Game 398: Dungeons of Doom (1990)

        

Dungeons of Doom

Germany

Independently developed and published

Released 1990 for DOS

Date Started: 21 January 2021
Date Ended: 22 January 2021

Total Hours: 3
Difficulty: Easy (2/5) 

Final Rating: 12
Ranking at Time of Posting: 31/404 (8%)

    

Dungeons of Doom is a simple game that lasts a short amount of time. The only reason it lasts even a few hours is because you can get stuck (more in a bit). Part of me wants to be critical, but honestly, it's not like the game begged me to play it. Indeed, it seems to have done everything possible to hide itself from my attention. I couldn't find it when I first passed through 1990. No less than three people later sent it to me. They had to drag it kicking and screaming out of obscurity. Even when it was new, I can't see any evidence that the creator charged for it.

    

The game begins with no character creation.

      

The game is a first-person dungeon crawler that takes place in a dungeon of three levels. Your goal is to find the "Cup of Eternal Life." You start with three characters named Xenior, Pladon, and Godran. The first two seem to be fighters, though they have different icons. Godran is a mage and the only one with mage points. Strength serves as both strength and hit points. You have no inventory when you start. As you explore, you find swords, axes, shields, keys, and nine different magic spells. You battle mummies on the first level, skeletons on the second, and "Lords of Darkness" on the third. Then you find the cup and the game is over.

     

Early in the game, we find a key.

        

I rated it "easy" because it's so short and you can save anywhere, but there are a couple of things that make it challenging. First, there are more locked doors than there are keys to open them, at least on the first level. You can easily trap yourself with no ability to progress downward. (On Level 3, you finally get the "Open Door" spell just in time to encounter no more locked doors.) I had to restart twice because of this issue.

Second, combat is slightly challenging. It's a bit like a crude Dungeon Master, occurring in real-time, with the ability to see enemies in the environment. Individual enemies aren't hard, but you tend to get attacked by waves of them, and neither their own hit points nor the damage they do is consistent. Sometimes that Lord of Darkness might have 5 hit points, hit you for 3 damage, and die in one round, and sometimes he might have 50 hit points, hit you for 40 damage, and wipe out the party. Since your only attack option is A)ttack, there isn't much strategy at first, but once the mage has a variety of spells, there are more things you can do. A "Strength" and "Magic Shield" combo did a lot for me, and "Fireball" reliably wipes out enemies if you don't mind all the experience going to Godran. You otherwise get experience with every successful attack.

      

All the first-level enemies are mummies.

   

One saving grace is that enemies can only attack you if you're looking at them. If you turn to the side and shout, "I can't see you! I can't see you!," they can't advance into your square. Since strength (health) and magic points regenerate as you pass time with invalid actions, it's possible to turn against a wall, ram into it for a few minutes, and fully regenerate before turning and fighting the next enemy. Oh, and if a character dies, he can be revived with a simple "Heal" spell.

         

Skeletons are the foes on Level 2.

       

I never really understood the weapons. You find several axes and swords, and every character can carry multiples of each. I don't know if carrying more than one sword, or an axe plus a sword, does more damage than just having one weapon. The game doesn't last long enough to worry about.

        

Does two swords and one axe do more damage than just one sword?

       

Leveling is also a bit of a mystery. I didn't reach Level 2 (which doubled my strength and magic) until halfway through the third dungeon level. I won the game before reaching Level 3. Did the developer originally plan for a longer game? Who knows.

   

The first dungeon level is huge, occupying coordinates up to 27 x 58 (though with "worm tunnel" walls). Mapping becomes easier when you find the "Position" spell. I didn't bother to map the second level, but I think it was about half the size of the first. The third occupied coordinates only up to 14 x 31. You find a "Map" spell on the third level that brings up a surprisingly advanced automap. The level is shaped like a skull, and it's pretty easy to find the cup. Once you find it, the game is over.

    

That's how I want more games to end: "Yeahh."

       

What else can I tell you? There's no sound except for little squeaks when you cast a spell and little crunches as you fight. There are no NPCs and no economy. There's a composition of sorts that plays over the title screen, but I don't think anyone's going to be adding it to a playlist. Though created by a German and coming with German instructions, everything in-game is in English. There are buttons for every action, but they all have keyboard backups that make sense in English (e.g., A)ttack, C)ast, SHIFT-S)ave).

   

That's all I can tell you. You want a GIMLET? I suppose I have room for it:

   

• 0 points for the game world. There's no description of it.

• 1 point for character creation and development. You might level up once.

• 0 points for no NPCs.

• 1 point for encounters and foes. There are foes.

        

Lords of Darkness prowl Level 3.

       

• 2 points for magic and combat, for reasons above.

     

Late in the game, I have a full set of spells.

         

• 1 point for equipment, as above.

• 0 points for no economy.

• 2 points for a main quest.

• 3 points for graphics, sound, and interface. Almost all of that is for the interface, which is very easy to use and has that neat automap. The graphics are at least functional.

          

Check out the "Map" spell. It annotates everything.

       

• 2 points for gameplay. It gets that for being short.

     

That's a final score of 12, pretty miserable even for a freeware game. But I'll try to go out on a positive note. While I didn't love this game, I think that the creator, Arndt Hasch, showed promise as a programmer. There's a core of a potentially good game here. Some low-rated games need to be re-hauled, but this one just needs to be expanded; its problem is simplicity rather than incompetence. There are a few honestly impressive things. The spell system is well-balanced. The automap is better than what we see in a lot of commercial games. And in 1990, not even Wizardry, the Gold Box series, and Might and Magic had yet figured out how to show enemies in the environment. Even the graphics show some promise, particularly how defeated enemies dissolve in front of you. Finally, if he was going to make a simple game, let's give him a hand for not making it 20 levels.

        

My map of Level 1.

        

Three years later, Hasch programmed an adventure game called Der Schatz im Silbersee ("The Treasure in Silver Lake") set in the American West. It looks a lot like a point-and-click Sierra game, and it's very attractive. Unfortunately, that's his only other game credit that I can find, although one site claims that he wrote a "DOS music tracker for Adlib soundcards" for Rainbow Arts.

    

Thanks to Lance, David, and "BillBull" for sending me the game. BillBull managed to Twitch about it for like six hours last year. I assume he had to restart a few times because of the keys.