Dragon Wars
| Industry | Video game development and publishing |
|---|---|
| Founder | Rebecca Heineman |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Dragon Wars |
Dragon Wars is a fantasy-themed role-playing game created by Rebecca Heineman, released in 1989 through Interplay Productions and distributed by Activision.
Gameplay
The game starts with a group of four characters, which can be either preset or customized by the player. Additionally, players have the option to import characters from The Bard's Tale trilogy. The party size can expand to a maximum of seven members, including original characters, new recruits, and summoned allies.
Plot
Set against the backdrop of King Drake of Phoebus outlawing all magic and forcing sorcerers into hiding, the narrative follows the player's journey after being accused of using magic while docked in Dilmun. This accusation leads to a life sentence in Purgatory. The pursuit of the mythical land Dilmun forms the core quest, where mastering magic is essential for survival and escape.
Development
Initially conceived during the development of Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate, planned improvements were postponed to focus on a fresh title, resulting in Dragon Wars. This new game combined aspects from The Bard's Tale series with design influences drawn from Wasteland. Originally intended as Bard's Tale IV, the name was altered due to Electronic Arts retaining the rights to that brand. Drawing inspiration partly from Sumerian mythology—featuring antagonists like Namtar—the inclusion of dragons was introduced to fit the game's revised title.
Interplay promoted Dragon Wars using the tagline "Bard's Tale Fans Rejoice!" emphasizing its ability to import characters. Despite internal confidence that it surpassed previous Bard's Tale entries in quality, the absence of the official Bard's Tale branding and limited marketing by Electronic Arts hindered its commercial performance.
To prevent unauthorized copying, the game incorporated a manual-based paragraph lookup system required for gameplay—a common form of copy protection at that time.
A sequel titled Dragon Wars 2 was planned but ultimately canceled in the mid-1990s due to underwhelming sales figures and a decline in RPG popularity.
Reception
Upon release, Dragon Wars garnered significant critical praise. It received a flawless 5-star score in issue #152 of Dragon magazine (1989). Reviewer Scorpia in Computer Gaming World highlighted its enhanced design, well-balanced combat mechanics, and compelling storyline, considering it superior to many standard role-playing games. According to Heineman, sales were sufficient to cover costs despite challenges related to genre appeal and branding limitations.
The title was later featured in Interplay's 10 Year Anthology Classic Collection released in 1993.
Reviews
- Joker Verlag präsentiert: Sonderheft (1992)
- Amiga Joker (February 1991)
- CU Amiga (February 1991)
- The Games Machine (March 1990)
- Génération 4 (April 1990)
- ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (April 1990)
- Tilt (March 1990)
- Enchanted Realms (May 1991)
- Jeux & Stratégie nouvelle formule #7
External links
- Articles with short description
- 1989 video games
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- Apple II games
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- Games commercially released with DOSBox
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