LEGEND ENTERTAINMENT
CD-ROM (DOS)
$40 ON THE STREET
REQUIREMENTS: 4MB RAM, SVGA

Shannara fans, this one's for you. You get to play the role of Jak Ohmsford, son of Shea Ohmsford. As Jak, you get to finish your dad's work, that of ridding the land of the evil warlock Brona. Seems that Brona, though dead by your father's hand, is resting uneasily and stirring up trouble; you need to go find the Sword of Sharmara to put him down for good. You manage to enlist the help of several other characters on the way, including Princess Shella.

This game is a real mixed bag. I found myself immediately drawn into the story, but the gameplay was dissatisfying. You are forced to go from place to place in a very linear fashion, and the puzzles are fairly straightforward. Then again, the voice acting is simply outstanding, some of the best I have heard in a computer roleplaying game to date. You can always talk to your companions too, which can be frustrating, enlightening, and entertaining by turns.

The interface is well-designed. You can at least attempt to perform any sort of action with the objects at hand, and it only takes a few mouse clicks to do so. There's also an online journal you can use to write notes, and the computer keeps an updated log of events for you.

Shannara is in some ways more like an interactive story than an adventure game. You don't walk around in realtime as in Daggerfall but are instead always peering into a still image, clicking on items to pick them up or use them. A particular scene, for instance the city of Tyrsis, typically has about 5 different locations for you to visit, and you are prevented from leaving the scene until you have solved the puzzle at hand.

While the gameplay is not what I'd like it to be the game does provide some excellent atmosphere. I am torn on whether to recommend Sharmara or not. If you are a Terry Brooks fan, and have read and enjoyed the Sword of Shannara, then I can safely say that you'll probably enjoy the game, even with its deficiencies. If you aren't a Terry Brooks fan, your money might be better spent on another game.

A COPY OF 'THE SWORD OF SHANNARA' IS INCLUDED WITH EACH COPY OF THE SHANNARA COMPUTER GAME.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com