Wizardry 8 (Sir-Tech, PC, M15)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * )

The fact that Wizardry has seen eight incarnations since its first release at the dawn of the PC age is testament enough to its hard-core cult following.

No 8 is set immediately after the seventh episode, where a black wizard, the Dark Savant, stole the Astral Domina, a powerful artefact which holds the promise of world domination.

Your band of adventurers is one of several trying to recover it — shades of Indiana Jones — and you travel to the world of Dominus where the Dark Savant is hiding it.

Wizardry has a long pedigree as a quality role-playing game. Some purists might baulk at the inclusion of firearms and robots among the usual fare of sandals, swords, monks and magic in this version. It's not a problem and helps to set Wizardry apart from the scores of similar games.

Much of the gameplay is stock rpg stuff. You chose a character class, such as Lizardman Bishop or Gadgeteer, and decide how to allocate your initial 40 attribute points.

While you choose any class, it's best to start with a lower one as your points will count for more. The same sort of system is used for spells and, as you gather points, you must decide which of the 40 or so spells to strengthen. The 130-page manual is daunting, but close study will save lots of frustration and untimely ends further down the track.

Like many cult games, Wizardry 8's graphics can't be described as cutting edge. But they're good enough with an impressive depth of detail and a deeply immersive gameplay helps to make up for any shortfall.

peter_eley@nzherald.co.nz