textfiles/games/REVIEWS/times.rev

 TIMES OF LORE

 In these days of gigantic, complex computer role-playing games such as the
ULTIMA and WIZARDRY series, would you believe a CRPG that:

 1. Fits on one side of a single 5-1/4" diskette?

 2. Comes with a manual only 18 pages long?

 3. Offers good graphics, fast-paced action, and a cohesive storyline?

 Welcome to TIMES OF LORE! (This review is based on the Commodore 64/128
version; IBM-PC version notes follow.)

 Long ago, the Kingdom of Albareth was governed by High King Valwyn. With the
aid of three magical artifacts -- the Foretelling Stones, the Tablet of Truth,
and the Medallion of Power -- Valwyn ruled wisely and well. After negotiating
the truce that ended the Barbarian Wars, the weary Valwyn placed his trusted
steward in charge, and went away to rest for a time.

 Many years have passed, and Valwyn has not returned. The kingdom has fallen
into chaos. Orcs prowl the countryside, and bandits plague the roadways. The
land desperately needs a champion -- a mighty warrior who will strive to return
the High King to his rightful throne....

 You begin TIMES OF LORE by choosing which of three characters you will play --
a well-armored Knight, an agile Valkyrie, or a muscular Barbarian. Unlike those
in most CRPGs, your character has no stats to build up; survival depends
entirely on your skill with the joystick, which gives TIMES OF LORE an
arcade-game feel. While there is better weaponry available (you start out with a
generic hand weapon), there is no way to improve your armor. Each of the six
cities of Albareth has an Inn, where your character may find food and lodging;
sleeping at an Inn restores all your character's lost hit points and initiates a
game save, as well.

 The computer screen is horizontally divided into two sections. The top half
shows an overhead view of your character and his surroundings. The terrain --
everything from rugged rocky mountains to smooth desert sand to grassy plains to
green forests -- is well-rendered; building interiors and (gulp!) dungeons are
crisply drawn. The bottom half of the screen consists of a set of icons you'll
use to control all your character's actions (except for movement and combat).
Each icon depicts the action it will trigger. For example, an open mouth
represents "talk to a nearby person," an eye means "examine object," a sack
stands for "list inventory."

 A large part of your character's quest will require him to speak to various
people (non-player characters, or NPCs). Most of the NPCs are simple townsfolk
whose conversations don't extend beyond "Nice weather we're having!" But some of
the NPCs will have information to impart, or other kinds of help to offer. As
your character chats with these NPCs, your Talk option will accumulate a list of
keywords; selecting the right keyword for the right NPC will give you further
clues, and perhaps another topic to talk to someone else about.

 Moving your character around is as easy as pushing the joystick in the
direction you want to go. The scenery scrolls smoothly, with your character
always in the center of the screen. During combat, you swing your weapon by
pushing the joystick button. If you're fighting with a ranged weapon, it will
fly out in the direction your character is facing. Dead monsters disappear from
the screen and sometimes leave behind useful items for your character to pick
up, such as healing potions, scrolls with combat spells, food, and bags of gold.

 TIMES OF LORE is a delightfully simple game to play. The game mechanics are
logical, and it's fun to travel around the large game area slaying monsters and
gathering the pieces to accomplish the quest. The opening music is a haunting
melody that seems to go on forever. The game loads very quickly, with almost no
disk access during play. And if your character is killed, a few clicks of the
joystick button is all it takes to revive and restore him to the spot where you
last saved him.

 There are, however, a few drawbacks. First, I was unable to make a backup copy
of the master game disk. Since the saved games are written to the master disk,
there is a possibility that a disk error could not only wipe out hours of
effort, but also corrupt the program as well, making the game unplayable. Also,
the disk holds only one saved game at a time. Going back to an earlier point in
the game means you must begin the game anew. And if you choose to start the game
over from the beginning, your saved game is erased from the disk. You can only
save the game by having your character pay for lodging at an Inn; if your
character hasn't enough gold, or if you'd prefer to save the game right before
entering a dangerous situation, you're out of luck.

 I also disliked the dungeons. "Solving" the dungeons consists of pressing the
large blue buttons that are set into the floors. Some of the buttons cause doors
to open or walls to shift, giving you access to other parts of the dungeon. What
I didn't like was that all the door-opening and wall-shifting occurs outside
your field of view; you have to backtrack (if you can) to try to figure out what
has happened. And you must do this while fending off hordes of monsters, none of
which has any treasure. You can expect to die a lot.

 TIMES OF LORE is an enchanting little fantasy, suitable for introducing novices
to the CRPG genre. It's also nice for weary veterans who would like to complete
an adventure in a matter of hours rather than months.

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 The IBM version of TIMES OF LORE is a fairly faithful reproduction of the
Commodore C64/128 original. Except for a couple of very minor differences,
nothing's substantially changed. It's a charming and very beautifully executed
game that marries arcade action and CRPG character development.

 The IBM version permits the use of a mouse in addition to the two-button
joystick and keyboard interfaces. Both right and left button functions are
supported on the mouse. Note that there is an option only available (and
necessary) in keyboard mode: "glide on/glide off"; this feature allows
continuous movement without repeated key presses. The mouse, on the other hand,
automatically creates continuous movement. In fact, I found the mouse to be a
little too adept at such movement; often, it was difficult to position myself
precisely enough to enter doorways, stairways, etc. Unfortunately, there's no
way to change from mouse to keyboard or joystick; you must choose your device
upon booting up. You'd need to save your game, exit the program, then restart
with a new pointer selection.

 The IBM version supports a variety of sound options: the standard IBM speaker
(which produces unexciting blips and beeps), the Tandy 1000 sound capabilities,
the AdLib Music Synthesizer card, and the Creative Music System. You can also
choose to have the sound turned off entirely. Again, these selections are
available only when booting.

 Unlike with the Commodore version, you can make backups of your TIMES OF LORE
master disk using regular DOS copy commands, and you can install the game in any
subdirectory of your hard disk. The program is disk-protected, however, so
you'll still need to use your master disk as a key disk in order to start the
game. It's available on either 3-1/2" or 5-1/4" diskettes; be certain to check
the blue label on the spine of the box to make sure you're buying the correct
format.

 TIMES OF LORE supports several graphics modes: Tandy 16-color (requires a Tandy
1000 and 384K), Tandy CGA (if your Tandy has 256K), EGA, Hercules Monochrome,
MCGA or VGA, and regular CGA. I could discern no differences between the
16-color EGA mode and the MCGA/VGA mode. If your machine runs at a slow speed,
you might want to force CGA mode (although the colors are obviously quite
unpalatable); using command line parameters, you can also force EGA, MCGA,
Tandy, and Hercules modes.

 I found the 320x200x16 EGA/VGA/MCGA graphics exceptional; they're imaginatively
drawn, brighter, and bolder than the Commodore colors. The interface is
straightforward and enjoyable, and especially suitable for newcomers to CRPGs
(as Mary Kelly points out above). My only complaint with the IBM version is the
disk-based copy protection; however, this is the last of the Origin games to use
such a trouble-prone scheme. Despite that slight drawback, TIMES OF LORE is a
gorgeous, fast-moving CRPG/action hybrid that looks and works on the IBM as well
as, or better than, its Commodore progenitor.

 TIMES OF LORE is published by Origin and distributed by Broderbund.

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