Drakan: Order of the Flame by Al Giovetti

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By Al Giovetti
Price:$44.99
Genre:3D Action Adventure
Release:August 17, 1999
Developer: Surreal Software
Lead Animator: Mel Guymon
Lead Artist: Mike Nichols
Lead Designer: Alan Patmore
Lead Programmer:Stuart Denman
Public Relations:Dana Oertell * Charlotte Panther *
ESRB Rating:
Producer:
Publisher:
Phone:
Website: www.psygnosis.com
Requirements:Pentium 166, 32 MB RAM, 3D Accelerator Card
Recommended:Pentium II 233, 32 MB RAM, Second generation 3D Accelerator Card

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Drakan: Order of the Flame

History

Company Line

This is Drakan Order of the Flame™, an action-adventure that seamlessly blends aerial and ground-based gameplay in a beautiful 3D world. As the player, you are Rynn, a warrior-heroine with a savvy attitude and a quick sword arm who teams up with a powerful, fire-breathing dragon named Arokh.Leaving her small village behind, Rynn and Arokh embark on an epic journey across the massive and dangerous world of Drakan in a desperate quest to save Rynn's kidnapped younger brother - and quite possibly all of Drakan - from a fate worse than death.

Played in third-person perspective, Drakan combines hand-to-hand combat using over 50 different weapons with a unique flight engine that allows you to battle it out against other dragons for supremacy of the skies. Six different dragon attacks and seven magical spells round out your arsenal. In addition to blood curdling battle situations, Rynn and Arokh will explore their mysterious world, solve puzzles, and interact with more than 25 unique characters through Drakan's real-time, in-game cinematic system.

Game Play

You get to interact with 25 non-player characters in the game, which is not a lot considering that games like Outpost have over 1000 unique non-player characters to interact with.

Plot

In the earliest known days, the world of Drakan was a place of chaos and strife. The many tribes and races were scattered, and warred amongst one another in an endless cycle of death and retribution. The two greatest races, the elder breed of Dragons and the younger tribes of Humanity, struggled bitterly against one another wherever they met. Where mankind encroached on the nesting grounds of Dragons, the great beasts razed their villages and scorched their crops, while stealthy bands of men would trap and kill lone Dragons, and enter their lairs to destroy the precious clutches of eggs.

Across the world, this madness raged for centuries, until at last, one small bastion of reason shone forth. High in the central mountains of the great continent, one lone tribe of men found an uneasy compromise with the neighboring Dragons, and each allowed the other to live unmolested. In time, a common trust developed, and the two races began to cooperate more fully. The strength of this alliance gradually spread to the neighboring regions, and the seeds of the first great civilization were sown. As a symbol of the greatest virtues of this society, the two races agreed upon the pact known as The Bond. Through the magic of an artifact known as the Dragonstone, the bravest and most noble of men would join their life essence to that of a single dragon, linking the two forever as one. These Bonded formed a loose alliance known as the Order of the Flame, serving as roaming protectors and arbitrators, and embodying the ideals of brotherhood and cooperation upon which their society was built.

Led by the gleaming example of the Bonded, the Order of the Flame rapidly spread its influence and philosophy throughout the continent, gathering the warring races and petty kingdoms into a single great nation. For generations, this peace held. Freed from the constant threat of warfare, their scholars turned to the study of magic, devising potent spells to alter the very land around them and mold it to their needs. Nothing, it seemed, was unattainable.

Graphics

Animation

Rynn, the female fighter main actor in the game has 150 separate animations. Appears even more realistic in the real-time object shading and colored lighting, with lens flare for bright lights. Weather influences of wind, rain and snow are all added into the animation and physics engine controlling character movement. Single-skinned skeletal animation that plays multiple animations at different speeds or even in reverse, at the same time. Within the same character skeletons can have an arbitrary arrangement to create any creature desired. The creatures include many from humanoid to dragon. The transparencies are apparent and beautiful, especially the transparent wings of Arokh the dragon.

Voice Actors

Music Score

Sound Effects

Complete sound effects in 3D surround sound with Doppler effects.

Utilities

Multi-player Features

Up to 8 plyers can play on the Internet or Local Area Network. A special agreement has Mplayer hosting the game on its player network for a resource of thousands of seasoned gamers to play with. There are 11 uniquely designed multiplayer levels.

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