By John Walker on April 1st, 2010 at 2:31 pm.
Betrayal At Krondor, an epic RPG based on the Riftwar books of Raymond E. Feist, is due this June. Developed by Dynamix (Aces of the Pacific, Ghostbusters II), from what we’ve seen it’s going to be a mix of first-person exploration, travelling between towns in an enormous world, and third-person turn-based combat. It’s an interesting mix of styles, and if you want to get a taste of whether it’s going to work there’s a peculiar demo to try. Uniquely built, rather than a specific chunk of the game, the demo explains the game concept to you, and then gives you a chance to try out the combat, and the puzzles. Get hold of it here.
WHAT YEAR IS THIS???
*Picks paper out of the nearest rubbish bin.
report
Demo’s have convinced me to buy many a game in the past – I just love them. Long may they continue!
report
It’s funny because this game was recently released on gog.
…ok, it’s not really funny, but I thought it was worth mentioning
report
Actually, the “buy” option under “downloads” links to the GOG-page. I would get it right now, but there seem to be some pretty hefty issues with the version offered there (check the user reviews on GOG, use “sort by most review”).
report
SquirrelFanatic, you’re replying to someone who made a comment in 1993! That man is probably dead.
report
YES! I am so excited for this. I’ll probably have to use the UHS to get through it though, as usual.
report
Oh man, the UHS system is so awesome! It’s probably the way walkthroughs will be done everywhere in the future.
report
UHS is pure win! I don’t know how I’d get through most of these games without it. I know I can count on UHS to be around as long as there are pc games!
report
(( Actually, I still use UHS for a lot of adventure games, it’s still being updated and it’s still one of my first ports of call. UHS first, GameFAQs after. ))
report
Also “Fiesty” == lulz.
report
It won’t be a patch on last year’s Darklands!
report
It’s also really good… Still holds up pretty well by modern standards (I say pretty well, graphics are a bit dated….)
report
Features include the best wigs ever seen in a computer game.
report
Are we accelerating through the years? Come on 1995 – C&C baby, C&C.
And in ’98 we can all make predictions about how this “Valve” companies’s new game will be a short lived as New Labour! Eh? Amirite?
report
Fuck. Reminding me of how long New Labour have been in power is just depressing.
Strangely the first Riftwar novel I ever read was the adaptation of this videogame.
report
Maybe in 1995 BioForge will finally get released. The wait’s been killing me since I saw the first shots of it at the tail end of 1993.
report
Oh how I wish New Labour were still in power.
report
Am I weird for preferring Antara over Krondor?
report
Oh gosh yes you are. I hated that game after I beat it. :(
report
Yes, yes a thousand times yes. The first game is a masterpiece, while the second is a travesty.
report
Gah i was so upset that “The Thief of Dreams” sequel was dropped and turned into antara. I’m a Fiest Fan and really am curious about that crawler fellow.
report
I can’t acces that link, I don’t have internet yet :(
report
Hmmm.. something’s fishy here. I believe I’ve seen this before.
report
This is sorta’ FMV right? FMV is totally the future. Just think how awesome it’s gonna’ be in like the year 2000. It’ll be like playing a movie with real actors!!!
report
Ok, I admit it, I am now officially discombobulated.
Well, not really, I just wanted to say ‘discombobulated’.
But seriously, where are we? There were R. E. Feist games?
report
Yup if I remember right, there were about 3 of them. Betrayal at Krondor was my fav. Wasted many hours in that game!
report
two of them, Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor, The sequel to BAK “The thief of dreams” got it’s Fiest guts removed and became antara.
report
Whilst 1993 has seen some lovely gems as Betrayal at Krondor, I think we are all forgetting the important issues:
Frontier: Elite II being released with what is still some of the most ridiculous anti piracy measures I have ever encountered!
I don’t mind if a game wants me to look through a code wheel, or even plug in a dongle to play, but this method of interrupting me MID GAME and then asking me to read the fucking manual?
It is immersion breaking rubbish like this which, I predict, will see the death of PC gaming within the next two years.
I demand an RPS feature on this oddly digital, lack or rights rubbish instituted by some maniacal – I dunno, management.
report
Yeah, it’s a bit of a come down for the mighty bread-bin. That and the game’s bugs are completely soiling his rep as space-sim supremo, or ‘Elite’, if you will (ha ha).
Might be a bit early but there’s a bulletin board I know hosting a lively discussion about what might be in a possible third game, if he ever chooses to make one. Found on the Cambridge University WAN, I think. If I find the IP address I’ll let you know?
report
As long as the terrible piracy measures are gone (a game in which you can be a pirate, and you aren’t allowed to pirate it! HAH!) and he doesn’t fill it with anything silly.
Like Aliens, or something.
I shall await the ip with baited breath, here in my luxury condo.
In Loughborough*.
* I am soooooo sorry.
report
I’d say piracy is doomed. With the advent of the CD-ROM, games will have the possibility of using the full 640 Mb of memory in the disk, making floppy copies impossible. Not even a powerful compression software like ARJ could reduce so much data into manageable chunks.
And the machines that can copy CD-ROMs will remain in the hand of the industry for a long time, being big, bulky and expensive as they are.
Yes folks, soon there will be no need for anti-piracy measures, the optical drive will end all that. And we’ll all benefit, because we’ll see the prices of games go down because all those pirates will start buying games and the games companies will be able to compete in price with each other.
