Darklands

by MicroProse

Product Features

• An epic role playing game based set in medieval Germany, as the people of the time saw it. The land seethes with mythical beasts, religious power mongers, and bloodthirsty robber knights.
• Travel the length and breadth of medieval Germany, from the Frisian coast to Bohemia, from the Alps to Prussia. Visit over 90 towns and cities along the way!
• Your quest for game and fortune can take you through raucous city streets and dank mine shafts, or from a robber knight's tower to the terrifying Sabbaths of witches.
• Classic role playing at its best: Darklands uses a deep, skill-based character generation system: Improve each character's attributes and skills as the game progresses. No artificial character classes or levels.

Product Details

• ASIN: B0008ISMGS
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,518 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From Digital Ostrich Games: "Touted as the first 'realistic' computer roleplaying game when it first hit the market in 1992, Darklands received critical acclaim but was also blasted for being released too early. The game was full of bugs, and went through several patches before it could be considered completely playable. It remains one of the true classics of early 1990's roleplaying games, and is highly sought after by collectors. If you enjoy 'classic' roleplaying games such as Wizardry or the Ultima series, and have a Windows 95 or 98 machine (or are willing to brave playing a DOS game with Windows XP), you would do well to give Darklands a try."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most historically accurate RPG of all time, September 22, 2006

By 

Rod Dixon "Rodney" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Darklands (CD-ROM)

It's also one of the most open ended.

You really don't ever have to "finish" the game but there is a plot you can follow.

It does have many, many bugs but putting in all the patches (this takes one up to version seven) makes the game very stable. Way more stable than anything out there today.

You can play it on XP or "DosBox", with a little learning curve. I had no trouble at all with either but Peter Norton's XP book had detailed instructions. The video transitions are better in XP, without an Emulator (like Dosbox) so I think it's worth the trouble.

It's set Germany, around 1400, and it truely is a world simulation of the world, at that time.

There is no magic, you have an alchemist. For example, you don't cast a spell to weaken armor, you have your alchemist throw a pre-made bottle of acid at the armor. That would weaken it. But you'd better be sure that your alchemist learns to throw, or he/she will miss...

It's attention to details, like the acid, that makes the game so replayable.

My vote, don't pay $120, about $25 is the going rate, for the already patched to version seven game. It's well worth the second price.

If you liked Balder's gate, but wish it were a lot more open ended and the world more engaging and the class structure less rigid, you're in for a great game.

If you liked Diablo, and all those levels and you like to "finish" the game, this probably isn't your thing.

Rod

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Darklands revisited in 2010, August 16, 2010

By 

Brandon L. (United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Darklands (CD-ROM)

I never played this game when it originally came out, but recently found it on an abandon-ware website (it's free / public domain now). The only reason to pay is if you want the manual, box, etc. I run it on DOSBOX and it works fine. For a game made 16 years ago, this one is really phenomenal. Huge map, tactical combat w/ pause, great story / setting, etc. While new games have better graphics and more complex quests, Darklands has a few excellent things going for it: your strength is also your HP / health, so when you are injured, you do less damage yourself and also cannot wear as much gear. Also, your attributes don't really increase with levels, meaning you avoid both becoming uber-powerful and crushing everything in the game, and also the obnoxious auto-leveling in games today where creatures scale to the party's level of difficulty. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificient, September 15, 2011

By 

Ozgur Zeren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Darklands (CD-ROM)

It doesnt get any better than this. Completely open ended, completely story-like, completely free. AND there is also a strong story to follow to boot. And, a fantasy rpg cant get more realistic than this - the setting is medieval germany, instead of a random, made up world, you have alchemy with strong potions instead of magic, you have all the other usual swords, axes, bows, arrows even firearms, without upsetting anything in the game, or disturbing realism.

It is appalling that this game didnt receive a proper remake with updated graphics still. I mentioned only graphics - for, game's art or story or gameplay actually doesnt need any kind of updating. It is even better than today's best rpgs.