by Dale Farris, President, Golden Triangle PC Club
September 2001

Game Overview

Arthur's Knights is a super computer game that immerses you in the famous Arthurian legends in 5th Century England, a time more inspired by myths and beliefs than rational thought. In the role of the key character Bradwen, the illegitimate son of Cadfanan, King of the Atrebates,  you embark on various quests that together comprise two different stories that are played out in two different games.

The Atrebates are one of the many tribes of England, and Bradwen's father Cadfanan has entrusted you with defending the kingdom against all evil and all enemies.

As fairies, giants and dragons haunt the environs of the game, you quickly become totally involved in the rich storyline that although sometimes tedious to play through, nevertheless manages to keep your interest in this unique new adventure game from Dreamcatcher Games.

The entire game comes on 3 CD ROM discs that contain the two separate games you separately play after the single installation.

The setting of the game is ancient England, but the two tales begin in the year 1428, when the young son of Engerron de Coucy arrives at the library for his daily lesson with Master Foulque. The librarian and author of many stories of the chivalrous knights of old, Master Foulque, has just finished writing the adventures of Bradwen, a knight of King Arthur's court, and it is his telling of these tales that starts the game.

Background

In the 5th Century, England was known as Britain. Conquered by the Romans at the beginning of the Christian era, Britain was later abandoned and left to fend alone against the threat of Barbarian invasions. Without the protection of Roman legions, Britain's provinces were laid waste by the barbarians, whose only law was the "Law of the Strongest."

As Roman cities were pillaged and burned, the Britons were disillusioned. They abandoned Roman law and returned to the way of life of their Celtic ancestors. Britain became split into numerous small kingdoms that waged war against one another. Faced with the dangers of this dark age, some Britons implored the Christian god for protection, while others, led by Merlin the magician, tried to find the lost secrets of the ancient druids.

Game Play

In this milieu, you enter as the character Bradwen and travel to this ancient age of kings and queens, monsters, magic and men. In this dark age, the game presents richly detailed backgrounds and a moody, entrancing layout that works well in setting the tone of the time. You will visit the kingdom of Camelot and the legendary place called Avalon, while you battle monsters, bargain with fairies, and outwit foes in different ways.

You can take the journey as Bradwen the Christian, or Bradwen the Celt. You choose the path he travels, and with the two unique storylines, you accompany him as he encounters treachery, murder and madness to complete his destiny on the quest for the King.

During gameplay, you travel all around the areas of 5th Century England and the myths and legends of this time have been interwoven into the game, greatly adding impact to this intriguing game. You interact with many characters, find and pick up many objects, and run into many challenges.

Many of the classic adventure game genre components are included in this fascinating game, including the need to talk with all characters and fully explore all open areas, looking all around you to find objects, and of course figuring out which object has to be returned where, or be placed on which other object or person. In this game, the "puzzling" feature mainly means finding and picking up the objects, and then returning to offer the various objects to the many diverse characters you come across during the game.

The Interface Bar is used to control interactions with other characters, picking up and storing objects, and storing the various destinations you must go. When you meet the characters, their picture will pop up in the activity screen section of the bar, and you then have to click on the character's face to begin the conversation. Each statement must be activated by clicking, both for the character you meet, as well as Bradwen. This is a bit different from other games in which these interactive sessions usually play out to the end. In this game, you have to click to hear each sentence.

In addition, you will need to Right click to open the Interface Bar in order to click on objects that are in the subject inventory. These items mean you must click on the person's face in order to also be sure and talk about all the subjects that are possible. As in many adventure games, failure to open all the audio files for all the subjects that can be discussed will likely mean other aspects of the game will not be accessible by your character.

In addition, the Interface Bar will contain the item inventory, and the items you find and pick up will likely need to be given to other characters or placed in other locations. The action key used to do this is the spacebar. Trouble is, in many locations when you are in the right place, with the right item in the inventory and when you click on this item, nothing happens. This is merely a matter of slightly moving your character in order to correctly position Bradwen exactly where he needs to be in order for the use of the inventory item to be used in that location. Get ready for Bradwen to shrug his shoulders indicating he does not know what you want him to do, even though it appears you are where you need to be. Instead, you will have to move him around a bit in order for the correct action with the correct item in the correct location to play out as required. This did become annoying for me after a while, and I wished the coders had been more free with the image mapping in these situations.

