The third and final instalment of the Eye of the Beholder series, Eye of the Beholder 3 is a good game. BIt is by no means a great game. Although the system worked for the previous instalments, by the time this came out, the games were sorely lacking from a graphical standpoint and you have to wonder why SSI and Westwood Studios stuck with it. Of course, no one plays role-playing games for the graphics, although Bethesda has been nice to us.
The first time I played Eye of the Beholder I remember it being very hard.
The quests were easy, but the enemies were tough until the third quarter of the game when your character started to get a little more powerful and the difference in ability between the bad guys and you began to level off. I had similar issues in the previous installments of this franchise.
The story loosely follows the weak people - destined for glory - but must wade through countless hordes of excrement because the elf/cat/alien hybrid wizard/thief/warrior decided to take the scenic route instead of knocking on the bad guys door to begin with -- cliche rpg storyline. The real story, fortunately, is very engrossing and captivating at just the right moments as not to vomit at the sight of the graphics.
I remembered these games as inspiring, but now it is just good. I guess that is the way a classic game is supposed to be.
On the plus side, however, I was glad to see that they (the developers) were nice enough to tone down all the trolls -- still a lot of them, but not necessarily a horde of them. Hordes are for orcs.
All in all, if you are still waiting for Conan and you want a bit of second edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Kill - all - who - oppose - you - action, then I would certainly recommend this game for download. It is old school role-playing to the extreme, as all of the games in the series were. Being the last, it will never be able to say that it was the best in the series, but it can definitely and without error say that it brought the story to an end. No spoiler here.
On a personal note, do not use wizards if you have not played this game or others in the series before. You will get stomped until you learn the semi-predictable patterns of enemies. I love wizards, they could kill an entire legion of armour clad warriors and paladins with a simple lightning spell, but in this game, they are more trouble than they are worth if you are inexperienced. If you are intent on using them (wizards), and you have the patience to beat the game, it will be a heroic endeavour indeed.
