The game’s success led to ports for the Amiga, PC-98, SNES, and Sega CD. It has a very clean look to it, and enemy sprites are spot on to their table top counterparts that you would find illustrated in various Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals. The different dungeon locations all have distinctive wall textures, and the enemies have nice animations for their attacks. While Eye of the Beholder doesn’t break new ground with its level design or combat, the game was impressive graphically. Battles usually involve nothing more than hacking away at enemies until they’re defeated, with no concern for strategy or tactics. While you can view your character’s statistics, and weapons and armor all come with different stat modifiers, it really feels as though it doesn’t make that much of a difference in the end. However, the drawback to this approach is a feeling of little to no depth. The game definitely benefits from this as battles never seem to last for too long, and you’re left to focus more on exploring. Upon resting the number of uses for spells is restored and decreases as you use them, being refilled yet again only during the next rest.Īs mentioned, the combat in Eye of the Beholder is straightforward and fast paced. Instead of being able to cast a spell as long as they have the magic points or mana, instead mages or clerics choose from a list of spells to memorize when they rest. The magic system is also handled in a more traditional AD&D sense similar to other games from the genre. There are also tons of hidden doors and switches that you must find in order to progress, which just results in more of a headache rather than a deep roleplaying experience. However, the dungeon layout does prove a bit frustrating in later levels, as there is no in-game map and many tiles of the dungeon will teleport or rotate your party without it ever being obvious, just like in the ancient Wizardry games. The game eventually ramps up the enemy difficulty and floor complexity as you proceed, which makes for a balanced experience. At first you’ll simply start in the sewers of Waterdeep, fighting ordinary kobolds as you go along. Upon starting the game you take some time to create your team of four heroes choosing their race, class, and approving their stats before beginning the quest. You’ll adventure through Dwarven ruins and Drow communities, until ultimately coming upon the lair of Xanathar himself for the final showdown. As they progress through the dungeon, they learn that a Beholder by the name of Xanathar is behind all of this evil and is planning to take over Waterdeep. Not far into the underground labyrinth, part of the tunnel collapses and the adventurers are sealed off with no other option than to explore and fight their way through hordes of monsters. It seems as though some evil is brewing below the city and the group immediately sets off into the sewers. The general success of the series led to the release of the Eye of the Beholder Trilogy for the PC in 1995, and the games were also included in the collection Gamefest: Forgotten Realms Classics which was released in 2001 by Interplay.Įye of the Beholder opens with a group of adventurers who have been summoned to the city of Waterdeep. Its streamlined approach to the genre made it more accessible, as did the ports of the first game for the SNES and Sega CD. While Eye of the Beholder doesn’t revolutionize the genre in any way, it still remains one of SSI’s more well-known and successful series. Though some characters are reoccurring throughout the series, the narrative seems to have taken a back seat and serves no true purpose rather than to give you reason to hack through monsters. The story is then introduced through a short cutscene, and your band of explorers are then thrown into some dungeon. You can take time to create a party of four adventurers, or choose to import characters from the previous games a feature that was incorporated into various other SSI games. This does add some strategy to how you can approach battles, but ultimately running up to most enemies and simply attacking with your melee characters is all you need to do for most encounters.Įach game usually begins the same way. The characters in the front row take most of the damage, and can attack with standard melee weapons, while those in the rear can throw weapons or cast spells without being in harm’s way unless, of course, the enemy attacks you from behind. As long as you can see the enemy, you can immediately begin combat with long range attacks as you approach the same goes for your adversaries. Fights are triggered as you approach enemies without the need to ever enter a battle sequence. Combat benefits the most from this approach, and is handled fairly well.
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