Kingdom 1: The Far Reaches is a fantasy themed DOS game that was developed and released in the middle nineties by Interplay. The game is an “easy-runner” and does not require much memory or a great system to play. Therefore, it lacks the whistles and bells of other games in the genre, but it is still family friendly and very playable.
The user is Lathan Kandor, a young hero who is the last living heir to the Argent Kings. Before Lathan’s birth, the land was ruled by the Argent Kings, who were growing weaker with age.
Kingdom 1: The Far Reaches is a fantasy themed DOS game that was developed and released in the middle nineties by Interplay. The game is an “easy-runner” and does not require much memory or a great system to play. Therefore, it lacks the whistles and bells of other games in the genre, but it is still family friendly and very playable.
The user is Lathan Kandor, a young hero who is the last living heir to the Argent Kings. Before Lathan’s birth, the land was ruled by the Argent Kings, who were growing weaker with age. In an effort to maintain the integrity of the kingdoms, they combined their powers and bestowed them upon Mobus, who would become the Archmage. Unfortunately, Mobus’s jealous brother Torlok took offence
to the kings’ choice of recipients, and confronted Mobus. Mobus took the amulet of power, bearing the kings’ knowledge, and broke into five pieces. The pieces were hidden about the land. Torlok, in an evil rage, and he assassinated all people of royal blood. One young girl, however, was cleverly whisked away. She grew to adulthood, married, and had a son…Lathan Kandor, the last of the Argent Kings. Lathan must restore the amulet (known as the hand of Mobus) and also restore the kingdom to its former glory, while ridding it of Torlok’s plague. His magician mentor, Daelon, is his only help.
The world is a dangerous one. Lathan will find peril at every turn, and dying will happen often. The upside is that Far Reaches offers a save game feature, so the user can pick up where he or she left off after an unexpected mishap. The downside is that there is only one port for saving, so if the user goes astray and saves it, he or she is stuck with the choice and does not have the option of reverting to an early save point. This effectively eliminates the “do over” feature. The game also features two difficulty settings, wizard and apprentice, to make up for some of its difficult game play.
Far Reaches is a third person style of play with many monsters and evil beasts to combat. Lathan is primarily a spell-caster, as his mentor was a wizard. He can also use a variety of items and relics. There are many puzzles to solve, and their difficulty varies. At each new location on the map, the user will be shown an animation to describe it. These can be skipped or rewatched as the user sees fit. Many clues to advance the story are hidden within these animations, either as visual evidence, or in dialogue. The plot is nicely detailed, and while it does have a lot of fantasy clichés (saving the princess etc) it is still lively and engaging. Far Reaches is a nice, solid play, and comes recommended for download.
