R. A. Salvatore began his writing career in 1982, penning together the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. However his first published novel was the Crystal Shard in 1988. After sixteen years his legendary talents have been immortalised in 3D in the form of Demon Stone a new title from Atari, based on the world renowned Forgotten Realms.
‘Adventure Game’ would not come close as to what this legend truly is. From the vivid mind of a pure genius and the development studios where dreams are born, Demon Stone will carve its mark into the very stone of time itself.
Three heroes meet by chance; Rannek-a battle hardened fighter, Illius-a powerful sorcerer and Zhai-mixed blood of the Drow and Wood Elf. However, all is not as it seems. All compelled by an unknown source, the strangers venture into an abandoned mine in Damara. Now, having to trust in one another with their lives, they set forth on an adventure beyond anything they could have imagined.
In their journey to the depths of the newly opened Gemspark Mine, they find a curious and irresistible entrance: a set of doors, each marked with a unique rune. Being the only way out, they have to press on.
As they break through the intriguing doors, a large gem separates from its fragile setting and falls to the floor. Two spirits are released: one of a githyanki general and one of a slaad lord. The freed spirits reconstitute and proceed to reengage the fight that was interrupted by their entrapment so long ago.
The githyanki general flourishes a silvery sword and rushes to the nearest planar portal to bring her army back to the battle. The other, a more malevolent spirit summons more of its kind. The adventure is only beginning, though, for our heroes have unleashed a tide of chaos upon the realms.
Wielding the sword of Rannek, staff of Illius and blades of Zhai, embrace the adventure that is set out before you and create legend.
And thus the game begins. Demon Stone is an adventure game, yes, and it is true that this type of title has been done before; such that come to mind are Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Other vast fantasy games have been created under the label of Forgotten Realms such as Baldur’s Gate one and two.
However, Demon Stone creates a league of its very own.
Following along the same line and concept of fantasy novels, many, if not all contain the same values and ingredients but it is how these are represented to create individual and unique adventures that are unlike any other.
Though it is written by a fantasy novelist and entails a detailed and magical story, at the end of the day it is not a novel; it is a game.
Real time RPG would be the best term to describe the gameplay of this quest. All three characters in the game start off with a range of basic attacks to use against the hordes of enemies that come at you. These range from a basic weapon combo, punching, throwing weapons and a finishing off strike when the monsters are down and wounded. Also, after the Gemspark Mine level, each character has their own unique ability. Rannek can slam the ground using a magical gauntlet, Illius can drop a magic bead and then make it explode and Zhai, already having the ability to hide in the shadows and kill enemies instantly, learns the ability to jump.
During the ten cinematic designed levels that span out over the realm of Faerun you must adventure through, the unstoppable three must defeat all of the enemies to fend them off and continue on in their race to stop the githyanki general and slaad lord. The more creatures you kill, the more exp points you earn. Also within the levels there will be chests and barrels dotted about for you to smash open and claim the gold that is inside.
Then, when you have completed a chapter, you have the option to buy level and item upgrades. With the level upgrades, these give your character a wider range of attacks and also higher attributes, such as strength, health, etc. Stepping up from the basic attacks, you can perform combos of two different attack styles e.g. weapon strike and punch. These will give you stronger attacks, killing combos, block and then riposte, trip your opponent to the ground or simply to increase the amount of axes, bolts or knives to throw.
The item upgrades, however, add more of a unique look to the characters. On many adventure, RPG or quest like games, when a different set of armour, new sword or accessories are equipped to each of the characters, you are never shown the changes and it takes away the realistic quality.
However, Demon Stone shows you these changes.
When you equip a new suit of armour or sword to Rannek, you then see him in all his splendour with those as you cut through enemies. With Illius, when you equip him with a magical robe or bolt wielding staff, you are shown these as you take part in the vast adventure. The same too is with Zhai; from her normal clothes you can change her into an intricate suit of armour fashioned in the design of a black spider.
It is the little details that turn this game into the true form of fantasy that it is.
From being able to trigger catapults, drop down bridges, hurl enemies off of high ledges and a whole lot more, the gameplay of Demon Stone has been perfected so that there are no glitches, no mishaps, no mistakes and no faults to create the fine work that it is.
