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ARCHON II: ADEPT
Ariolasoft
E12.95, joystick required, C64
2
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I ARCHON WAS ONE OF THE
most original strategy games
ever
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written, justifi ably
winning several awards. Now
Electronic Arts has released a
sequel on the Ariolasoft label.
Archon
N
II. Adept sees you
taking sides in an epic struggle
between the Master of Order
and the Mistress of Chaos in a
game
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featuring both strategy
and arcade elements.
The strategy takes place on
a screen featuring the four
concentric
E
rings representing
the classical elements of Earth
Water, Air and Fire. In addition,
there are two neutral squares
which
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represent the void and
the home squares for each side
- the Fortress of Order and the
Temple of Chaos.
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The aim of the game is to
occupy six power points. Two
of these are the void squares
and the other four are the
outer corners of the elemental
bands,
A
These four rotate in turn
from band to band. You can
also win by the total annihilation
of the opposition's forces.
You start the game with four
adepts - one in each element.
Each turn, they can either move
or cast a spell providing that
you have sufficient energy to
carry out your choice. There
are seven spells to choose from
but the one that you will use
more than any other is
summon". This is used to
bring another piece on the
board.
The other spells available to
you are: heal one of your
pieces, weaken an opponent's
piece, imprison an enemy,
release one of your own
imprisoned pieces, banish a
hostile enemy or something
called apocalypse which is a
final battle used to put your
adversary out of his misery.
Casting spells costs varying
amounts of energy depending
on its potency. How much
energy you have at your
disposal depends on how many
power points you occupy.
There are two types of
pieces that can be summoned,
demons and elementals, Both
sides have the same demons at
their disposal - juggernauts,
wraiths, gorgons and chimera
whilst their elementals are
different. Order can call on the
services of a giant, kraken,
thunderbird and salamander,
representing earth, water, air
and fi re whilst Chaos has a
behemoth, siren, itrit and
firebird available to him.
All these characters have
different strengths and weaknesses
when it comes to
combat. Sirens for example just
have to sing and the opposition
starts to die. Salamanders hurl
fireballs, gorgons paralyse
whilst wraiths get stronger as
you get weaker - they are also
invisible most of the time and
'so make extremely formidable
opponents. Not quite as bad as
a juggernaut though which is
best described as pure energy
on wheels. It just steamrollers
opposition out of the way.
Combat occurs when two
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pieces want to occupy the same
square. The scene switches to
the battleground where you
must make instant decisions as
you ltry to probe the opposition's
weaknesses and utilise
your own strengths to their
best advantage. Each piece's
strength is displayed as an
energy bar down the side of the
screen. This reduces for each
successful wound infl icted.
When the bar reaches zero, the
icon dies leaving the victor in
sole possession of the disputed
square.
As might be expected,
pieces fight best when in their
home element e.g. krakens in
the water band. After you have
fired your thunderbolt or
whatever, it takes time before
you are allowed to fire your
next. This time interval varies
from piece to piece and the
computer lets you know with a
ping - high or low depending
0011P0111
on which side you're on. The
battle ground has a number of
barriers w•hich must be dodged
round or used strategically. The
different elements have
differing effects on missiles and
icons. For example, fi re
wounds an icon but leaves
missiles untouched whilst earth
destroys missiles and slows
icons.
Control of the game is
entirely via a joystick. Spells are
selected from a menu whilst
movement is achieved by
moving a square shaped
cursor. Moving round the
combat screen is straightforward.
Aiming a missile
involves pressing the fi re
button and moving the joystick
in the desired direction.
Adepts can move their missiles
whilst in flight a useful trick to
know.
Archon II features a wide
range of options to choose
from: Which side you play,
number of players and their
skill levels. Be warned though.
the computer plays a very
mean game and you are likely
to be thrashed in your first few
games. I would strongly
recommend that you watch the
demonstration games a few
times so that you can get some
idea of the strategies and tactics
required.
Archon II is an excellent
strategy game and one that will
take you a lifetime to master -
then you can play with the
other side and learn a totally
new set of tactics. Whilst it
doesn't quite reach the exalted
standards set by the original,
that is no real criticism and the
game can be unreservedly
recommended.
GYM.