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3DNow!™ Drakan: Order of the Flame Review
| Developer/Publisher Surreal Software / Psygnosis | Est. Street Price $44.95 (US) |
| Minimum System Requirements 166 MHz Pentium class computer 32MB of RAM 4MB 3D accelerator | Recommended System Requirements K6-2 300MHz or higher 64MB of RAM 8MB 3D accelerator |
In the aftermath of the Dark War, chaos and evil had spread across the land. Villages and cities were raided and left in ruins. Such a town was Rynn's, who was a young and beautiful warrior. After the monstrous tribes destroyed her home, she found her brother missing and set out to find him. However, in those dark times a warrior alone was no match for the evil hordes. Rynn needed the aid of an ancient and powerful beast, a dragon.
The enemy hordes in Drakan are made up of bands of mischievous and loathsome creatures. The enemies you'll encounter on the ground are more cartoonish then that of traditional fantasy games, yet they are still gruesome. Each has their own comical taunts and gestures that make them seem more alive. Airborne beasts tend to be on the more insidious side. Vile Elder Dragons and seductive Succubi litter the skies with danger. Both are animated quite beautifully despite the fact of their hideous nature. Characters in Drakan are not only uniquely modeled, but are also animated with such life that you are truly immersed in the game's splendor.
Drakan's musical score is also well done. The sound track includes the grand instruments from a full symphony, bringing to life the majestic and vast world. However, it is very disappointing that the background music is only audible for certain dramatic situations. Having music accenting the gameplay throughout the missions would have enriched Drakan so much more.
Once you've found and joined Rynn with Arokh, you'll be able to wield death effortlessly to the hordes of evil minions. Arokh can explode ground troops with fireballs or roast them nice and toasty with his hellish flame breath. Watch out! These armies have their own airborne attackers too! You'll have to master dragon riding to vanquish these foes. Again, use the surroundings to your advantage. Duck and dive behind cliffs, hide out in caves, and do whatever it takes to send enemy dragons plummeting down into the earth.
The world of Drakan offers a wealth of weapons and magic to aid Rynn and Arokh in their battles. Arokh has the ability to unleash the power of Rune stones. Once you possess a particular Rune, its' powers are yours to use. You'll be able to poison, freeze, and shock you're enemies with their magic. Rynn also has weapons, magic wands, and armor available at her disposal. Each weapon is unique in its' range, speed, and attack strength. Some weapons are even enchanted with ice, fire, and other magic that can dismember those stronger enemies. However, all of this comes at the price of the weapon's durability. Each weapon and piece of armor comes with a number of how many uses it has remaining. Any swing that makes contact, or any attack that makes contact with you will decrease the item's durability by one. When the durability goes to zero, you best be running or calling Arokh to save your pretty butt.
While all of this makes Drakan up to be one of the best action/adventure games to ever hit the PC, the game still suffers from several bugs. When navigating Arokh on foot through caves and tight corners it is too easy to get stuck. You might have a better idea of what the city bus driver feels like after playing this game. Rynn also gets stuck in certain areas where trails meet with cliff sides or cave walls. If you can't use jumping and rolling to free yourself, you may have to reload you last save position. Hopefully, an upcoming patch will soon remedy these flaws.
Introduction
Long ago, an ancient war was fought amongst man. The Order of the Flame, where bold defenders had joined in alliance with dragons, was under siege by the Dark Union. The betrayer, Navaros, had secretly been a member of this Dark Union although he had been a part of the Order. Navaros disappeared for ten years and then returned to the Order of the Flame. Unknown to the Order, Navaros had been studying dark and forbidden magic. He unleashed his evil powers and the Dark Union on the Order and so the Dark Wars began. As the wars waged on, Navaros grew more menacing. He devoured the ancient dragon Kaeros' soul to become nearly invincible. In a desperate last stand the Order had forged a weapon called the Runeblade. With this sword Navaros was struck down, but the Order was also vanquished in this final battle.
Graphics & Animation 
Drakan: Order of the Flame offers some of the most breath taking visuals in a fantasy game. The outdoor environments created with Surreal's own Riot Engine are truly stunning. The engine uses a technique called Level of Detail (LOD) that renders distant objects with less detail than that of close objects. This helps the game to run incredibly smooth. Drakan's Riot Engine also uses a new Layering technology that gives a more organic feel to the surroundings. Textures can actually morph and re-shape themselves in real-time! This breathes awesome life into the land.
Sound & Music 
The sound effects in Drakan are executed very well. Drakan makes use of Creative Labs' EAX and Aureal's A3D to greatly enhance the environments found in the many lands. Front to back spatial effects are quite noticeable as enemy dragons belch balls of fire past your brow. Room reverberations haunt you as your echoing footsteps in caverns allude to the chilling fear that some creature may be following you.
Gameplay & Immersion
As Rynn you begin Drakan with a sword that is a little more than a tooth pick. Thrust into the wake of an onslaught brought on by menacing forces, you begin the search for Rynn's captured brother. To survive this trial you must master the use of melee combat. Going in headfirst and headstrong will surely get you decapitated. The game gives you the typical attacks of slash, jump slash, and duck and slash, but also advance techniques that can be executed with certain consecutive keystrokes. Unfortunately, even with the most skilled attacks, the monsters of the land are still too clever enough to be defeated easily. They will dodge your attacks and rush you whenever they can. However, by using Rynn's agility to your advantage you'll be able to conquer your foes without breaking a sweat. Using the environment is the best means to vanquish an enemy. A box that you can slash from or a tree that you can maneuver an enemy around can be the difference between life and death.
3DNow!™ Support
Drakan is one of many new games to feature 3DNow!™ optimizations. Support in the Riot Engine does help keep the game running smooth the majority of time, but at times my AMD K6-2 400 gets bogged down. So, while 3DNow!™ support may be included, it does not offer a full proof means of keeping the frame rate high. Perhaps more optimizations will be done on the Riot Engine in the future and support for 3DNow!™ will be improved.
Overall
Drakan: Order of the Flame is certainly one of the best fantasy games to come along in awhile. It offers an intriguing story line, great depth in gameplay, and some of the most wondrous visuals ever. While Drakan touches on the RPG side of things, it may not supply hardcore fans of that genre with great satisfaction. However, it certainly goes above and beyond what anyone would find in a typical action/adventure title.
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