Spirit of Excalibur

Last updated
Spirit of Excalibur
Spirit of Excalibur.jpg
Developer(s) Synergistic Software
Publisher(s) Virgin Mastertronic
Director(s) Robert Clardy
Programmer(s) Alan B. Clark
Artist(s) Rob Landeros
Robert Stein III
Composer(s) Christopher Barker (PC)
Mark Riley (Amiga)
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, CDTV
Release1990
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single-player

Spirit of Excalibur is a 1990 role-playing game developed by Synergistic Software and published by Virgin Mastertronic for MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore CDTV, Apple IIGS and Macintosh. The player controls a host of characters with the goal of uniting Sub-Roman Britain under a single king and defending the kingdom. The game was followed by the sequel Vengeance of Excalibur in 1991.

Contents

Gameplay

DOS screenshot showing a portion of Britain on the map screen SOE Map Level.jpg
DOS screenshot showing a portion of Britain on the map screen
Screenshot of a "scene level": a group of knights of the Round Table (left) meets some evil knights (right) SOE Scene Level.jpg
Screenshot of a "scene level": a group of knights of the Round Table (left) meets some evil knights (right)

The geographical setting for Spirit of Excalibur is a depiction of actual southern England with its cities, castles, villages, churches and other locations scattered throughout the land. The player starts by controlling a single character, Lord Constantine III of Britain, but as the game proceeds he will be able to control many other knights and the armies they lead, including King Arthur's best friend and magician Merlin. All action takes place at two different levels: a so-called "map level" and a "scene level".

As its name implies, the "map level" shows a multi-screen overview map of Britain, which the player can explore by scrolling. The computer- and player-controlled characters move across the map from place to place and are usually marked by a shield icon with the knight or character's own insignia. To solve the puzzles and mysteries which allow him to proceed through the game, the player must visit key locations and interact with various characters, sometimes enlisting their help and sometimes fighting them. These types of action take place at the "scene level".

When two different groups meet, the player is shown a scene depicting a side view of all characters present at that location. Dialogs, individual combat, exchanges of objects, and requests for information all take place at the scene level. During the fights on this level, one of the player controlled characters combats one of the enemies. The fight ends when all the elements of a group are dead or have withdrawn. The player can choose whether to activate an automatic control or fight manually and he can also have any of his characters use an object or a magician cast a spell. Individual combat ensues between characters who are not supported by an army, but upon a meeting between two hostile armies a specific combat screen opens. If the player has control over one of the two sides, he can issue commands to his units, for example ordering a group of soldiers to charge the enemy, some knights to flank the adversary of have one of the Knights of the Round Table use an object.

All characters have specific characteristics listed in a status display: numerical values identify the character health status, his/her magical or combat abilities, the strength of his/her defences and the nobility and faith levels. While combat skill or health level are quite self-explanatory, nobility and faith play a slightly subtle role: these virtues are fundamental to each character, so much that extremely low levels of nobility or faith will have the specific knight turn evil and the player will lose control over such character. The player can lower a knight's nobility value for example by committing inappropriate actions for a noble (e.g. attacking innocent people), but he can also enhance such value by committing good deeds like helping a damsel in distress. Faith values can be altered quite similarly: in presence of supernatural creatures or tools faith can be reduced, but having a character spend some time in a church will make his/her faith stronger.

Plot

As the title suggests, the game is based on Arthurian legend. Both fictional and historical sources are used to recreate the atmosphere of the age of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and to draw out characters' names, history and relationships. The game's sources include medieval works such as Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , modern ones such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon , and a number of historical treatises on Arthur of the late 1980s. The game is set in the year 539, shortly after the Battle of Camlann at which King Arthur has been mortally wounded by the traitorous Mordred. Britain urgently needs a new king who can reunite its scattered realms and bring the Round Table back to its former glory. Arthur left a successor in the person of Lord Constantine the Crown Regent.

Spirit of Excalibur consists of five different episodes each with its main quest and a number of lesser ones to solve both to achieve the episode main goal and the game aim of reuniting Britain. During the game the player first leads Constantine to Camelot where he can claim Arthur's throne, then gathers forces to defeat both the Saxon invaders and the sons of Mordred who seek to usurp the throne just as their father did. As the game progresses, enchanted beings threaten Constantine's kingdom and the player must find the magical means to stop these menaces as well, up to the final confrontation with Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay who is dabbling in dark arts. The game is won if the player can unite all the fragmented kingdoms of Britain and successfully keep Constantine alive past the last episode.

