Lands of Lore III

The Good
When I first realised LOL3 is coming up next I was totally on the edge of anticipation, knowing what Guardians of Destiny did to me. The graphic was now up to full usage of 3d accelerator and lighting and spells were clearly enhanced, but the game also remained fair to those who still had older cards with no accelerator support. The background story during installation gives you a nice idea of what's to be expected, as the game casts you in a role of young Copper, part human part dracoid, but prince nonetheless. Alas, king's "real" sons do not fancy the idea of having the bastard brother, but they don't live long enough to do anything about it as the Draracle's departure opens mysterious portals spawning rift hounds who take care of them and cost you your very soul. Now, with the king and your brethren dead, you are the only heir to the throne whether anyone likes it or not. The game does spawn a rather intriguing story with new and familiar worlds and characters, you get to meet Luther, Dawn, and other familiars. Soundtrack is twice as brilliant as of prequel, but alas, no soundtrack was released like it was the case with Guardians of Destiny. The cool new part is that you get to have companion on your journey as you join one of the five guilds, which will also play role in your character profile and abilities. There's also a cool part that takes place in the Hand of Nod which was as a small overture to an upcoming C&C Renegade.

The Bad
The game seems a bit rushed, spawning across four discs yet being released in about a year and a half after LOL2. The side-effects are that graphic had some problems and game was slow no matter the cache, often forcing you to exit the game and start again.

The Bottom Line
First one was Westwood's first attempt on reviving the glory days of Eye of the Beholder with their own title, and they did one heck of a job there. Second one was a true masterpiece setting the new limits for the word 'journey', while the third, and the last one, was great for LOL and WS fans, but as standalone might not be the best choice to enter the realm of such RPGs. It may not have provided cutting edge tech for the time being, but the journey was more than accepting with breathtaking cutscenes only to be expected from Westwood Studios.