R. A. Salvatore is a very famous author, it has already been said within this review. However, one of his most loved and renowned characters is Drizzt Du’urden, a Drow that lives above ground unlike the rest of his kin and has befriended the race of dwarves. There are no words that can explain the rush of excitement that ran through my veins; adventure pumped through my entire system and I leapt up off of my chair, caught up in the moment to the point where there was no reality. Yes, within a level at the famous mythril hall, you can play as Drizzt. For this simple fact, I would implore everyone and anyone who has every read a single book with this character in it, to buy this game! You must! And, if you have no idea of who I am talking about then get off of your backside to your nearest book store, buy a book with him in it and then move on to the game store and buy Demon Stone!
Using words to create a fantasy world is the hardest thing to create. You need to tend to every single reader in your audience and make sure that all are captured in the splendour or horror of the setting you are taking them into.
However, using those words to create an actual 3D representation of the Realms for example must also be a hard task and Stormfront Studios have by far exceeded their capabilities and reputation of past games that they have developed.
Damara contains a range of vivid locations, ten of which you will have to guide and battle the three heroes through, and each have been designed with great talent and thought. At the start of the game, you will first have the control of Rannek as he walks into a war zone and quite literally too. As soon as the camera comes up over the rise, you are shown a village that is under attack by orcs and goblins. In the background, through the skies, flies a magnificent red dragon, soaring through the clouds and sending bursts of flame to the ground below. With the landscape full of warring enemies and burning buildings, it will appear as though someone has taken a true world and placed it into your television.
From there, when the adventure continues, you will enterGemspark mine; this being an amazing and wondrous network of tunnelled caves that glitter from the diamonds embedded into the walls. You will have to fight your way day to the bottom of a wizard’s tower that is filled with enchanted suits of armour, winding stairs and magical traps. After jumping through a portal you then end up within a deep jungle with thick foliage where you cannot see too far into the dense amazon. The other levels, as I do not want to spoil them all, are filled with just the same wonder, magic and adventure that this entire game is bursting with. With fluent effects, especially when the spells are concerned, everything is just a visual marvel of wonder and splendour.
Not only are the locations so real that you could walk into them but the characters too are designed with great detail, each displaying their own emotions and actions. The clothes, faces, weapons and all their attacks are performed in smooth actions down to the design and smooth graphics. As you watch each of them you could just imagine how R. A. Salvatore could be explaining them within a chapter and there is no end to the magic.
Alongside the characters themselves, there are also all of the well-known enemies that have lived in the Realms since the beginning of its creation. Each grotesque and evil creature strikes fear into the heroes as you play through the game and you too will find yourself re-living moments whilst reading the books when you came up against such monsters. From sword wielding orcs to fire breathing dragons, poisonous spiders to yuan-ti snakemen, every single one has been done to the best they can be, with their own looks, weapons and reactions.
Another thing that is absent from fantasy novels but are the advantages of films and games is sound. For one, you cannot hear the voices of the characters. In Demon Stone every main character is given a voice over, two of which are from famous actors. The first voice is that of Patrick Stuart. He is world wide famous, having acted the part of John Luc Picard for Star Trek and more recently he has played the role of Professor Xavier in the X-men movies and did the voice over for the recently released RPG game. The second voice, one a few might not have realised is that of Michael Clarke Duncan who was in Daredevil as the Kingpin and more recently he played a part in Sin City. Yet, no matter how famous each of the voice actors are, every one of the characters are brought to life perfectly by them and if it were not for them then they would not be half than what they are.
The second thing that a novel cannot give is a score---a soundtrack. The music within Demon Stone sets the pace and also location within the game. From a drum based track whilst cutting your path in a jungle to the tinkling tune as you venture into the Gemspark Mines, each of the levels and cinematic scenes are filled with hours of talent, created by fine musicians to produce a living epic.
Including all of the usual needed sound effects such as the dying gurgles of orcs, exploding blasts of stones hurled from catapults, electrifying rays of lightning magic, burning blaze bursting from the belly of the red dragon or the ring and clash of metal on metal as you dive deep into battle.
Without fantasy, there is no purpose to life. All works since the beginning of time have been created as a way to form together a work that presents the desire of the heart, the one thing that keeps us living and sets us apart from the rest of the creations of this world. Wrapped up with magic, tales, courage, bravery, strength, power and glory, Demon Stone is a perfect representation of fantasy. However, as said, it is not all about the story; the game, along with the story, stunning locations, music and voices combine together as one to create the opportunity for mere mortals to live through a treacherous but rewarding time such as that in Demon Stone.
It is when the game becomes the essence of fantasy and our entire meaning to life and living itself, in such a form of enjoyable, thrilling and capturing entertainment of such high calibre, adventure and true gaming genius that it no longer is a game but a living legend.
Tobias Rowe