Reception

Computer Gaming World praised Excalibur's VGA graphics and described it as a "technical wonder", but criticized the documentation and game for not explaining the goal. [6] The DOS version of the game received 4 out of 5 stars in Dragon . [2] Amiga reviews were varied from average to very positive and included the scores of 70% in Amiga Action , [3] 62% in Amiga Power , [4] and 83% in Zero . [1]

Jim Trunzo reviewed Spirit of Excalibur in White Wolf #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "Fans of the Arthurian legends will thrill to the authenticity and feel of the game. All gamers will love the challenge and presentation of Spirit of Excalibur." [7]

Sequel

The sequel was developed also by Synergistic Software and published by Virgin Games for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS and Macintosh computers in 1991. It begins after Morgan has been slain and all her evil magic was undone, which also means the demon lord Shadowmaster was set free and becomes the powerful new main antagonist.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinevere</span> Arthurian legend character

Guinevere, also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in popular literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. Many records of the legend also feature the variably recounted story of her abduction and rescue as a major part of the tale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mordred</span> Character in Arthurian legend

Mordred or Modred is a major figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. Medraut's figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son. As Modredus, Mordred was depicted as Arthur's traitorous nephew and a legitimate son of King Lot in the pseudo-historical work Historia Regum Britanniae, which then served as the basis for the following evolution of the legend from the 12th century. Later variants most often characterised Mordred as Arthur's villainous bastard son, born of an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, the queen of Lothian or Orkney named either Anna, Orcades, or Morgause. The accounts presented in the Historia and most other versions include Mordred's death at Camlann, typically in a final duel, during which he manages to mortally wound his own slayer, Arthur. Mordred is usually a brother or half-brother to Gawain; however, his other family relations, as well as his relationships with Arthur's wife Guinevere, vary greatly.

<i>Eye of the Beholder</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game for personal computers and video game consoles developed by Westwood Associates. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1991, for the MS-DOS operating system and later ported to the Amiga, the Sega CD and the SNES. The Sega CD version features a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. A port to the Atari Lynx handheld was developed by NuFX in 1993, but was not released. In 2002, an adaptation of the same name was developed by Pronto Games for the Game Boy Advance.

<i>Curse of the Azure Bonds</i> 1989 video game

Curse of the Azure Bonds is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box games, continuing the events of Pool of Radiance.

<i>The Bards Tale II: The Destiny Knight</i> 1986 video game

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Interplay Productions in 1986. It is the first sequel to The Bard's Tale, and the last game of the series that was designed and programmed by Michael Cranford.

<i>Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail</i> 1990 video game

Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is a graphic adventure game released in 1990 by Sierra On-Line. It was the first game in the Conquests series designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. The only other game in the series was 1991's Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. Marx did the majority of the design work while Ledger created the game and package art.

<i>Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur</i> 1989 video game

Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur is an illustrated interactive fiction video game written by Bob Bates and published by Infocom in 1989. It was released for the Apple II, Amiga, Mac, and IBM PC compatibles. Atypically for an Infocom product, it shows illustrations of locations, characters and objects within the game. It is Infocom's thirty-fourth game and is the second of two Infocom games developed by Challenge using Infocom's development tools.

<i>J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is a role-playing video game published by Interplay Productions. It is an adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien, being the first volume in The Lord of the Rings. The game was released in 1990 for DOS, in 1991 for the Amiga and PC-98, and in 1992 for the FM Towns. It was followed by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers. It was originally designed for the Commodore 64, but the production team switched to the newer platforms. The game was designed by Troy A. Miles, Scott Bennie, Jennell Jaquays, and Bruce Schlickbernd. For the later versions, the cutscenes are taken from the 1978 Lord of the Rings film directed by Ralph Bakshi.

The Legend of Prince Valiant is an animated television series based on the Prince Valiant comic strip created by Hal Foster. Set in the time of King Arthur, it is a family-oriented adventure show about an exiled prince who goes on a quest to become one of the Knights of the Round Table. He begins his quest after having a dream about Camelot and its idealistic New Order. This television series originally aired on The Family Channel for a total run of 65 episodes.

<i>Gateway to the Savage Frontier</i> 1991 video game

Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991) is a Gold BoxDungeons & Dragons computer game developed by Beyond Software and published by SSI for the Commodore 64, PC and Amiga personal computers.

