Legend of Grimrock
Review
Going deeper underground
by Sergio Brinkhuis
reviewed on PC
Playing the role
Playing the game, you have the option of either creating your own customized characters or go with a predefined set of ‘heroes’. Possibly the only break with Eye of the Beholder that I would rather have seen reversed, is that the game does not follow the Tolkien-esque fantasy setting. Rather than elf, Halfling, gnome and dwarf characters, the game offers insectoids, minotaur and lizardmen to join any humans you choose to take along. Consisting of only the fighter, mage and rogue classes, the roster of character classes is also rather small, removing the healing hands of a cleric and the stealing hands of the thief from the game entirely. While there isn’t any lock picking required and health is easier maintained than in Eye of the Beholder, the strategic variation that these classes have to offer would have been a boon to the overall feeling of completeness of Grimrock.
Each race has its own characteristics, with minotaur being the ultimate tanks, lizardman the most suitable rogues and insectoid excelling at magic. As per usual, human characters are jack of all trades and as such, perhaps not the best choice to take along for a ride that requires specialists. You can assign 10 additional points towards base characteristics such as strength, dexterity and willpower. In addition, you can assign points towards class specific skills like spellcasting, mastery of a number of weapon types, armour and more. Once you are satisfied that your team is up to scratch, it’s time to head in to the tunnels.
We’re going deeper underground
Controlling four characters could theoretically be spectacularly difficult in a real-time game that cannot be paused. Fortunately the attacks of each of your characters can easily be reached. Fighters attack with a single click while magic users require you to ‘configure’ a spell before it can be cast. Configuring a spell is done easily by selecting icons from a palette of nine, combining two or more to cast some of the more powerful ones. The spellcasting mechanic is fun but ends up putting a little strain on the player during the more frantic battles. When a deadly fast spider is at your heels, you don’t really have time to move – and – configure a spell, causing you to rely on your front row tanks to kill it instead. I can’t fathom why the game doesn’t make it possible to set a default spell as that would solve this problem entirely.
Combat is, more often than not, a matter of running, turning, dodging and dealing damage whenever you can in between. While the actual mechanics feel very much like that of the dungeon crawlers of old, the mountain’s bestiary moves smoothly and is smart enough to try and flank you when they see the opportunity. As mentioned before, your foes aren’t especially numerous but they provide a fun and challenging break in between puzzles.
As with much of the rest of the game, the puzzles feel as if they came straight out of Eye of the Beholder. Pits, teleporters, pressure plates and many other elements in the environment are being put to full advantage to create some truly fun puzzles. You’re almost certain to get stuck, needing a hint on the web and feeling dumb after reading it for not seeing it yourself. And when you do figure it out after 20 minutes of trying without any help whatsoever, a great sense of achievement follows as a reward. At other times, a plate mail or other valuable item lies just beyond your grasp and has you running around levels above and below to find access, only to leave you frustrated when finally giving up and venturing onwards.
Many of Grimrocks tunnels look indistinguishable from each other and it is easy to get lost. At the start of the game, players can choose to play without an auto-generated map which will certainly lengthen the game with many an hour. Playing without any map, however, is nearly impossible so be prepared to dust off the graph paper and ready your pencil sharpener.
Picking up speed
Legend of Grimrock starts off a little ponderously, almost unwelcoming. Whereas its inspiration Eye of the Beholder treated the player to colourful red walls upon entering, Grimrock’s look more realistic and, as a result, a bit dull. The bestiary is a little less varied too and initially at least, there seems to be a lot less to do. In some ways, it is a reflection of the smaller scale of Legend of Grimrock; It simply is a lot smaller than the Eye of the Beholder games and a bit less ambitious too.
Yet, as you descend into the mountain’s inner depths, the game picks up speed and has a few surprises up its sleeve. By level 4, the game had revealed itself as a great action puzzler requiring mouse skills and wits in equal measure. By level 6 I had experienced sessions of bewilderment, panic, amusement, elation, frustration and more. That told me that despite its size and despite (or perhaps because of) its old-school mechanics, Legend of Grimrock has teeth, has smarts and provides a role-playing experience that should never have been forgotten in the first place.
8.4
fun score
Pros
Old-school role-playing with a modern day spin.
Cons
The realistic colours make the game look a little dull.
