One of the few truly revolutionary RPGs, Swords of Glass is a wonderful first-person dungeon romp that was way ahead of its time (1986). The excellent review at a fan page says it all about what makes this game an overlooked classic: "In Swords of Glass you play either a warrior or a magician who is searching through a deep dungeon for the legendary Sword of Glass. I know the story sucks, but don't let that keep you from playing. Remember that this game was made in 1986. Not only did it allow 3-D dungeons in color, but it also had multi-player split-screen! This was a time when even action games hardly allowed multi-player. Also, weapons and armor would degrade over time, and you could upgrade them. There are also plenty of spells. The game was just filled with cool stuff that you couldn't find anywhere at that time is history. After you create a character, you go buy weapons and armor. Afterwards, you enter the dungeon and fight evil monsters to the death and pick up treasure chests along the way. After a little fighting, you return to the village. Then sell your spoils, and buy better equipment. That's the main loop you'll be repeating for a long while. If I recall, there are about sixteen dungeon levels. The Sword of Glass is somewhere on the last one. You will spend weeks to get a character powerful enough to dare dive for it, and the reward is very small. A simple "you win" is all. Still, the game took countless hours of my childhood away from me, and I'm still glad I played this game." Wizardry this ain't, but it is still well worth your time if you are fan of computer RPGs. Too bad the split-screen multiplayer idea has not been popularized. This game was included in Keypunch's Swords and Sorcery compilation (probably illegally, since Keypunch was notorious for selling games to which they didn't own copyright – hence no mention of designer/programmer anywhere in the game), and is easily the best game of the bunch. Two thumbs up! Reviewed by: Underdogs |