Right clicking also brings up the green Menu globe in the Interface Bar. This allows you access to the Historical Database, to save your game, or quit your current game. At the Main menu, you can also select the Options Menu which will allow you to personalize the game by changing the 3D accelerator option, invert audio channels, activate realistic shadows, turn off decor acceleration, and select the sound card. With some machines, this may be a requirement, in order to get the game to play on certain systems with technical difficulties.

The two game options gradually introduce Bradwen to the Code of Chivalry and two very different worlds, the Celtic world that is coming to an end, and the New World of the Middle Ages. Whichever path you choose, you must always obey the Code of Chivalry, and you must overcome the trials that confront you on your chosen path. The easier path is not always the best route to take. Your sense of honor will be tested. If you give in to temptation, you will ultimately reach your goal, but not chivalrously. In other words, killing your enemy is not always the first and only choice.

The game is played using the arrow keys of the keyboard, and the menus are browsed using the mouse pointer. You can use the Destination Inventory to move from one region to another. You click the Right mouse button to bring up the Interface Bar, and then you select the horse icon to access this Destination Inventory. Bradwen must be on horseback to be able to travel from one region to another, and he cannot travel to another land if he is on foot.

When you arrive in a region, you will first travel on horseback. As soon as you reach a place that is significant in the game, Bradwen will automatically dismount the horse. Then, you move him around with the arrow keys. If you hold down the Shift key, Bradwen will run, if on foot, and the horse will gallop, if he is on horseback.

In combat, Bradwen will confront many opponents, and when he is the knight, he cannot attack someone without provocation. When the combat icon, the red sword, appears above the image of the person you are speaking with, you may choose to engage in combat. If you choose not to engage in combat, click on the mouth icon to interact with the character. If you click on the red sword icon, you start the combat process that cannot be controlled.

Once the red sword has been selected, you must then select your weapon from the object inventory by clicking on the appropriate inventory icon. This is a key decision, as it will make the difference between victory and defeat. The combat automatically begins and you then have no control over the game. Note also that even as a valiant knight, some opponents are superior to you. Pay attention to the rumors you hear about these enemies, and learn about their strengths and weaknesses. You may not want to engage in battle every time the opportunity presents itself.

So, as any adventure gamer knows, the key thing to remember is to save, save, save your game. Without the official strategy guide, you will not necessarily know for sure whether to engage in combat, and when you make the wrong choice, the game is over. With regular saves, you can start over at a more recent point in the game play.

As you progress in the game, you will be writing the legend of Bradwen. All the actions you make are recorded by Master Foulque in the Book of Adventures, that Foulque is telling to Engerron de Coucy. The pages of the book will automatically fill and turn over during gameplay, indicating that a new event has been added to the book. You access this book by clicking on the Storyline book icon in the Interface Bar.

The Historical Database is accessed from the game menu, by clicking on the green Menu globe in the Interface Bar. This database presents the many different facets of the Arthurian legend, and is added to as the game progresses. When the green globe becomes lit up in the game, this means a new sheet has been added to the database. There are two historical databases, including one for the Celtic world and another for the New World of the Middle Ages.

While the complexities of the game are not that difficult, the story certainly is, and will require serious attention to the dialog with the many characters you come across in order to keep up with this rich plot line. With the mystic nature of this game that is designed to let you play out this Arthurian legend, don't be surprised if you lose track of the story as you move through the game.

Game Play Notes

Arthur's Knights is another in DreamCatcher's long running history of solid adventure games that are filled with high play value, while priced very reasonably. In this very typical computer adventure game, players will find a familiar keyboard and point-and-click user interface that involves using the arrow keys to move around the character and the spacebar for the required action.

The scenery, design and layout of the game is super, invoking an mystical, suspenseful atmosphere that helps immerse you in the environment of the legend the game represents. The background sound effects and voice-over narrations are very well done, and the characterizations are not so over-wrought as to be silly.

