With the onset of fall, it’s time for me to have my annual nostalgia-fest and go back and revisit old games. This fall, it’s Betrayal at Krondor, one of the first computer games I ever played. My cousin Jeff turned me on to this game, and I’m glad he did. Even today, fifteen (15) years later, the game is still just as fun, engaging and challenging as it was the first time around. I originally played it on CD-ROM in DOS, and I have fond (probably falsely so) memories of configuring the “SoundBlaster Clone” soundcard we had in our Hewlett Packward 486 66MHZ with a whopping meg of ram (my dad refused to buy a Pentium because of it’s Floating point math problem). At any rate, I digress; it is currently free to download from a number of sites on the internet, I got mine here. For it to run on modern systems, a DOS emulator is needed and wouldn’t you know, a great one called DosBox is available for free here.

A background of the game: It’s a fantasy RPG set in Raymond E. Feist’s fictional world of Midkemia. It features several minor and major characters from the Riftwar Saga, and fans of the work will love the game. The story was not written by Feist, but was officially licensed by him at the time of release and is considered canon, as a novelization of the game was later written. The game is meant to be played like an interactive story; it is divided into nine (9) chapters, with each chapter featuring a written introduction , complete with a fancy book-like script and short scenes with digital bitmaps of actors and very slight animation . Descriptions of everything are written like a book and the player can find these descriptions absolutely everywhere. The game features a three-player party system for the majority of the game, with the classic fighter/rogue/caster combination. It also features several different views: The main one being in the first person, allowing the player to walk forward and backward and turn left and right using the arrow keys of a keyboard or using a mouse to click on movement keys displayed on the interface. Characters and trees are rendered as sprites, with buildings and terrain being rendered in 3D. During combat, the view switches to third person, again with 2D sprites representing characters. If all of this sounds unimpressive now, well, it is, what with our bump mapping, volumetric shadows, realistic water and real time lighting, but at the time, this was cutting edge.. Entering towns brings up a familiar adventure game interface, where moving the mouse or the arrow keys allows the player to examine different parts of the town. For example, when the cursor hovers over a shop, the pointer changes to the word shop, which allows the player to enter the shop interface. Likewise for a tavern or a secret location.

So what’s so great about this game? Well, everything. It has all the makings of a good RPG, and indeed a good game: An engaging story, believable and interesting characters, excellent combat, good progression, and phat lewtz. It even has a beautiful and moving soundtrack, that still sounds amazing, even in MIDI. The grid-based combat is turn based, and requires strategy as well as tactics. For example: spellcasters cannot cast spells if a character is within 1 square of them, and the computer isn’t stupid: it knows to close the gap quickly and engage a spellcaster in melee combat, where their weaker armor and lower defense makes them all but mincemeat pie to a sword wielder. But this is where the tactics and strategy come in: Each turn, each player only has a certain amount of movement points, and moving around two fighters blocking a caster takes precious points and allows the caster time to escape to set up his spells on the next combat round. Setting up for combat is just as important as combat itself: If you’re vigilant and have high enough skills, you can get the jump on would-be ambushers, allowing you one or two precious extra turns before they attack, and this can mean the difference between looting their bodies, and uttering a curse to Lims-Kragma, the goddess of death as the last breath escapes your body.

It’s not just the combat, or the story, but as with most masterpieces, the little things which make this game a classic. And Betrayal at Krondor is chock full of these little things. From the sound of birds chirping in the wilderness, to Moredhel puzzle chests which provide a nice break in the story by giving the player a chance to solve clever riddles, to the random characters you meet on the road, this game has it all, and will make you want to keep going. And make no mistake: just because the game is fifteen years old does not mean it is simple or easy. Be sure to use the game’s quicksave feature, cutely called a bookmark, often. As with most PC adventure games, the rule of thumb stands: save often; save well.

I had never read any of the Riftwar Saga before I played this game so many years ago, but that did not detract any from the enjoyment I got out of it. In fact, the game inspired me to read all four books in the Saga, and I’m glad I did, even if it was ten years after the fact. And while it won’t take away from the game if you haven’t read the books, being familiar with them will only increase your enjoyment of the game.

As a side note: I’m loath to give too much information away about the game, for fear of spoiling some of the secrets that await people who haven’t played it. And secrets will be there. It took me hours before I finally figured out a basic strategy of how to play the game and how I wanted to proceed.

So if you’re bored, or looking for a cheap source of entertainment, give it a shot. You won’t regret it, I guarantee it. If you do, be sure to direct all complaints to Daniel.