The huge and vastly tiresome debate of originality will no doubt get a good airing when this game is received by the Adventure world. To all intents and purposes it is very, very Similar to Lords of Midnight.
For those ol you who have somehow managed to avoid the LOM genre, with its panoramic graphics and huge game-map, here is the state oi affairs: you take the role of different characters and move about the land collecting other people to aid you in your quest. This usually invtovee rescuing someone, or retrieving a long lost object, or simply smashing an advancing army of wotchacallits. Someone has managed to chum out pages and pages of supposedly stirring history. It's well-written stuff, but excrutiatingly predictable. The Land of Belorn (yes, it's a funny-namee-all-round game!) was inhabited by peaceful folk who were content and understood the futility of war. The obligatory force of evil is made up of ores, led by arch-baddy Krodomir (sigh!). They are intent on ruling the land, and are having a good deal of fun despatching those who oppose them.    
This is where you come in. Greymarel, Morval, and Eliador are the three main characters, and by typing CHANGE TO....you can become each of these. You are presented with a little portrait of whoever you are controlling, his 3D view of the landscape, and test below. The text will usually read: "(name) is standing on (open ground etc.) looking (dirction) towards (landmark)". The graphics are quite small, but this doesn't detract from their value. A strip at the top of the screen shows the view in blue-on-white. Individual items such as huts, tents, towers and fortresses are all drawn in perspective, and are quite effective. Whenever you need a character (other than an orc, who are a mindless bunch that I gave up trying to bribe in favour of physical persuasion) you can talk to him, though conversations are not really possible. The most sensible course of action seems to be to get all of your characters together, and then tell everyone to follow everyone else. That way you should all stay together, giving you a better chance in battle, and greater carrying ability.
Once your band is assembled, you can set off on your quest, swapping objects, entering tents, firing arrows and saying 'please' and thank you' a lot! It is quite possible to attack yourself. "Morval charges forward and slashes boldly at Morval's ribs". I'm not sure if this is intentional, but ducking your own blows seems a little extreme!
Full sentence input is supported, though not strictly necessary except lor communication, and characters hapilly talk amongst themselves. The game is in real time, with the inevitable 'time passes'message appearing every few seconds when nothing is being typed.
Runestone is good value if you haven't got LOM – it has some elements of Valhalla as well! Purist adventurers will be disgusted! If you've got an open mind and enjoy a quick maraud, this is certainly worth a look. Jim Douglas, C+VG #53
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