Slayer

Slayer is definitely not a kid's game! This is the first AD&D game on the 3DO and it is definitely worthy of its name. In this game you fight your way through maze levels avoiding traps, and killing enemies white you try to solve the puzzles. The game can generate up to 4 billion different dungeons. This means every time you play it will be something new. Using the power of the 3DO Slayer brings you awesome graphics and animation that will blow your mind. You can choose from a list of premade characters or you can take some time and make one yourself. You can also pick the attributes of the dungeon that you are about to enter.

THE GOOD

The game is really huge! It also has cool graphics and a lot of options.

THE BAD

The controls are hard to get used to.

THE UGLY

Every bad guy in this game is really ugly.

Love exploring dungeons? Slayer might be your ultimate one-player role-play adventure. Create your own character and choose from Dwarves, Elves, Humans, and more in different classes like Clerics, Paladins, Thieves, or Fighters. Customize a dungeon and then venture into battle against slimy dungeon denizens. Cast spells and defend yourself with different weapons. You can't leave bread crumbs behind, so map the dungeon yourself or save a tree and take advantage of the automapping feature.

RPG players are looking for something different these days. Something with a "quick hit" of action that still contains all the elements of traditional role-playing games. Slayer does a good job of delivering both.

Everybody Slays The Fool

In Slayer, you have an abundance of options, including character selection. You choose from a long list of preset characters, or you can make one up yourself. The manual does an excellent job of explaining the different classes, weapon capabilities, and alignments of each race of characters. Reading it and understanding the nuances of dungeon life can greatly enhance your enjoyment of this game. Besides that, though, there's no real story line. You simply battle in a first-person perspective through one of 4 billion dungeons (that's right, SSI says the game has 4 billion dungeon configurations), though you don't have to play through each one to get to the end. How many do you play through? That's up to you. You set the number of dungeons to conquer, the variety and intensity of creature attacks, and the amount of treasure to find. As you move up in skill and expertise, the monsters get uglier, tougher, and more frequent. The monsters range from the classical undead (zombies, wraiths, golems) to really nasty brutes (death knights, greater medusas, troll chiefs) to jell-o (slime, gelatinous cubes, ooze). In all, 35 monsters inhabit Slayer.

I Want My RPG

SSI, the company responsible for all Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games, made sure to put in some old-fashioned RPG elements, so you'll also have spells and weapons galore.

Your character gains experience through combat and must eat and rest to stay alive. Other RPG elements like teleports and magical items are also scattered throughout the game.

Like most RPGs, everything happens in menus, except the one-button hack-n-slash combat. The menus allow for weapon switching, potion drinking, and spell-book arming. Read the manual, and you're okay. Try to play without guidelines, and you'll be troll burritos before you know it.

Slayer-stein

The graphics stand out right off the (dungeon) bat. It's Wolfenstein's Basement, complete with muddy walls and fully rotational views. There's even windows in the walls that you can peek into to check out the monsters and treasure inside (why there are windows in a dungeon is anybody's guess).

The creatures range from one-expression-at-all-time goblins to sharp-looking fire elementals. You get a brief look at your character on the selection screen (the graphics could've been a little better there), but all in all, it's dungeons and death. When you move from dungeon to dungeon, the graphics change: Start off in the basement, progress to a haunted castle, and maybe you'll proceed to the tower. Then again, maybe you won't.

The shortage of sound is a real shame. Better pulsepounding music should've been enhanced by ghoulish, eerie sound effects, but it's not. All you hear is the occasional "Oofl" of an enemy going down and some tame background music.

Send in the Frowns

Adjusting game-play difficulty really establishes the challenge, so this game works for kids and adults. As for surviving the monstrous battles in the dungeons, though, most experienced RPG players will know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, so it shouldn't be too hard to get through.

RPG enthusiasts will enjoy the game's combination of action-packed game play and role-playing elements. Hardcore RPGers will flinch at the game's Wolfenstein dear-the-halls game play and will definitely stress over the lack of a good story line.

But this first attempt at an action/RPG for the BDO will involve and mesmerize you; Slayer just hacks and slashes its way into your heart. Yummy.