Death Knights Of Krynn

Tired of fighting rats, spiders, and giant ants? Do you feel like you're capable of taking on real monsters— things like zombies and were-boars and sorcerers and dragons? Do you wish you had spells to spare, hit points by the ton, and weapons that put simple swords and shields to shame?

Most computer role-playing games start you as a beginner, pitting you against lowly creatures and forcing you to work your way up through the evil hierarchy until you finally reach the wizards, dragons, and super-demons. By the time you reach the point where you have powerful spells to cast and challenging beasts to cast them against, you may have lost interest.

Death Knights ofKrynn, the latest installment in SSI's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons series, is different. It starts you at the eighth level or higher, and you'll meet nary a cheap victim in this well-crafted game. If you wish, you can transfer your favorite characters from the previous installment, Champions ofKrynn. As soon as the game gets underway, you'll find yourself arrayed against all kinds of undead creatures, fierce warriors with seemingly endless hit points, and spell-casters skilled in the art of destructive magic.

This is a true sequel — it picks up exactly where Champions left off. You begin in an outpost, and immediately must leave and head north. As you move closer and closer to the central thread of the plot — the rescue of the dead Sir Karl — you find more and more difficult areas to conquer.

As in SSI's other AD&D offerings, there's lots of fighting, though not as much as in earlier games. The combat system is more refined, and it retains the basic concept of individual control over each character. Incidentally, it's a very good idea to maintain control of your characters at all times during combat, because you need to be very selective with your attacks.

If you're new to AD&D games, Champions ofKrynn is probably the best starting point. But once you've finished, you'll want to move immediately into Death Knights of Krynn. Although it doesn't sustain its plot as well as Champions, its higher levels make you feel more powerful. Together, they make a very strong role-playing duo.