Review Sword and Sorcery -- Underworld Review

[Elwro]

Tags: OlderBytes; Swords and Sorcery: Underworld

<p>It only took us a year to prepare a review for the onlybest oldschool dungeon crawl of 2010, <a href="http://www.classicgamesremade.com/">Sword and Sorcery -- Underworld</a>. Here's the <a href="http://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=223">review</a> by yours truly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Every step outside of a tavern is a risk, and don't be surprised if your freshly created party is reduced to 1 barely standing, 5 unconscious after a stroll around a corner of the starting town. (...) later on, in true oldschool tradition you're fighting varieties of dragons every second step.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"> </p>
<p>Fun!</p>

 

[Darth Roxor]

Well, in these games you could see the enemy coming from a distance. Not so in Sword and Sorcery -- Underworld

Sounds like Wizardry 7. The pretty much sole reason that made me raeg when playing it. Meh. Getting surprise buttrapes every 5 seconds is not fun, dammit. A shame, seems like a decent shameless M&M clone.

Wait, what? :shock:

Also, I doubt this was supposed to look like this:

The graphics style makes {c, non-c} look consistent.

 

[Elwro]

This concern was raised on the top secret staff forum, too. I see I'm getting too elitist for this site A set of formulas is consistent if you can't derive a contradiction from it.

 

[I.C. Wiener]

God damn that looks like shit. Should have gone text-based. Good game or no you don't charge $20 for something looking like that.

 

[Zed]

Yeah the game kind of looks like a 1996 fansite for Diablo 1, but hopefully he can hire an artist or something for his next game cuz I've heard a lot (mostly good things) about this one.

 

[felipepepe]

$20 for a game that uses random bad-photoshopped google images as art ? It's not about being a graphic whore anymore, is about self-respect.

 

[ortucis]

OK, there is "Indie" and then there is "OMG I AM SUCH A INDIE THAT I USE MS-PAINT FOR MY INDIE RPGEH".

I am no graphics expert but visuals like this in a commercial game is just pathetic. Might as well create your game in Excel and distribute the file as it is.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Nice review, thanks a lot for it. Since I (thankfully) don't care about graphics or art style, I'm definitely going to buy this game after I'm done with Uukrul. Too bad it lacks variety and has almost no puzzles or riddles or anything, but still, I'll probably enjoy it.

It only took us a year to prepare a review for the only best oldschool dungeon crawl of 2010, Sword and Sorcery -- Underworld.

Blasphemy! The best dungeon crawl of 2010 is Etrian Odyssey 3.

 

[commie]

Funny, I can handle MM1 graphics because I know it's from another age, but this looks fucking awful, random badly cut pasta images on a god awful map with a grotesque palette.

What would be so hard imitating the style of those old dungeon crawlers from the late 80's-early 90's?

If he wants to fleece people out of $20 clams, the least he could do is take the time to find images to photoshop into the game that fit the setting.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Definitely should have just used wizardry style graphics.

 

[Piety]

For christs sake Codex, a lengthy, meaty, engaging genuinely old-school dungeon crawler gets made, and all 80% of posters can do is drool out infantile whining about amateur graphics. Sure the game looks like acient, barely-warmed-over shit, but since when has that not been a distant, distant second to gameplay? Distant second. Especially in the almost complete absence of anything else like this anymore? You're like a catty, bitchy pack of schoolgirls up in here.

 

[MisterStone]

If Cleve would just release Grimoire he'd fucking OWN the whole genre. Best RPG of 1999!!!!!

 

[felipepepe]

For christs sake Codex, a lengthy, meaty, engaging genuinely old-school dungeon crawler gets made, and all 80% of posters can do is drool out infantile whining about amateur graphics. Sure the game looks like acient, barely-warmed-over shit, but since when has that not been a distant, distant second to gameplay? Distant second. Especially in the almost complete absence of anything else like this anymore? You're like a catty, bitchy pack of schoolgirls up in here.

Dude, the main issue here is paying $20 on a 2011 game that uses MS Paint as art-style. I understand Indie low-budget games. But I don't understand $20 Indie low-budget games. I bought both Minecraft and Super Meat boy for that.

And I'm not going to argue with someone who believes RPGs are about "1º Gameplay; 2º Graphics". Story is where, bellow Customer Support, above Box Art?

 

[commie]

For christs sake Codex, a lengthy, meaty, engaging genuinely old-school dungeon crawler gets made, and all 80% of posters can do is drool out infantile whining about amateur graphics. Sure the game looks like acient, barely-warmed-over shit, but since when has that not been a distant, distant second to gameplay? Distant second. Especially in the almost complete absence of anything else like this anymore? You're like a catty, bitchy pack of schoolgirls up in here.

When the graphics actually distract from the game content as this does, then it affects gameplay. The art direction(what art direction?) is what is fucking awful here, Dwarf Fortress' ASCII looks better.