With the arrow keys moving around the character, this means you do not have the full panning view feature that is built into many other Dreamcatcher games. This may present more precise movement of the character, but it also presents potential frustration when needing to position the character precisely where he needs to be in order to pick up an object, place an object on another location, or talk with other characters. In the conversation mode, you use the mouse to select other items in the inventory, but you must first correctly position the main character for this to work.

This need to find these "hot" objects is a classic adventure game genre feature that will be very familiar to most experienced adventure gamers, but this aspect also represents why the adventure game genre has been so chastised by computer gamers more inclined to playing hot action games that challenge hand-eye coordination. In adventure games, the pace can seem slow to "shooter" game fans, because in most cases you will only be able to advance the linear gameplay by finding these items, correctly positioning the main character in front of them, and pressing the spacebar, in order for something to happen. Of course, this also means you have to find these items in the correct order. With DreamCatcher games, this approach is a clue from the start that you will have to go very slow with the game, savor all the richly detailed and designed environments, and be sure to look everywhere for these items and for the characters to speak with.

About Those Walkthrough Solution Guides

I urge anyone interested in this neat game to also consider getting a copy of the solutions guide. In my case, I always work with adventure games with the official walkthrough, because I just do not have all the extra time to try and puzzle out the correct combinations of either objects or puzzle solutions. I just have too many other things to do.

However, many adventure gamers choose to play without a solutions guide, as they prefer to reason out the game on their own. In these situations I also think they probably have far more available hours to devote to playing the game than I do.

The challenges in this game are not the most difficult I've ever run across, and the game design does include the requisite character conversation, object information, and cut-scene information that present the built-in clues related to how to proceed in upcoming screens. Without the official walkthrough, independent minded gamers playing Arthur's Knights may find it a bit tedious having to walk back and forth to speak with characters and then to return with the necessary object that will in turn open up still more of the game.

In my situation, playing with a walkthrough means I can concentrate on moving the game plot along, and most importantly, open up all the wonderful scenes and action that the coders have worked so hard to include in the game. Without a walkthrough, I just feel I am not getting my money's worth out of the game. Also, I always appreciate having the help to get through the game so I can savor all the impressive screens and animated cut-scenes, as was the intent of the game creators.

There is a certain degree of frustration with being stuck in an adventure game that varies from one gamer to another, and in my case, with all the other things I have to do, I just do not have the luxury of working endlessly for hours and hours on end to try and figure out what's not working in order to advance to another key plot point. So, my perspective about walkthrough guides is that these help make adventure games more fun. Not being able to decipher a puzzle or having the right object at the right time is not my idea of fun with an adventure game. In Arthur's Knights, I found the strategy guide an essential tool in preventing me from becoming overly frustrated with the tedious attention required by having to find all the right objects and speak with all the characters.

In addition, Arthur's Knights will present numerous situations in which you have to decide whether to engage in combat. However, in this game, that is NOT a shooter type of action game, you have no control over the character in these combat situations, and the puzzle here is learning when to fight and when not to, along with finding the various weapons that show up during the game. The guide does help greatly simplify this part, and helps move you through these places when the gameplay may bog down.

What makes this issue even more relevant here is that DreamCatcher seems to realize this, as evidenced by their always wise price points for their games and their solution guides. Arthur's Knights is so reasonably priced that this makes buying the additional solutions guide (also very smartly priced) a no-brainer. You end up with a total investment that means you will be assured you can get through the entire game and not end up spending an excessive amount of time with the game. So, no, I don't think using a walkthrough solution guide is any indication of any lack of skill or abilities, but instead, a more appropriate way to invest minimal time with an adventure game, that ends up much more likely to be a fun experience.

Game Features

2-games in one, 3 CD game in one package
Fantastic, mystical tale of a tormented hero in his quest for the truth
Many action sequences
Realistic display of characters with cinema quality animation
Full-screen immersion and original orchestra score
Voice narrations greatly add to the believability of the characters
Gripping, graphical adventure that captures the imagination
Deep storyline that captivates attention 
Keyboard arrow keys precisely move and locate the main character
Inventory interface for objects to pick up and use
Totally recreated settings in authentic detail
Beautifully drawn backgrounds, objects, and characters
Aptly created sound effects and background score add impact

Some Game Concerns

With this neat new game, Dreamcatcher has kicked up a few notches the technical sophistication and hardware requirements in this game. The higher requirements signal the general increase in system capabilities that have been occurring over the last few years as more computer owners invest in PC systems with more capable video and sound boards, faster processors and more memory.

