Customer Reviews

Discworld

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This game is, without question, one of the best games of all time. Based on the books, you play Ricewind, the inept wizard seeking a way to do-away a dragon. It is hillarious (like the books), good graphics and wonderful dialogue. If you ever spot this, GET IT! It's very rare and very, very magnificent.
'Nuff said.

To really appreciate this game I think you have to be a fan of Terry Pratchett's discworld. The plot is loosely based on "Guards, Guards" except that Rincewind takes the place of Vimes, and there are a lot of other changes, too. Still, there were appearances by many of my favorite Discworld characters and a lot of amusing action along the way.

The game is in some ways a satire of a "find the egg, take it to the witch, make an omelette, take the omelette to the dragon, the dragon will give you a key....etc...." role-playing game, but there are plenty of on-line walkthroughs if you get stuck. Dialogue is great, and in some places it seems more Monty Pythonish than Pratchetty, but that is not a bad thing.

I bought a used copy, and I had to borrow an old Playstation to play it, so I don't know where the glitches came from, but I would advise saving as often as possible.

Discworld is essentially a humorous script written around an AWFUL game. It's worth the laughs only if you have a strategy guide or online walkthrough beside you to navigate the asinine object-matching "puzzles." Mostly nonsensical point-and-click experiments, the game's "puzzles" were more likely a demo for the fabulous new mouse technology at the time. So illogical and convoluted were they, that the sequel (Discworld II, and much improved) often poked fun at them.
If you can trudge through that particular frustration, then you'll have to endure the incredibly bad (and buggy) sound. Clipping conversations, skipping sound effects, and other gaffes render the game almost unintelligible without the subtitles turned on. Studio volume control, for example, apparently wasn't available in whomever's shower stall was used for recording, as some voice actors practically shout while others are inaudible. The worst flub is the use of another voice actor (who doesn't even attempt a good impression) to substitute certain lines Eric Idle didn't record for Rincewind. Really piss-poor stuff that shouldn't have been released. Idle is brilliant as always, of course.
Graphically, the game is acceptable for a mid-90's point n clicker. Animation is terribly choppy, but isn't a key to the game's exploration anyway since there is no real combat. Colors are bright and vivid; the entire Discworld is rendered well and painted up in a charming PG-13 Disneyesque fantasy world. The only sticking point here is the minute size and poor definition of many critical objects, making them nearly invisible and an already difficult journey nearly impossible.
Ah, now to the game's saving grace: the script. Chock full of fun-loving British humor and silly puns, the game is essentially a parody of the medeivil adventure genre. In other words, it exists to mock itself, which is refreshing in a world of games that take themselves too seriously. The true point of the game is exhausting every avenue of conversation with all your fellow Ankh-Morporkians, extracting every little gold nugget of wry, warped humor you can get. And that honestly makes the game almost worth playing.
As a final note, this game is difficult with the Playstation controller. The cursor movement is slow and clumsy using the 8-direction D-pad; much easier if you can get your hands on a Playstation mouse.