Avalon

MIG Outpost developed this highly underrated science-fiction themed role playing game in the late nineties. It was developed specifically for the MS-DOS format, making it a smooth play and featuring some very nice graphical displays. All views within the game are in the very friendly top down perspective, and the game features a very nice user interface. It has to. Avalon contains qualities of many different games, which is often true of role playing games. It has some puzzle-solving, a bit of strategy, and some awesome battle sequences, all rolled up in a cool anime/manga style of graphics with a great futuristic setting.

Avalon is a futuristic game in a post apocalyptic setting, where the Earth has already been destroyed. All the people of the planet have fled to the distant planet of Avalon, and have adopted the name “the Avalon-cult.” Avalon features a very inhabitable Earth-type of climate, but there are some very strange creatures stalking the planet. One day, the village is attacked by hundreds of these beings, forcing the village’s leader to try to negotiate with the much more powerful horde of monsters. Instead, Lee is taken captive by the creatures, leaving Mace…a young man from the village the task of finding and rescuing Lee, and also determining what prompted the monster attack in order to preserve human life on the refuge of Avalon.
Mace is, obviously, the leader of the role playing game’s party, and he sets off across Avalon in search of his leader. Along the way, he will have to fight many battles and develop his skills as he progresses farther and farther into the heart of enemy territory. He will talk to many non playing characters along the way, some of which will provide clues as to what he is to do or where he is to go. Others will provide items, or even offer to teach him new skills that will help in his journey.
Standard RPG etiquette states that there will be puzzles to solve and battles to fight. The fights are turn based and strategic in nature, and feature the standard options of defending, attacking, and retreating. Attacks can come in many forms, depending on how the character is equipped, varying from ranged attacks to melee or magic.
Overall, Avalon really doesn’t add anything new to the RPG genre, but it is a very satisfying and solid little play that does a good job of using proven video gaming techniques. It is not the largest game available, but it should provide several hours of entertainment to the RPG fan.