I miss old SSI games and all the beauty and wonder they brought me as a child. Perhaps it’s more of the feeling of playing old MS-DOS games and that no worries feeling of playing games all summer long when your parents are out working; no cares in the world but that of the evil dragons and goblins of an RPG world. Secret of the Silver Blades arrived in May of 1990, developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc (SSI), a company we covered in our gaming history back in TD Gaming Podcast Episode 9.
Secret of the Silver Blades is actually the third in a four-part game series which was eventually packaged in the Gold Box editing of the SSI games. It was a continuation of the game Curse of the Azure Bonds and the first in the series: Pool of Radiance. The cool part of the series was the leveling system where each would let you level to a certain limit just like most modules in D&D games, this game let you get to level seven which means a Mage could use the cool Delayed Blast Fireball spell which was one of my favorite magic spells in D&D (yeah, I’m a dork.)
The graphics were a whopping 16-colors, with slight graphical improvements over the other two prior games. This game didn’t have an overworld map like the others, going full first person for the length of the game. Another great enhancement was the ability to use the arrow keys to navigate menu’s without the need for “hot keys” like older SSI titles, given the game is very much menu-based for combat, equipment and inventory management it was very handy to have the use of those nice little arrow keys.
You create your party and start adventuring in a game engine very similar to all the games before it, so introduction to game mechanics was minimal, you could advance your characters further in level and, most importantly, import characters from previous games. The D&D world is really a character-driven game environment and you grow fond of your characters and understand the best ways to battle with them, importing is key and still, today, is a big part in well done RPG expansions (Guild Wars is a great example). Unfortunately, many games fall short of character import and it kind of blows away some of the magic of an RPG.
One of the frustrating issues with Secret of the Silver blade is the limitation on levels for the Cleric, because they can’t level up past 7 they can’t get the good ressurection spell, only allowed to use Raise Dead which lowers your characters constitution by 1 (much like the traditional D&D rules). However, given its a video game and not a paper-dice based game, the raise dead penalty is annoying, so it was easier to save often and re-load when you died to try again and avoid the penalty. I do recall their being some scrolls or something to get back your constitution penalty… but it’s been awhile I might be making that up.
Anyway, a well done series, classic RPG and helped build a foundation for games like Morrow Wind and Oblivion in my opinion.
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@Wii U sells 1.2 games per console
Hmm, lemme see, what would that be … I say it is that the bundle was so very compelling. Yep. Trust me.
Not!
While we’d all like to make our choices based strictly on the experience we’d get from a product, price does matter.
@BioWare was planning spy action title in 2009
Oookay … so? I also wanted to buy an SUV in 2009, but that doesn’t mean I now own one.
I did hear and play NOLF around 2007, but mainly to see what the LithTech engine could do; back then I was into modding, and the game I was interested in used the same engine.
@Hitman Facebook app removed for off-color joke
The app is actually funny! I guess if they just re-worked the hit message things would have worked out differently.
@Activision: Black Ops II grossed $1 billion in 15 Days
This is ridiculous. This will definitely shift the focus from movies to games, for all major entertainment companies. I mean come on, 1 billion bucks!
Regarding SP versus MP, I do play the campaigns. I guess it’s a scar of my internet-less past :P. Thing is, even now I prefer a good SP story over a good MP.
@What’s the most offensive thing you’ve seen in a videogame?
Hmm … dunno. I mean since it’s a video game, I don’t really think of them as offensive.
I guess me. I’m the most offensive thing I saw in STALKER Clear Sky. The god damned guide kept asking me “What’s with the stalling?” and “Is this a starring contest?” while I was minding my own business investigating my inventory . So I pulled out the handgun and put a bullet in his head.
@Nintendo Weakness
Since I missed out last podcast, I never read Nintendo Power. I used to read the Official Nintendo Magazine which was aimed at the UK gaming market. Since we only get like a 1/4 of Nintendo games that come out in US, there was no point in reading an import mag.
@Wii U tanking harder than Titanic
I read the Famitsu report. 7th best launch in Japan. Just to tell you how bad it is, PS Vita was 6th. In UK every store bundled the Wii U with a whole bunch of games. You can’t buy a premium unit for £300. You have to buy it for £400+ with a boatload of games you probably don’t want. Because there is only one game worth of anyones attention. The Mario game which is a remake of a remake of a remake of a remake.
@Hitman
This is a blatant publicity stunt. No way can I believe that serious men sitting around a table would decide that this app was a good idea.
@Record breaking
“And now in other news of 2015, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 grossed $3 billion dollars from pre-order deposits alone.” I don’t expect this record breaking to persist. Call of Duty is running out of steam. At least that’s what it feels like.
@QOTW
Since I am Russian I get a little offended when shooting games portray us as low-intelligent over-violent trigger happy brutes. Then again, it’s less of an issue these days since the US started an open season on Arabs.
One thing I do remember was when I was playing House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii. During the first level cutscene you are introduced to the main bad guy talking to a paralysed kid in a wheelchair. The bad guy smacks him on the face with his cane and calls him a cabbage. I know that this game was specifically built to offend the soft audience of the Wii. But there are some jokes that are just in poor taste.