Ambermoon
| Developer: Thalion | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Thalion | Sound: |
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| Year: 1993 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Role-playing game | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
8/10 | |
You are the grandson of the hero from Amberstar. On his deathbed, he entrusts you with a quest.
“Bla bla bla, chest, bla bla bla, magic sword, bla bla bla bla damsel in distress…” You get the picture.
Thus, the adventure begins in the old man’s chamber.
The first thing I tried, like everyone else I suppose, was to commit suicide in the fireplace. It works, brilliant! I then went for a stroll in the cellar … without taking a torch (oh, it’s pitch black). Yes, my last role-playing game was called Barbarian, alright?
A bit later, I had to admit defeat after an epic duel with a giant spider, armed only with my courage and a butter knife nicked from the kitchen (which I had forgotten to equip, alright, alright!).
Ambermoon doesn’t stray far from its predecessor, so I’ll refer you to the Amberstar page for the details. It’s worth noting, however, that it still employs two modes of representation: a 2D top-down view for large spaces and small rooms (with rather jerky animation), and textured 3D dungeon exploration phases which are impressive, as you can rotate the camera 180 degrees. That said, perhaps we didn’t need quite so much. The previous system, whilst less flashy, at least had the merit of being ergonomic and snappy…
In conclusion, Ambermoon proves enjoyable and engaging to play, provided, of course, you understand English or German.
The game takes a bit of time to install (nine floppy disks, so a hard drive is required) but the procedure is automatic and, once completed, one is quite pleased to be able to enjoy a lovely game without interruptions or loading times.
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