Albion

Moby ID: 464
DOS Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/28 3:37 AM )

Description official descriptions

The year is 2227. The powerful DDT Corporation has sent a factory ship called the Toronto to harvest minerals and resources from Albion, a newly discovered world which is supposedly barren of life but rich in resources. The space pilot Tom Driscoll is sent to take some atmospheric readings on the planet, but crash lands after an apparently accidental systems failure of his shuttle. Upon recovering from the accident he is shocked to discover that Albion is in fact a rich, life-filled world inhabited by various races with their unique cultures. It then becomes his task to explore the strange new world, helps its inhabitants, and eventually find his way back to Toronto.

Albion is a party-based role-playing game and a spiritual successor to Amber games. It features two principal exploration modes, 3D and 2D. The first-person 3D mode, similar to that of The Elder Scrolls: Arena, is used for most towns and all dungeons. The 2D mode takes place in the overworld, in smaller locations, and inside buildings, and uses a top-down perspective similar to Ultima VII: The Black Gate. Mouse or keyboard can be used to navigate the protagonists and interact with the environment.

The player controls a party of up to six characters in the game, all of which can be recruited in various locations in the game world and join the protagonist for plot-related reasons. Each character has his or her own unique fighting styles, abilities, and in some cases magic spells. Experience points are acquired by defeating enemies or solving puzzles; in addition, the player receives a set amount of training points that can be used to raise the characters' skills (such as close or ranged combat, magic, etc.). Enemies can be encountered in both 3D and 2D areas; a battle initiates when the protagonist comes into contact with an enemy. Combat is turn-based and takes place on a 2D 6x6 square grid. Topic-based dialogue system is used to obtain information about the game world, receive assignments, and advance the plot.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (DOS version)

36 People (19 developers, 17 thanks) · View all

Producer
Project Manager, Graphics, Scenarios
Main Programmer
Graphics
Editor Maintenance and Scenarios
Music and Sound Effects
3D Engine
Combat Screen Effects
Additional 3D Graphics, Combat Backgrounds, End Sequence
  • Pixlers Vienna
Intro
Monster Graphics
Manual Illustration and Pictures for Graphical Sequences
Manual, Preparation of Graphical Sequences, Best Boy
Philiosophical Coaching and Texts of the Cultures of the Kenget Kamulos and Dji Cantos
Testing
Installation Program
Special Thanks (from the entire team)
Erik wants to thank
Jurie wants to thank
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 77% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 60 ratings with 5 reviews)

Great concept ruined by poor interface

The Good
The whole idea of the game is incredible! The story-line reminds me of a well-written episode of Star Trek:TNG. The characters are well thought out and the graphics are gorgeous for the time. The sounds and music are above average and fit well in the game's universe. The native Iskai race are very creatively brought to life.

Also, I found the combat system really well done. My preference is for turn-based combat, and Albion delivers well here. What I found odd though was how it switched back and forth between top-down and 3D perspectives. You choose your combat options in a 2D grid, then switch to first-person view to watch the battle unfold.

The Bad
Unfortunately for me, there were two issues with the game that made it difficult for me to continue playing the game after giving it about 10 hours of gameplay.

First, while I loved the initial 2D above-view perspective, when it switched to 3D first-person view in the cellar and cities, I found it extremely hard to navigate. The sense of "being there" (which is done so well in the Ultima Underworld games) is missing. For whatever reason, I could not tell perspective well in the 3D view -- I found myself turning into walls by misjudging corners, and I found myself turning completely around rather than making 90 degree turns. It just did not come across well for me. Everything was "flat" with no dimension. I personally would've preferred if the game kept the same 2D top-down perspective throughout the whole game, rather than switching between three different perspectives. Yes, there is a third perspective: in the outer world it's a top-down view from a much higher viewpoint (your characters appear much smaller onscreen). Additionally, it was confusing as to how they determined which parts of the game would be in each perspective.

