The King of Dragon Pass (PC Game)
Reviewed by Brian Schell
And now for something completely different. This turn-based strategy game is unlike most other modern strategy games in that it is not map-centric. You don't place buildings or units on a map. You make leadership decisions and learn to live with the results of your decisions through menus and multiple choice screens. In King of Dragon Pass, you play generations in the life of a barbarian clan. Every decision you make in guiding your clan becomes part of your clan's history, and echoes in the clan's future adventures. As in real life, some of your choices have immediate consequences, but others won't come back to haunt you for years or decades of play. It's as much a "historical dramatic saga" as a game, only you write the history as you proceed through the game.
At the game start up, you decide whether you want to be an agricultural community or a war clan. Either choice is good, and you can change later if you choose. Each turn, you have options relating to trade, diplomacy, war, farming, exploration, magic, recruitment, and many other choices.
Occasionally, some crisis or decision arises that you must make. A neighboring clansman has an affair with and impregnates a woman of your clan. What do you do? Exile the woman, force the man to marry her, demand payment from the other tribe or leave the matter alone? There are no right or wrong answers- any choice will work, but will have different effects later on in the game with your relations with the other clan, your respect within your own clan, and maybe even financial difficulties or war at some stage. Keeping your people, neighboring clans, the gods, conflicting classes of workers and everyone else happy can be a real feat.
There are numerous clanspeople that you can recruit for advisors, and each has their own personality and quirks. They will advise you on clan morale, security measures, farming problems and whatever else comes up. Personalities of your advisors can and do affect the game. I had one goofball named Bastakos, who consistently would steal or sell the trade goods I entrusted to him as an emissary to a neighboring clan.
There are serious financial decision to be made as well. You must assign Farmers, weaponthanes, hunters, and craftsmen to their tasks while maintaining enough production to feed your people, enough weaponsthanes to defend them, and enough craftsmen to create trade goods. Once in a while it doesn't hurt to throw a feast or give gifts to your people. In the early years of your clan, getting a balanced economy is very difficult and important.
Your clan also has threats and friends from outside as well. Dozens of rival clans are scatted across the continent, and you have to learn to deal with them. Setting up trade routes and creating alliances are crucial to survival. You can call in favors or beg for help from your allies, or simply charge in and try to kill your enemies, plunder their homes, or even take their land. Since the ultimate goal of the game is to create one tribe and become king, you have to try to please everyone. Or at least please some and wipe out others. I haven't even begun to get into the intricate magic and religious systems at work in the game, nor is there space to cover the religious buildings, upgrades, sacrifices and all the various gods in the clans pantheon. There is a LOT going on in this game, and it can be a real challenge to survive and prosper in this world.
The game has a decidedly unusual look. Most of the in-game graphics are paintings, sketches, or "comic-book" art. There is little or no animation of any kind. The graphics are at first glance primitive in appearance, but once you've played a while you get a feel for just how many situations and stories are involved. The game is completely turn-based, and can get quite complex. The storyline and situations are intriguing, the graphics are fun, but the music is god-awful, monotonous, and irritating. Sound is not required for the game, and I quickly turned my speakers off.
This game is hard to classify, but my best description would be "Civilization meets an Interactive Comic Book." If you are looking for a really complex strategy game that doesn't require fast reflexes and isn't the usual "Wipe everyone else out" game, give it a try!
The King of Dragon Pass By A Sharp, LLC
More Info: http://www.a-sharp.com
Requires: PC: Windows 95/98, 16MB RAM, 640x480 16-bit color, with 2X CDROM Drive MAC: System 7.5 or later, Power Macintosh or compatible, 24MB Ram, 640x480 16 bit color, Double-speed CDROM Drive
Leave a Reply