Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon

Eye of the Beholder II:
The Legend of Darkmoon
Developer(s) Westwood Associates
Publisher(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Cybille (FM Towns)
Capcom (PC-98)
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Amiga, FM-Towns, PC-98
Release date(s) 1991 (MS-DOS)
1992 (Amiga)
1993 (FM Towns, PC-98)
Genre(s) Role-playing video game
Mode(s) Single-player

Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon is a 1991 computer role-playing game and the sequel to Eye of the Beholder. It used a modified version of the first game's engine, added outdoor areas and greatly increased the amount of interaction the player had with their environment, along with substantially more role-playing aspects to the game.

Plot

After the adventures of the first game, the heroes head to a local inn to rest and enjoy their newfound fame but a note gets slipped to them from Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun (Archmage of Waterdeep) who says that he sent a scout (Amber, a female elven thief/mage of neutral good alignment) to investigate reports of evil brewing in a temple known as Darkmoon but she has not returned. Khelben then transports the heroes to the temple to find Amber and continue the investigation, but it soon becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems.

Gameplay

The gameplay remains within the confines of the temple but players have to explore the vast catacombs beneath, the upper levels of the temple, and the three towers...azure, silver and finally crimson where they can fight the evil Dran Draggore. Like the first game in the series, this one was also ported to the Amiga systems.

Reception

The Lessers (Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk) reviewed Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon in 1992 in Dragon #179, giving the game 5 out of 5 stars.[1] Scorpia of Computer Gaming World in 1992 again criticized the sequel's user interface, noting that monsters attacked in real time while the player searched through spell books, but stated that the game had a "fancy ending". She concluded that it was "a more substantial game" than its predecessor, with "more to do, a bigger variety of critters to fight and a larger area to explore".[2] That year the magazine named it as one of the year's top role-playing games, stating that it followed in "the strong graphic and solid play-balance tradition of the original".[3] In 1993 Scorpia reiterated her criticism but stated that the game was "a definite must for all EOB fans".[4] GameSpy stated that Eye of the Beholder II "sported a completely original ending, something that was badly needed, considering the game's biggest flaw -- the almost insane level of difficulty".[5]

References

  1. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (March 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (179): 57–62.
  2. Scorpia (April 1992). "Scorpion's View". Computer Gaming World. p. 44. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  3. "CGW Salutes The Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World. November 1992. p. 110. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  4. Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. Rausch, Allen; Lopez, Miguel (16 August 2004). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part II". Game Spy.

External links

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