Requires: System 7 or later, 3 MB of free RAM, 16 greys or better
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Prince of Darkness is a cool new import from Australia. This arcade/adventure game is vaguely reminiscent of the Gauntlet arcade game, but it's on your desktop and it's much better.
Action is viewed from above, and you have a choice of four different characters (two male, two female). Each of the four characters has a different combination of melee, missile and magic skills. For your first time out, pick Thysa (she's got great missile and melee) or Nanoc (pure hand-to-hand brute). As you play the game, you may increase your character's level and improve his/her abilities.
You explore the world, kill monsters and take loot. There are also cities and castles to explore and stores to purchase magical goodies. The graphics are great and the play is simple, yet stylish. (The game looks best at 256 colors.) And you'll love the opening music for the game.
The game has only a few faults: I wish I could fire missile weapons while on the run (moving backwards while firing, for example, would make killing large groups of spud-spuds easier), monsters cannot follow you off of their "screen" (unrealistic, but this can be an advantage for the guy who's getting whumped by beholders and needs to escape for some healing), and lots of action on the screen slowed play on a IIci.
Until you register, certain parts of the game world will be inaccessible and you are limited to level 5 advancement. If you register for network play, you can play with up to four people in cooperative combat. Unfortunately, you can't test network play before registering.
Prince of Darkness is made with an extensible architecture, so pay those shareware fees and encourage the authors to make more game scenarios.
