The third game in the Lands of Lore series takes you back to Gladstone Keep and puts you in the persona of Copper LeGre, a half-Dracoid who is the illegitimate son of the King's brother. His Dracoid heritage has always been looked down upon by most, and his royal blood only complicates matters. As the game opens, Copper is spending time hunting with his father and half brothers. Suddenly, they are attacked by Rifthounds. Unlike his father and brothers, Copper escapes with his life - although one of the hounds manages to rip the very soul from his body. As you can imagine, Copper's job is to gain his soul back and avenge his family's death.
The storyline takes you first to Gladstone Keep, where you'll join one or more guilds to prepare yourself for the adventures that will come. Investigation unveils that a mystical mirror seal has been broken, and the pieces scattered through a number of dimensions. You are to gather them, and seal up the fabric of reality. I'm sure the similarities between this game and Mask of Eternity are not intentional, but they are eerie. You'll travel to a volcanic world, ice world, and the underworld, just like in the King's Quest game. Gathering mirror pieces is very like gathering the mask pieces. Of course, the similarities end there. While Mask of Eternity was an adventure game with role playing elements, Lands of Lore III is more of a role playing game with adventure elements.
The game engine used is a little behind the times. In this day of Half-Life and Unreal, the Lands of Lore III engine looks quite dated. The high resolution textures look great, but the objects in the game world are composed of lower-resolution sprites instead of polygons. The edges are very jagged-looking against the background, and you cannot view objects from any angle. While moving around something, it keeps facing you - much like the technology used in Duke Nukem 3D or Doom. The sound effects are very good, and the voice acting is superior. Most of the characters sound convincing and confident.
The real core of the game centers around the role playing aspects, and this is where the game is highly polished. The interface is easy to learn and use, and goes above and beyond the call of duty for friendliness. Little touches like the way objects are automatically cataloged with descriptions are excellent. Conversations are recorded for convenience, and quests are listed for easy reference. Quick-access areas are available, so you may place often-used objects, weapons, and spells. Default melee and range weapon slots are configurable so you can simply use them without having to do any complicated equipping. Other useful features include a handy automap and bestiary that is built as you discover creatures. The only downside to the interface has to do with movement; some of the features tend to get in the way. The default keyboard configuration takes you all over the keyboard, and the mouse control to look up and down is not handy.
When you visit Gladstone early in the game, you are offered the opportunity to join one or more guilds. The game is balanced in such a way that each guild or combination of guilds gives you a specific way to develop Copper. There are four guilds in the game - warrior, wizard, cleric, and thief. You may join all four if you like, but experience will be split up among your choices and your overall advancement will proceed more slowly. Join only one and you'll advance quickly, but only in that area. The decision is yours as to how many guilds you'll join, and how you develop Copper as an adventurer.
There is no implemented party system in the game, although each guild will offer you a familiar to travel with. Each familiar has abilities unique to the guild with which it is associated. You may choose only one familiar for the duration of the game, and if it dies you may resurrect it or go without its benefits. It is a gameplay choice, but my opinion is that is better to choose a familiar associated with a guild that you did NOT join, so as to gain benefits that you will not have in and of yourself. The familiars also have personalities that will be asserted during your travels as well. Aside from your familiar, you are basically on your own as you explore in the game, no other adventurers will become party members.
There are a couple of gameplay aspects that are less than favorable. Certain creatures respawn, which can be a real pain when you're wandering back over previously explored territory. There is a food requirement in the game, which is truly an annoyance. I enjoy a level of realism in my games, but eating isn't something I want to see modeled.
Lands of Lore III continues in the tradition of the series, detailing a rich world filled with magic and mystery. The characters are well thought-out, and the game is fun to play. There are more than a couple similarities with King's Quest: the Mask of Eternity, but since both games were in development at the same time, I doubt very much that this was intended. The role playing aspects of the game are very well implemented; I only wish the graphics engine were more sophisticated. It reminds me very much of Might and Magic VI - it is a solid role playing game with a less than desirable window on the world.
