Lords of Chaos (video game)
| Industry | Video game development |
|---|---|
| Founder | Julian Gollop |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Lords of Chaos |
Lords of Chaos is a turn-based tactics tactical role-playing game created by Mythos Games and released by Blade Software in 1990. Serving as the follow-up to Chaos: The Battle of Wizards and a forerunner to the X-COM franchise by Julian Gollop, the title puts players in control of wizards who utilize diverse magical spells to summon creatures or attack foes. It offers both single-player and multiplayer gameplay accommodating up to four participants.
Gameplay
At the start, players craft their wizard by distributing experience points among various stats such as mana, action points, stamina, combat ability, defense, and magic resistance. Any leftover points can be spent on acquiring spells that range from offensive options like Magic Bolt and Curse, potions such as Speed Potion and Healing Potion, utility spells including Teleport and Magic Eye, to summoning creatures like Goblins or Unicorns. Experience accumulated after each scenario may be reinvested to improve the wizard’s capabilities.
Players face challenges on each level by maneuvering their wizard and summoned allies across a tile-based map featuring different terrain types to reach a portal that appears after a specific number of turns. Visibility is confined to previously uncovered areas, compelling players to avoid revealing information during opponents’ turns. Points are awarded for reaching the portal, collecting treasures such as gems, and defeating enemy units. Levels end when every wizard either reaches the portal or is defeated, or when the portal vanishes—resulting in losses for any remaining wizards. Each turn’s actions are limited by a fixed pool of action points used for movement, combat, or ranged attacks.
The original release contained three scenarios: "The Many Coloured Land," a combination of indoor and outdoor environments; "Slayer's Dungeon," a monster-infested dungeon featuring a powerful sword; and "Ragaril's Domain," a single-player palace filled with traps. An expansion pack available directly from Mythos Games added two additional scenarios: "Islands of Iris" and the solo scenario "Tombs of the Undead."
Furthermore, a single-player demo called "Escape From Zol" was distributed through Your Sinclair and Zero magazines. This scenario involved escaping from a trap-laden building similar to "Ragaril's Domain," although experience gained could not be carried over to other scenarios.
Release
Lords of Chaos was released across both 8-bit and 16-bit systems. The 8-bit editions for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC were launched in April 1990, followed by the 16-bit versions for Atari ST and Commodore Amiga in August 1991. Pricing was set at £9.95 for the Spectrum/Commodore 64/Amstrad CPC tape versions, £19.95 for the Atari ST disk release, and £24.95 for the Commodore Amiga disk edition. Although an IBM PC port was planned, it never came to fruition.
Reception
The Spectrum edition garnered favorable critiques, including scores of 90% from Your Sinclair and 80% from CRASH. Reviewers highlighted its intricate strategic depth alongside detailed visuals, making it attractive to fans of Dungeons & Dragons, sword and sorcery themes, as well as strategy enthusiasts.
The title was awarded best adventure game of the year by readers of Crash magazine and secured the 21st spot in Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time.
External links
- Articles with short description
- 1990 video games
- Amiga games
- Amstrad CPC games
- Atari ST games
- Commodore 64 games
- Fantasy video games
- Multiplayer and single-player video games
- Multiplayer hotseat games
- Mythos Games games
- Turn-based tactics video games
- Video game sequels
- Video games about dragons
- Video games about magic
- Video games developed in the United Kingdom
- Video games scored by Matt Furniss
- ZX Spectrum games