The use of the arrow keys to move the character can be frustrating at times, as when for example you have Bradwen in front of a door that you are supposed to open with the spacebar action command, and he just stands there shrugging his shoulders. You are in the right place, but not necessarily in the exactly required position in front of the door. When you move around the character in front of the door, pressing the spacebar repeatedly, then you begin to get a bit annoyed why when it appeared that you were indeed in front of the door, you had to move him slightly to the left or right before the action would open the door.

The Interface Bar was a bit surprising, until I got used to how it was designed. However, having to click to open each and every statement was irritating, and I found myself thinking why doesn't all this dialog just play out, like in most all other games? Also, you must be diligent about remembering to click on all subject icons when interacting with characters, as missing some of these will not open up the important clues or the other areas of the game.

With the combat so uncontrollable, and less easy to decipher whether to engage or not, then by all means, you should remember to save, save, save your game, when you make the wrong choice that ends the game.

Some of the objects were a little hard to make out, and you will again have to be right in the exactly correct place in order to either pick up the object or place an object from the inventory onto another location or give it to another character.

The characters you come across include extensive dialogue, and as is the case with most all adventure games, you will need to be sure and find all these characters and open all the dialogue files, in order for the main plot to advance. You will also need to remember to always select all the inventory items when facing these characters, in order to get them to open up the conversation about these items.

You can save your game at any point, a feature always appreciated by adventure gamers. In this game, you really should save often, because you can indeed "die" in the game, which usually means your character gets killed in combat. When this happens, you are returned to the very beginning of the game, and so you should always save, save, save your game progress so you can just start over at the last save point.

If you "die," you can easily load your saved game file, and begin at the last save point, preventing you from having to play through again from the beginning. The save feature also allows you to save over existing games, as well as save different games at different progress points. Your saved game is represented by a screen image of the saved location and a date, helping you to remember what you had last completed when you saved the game.

Hints and Notes

Save, Save, Save your game often
Talk to all characters, but be sure you have saved first
Be sure and exhaust all discussion item possibilities
Start a conversation sometimes, in order to ask them about something
Not all written words are spoken
Some inventory items are automatically transferred when speaking to others
Refer to the maps
Interface Bar is not always accessible
Always be prepared for combat with the "bad guys"

Targeted Customers

With Arthur's Knights, DreamCatcher has produced an adventure game with a unique storyline that will appeal to gamers that appreciate the intricacies of this genre of computer games. Compared with today's state-of-the-art first-person shooter (FPS) or role-playing games (RPG), this game might be considered very slow and dull. However, for adventure gamers, the game will likely be considered as one of the best, providing what adventure gamers look for in a good adventure game.

Install and Setup

The entire game actually is divided into two different parts, each played separately, but both installed once. The 3 CD ROM discs contain each of the two games, with both loaded in the installation. You choose which path to first play when you first begin the game, and either can be played first.

The game will also come with DirectX 7.0 files, but you can bypass the installation of these files if you already have these or the later, 8.0a version DirectX. In addition, the program will ask if you wish to install the audio files, in order to speed up the processing of this data from the hard drive, versus the CD ROM disc. This will load these files into a single folder in the program's primary folder, but when you use the program's uninstall routine, you will need to manually delete these files in this named folder that will be in the Cryo folder.

I experienced problems with the game after installation, but I suspect these difficulties are specific to my particular computer configuration of hardware and drivers. The problems involved a file conflict of some sort that prevented me from loading a saved game, presenting me with the dreaded "blue screen of death." Or, in other situations, the game would just crash to the desktop, with the game's audio files maintaining control over my system, forcing a "three-fingered salute" to let Scandisk run when the machine warm booted. In response to my request for assistance, Dreamcatcher immediately sent me a new CD 1 disc, saying the original CD 1 disc I received was bad.

After uninstalling the game, and then reinstalling it using the new CD 1, I was able to start the game and I could actually save and then load a saved game. However, the game continued to crash to the desktop, bypassing even the dreaded "blue screen of death."