Oh, and also, Romero is going to make us his bitch.
report
That terrain is almost spookily realistic: just imagine what amazing, continent-spanning worlds and epic stories we’ll be able to create in fifteen years or so!
But *seven* floppy disks? I’ll be swapping them all day just to install them! Maybe I should upgrade my 20MB hard drive and look into a double-speed CD-ROM. Gosh, I sure hope Zork: Nemesis doesn’t take up as many floppies. I lost one of the install disks for Bloodnet and I haven’t been able to play it for the last year or so!
report
Welcome to the future Web Cole. Here’s your complementary hover board.
report
Can I just say how wary I am of RPGs going 3D? Yes, Ultima Underworld was fantastic, but so was Ultima 7. I’ve played the BaK demo, and the tactical combat is great… so what’s the point? Stick to 2D, which is always going to be better-looking and more immersive.
report
I still tell people Moredhel Wordlock riddles on a regular basis. I like the “two legs have I, and this will confound, only at rest do they touch the ground” one.
report
I can’t wait to play this. Finally some sexy females instead of chopped sprites! Really, it was about time.
Digitization is the future, I’m telling you.
Look at Mortal Kombat on the Amiga!! Just… awesome, man. And they say we will have it for the PC too this year!
We are living the future. Now!
report
All this nostalgia reminds me of the time when my dad accidentally bought a way too big HD for our home PC. I think it was 80 MB Quantum Bigfoot or something. He didn’t take it back and we installed it, talking about how “we’re never going to need to buy another HD with the kind of space this one has!”
Yeah…
report
We bought Quarantine after reading Kieron’s review in Gamesmaster. It was the CD version, which had an option to do a then unheard of ‘full install’.
To which my dad scoffed “15 megabytes! What the hell does it need all that for?”
report
I remember staying up way too late playing this on my cousin’s computer. I love this game so much.
report
I cant wait. This will be the revolution of RPGs!
How much memory does it need ?
report
Ohh wow, Riftwar saga is my favorite series of all times. Reading darkness at sethanon for the second time right now. Truly a great series. I didnt know they made a game of it. I’ll have to check it out.
report
Actually, the game was released a couple of days ago. No need to wait until June for the full version:
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/betrayal_at_krondor
When are you going to publish a review?
report
Well played sir. *doffs hat*
report
I miss Dynamix.
report
Hubba hubba!
report
Going to see if Babbages has it this weekend.
@Lobotomist:
Good question. Hopefully we’ll only have to run MemMaker a few times.
report
Use DR-DOS, man. I will never use Microsoft again!
report
One of the best crpgs of all time. Betrayal at Krondor was more for me than just a game. It was a place that I could visit and I knew Dynamix’ represantation of Midkemia by heart. *sigh* Such good memories..
report
Get out from underfoot! Assassins in the camp!
BaK was fantastic. An obvious (and credited) influence on Bioware’s early games. I remember PC Gamer (or Format?) giving it a really sniffy review at the time based on the quality of the writing.
And it was designed by John Cutter who also did many Cinemaware and (latterly) Big Fish games.
report
I hope there a is floppy version coming out, because I still don’t have a CD-ROM drive :(
report
Man, Dynamix were the best.
report
This will be incredible.
report
So I played the demo and the… the “3Dness”? … the 3Dness gave an incredible sense of openness! Wowzers! It’s like standing in an open field, you can hear the birds, smell the flowers, and it’s totally amazing! I felt a bit lost, really, like I’d just been dumped in the middle of nowhere. It was a vast world of potential! Gosh! Never seen anything quite like it! I’m excited for the game, very! You should all play the demo. I know, I know… it’s a bit of a big download, but it’s worth it!
report
Arrgh, all these great games for the PC, but my parents won’t let me have one. I’m stuck with my Amiga 500 and sensi world of soccer. Though Amiga Format is way better then PC Format. And Stu Campbell’s dead funny on Amiga Power – long live Amiga Power.
report
I like Amiga Power but I’m not sure about that “C-Monster” guy they have doing the playing tips; he looks shifty and untrustworthy.
report
I was only in the letters page then!
KG
report
Is this going to be released on 5.25″ floppy? I haven’t got around to getting one of them new-fangled 3.5″ drives yet, my current drive works fine, I see no reason why all games can’t be released on the old format.
report
You’ve got to get with the times, man! A 100mb hard drive will last you forever and they’re getting cheaper all the time!
report
But my current drive works fine. It’s just a question of splitting up the data.
This is all a big conspiracy to make us spend more money upgrading.
report
I don’t have the time for all these interactivy things. When can I purchase this product in book form?
report
Man I fucking loved Aces of the Pacific. I’d play it right now. Anyone got a link?
report
Oh man this was the first game I bought with my own money, got it for $20 from Myer (Australian department store chain). I still have the hefty box sitting on my shelf.
report
Get an amiga!!! The PC is rubbish! The amiga did the graphics on Babylon 5, too.!!
report
Why not link to gog?
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/betrayal_at_krondor
report
I… this is beautiful. *teary eyes* One of my favorite games of all time. It had a great impact for a twelve year old skandinavian kid: to be able to play this game I had to learn English. After that I read my first book in English, Feist’s The Prince of Blood. Aah, good times.
report
*sob* *sob*
Such good times…. :’)
*sob*
report