By: SSI/TSR Games
Copyright (c) 1994 Lee Perkins
All that I ask of any fantasy role-playing adventure is good graphics and sound, a friendly user interface, some logic puzzles, combat, automapping and a non-linear plot. With a few notable exceptions including Darkside of Xeen, Betrayal at Krondor and the Inca series, there has been little to get excited about lately. Dungeon Hack has restored my faith in the genre. Just when I thought I would be stuck with a whole heap of "play and forget" games, along comes something with REAL repeat-play value!
If you have played SSI's Eye of the Beholder games, Dungeon Hack's heads-up graphic style and horrific menagerie will seem like old friends. Big "BUT" here: There is more to the game than a simple rehash. First off, each dungeon set can be user configured for any level of difficulty, then assigned a random map.
According to SSI's blurb, this means that the game has a library of over 4 BILLION possible dungeon layouts! Having to wade through that lot would be a mug's run, but the 100-plus hours that I did spend in the game seems to verify this claim. What is more, each game setup generates two identifying codes; "dungeon seed" and "option seed". These may be imported freely into someone else's game, presumably so that friends may take turns at generating increasingly challenging scenarios.
Even at its easiest settings, Dungeon Hack can be a real challenge. I have fondness for playing clerics and magic-users over fighters. Although spellchuckers have lower hit points initially, they have a better survival factor when the going gets tough. Only two things can really cramp an MU's style: Lack of food and poisonous creature attacks. If your character is likely to be poisoned at nearly every encounter, it is a good idea to bolt upstairs a few levels and "fish" for experience points.
Once the Level 3 spell "Neutralize Poison" is available, plow through the toxic level as quickly as possible, only attacking monsters at extreme range. It may sound like a craven piece of work, but I was able to nurse a starving, poisoned cleric down the last three levels of a dungeon with that tactic... Defeating a meaty final guardian in a battle that left 8 hit points to spare!
Reviewed on: PC 386 SX-33, Sound Blaster Pro audio card
Recommended retail price: $89.95 Suggested audience rating: PD (Parental Discretion) Challenge: 70% Entertainment: 85% Sound: 85% Graphics: 80%Software supplied by: Electronic Arts Pty. Ltd.