Second, movement, whether in the 2D or 3D perspective, is handled by continually holding the left mouse button down. Other games that had similar type of movement (for example, Ultima VII) use the RIGHT mouse button instead. Personally, I found that holding the left button down continuously caused muscle fatigue and cramping beneath my index finger. This never happened in Ultima VII with the right mouse button and ring finger. This may have been a non-issue for me if they provided a good keyboard movement alternative. But they were very minimal in allowing only arrow key movement via keyboard. Since I had no comfortable way to move my party around through the game world, it was only a matter of time before I had to discontinue playing.

The Bottom Line
Albion is a role-playing game in a very well-written science fiction setting. It uses turn-based combat and three different views: a close-in 2D top-down perspective, a higher-up 2D top-down perspective, and a 3D first-person perspective. The game is very highly-rated and I can see why. The quality of the writing, graphics, music, and sound effects are all top notch. But for me, the interface weaknesses proved too hard to surmount and I had to discontinue play after about 10 hours. If these issues do not effect you, you may find this one of your best RPG experiences.

DOS · by himemsys (56) · 2017

Science Fiction RPG

The Good
The fact that this game has proven to be one of the best RPG's I've ever played. This game felt so realistic due to the character's personalities, I'm a bit like Tom, a fool sometimes but a helpful supporter at others. Albion has rich detail, from the plains of grass to the well built indoors - homes and caves/dungeons. I’ve enjoyed interacting with people and getting interesting and unique remarks/comments back. Blue Byte have had a great idea of space and adventure and somehow combined them into a great game. The music brought the whole game to life.

The Bad
The monsters, sorry to say that, but the monsters scared the hell out of me. Agrim's cave was the worst; monsters kept repeatedly kept coming at me. Although this is not really negative I could not figure out what Tom's dream meant and I kept wondering what it was about.

The Bottom Line
One of the best RPG's of all time; it is a shame a sequel was not made. It would have been a nice follow up to see what the "Albion" group were up to in modern times.

DOS · by Everett Lamb (9) · 2004

Awesomely awesome game. Blue Byte pulled it off well...

The Good
It's great. The layout is creative for the battle, the exploring, the map. It's all good. The 3D "dungeon exploring" was great. Never boring. Few faults if any. The story and graphics put this game up there with some of Squaresoft's classics. I was surprised that such an un-advertised, un-popular game could be so much fun.

The Bad
I found it hard to heal my party. You can rest in lots of places but only if your party is tired and if you have rations. I found myself buying lots of rations because the enemies are so tough. It's rare to win a battle with all of your party members alive early on in the game.

The Bottom Line
Overall it's a great game. Blue Byte did amazing work with this one. One of my all time favorites.

DOS · by Dason Rise (17) · 2003

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

Controversy

There was originally some objection to the game due to the cat-like Iskai having no taboo against running around in their birthday suits. An early in-game cut-scene shown when Tom awakes was a particular sticking point, showing the (female) village healer - bare-chested except for a backpack strap.

Inspiration

Lead Programmer Jurie Horneman about the game's inspiration:

Albion is not 100% copied from the Amiga RPG Ambermoon as claimed in another comment (which has since been deleted -- Ed.), but it is a sequel of sorts. We (the Albion team) were developing a sequel to Ambermoon when the company we were working for, Thalion Software, closed its doors. We subsequently moved to Blue Byte. The most logical choice was to do another game in the same style since we had the know-how. We started from scratch on the setting and storyline (which became a lot more coherent), but stuck to the same game format. Albion took two years to make. For various reasons it didn't become as popular as we would have liked, but in general the people who took the time to get into the game have enjoyed it. I still consider it to be the best game I've worked on.

References

There are some rather funny references at the beginning of the game, such as a character named "Inspector Snoopy Beagle" and "The Gates Peace Prize".

Additional information contributed by Dark-Star 1988 and Jurie Horneman

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Albion Online
Released 2018 on Windows, Macintosh, Linux...
X³: Albion Prelude
Released 2011 on Windows, Linux, Macintosh
The Lost Tapes of Albion
Released 2012 on ZX Spectrum
Crusader Kings II: Songs of Albion
Released 2012 on Macintosh, Windows, Linux

Related Sites +

  • Albion
    Developer's game site. (archived)

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 464
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Alan Chan.

Windows added by Evolyzer.

Additional contributors: Daniel Saner, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 24, 1999. Last modified August 25, 2023.