Betrayal at Krondor

Discuss Review + Want + Have Contribute

Description

Based on Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar saga (and co-written by Feist himself), Betrayal at Krondor is a medieval fantasy-themed role-playing game set in the Riftwar universe.

The story begins as Gorath, a moredhel (dark elf) renegade, who intended to warn the people of Krondor of the upcoming moredhel invasion, is attacked by an assassin. Locklear, a nobleman who serves the crown of Krondor, and a young magician named Owyn decide to accompany Gorath to Krondor, where they'll have to think of a plan to stop the moredhel leader Delekhan.

The game's story is divided into nine chapters. Each chapter has a goal to achieve before moving on to the next one, but the player is given considerable freedom to explore the vast world of the game and undertake side quests. Gorath, Locklear, and Owyn are the first party of characters the player controls; however, characters may leave and others may join the party later, as dictated by the events of the story.

Exploration in Betrayal at Krondor takes place in a 3D world viewed from first-person perspective. Towns, however, are presented as a series of still screens representing locations (temple, tavern, inn, etc.). Combat takes place on separate grid-based screens. The player moves the characters on these screens in a turn-based fashion, attacking physically, defending, and casting spells.

Only two character classes are present in the game: fighters and magicians. Fighters use swords or crossbows (for long-ranged attacks); magicians can fight with staves, or cast spells. Characters have four attributes: health, strength, speed, and stamina. The latter is depleted when a character uses weapons or casts magic. The role-playing system of the game relies on skills. Each character has a set of skills, ranging from weapon proficiencies to abilities such as bartering or stealth. Skills improve after continuous usage. The player can "emphasize" a skill in order to make it improve faster.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "叛變克朗多" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
• "קרונדור" -- Hebrew spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Character development - Repetition
• Gameplay feature: Gambling
• Gameplay feature: Hunger / Thirst
• Games made into books
• Inspiration: Literature
• Krondor series

User Reviews

A gasp escaped my lips as I reluctantly quit the game. 'This is what immersion is all about', I muttered with grim satisfaction	DOS	Oleg Roschin (181727)
"Blood soaked rags collected at the boy's feet..."	DOS	Dr_Bab (11)
One of my all-time favorites	DOS	Jeanne (76515)
A superb fantasy yarn spun in the modestly-magical world of Midkemia	DOS	Chris Wright (105)
Weak in graphics and combat-engine, but overall great.	DOS	Cyric (50)
A very deep, very addicting RPG game. I wish there were more like this.	DOS	Steelysama (106)
Decent role-playing game with some nasty flaws	DOS	ShadowShrike (309)
A Feist-ian bargain.	DOS	PCGamer77 (3233)
A true role-playing classic that any RPG fan should check out	DOS	Steve Sztuk (13)
Riftworld is done justice, thanks to Sierra and Mr. Feist.	DOS	Daniel Reed (29)

Critic Reviews

Pelit	DOS	May, 1993	94 out of 100	94
Tilt	DOS	Jul, 1993	92 out of 100	92
Quandary	DOS	Jun 28, 1996		90
Play Time	DOS	Aug, 1993	85 out of 100	85
Gamesmania.de	DOS	1996	85 out of 100	85
PC Player (Germany)	DOS	Sep, 1993	83 out of 100	83
PC Games (Germany)	DOS	Jul, 1993	75 out of 100	75
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	DOS	Sep, 1994	9 out of 12	75
Power Play	DOS	Jun, 1993	56 out of 100	56
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	DOS	Oct, 1993	Unscored	Unscored

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
A flood of nostalgia	2	Chris Wright (105) Mar 01, 2010
CD and Floppy	4	St. Martyne (3655) Aug 10, 2009
GameTap	6	Sciere (514662) Sep 10, 2008
Translating BaK?	7	Ajan (276) Jul 06, 2007

Trivia

Actors

The actors for the pseudo-video and motion capture don't look remotely like they're described by Raymond E. Feist, and some (such as Pug) are downright contradictory.

CD-ROM version

The CD-ROM enhanced version of the game includes additional goodies:

• 5-minute interview with Feist
• Windows-based hint system
• Redbook audio soundtrack

Freeware release

Sierra has released the game for free as promotion for its two sequels. This offer only lasted for a limited time, though. The version which was obtainable through on the Sierra website was buggy and needed a patch to get it working correctly.

Novel

Raymond E. Feist, the author whose Riftwar books Betrayal at Krondor is based on, has actually written a book based on the game entitled Krondor: The Betrayal, the first part of a new series called The Riftwar Legacy. The book has the same basic plot as the game, but of course has been altered somewhat to fit the format as well as to be more consistent with Feist's Midkemia series as a whole.

Feist does display an interesting knowledge of the game, however. For example, the method by which the villain is ultimately defeated in the book is actually a valid tactic for winning the final battle.

Sales

When the Betrayal at Krondor first came out it did so miserably at sales that Sierra canceled all plans for a sequel. Later, Sierra rereleased the game on CD-Rom and the game suddenly became a huge hit. By that time, however, Raymond E. Feist already had a contract with a different publisher.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • June 1994 (Issue #119) – Role-Playing Game of the Year
  • February 1996 (Issue #139) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • November 1996 (155h anniversary issue) - #43 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
• GameStar (Germany)
  • Issue 12/1999 - #76 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
• PC Gamer
  • November 1999 - #44 Best Game of All Time

Information also contributed by Alan Chan, Adam Baratz Kalirion, PCGamer77, William Shawn McDonie and WizardX

Related Web Sites

• Alt-Tab: Betrayal at Krondor (Site dedicated to the game, includes various reviews of the game and some downloads.)
• Betrayal at Krondor - FAQs & Guides (Various Guides and FAQs posted on GameFaqs.com)
• Betrayal At Krondor Help Web (All Things BAK. Also has a link to Sierra where you can download the game for free.)
• Mike's Betrayal at Krondor pages (Great resource site for Betrayal at Krondor.)
• Official product page of Windows version distributor GOG (Official product page for the Windows version of Betrayal at Krondor - distributed by GOG.com.)