Yore

In between the endless playing of Warhammer Online, I have also been enjoying a few games from the past, thanks to being a beta tester for Good Old Games, a great site which sells downloadable DRM free versions of classic PC games which run in XP (probably Vista too, though I am still avoiding Vista). I downloaded Die by The Sword and Stonekeep, both games I can remember playing when they first came out. 

Die by the sword is a third person dungeon exploration and combat game, and its key feature is its mouse driven sword combat, in which the movements of the mouse translate directly to the movement of your sword. It is very tricky, and takes a great deal of getting used to, but the sense of freedom of sword movement and control is thrilling once you get the knack. With some refinement, it could be a really great combat system, and I am surprised nobody ever attempted anything similar. (unless they did and I missed it)

Stonekeep was a big budget, years in the making dungeon crawler rpg published by interplay. It plays a lot like the classic Dungeon Master; you explore, solve puzzles and fight monsters. It is also very good fun, atmospheric and extremely tough. Special mention to the sound design, it is effective and a great deal of tension comes from hearing the sound of a monster close by.

Both remind me of a time when games were a lot less forgiving, and the player was left with much to figure out for themselves.