Shadow Sorcerer

Shadow Sorcerer is a 1991 role-playing video game. The game was the sequel to Heroes of the Lance and Dragons of Flame. It is based on the third and fourth Dragonlance campaign modules, Dragons of Hope and Dragons of Desolation.

Shadow Sorcerer
Cover art by Larry Elmore
Developer(s)U.S. Gold
Publisher(s)Strategic Simulations, Inc.
U.S. Gold
Producer(s)Mike Wilding
Designer(s)George MacDonald
Jeff Groteboer
Programmer(s)Graham Lilley
Artist(s)Kevin Bulmer
Composer(s)George Alistair Sanger
Martin Walker
SeriesDragonlance
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
Release1991
Genre(s)Role-playing video game
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The style of the game is very different from its predecessors in style of gameplay.

Plot summary

The plot is a faithful representation of the third and fourth module of Dragonlance, Dragons of Hope and Dragons of Desolation. The same two modules were also adapted into a novel, Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, but only in 2006, that is 12 years after Shadow Sorcerer.

Reception

Matt Regan of CU Amiga noted that Shadow Sorcerer largely lacked role-playing elements, but summarized that "for AD&D junkies this is an amusing diversion with a novel outlook for the genre."[2] In Zero, David Wilson called the game "a marked improvement in AD&D computer gaming" compared to Strategic Simulations' other output, aside from Eye of the Beholder. He concluded, "Shadow Sorceror is for me another sign that SSI is finally getting its act together to produce games that justify the mighty AD&D licence."[1]

The One gave the Amiga version of Shadow Sorcerer an overall score of 77%, beginning their review by stating that 'it's a pity' that Shadow Sorcerer "doesn't offer as much" as Eye of the Beholder, furthermore stating that "Shadow Sorcerer fails in that there is either too much or too little going on at one time." The One expresses that the refugees the player must protect "move at such a slow pace that you can't help getting bored waiting for them" and if the player leaves them to explore, the player is punished in that the refugees are open to attack, and isn't able to get back to them in time. The One criticises Shadow Sorcerer's combat, stating that "the computer has no sense of simple strategy. You will often get into combat and prepare your wizard to cast a fireball spell, only to find that the rest of the characters have run into the fight and got in the way, completely wasting it." The One calls Shadow Sorcerer good "to a certain extent", and expresses that it "never quite reaches [what] other RPGs have managed to".[3]

The game is generally regarded as much superior to any early D&D action games,[4] and is considered a big step forward in playability for AD&D action games.[5]

References
  1. Wilson, David (September 1991). "Shadow Sorceror". Zero. No. 23. p. 29.
  2. Regan, Matt (December 1991). "Shadow Sorcerer". CU Amiga: 146.
  3. Presley, Paul (December 1991). "Eye of the Beholder Review". The One. No. 39. emap Images. p. 85.
  4. Rausch, Allen; Miguel Lopez (2004-08-16). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part II". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  5. Threadgill, Todd (February 1992). "Shadow Sorcerer" (review). Computer World: 70–71. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
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