mouse control (control is
through mouse and keyboard). It can be a bit erratic but once into
the game you can go to the control panel on your menu and slow the
mouse down.  Unfortunately it will also slow down your walking
pace but if fiddled around a bit, you will be able to hit a happy
medium.

I find this game has too many windows to call up for different
instructions but it does get easier as you go along. However I can
well believe some gamers would put it down as too much aggro. I
say persevere and you can enjoy this game.

Battlespire is not like the other Elder Scroll games, there is a
lot less talking to NPCs and more problems to solve. I much
prefer this option but it's all a matter of taste. It's a little
like a cross between Old World Cut and Slash and New World Space
Station.

Your job is to either save or destroy the Battlespire which is
held in a void by power anchors. These are blue beams of light, of
which some are locked together and others are separated. All must
either be locked or unlocked, it will soon become apparent in
which way you should go.

When you begin the game, you are close to the exit from the
Battlespire but you are unable to get out as it is locked with a
force field. All the internal paths are accessible so go and
explore the Spire but not before equipping the little armour and
weapons that you have. And be careful, your first enemies are
nearby.

Vic Horsley (August 2002)


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