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ALBION : CLASSIC ADVENTURE
In
the year 2227,
the gigantic, interstellar factory ship "Toronto" reaches a distant
solar system. The ship's owners, the enormous DDT company, believe that
there are rich deposits of raw materials on this third planet of the
system... but the data which describes the planet as a desert, turns
out to be forged. Albion is in fact a world full of life, secrets,
surprises and magic. When Tom Driscoll, the pilot of the reconnaissance
team discovers this, he swears to save Albion from "Toronto's"
tentacles. Albion is an exciting fantasy adventure, built around a
carefully designed, extensively detailed, 150000 word storyline. In
Albion, you'll discover one of the most intuitive, in-depth playing
environments of its genre. Albion is the only PC role playing game
which uses two types of graphical presentation. When exploring
unfamiliar areas and large houses, a detailed 2-D display is used,
making it easier for the player to orientate himself. When the action
gets particularly exciting, the view switches to a fluid 3-D display,
so the player experiences places, such as a dungeon, through the eyes
of the character.
You are
the commander of a small recon space
shuttle which is making a reconnaissance flight for a big factory ship,
but suddenly all your systems crash, you lose control, and are forced
to land on a wild and unknown planet. I know the story doesn't seem
very original so far, but it will get better very soon.
In the beginning you start as the pilot "Tom Driscoll" and you have to
prepare yourself for the space shuttle flight. This short prologue will
introduce you to the character of Tom, and you'll also find out useful
facts about your mission.
However,
something happened while your
character was asleep. A crew member committed suicide. Since the
officers and the captain want to find out what has happened, a whole
section of the ship has been cordoned off by the security guards. Now
you have to make your first decision: Will you go to your shuttle and
leave the ship, or will you snoop around, find out something about the
murder, and discover some useful items? Your decision isn't crucial for
the rest of the game, but you will learn more about the controls and
how to solve problems in the game if you stay on the ship. Also, some
items on the ship will make later adventures much easier.
Anyway, when you embark on the shuttle, you will get to know "Rainer",
a scientist who should help you with problems on the flight. He is also
a very important and helpful character. After you crash, your first
overwhelming impressions of this strange jungle world will soon be
crushed as your shuttle explodes.
After you regain consciousness, you are surrounded by strange but
beautiful cataliens (cat creatures), who won't eat you, for now. With
skilful negotiations and good manners you will quickly earn the trust
of the cataliens and a fantastic journey begins.
Albion is one of those RPGs for which I can only say the following: if
you've never gotten around to playing it, then you don't know what a
good RPG is! It doesn't have realistic 3D graphics, or a big character
menu like modern games, but Albion does have its own charm. The
graphics are good (2D-bird perspective AND 3D-first-person
perspective), the sounds are various and convey a great atmosphere, and
the controls are simple and easy to learn.
Fights are round-based (don't scream), but nevertheless, very exciting.
As on a chessboard, you will have to move your characters and bring
them into position. Also, you will have to react to the movements of
the enemy. There is a big selection of weapons you can use. First of
all, there are short-range weapons like swords, axes and staffs, and
also long-range weapons like bows, pistols (!) and crossbows. Since
it's an RPG, naturally there are also spells available at your
disposal. You can also choose from many various types of armours.
Another very positive point is the quantity of items in the game. Every
item has a function and a value. Always try out items that you find in
your adventures. Be sure to take them with you if you think they could
be important, or sell them at the next dealer. With gold you receive,
you can buy new equipment for your characters. (I'll give you one tip.
It doesn't help you if you store all your gold, because the total mass
of items your characters can carry is limited, and so is the space in
cupboards and chests. Make money and buy new and better equipment for
your characters. This makes the game easier.)
Except for armour and weapons, you will have to buy food. Because your
characters become tired after a few fights or long walks, let them rest
periodically.
STUNNING VISUALS AND
AMAZING MUSIC
MINIMUM
REQUIREMENTS
Windows
95/98/Me/2000/XP
Pentium 166MHz
32Mb for Windows
£1
from
each sale of this CD is donated to Charity!
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Cancer Research UK is the world's
leading charity
dedicated to research on the causes, treatment and prevention of cancer.
£1
from every sale of
this CD goes direct to the CANCER
RESARCH UK Charity.
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The Publishers of this CD promise to
pay CANCER
RESEARCH UK £1 per unit distributed.
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