In one of the pivotal moments in the history of video games, the creation of Ultima Underworld offered fans of fantasy RPGs the means to move past the archaic visuals of old – it was time to enter the third dimension! Blue Sky’s gem of a title wasn’t the one that pioneered the first-person view, yet it was probably the most influential, as it was instrumental in the emergence of classics like Wolfenstein 3D and, later on, freaking Doom. Leaving FPS games aside, it also led to lots of dungeon crawlers, with one of the biggest classics being Westwood’s Eye of the Beholder.
In an attempt to free itself from the Dungeons & Dragons IP, the developer created what could be considered its spiritual successor. Fantasy dungeon crawler Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos was released back in distant 1993 and was a big enough hit that it led to two more sequels. The original is considered to be the best in the trilogy for a variety of reasons that are beyond the scope of this retro review, yet is there a reason to try out something so old? After all, why not just play Skyrim for the 50th time?
Well…
Yes, yes. What you are thinking can be seen from a mile away. Those grid-based first-person dungeon crawlers are old. Indeed, they most definitely are so. Why should anyone play something where you can only make 90-degree turns, and move around like a pawn on a chessboard, with no way to look up or down? Why fiddle with an ancient user interface like this that has the action taking place on a tiny screen, and a control scheme that’s archaic at best, with the party moving around with the use of the keypad? To answer all that… Well, no, there’s no reason to do all that. Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos isn’t a golden classic that has stood the test of time that can be played by young gamers even in the year 2099. Having said that, those who don’t mind paying a visit to the museum of digital antiquities that are the early ‘90s will discover something that has a unique magic of its own.
First things first: are the graphics on offer stunning or what?! Okay, this mostly applies to cut-scenes and those few unique moments where you’ll gaze upon a character from up close where it becomes obvious that Westwood was simply at the top of its game back in 1993, with not a single pixel going to waste, whether you are observing an epic fight between two witches, or something as simple as two people talking. While less impressive, the rest still looks awesome even without taking into consideration the game’s age. Every corner of the world looks as if it has jumped out of a fantasy pen and paper rulebook, with dark caverns filled with bandits, dense forests where orcs roam, and so on and so forth. Most importantly, you can clearly tell what you’re looking at – always impressive when one deals with such low resolutions. This is easily one of the most beautiful dungeon crawlers ever made.
Concerning the task at hand, it’s somewhat standard fantasy fair. King Richard sends the hero on a quest to recover an artefact that can counter an evil witch’s own shiny thingy, which gives her the power to turn into anything she wants, be it a sexy enchantress or a powerful, almost invincible horror. Moments after recovering from the shock of hearing the voice of Patrick Stewart (if in possession of the CD version), things go terribly wrong, and players find themselves going from dungeon to cavern, and from cavern to dungeon, on a key item hunt that will provide the means to save the King and destroy the wicked, shapeshifting witch.
After this brief introductory “chapter”, adventurers will spend most of their time dungeon crawling, with a tiny amount of storytelling and world-building thrown in as well. You see, back in the old days, the rarity of the cut-scenes made them feel like a reward rather than an annoyance. Anyways, forget the ramblings of your grandpa. Is the dungeon crawling bit any good? Fortunately, the answer is: oh, yeah! For starters, unlike the RPG-lites of the modern era like Skyrim, there’s plenty of adventuring to be done in this *gasp* adventure. The maps at hand have multiple levels, traps, locked doors and all that, but there are also puzzles that need to be solved, as well as hidden buttons that force players to pay attention to the “simple” walls that surround them. Of course, there are all sorts of foes to do battle with, but most of the time they don’t require much in the ways of tactics besides swinging a sword at them, throwing a fireball…and then taking a nap to restore health.
It’s nice that the bulk of the experience revolves around exploration rather than combat because it’s actually one of the weakest parts of Lands of Lore. The problem isn’t the mechanics themselves. Everything works as intended and there’s a nice variety of weapons, spells, and items to use, as well as some…extra techniques that can be used, like the fact that one can simply throw anything towards enemies, be it rocks, or your own darn equipment. No, the main problem here is the complete lack of balance. The difficulty is simply all over the place – and that’s being polite. The party will either cut through the opposition like a knife cutting through hot butter, or they will discover that the one that guards the next area is actually a monster that’s harder than almost the entirety of the game!
Aside from the lack of balance, a major flaw here is that that there are many moments where players aren’t really provided with the tools necessary for the upcoming challenges. In what is basically the quest’s biggest difficult spike, for example, the party is pummelled by wave after wave of enemies, and the only hope for survival is A: strong enough magic spells, or B: very specific kind of weapons, which cannot be found again if they were sold or thrown away. Is there an alternative for a party of dumb, but super strong axe-wielders? But of course! Resetting the whole thing and starting from the very beginning!
It all leads to the one feature which will break the will of most who will attempt to reach the end. Key items can be lost. Throughout this adventure the party is showered with all sorts of items, and these items can be easily discarded – a must as the limited inventory will soon fill up. The trouble is that many items are actually required to continue playing and winning the darn thing. Okay, okay, if one throws away the trinket that’s named “Beautiful Gem that Gives End Boss Sword Allergy”, shame on them, but there many items that it will be impossible to know what they do unless you read a walkthrough – not to mention that adventurers can’t go back to most areas to get items. The only good part about that is that you are forced to look under every rock and open every locked chest in order to find what’s needed to keep on adventuring. Once again, exploration is where most of the fun is at.
A very important aspect about this is that it’s a relatively linear affair, not just in where the party will travel to, but also in terms of character progression and role-playing opportunities. Simply put, Westwood simplified the standard RPG mechanics of the D&D universe, with the result being a title where player choice is something of a rarity. There’s the freedom to go to the east side of the forest instead of the west, and one can choose to use this or that weapon or this or that spell, but that’s about it. Party members are added or removed when the story demands it, and not much can be done to improve their stats other than hitting if you want to get stronger or using magic if you want to become a better mage.
Generally, there’s a disappointing lack of any decent chances to role-play, which is a shame as in terms of presentation, and especially in the intro, this is one of the best of its era, with interesting things happening almost every 15 minutes or so. After that, it’s dungeon crawl after dungeon crawl, and while these are fun and all, they can overstay their welcome, something that applies to the quest as a whole, as it takes a bit too long to reach the end. In conclusion: believe what you’ll read about it online. Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos is a classic of the genre, but its magic is one that’s hard to fully enjoy after three decades.
