DOS

Blood & Magic

Although not a ground-shaking release, I feel that this game has been somewhat overlooked in the mad rush of real-time strategy games this season. While it may not have the catchy graphics of other titles, Blood and Magic is more immersing and refreshing than any other title of its type on the market. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and was fascinated by the storybook presentation, as well as the lack of imitation and repetition. I recommend it to any player that has felt disenchanted or disappointed by the recent flurry of games of this type, and after the "carbon copy with hi-res and a couple of new features" feel of C&C: Red Alert, Blood and Magic was a welcome addition to my software library. Interplay's web site promises a new demo which you should download and play for yourself. It is nowhere near as expansive or involving as the full title, but it should give you a peek at what this game has to offer.

Blood & Magic is a pretty good game overall. However, it was the lack of good graphics (I mean, low resolution VGA graphics died out a long time ago), and the slowness of the game that really kept it from being great. If you like the Forgotten Realms style games, fantasy strategy, and gameplay that is both original and easy, then Blood & Magic may be worth looking at.

A lot of things go into making a good real-time strategy game. Westwood's Dune II, perhaps the best example of the genre, featured novel gameplay, a great license, crisp graphics, loads of different units, and challenging level design. Since then, most of the titles released in the genre have been strong in some of these categories, and weak in the rest. By combining an excellent license and strong character design with mediocre graphics and irritating AI problems, Interplay proves that Blood & Magic is no exception to the rule.

Fast wäre ein echter Hit im Genre der Echtzeit-Strategiespiele geboren worden. Phantasievolle Einheiten mit unterschiedlichsten Eigenschaften, ein ausgeklügeltes Magiesystem und wirklich gute Missionen können leider nicht verhindern, daß sich Blood & Magic durch das unsinnige Mana-holen nur sehr zäh spielt. Ein beachtenswerter Einstieg in den Strategiebereich, aber leider nicht mehr.

Sofern man sich von der altbackenen Grafik nicht abschrecken läßt, wirkt Interplays Echtzeit-Titel erfreulich abwechslungsreich. Doch einer genaueren Prüfung hält der positive Ersteindruck nicht stand: Zu viele Macken verleiden dem Genre-Liebhaber wie Einsteiger gleichermaßen das Märchenambiente. Selbst das klickfreudige Warcraft 2 stellt im Vergleich zu Blood and Magic eine Zeigefinger-Kur dar.

The genre of real time strategy games is flourishing like a Chia pet in a heavy summer rain. Now that everyone and their uncle is doing it, Interplay has jumped onto the bandwagon, brandishing a licensing deal with TSR that gives them the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons label. But their contribution, Blood & Magic, doesn't draw very heavily from anything specific to D&D. Instead, it's another generic and bland offering, unique mainly in its tedious Golem management scheme.

Det här är tråkigt, långsamt och platsödande på din hårddisk. Det hela utspelar sig i en värld som är känd från Forgotten Realms-serien, men det är ett sådant uppenbart försök att kopiera andra lyckade koncept att man mår illa. Blood & Magic går att spela via modem eller nätverk, vilket hade varit en pluspoäng förr, men inte numera. Glöm Blood and Magic, det är verkligen ingenting att ha.