<i>Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge</i> 1990 video game

Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge is the 6th title in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was the first in the trilogy surrounding the Dark Savant, which was followed by Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant and Wizardry 8. It was developed by Sir-Tech Software, Inc. and was released on the Amiga and DOS platforms in 1990 by the same company, and for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1995 by ASCII.

<i>Vengeance of Excalibur</i> 1991 video game

Vengeance of Excalibur is a 1991 role-playing video game developed by Synergistic Software and distributed by Virgin Games. It is a sequel for Synergistic's 1990 title Spirit of Excalibur, set in Spain around the turn of the 10th and 11th Centuries. Vengeance of Excalibur puts the player in control of a small team of Knights of the Round Table who will seek out in Spain for the stolen items of the treasure of Camelot.

<i>The Immortal</i> (video game) 1990 video game

The Immortal is an isometric action-adventure game originally created by Will Harvey and released by Electronic Arts in 1990 for the Apple IIGS. It was soon ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Genesis. A wizard is attempting to find his mentor in a large and dangerous labyrinth. It has a high degree of graphic violence. In 2020, the NES port was re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online service, while the Genesis port was re-released on the Piko Collection Collection 1 cartridge for the Evercade.

<i>Hard Nova</i> 1990 video game

Hard Nova is a role-playing video game developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Electronic Arts in 1990 for DOS, Amiga and Atari ST. It is a follow-up to Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic.

<i>Castles</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Castles is a video game developed by Quicksilver and published by Interplay Entertainment in 1991 and 1992. The game involves the construction of a series of castles in Wales and the Welsh Marches during the 13th century. Castles was quickly followed by an expansion, Castles: The Northern Campaign, and a sequel, Castles II: Siege and Conquest.

Mordred the Evil or Modred the Evil is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based loosely on the Mordred of Arthurian legend.

<i>MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy</i> 1990 video game

MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy is a 1990 space science fiction role-playing video game based on the Traveller series and was produced by Game Designers' Workshop licensee Paragon Software for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. The game is set within the Official Traveller Universe and features character creation and other aspects of game mechanics compatible with prior Traveller products. The player controls up to five ex-military adventurers whose objective is to save their civilization, the Imperium, from a conspiracy instigated by the Zhodani, a rival spacefaring race, and aided by the actions of a traitor named Konrad Kiefer. Gameplay features real-time planetary and space exploration, combat, trading, and interaction with various non-player characters in eight solar systems containing twenty-eight visitable planets.

<i>Breach 2</i> 1990 video game

Breach 2 is a science fiction strategy video game developed by Omnitrend Software in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Breach, and was itself followed by Breach 3 in 1995. The game is set in the universe of Omnitrend's Universe and Rules of Engagement, and is compatible with both Rules of Engagement games.

<i>King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame</i> 2009 video game

King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame is a real-time tactics and role-playing video game developed by NeocoreGames and published by Paradox Interactive in North America, Ubisoft in Europe, and E-Frontier in Japan. It seeks to blend elements of the real-time tactics, role-playing, and grand strategy genres into one. A sequel titled King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame was released online in Europe on September 20, 2011, and then worldwide in 2012.

<i>Warlords</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

Warlords is a computer wargame released in 1990 for the Amiga and MS-DOS compatible operating systems, then in 1992 for Macintosh. It was designed by Steve Fawkner and developed by Strategic Studies Group. Warlords was followed by three sequels and several spinoffs. The game was based on designer Steve Fawkner's Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

References

  1. 1 2 "Spirit of Excalibur". Zero. No. 20. Dennis Publishing Ltd. June 1991. p. 59.
  2. 1 2 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (July 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (171): 57–64.
  3. 1 2 "Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Action. No. 21. Europress Interactive. June 1991. p. 38.
  4. 1 2 Ramshaw, Mark (May 1991). "Game Reviews: Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Power. No. 1. Future Publishing. p. 86.
  5. ↑ "The Bottom Line: Last Year's Games - Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Power. No. 2. Future Publishing. May 1991. p. 103.
  6. ↑ Threadgill, Todd (May 1991). "Arthur, Arthur!". Computer Gaming World. No. 82. pp. 64, 66–67. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Trunzo, Jim (December 1990 – January 1991). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine . No. 24. p. 54.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.