Anyway, there's dozens of great crawlers from the late 80's onwards that warrant (re)plays more than this, are freely available and don't look like arse. Why waste money on shit just because it's the only thing around? Play the hundred crawlers of yesteryear that are fucking miles better!

 

[Elwro]

I really think that the lack of automap and restricted saving is what scares people off from the oldies.

 

[commie]

I really think that the lack of automap and restricted saving is what scares people off from the oldies.

Shit, Dark Designs by ol' Johnny Carmack that I've recently revisited has an automap and looks consistently more effective in CGA than this. This is the thing, the sheer crappiness of the graphics here make it worse than if it had no graphics at all. You can't help but recoil at them. If the oldies scare people off then what can this game do? Besides, anyone that would think of playing this wouldn't be turned off by those oldies for any legitimate reason apart from maybe not being willing to screw around with DosBox.

 

[Jaesun]

When the graphics actually distract from the game content as this does, then it affects gameplay. The art direction(what art direction?) is what is fucking awful here, Dwarf Fortress' ASCII looks better.

I was going to make a LOL ITT: The Graphic Whores™ of The Codex Revealed! But I do have to say personally I agree on that point. But that said, the more important aspects of a decent cRPG are there (Stats, Skills, Combat etc...), which is a good start.

 

[felipepepe]

"You gather your party and venture into Win 95 screensaver. In the distance, you see 2 anglerfish pictures you used in a high-school work. After defeating them in a fierce battle, a badly-shopped girl from The Incredibles appears and says shes not scared of you. You are about to question what she is doing here, when suddenly the sorceress from Throne of Bhaal Game Manual appears! It was a trap!"

Pure role-playing immersion.

 

[Archibald]

Go buy a new ME2 dlc fags.

 

[Yeesh]

When the graphics actually distract from the game content as this does, then it affects gameplay. The art direction(what art direction?) is what is fucking awful here, Dwarf Fortress' ASCII looks better.

I was going to make a LOL ITT: The Graphic Whores™ of The Codex Revealed! But I do have to say personally I agree on that point. But that said, the more important aspects of a decent cRPG are there (Stats, Skills, Combat etc...), which is a good start.

It's a very thin and very arbitrary line that separates graphics "actually distract[ing] from the game content" from graphics just not being good enough. How do you reconcile a position like yours with this site's lifetime spent attacking people who didn't like to play crappy looking games from earlier eras precisely because the old graphics bugged them? You're welcome to try, but you're just going to be making shit up.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

You gather your party and venture into Win 95 screensaver. In the distance, you see 2 anglerfish pictures you used in a high-school work.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Bunch of next-gen faggots ITT. Enjoy your Skyrim.

 

[DragoFireheart]

"You gather your party and venture into Win 95 screensaver. In the distance, you see 2 anglerfish pictures you used in a high-school work. After defeating them in a fierce battle, a badly-shopped girl from The Incredibles appears and says shes not scared of you. You are about to question what she is doing here, when suddenly the sorceress from Throne of Bhaal Game Manual appears! It was a trap!"

Pure role-playing immersion.

Fucking oldfag-who's-really-a-newfag. Alright, the graphics look like ass. How is the quality of the gameplay?

Legend of Zelda for the NES looks like ass by todays standards but it's gameplays is easily superior to most games of today! Do you want a fucking interactive movie or a a video game?

 

[commie]

When the graphics actually distract from the game content as this does, then it affects gameplay. The art direction(what art direction?) is what is fucking awful here, Dwarf Fortress' ASCII looks better.

I was going to make a LOL ITT: The Graphic Whores™ of The Codex Revealed! But I do have to say personally I agree on that point. But that said, the more important aspects of a decent cRPG are there (Stats, Skills, Combat etc...), which is a good start.

It's a very thin and very arbitrary line that separates graphics "actually distract[ing] from the game content" from graphics just not being good enough. How do you reconcile a position like yours with this site's lifetime spent attacking people who didn't like to play crappy looking games from earlier eras precisely because the old graphics bugged them? You're welcome to try, but you're just going to be making shit up.

People have a right to rage at those that dismiss old games because of the graphics alone. Having said that, people do have a point in dismissing games based on terrible art direction, interface. It's one thing to play an old game and complain that there's only 256 colors or that it's pixelated. If that's all that stops you from playing then you should rightly be derided as a next-gen graphic whore faggot. If on the other hand the style of the graphics and content is soinappropriate given the setting that they ruin the 'immershun' then it is quite correct to deride and reject a game because of it's graphics.

Felipepepe is right in nailing why the graphics here suck. Seeing a badly cropped stock picture of Spiderman appear as the avatar of the evil warlock on dungeon level 12 is just too fucking much to bear. Show nothing for fucks sake if that's the alternative! Just splash 'Encounter' and a description of your foe!

Go buy a new ME2 dlc fags.

I pirate all my Bioware faggotry thankyou very much.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Whenever I see people arguing about art direction, I can't help but visualise a group of men in blazers and tight jeans tittering about passers-by and how their trousers so do not go with those shoes. I just can't help it.