Shadow of Power
by Master Creating
The famous Zelda-like RPG, finally reviewed here!
| Once upon a time there was a young boy called Holger. He live in a cosy little village that was but only known as "Small Village". Holger wasn´t very large or strong or clever; as a matter of fact there was nothing special about him at all. Well so it seems... On the other hand there was something wierd about him. What that is? How the hell could I know? But in some way he seemed to have become a ball driven by the events that happened to him. On the day that Holger decided to help the crying girl and wanted to become a hero, his story started. His life has changed forever. There was no turning back: The man with the golden armor, the box; strange things had found a way into his life...things he was not able to control. But Holger had the feeling that it was not only he who changed... The people around him seemed to be anxious. A shadow seemed to lie over his home land, a mighty shadow that dreaded to impunge everything that dared to try to stop him. | |
| This game is designed well. There is a lot of variation in the play, and it is all based on the scripting engine. Certain events set off other events. Certain areas become accessible only after certain areas are cleared. So much is possible, and this game delivers a lot of it. The world is kind of large. There are many different areas, so getting to and from places can be long and arduous. Fortunately there is a warping spell to help with it. There are plenty of items and spells too. Some of the items are very useful. Others are funny ("ha ha") and others are just weird. I especially liked the Red Bull(TM) energy drink in the game because it gives you wings (hint, hint). There is a lot going for this game. The only real problems I can see are some physics problems. People will have to get used to more realistic hitting in this game. Normally in a game like this, if you are hit, you can't be hit for a second. This is not the case in this game, which I originally thought was a bad thing. Then I thought, hey, this is more realistic, so I can see it as a good thing now. Due to this ability to be hit multiple times, if you walk into a room, and the enemies push you back, you might see a problem where you get stuck and can't see the screen anymore. The only solution is to try to press ESC to exit the game and reload it and try to move away. Hopefully this will be fixed in the next version. I liked how many different things there were to do in this game. I especially liked how the world in this game can be so interactive with itself. I actually felt bad for the blobs near the end of the game that were getting captured by the giant walking plants! Unlimited continues are a good thing in this game. You will need them. The game automatically saves each time you move onto a new screen. This can be useful if you made a mistake, or it can be bad, for the same reason. You might find some problems trying to play this game if you have an internal sound card. This should be fixed in the new version as well. Also, NEVER press the Windows key if you can help it. Once you get back to the game, Holger might start walking on his own. Very annoying if he just so happens to walk into a huge monster. Unfortunately, you can't change the key configuration so that it is easier to avoid, so you are most likely going to hit that key. Oh well. This game also provides an editor, so you can make your own adventures with Holger. Excellent plus! Overall this game was well designed, and the gaming is great. There is a lot to do, so expect to spend maybe a few days if you aren't a hard core gamer who chugs through games in seconds. The game itself has few design flaws, like areas that let you walk into solid rock in other areas(which was weird in the volcano). Fortunately the game itself has more than enough to do, allowing you to forgive it those nuisances. You know how most games feel like they follow a script, where there is usually only one way to do something? And you know how The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time seemed so great because you can do so much that made it feel like everything was customized to seem more real? This game actually has that feel. |
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| As far as I know, this game causes the most controversy over its graphics in QBasic. You will see the trees and bushes look like those from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the SNES. Some people claim that it is wrong. Pretty much everything else in the game looked pretty original, so it isn't that bad since there is a lot of everything else. For starters the different areas looked great. You had grassy areas, forested areas, desert areas, rocky areas, snowy areas, cavernous areas, and castle areas. And I probably missed a few at that. Besides that, almost everything had some kind of animation. The people, the monsters, the background, and especially the main character, Holger. The main character had quite a few ways to die, including drowning and and impalement. Some of the animations were quite humorous too. There was so much in this game graphically that it made it feel so amazing. The enemies had varied animations, although you start to see the categories of enemies as you get farther into the game. The attacks on enemies always leave some kind of animated bloody pulp behind, which was refreshingly different. The movements of different things looked fluid and amazing, such as the bomb explosions. Overall, the graphical quality was top-notch. Sometimes the characters don't look like they were drawn by the same person, but in general all of it looked good. | |
| The controls are pretty simple, and designed somewhat nicely. CTRL to attack and ALT to cast spells, LSHIFT to change items, RSHIFT to change spells, ENTER to change weapons, SPACE BAR to use item, etc. There is a lot to do, and being able to quickly do it is good. THis game doesn't let you down too much. I just think that a control configuration screen would have been nicer, so that I can move CTRL and ALT somewhere away from that Windows key. Besides that, the game itself is easy to play. It can be tough when you get a relentless creature coming at you, since it is hard to move away and strike again. Most likely you will be killed. But you find a way. Control-wise, this game has fluid movement, and doesn't give you much trouble at all. Pixel-by-pixel movement in a PxP scrolling environment requires the ease of movement provided in Shadow of Power. | |
| I thought that this game sucked because I could never get it to function correctly at work. Turns out that the computer at work didn't have the correct sound card(it was built into the board). Luckily I was able to play it on my home computer, and so that was when I found out how nicely this game sounds. The intro itself sounds amazing, like when you watch a video and there is that panning sound where the bass gets louder. There isn't any music in this game(unless there is and my computer still doesn't work nicely with this game), but the sound effects are great! Every action has some kind of sound to go with it. Digitized speech is incorporated into this game a lot too. Holger usually says a lot during the course of the game, and the narrator is usually there to say something too. A lot of the commentary is funny too. When the enemies are attacked, they each have their own individual sounds. When Holger is attacked, he says something different each time. I don't like how he swears, although I guess it would be realistic if you were about to die, but this makes this game PG-13 I think. Everything has a different sound to it, and so this game actually gets a high rating in this area. | |
| Some of the areas are easy. It is simply a matter of defeating all of the enemies and getting to the end. Then the game surprises you. Some places require you to use everything you can to get through, like find secret passageways to get to new areas. And then the game surprises you again because the enemies get tougher. The bosses are very tough(except for one weakness they all seem to share...hehe). Strategy is needed sometimes, and other times you just hack and slash away. You just have to decide which to employ, brute strength or superior brains? This game can be tough, and sometimes it is not too clear as to what you are supposed to do, although usually following the arrows is good enough to find your way to the next mission.
Overall, this is an amazingly challenging game, with very little to dampen the play and control. | |
| I initially stopped playing this game because I had to do other things, like finals, but then I picked it back up and in a week I beat it. Actually, I just managed to get to the ending. There are still a lot of things that I didn't find or do. That should give an idea of how large this game is. I found the Windows key annoying, and the fact that the game might not be compatible with all computers, but for the most part this game was a lot of fun to play. I found myself laughing a few times at the jokes and animations. I found myself saying "Wow" a few times because surprising things happen in the game. I had a great time with this game. | |
| This had to be one of the better games I have ever played. There are a few design issues that I don't like, but the game itself is for the most part well done. Graphically it is one of the more richer games out there, and it has a huge world to explore. You can find quite a few hours of good gaming with this one. I recommend it to anyone, so long as they have the right sound card. | |
| .zip file: 5.1 MB download | |
| Pete's QBasic Site, V Planet |