I first played Heroes of the Lance in the late 80s. It was my introduction really to role-playing games (along with other classics like Sierra’s Hero’s Quest). We were on vacation when I bought it. The manual was wonderful and mystifying. I couldn’t wait to get home and play.
I remember it was hard. I am a child of the 80s and video games were my thing. But this was harder than I’d bargained for. After a few weeks, I gave up and went on to other things.
A few years later, however, I read the Dragonlance novels on which the game is based. Then I had to play it. I had to pass it. I even had some vague idea of what to do at the end. (You throw the blue crystal staff- sorry if I ruined it).
I don’t think it had brilliant graphics, even for its time, and our PC speakers garbled out the music quite awfully. Still, once I had context, I loved it.
The premise of the game is fairly simple. Sidescroll through dungeon levels, kill draconians (dragon-men) and goblins, collect treasure and try to keep from being killed by the traps. It was fun because you could switch between which character you had active
and they all had their own special skills. Many of the traps could only be avoided if you had Tasselhoff the kender as the active character, but you had to switch back quick because he wasn’t much of a fighter. The wizard could kill things easily (when hit, creatures slow for a second and so magic from afar was a good tactic,) but you had to switch him out quickly if the foes survived his initial few attacks. The boss monster is brutal. Without knowing what to do, fighting it is nearly hopeless. Even when you do know, you are likely to lose a few characters by the time you get to act.
Characters could die. The game would go on with another character appearing as the active character. I liked that a lot. I believe you could even resurrect dead characters with the blue crystal staff that Goldmon had. This was one of the first games I remember where you had control of a bunch of heroes. It was a great feature. I don’t think there was any character advancement.
There wasn’t much of a storyline, save for the bits you could pick up from the manual. But if you know the story already it is a good ride. The books and the game go hand and hand, and I recommend both.