In the options section of the game that you enter before you begin a game or load a saved game, you can tell the game which video driver you have, and you can turn off 3D acceleration, true shadows rendering, and scenery acceleration. I was able to find in this audio option that the game provided a choice of no sound, primary sound, or the specific customized sound card of the make and model on my machine. When I manually selected the option to identify the specific sound card, this seemed to help in being able to start the game.

I suspect these difficulties may lie with conflicts with my sound board and sound board drivers, but of course, technical difficulties like these with computer games are very difficult to pin point. I also think most other gamers will likely NOT experience these problems, and that my particular concerns are also very likely to be specific to my machine, and could not be generalized to other machines.

I loaded the game on a Win 98 SE machine (P III-850, 256MB SDRAM) that had a Creative Labs Annihilator 2, 32MB video card (an nVidia GeForce 2 GTS board), and a Creative Labs Live X Gamer! sound board, and the latest drivers for each. An HP CD RW 9200 drive served as the CD ROM drive, and the mouse and keyboard were both USB connections. I also had already installed the DirectX 8.0a files, and did not choose to install the DirectX 7.0 files that came with the game, as I did not think this would be necessary. My machine also had an internal Zip 250 drive, standard floppy, MPEG 2 decoder card, two 8-port USB hubs, a Logitech Wingman Extreme joystick, standard microphone, Cambridge Soundworks DTS 2000 speaker system, and a NIC board connected to SW Bell's DSL modem.

I only mention these problems because these did occur, but I also need to remind readers that these difficulties are very likely to be relevant ONLY to my machine, and probably NOT your machine. As most savvy computer gamers know, if there is any application that is likely to crash any computer system, it is game software. With the tremendous number of possible combinations of video boards, sound boards, and versions of video and sound board drivers, mouse drivers, types of CD ROM or CD RW drives, drivers for these optical drives, types of motherboards and versions of the BIOS for these boards, etc., etc., it is a wonder any computer game can be written to run at all. 

In my case, since I had just had a very positive experience getting Deus Ex to run on my system, I figured I would have little if any technical problems with this latest game from Dreamcatcher. In fact, this is the first time I have ever experienced any problems of any kind with all the many other fine Dreamcatcher games I have played over the years. I just figured the relatively less significant hardware challenge posed by Arthur's Knights would mean again a smooth gaming experience.

Price

$19.99 3 CD ROM discs (super bargain!)
$  9.99 the official strategy & solutions guide (a great bargain also)

Minimum System Configuration Requirements

Windows 95/98/ME
Pentium II 300 MHz processor (P II 350 recommended)
64MB RAM 
12x CD ROM Drive
8MB VRAM DirectX 7.0 compatible video and sound card
Minimal hard disk space
(plays mostly from files accessed from 3 CD ROM discs)

At the time of this writing, no patches for this game had been released.

Unless otherwise noted on the product pages on the DreamCatcher games website, or on the system requirements section of the packaging, DreamCatcher games will NOT be supported using the operating systems of Windows 2000, Windows NT or any Windows emulators. Although some may find that the game may install and may be played on these business operating systems, gameplay and the overall performance of the game may be questionable. Also note that DreamCatcher games will NOT be providing patches or updates which will allow the games to run on Win NT or Win 2000.

This is an excellent example how the computer game industry has mainly focused on coding their software to run mostly on home machines in the standard retail market, running Microsoft's primarily retail market operating systems.

At the time of this writing, DreamCatcher also sells games for Mac machines, with more soon to be available also for the Mac. No other information was available on the future continued support of their software for Apple machines. I am guessing this support is very likely to continue.

Also at the time of this writing, there was no information regarding the planned compatibility of DreamCatcher games with the upcoming Windows XP operating system, either the professional or home editions. I would also guess that this company will very likely soon be releasing games for this newest version of Microsoft's operating system, since it will be the OS installed on so many newly purchased machines in the retail market.

The above system configuration requirements indicate the minimum system configuration requirements, and as any experienced gamer knows, you just don't ever want to load and run any computer game on minimally configured systems. Note that these minimum requirements also represent a gradual increase in system resource requirements for this game. Although you will not necessarily need a state-of-the-art, 64MB 3DFX graphics accelerator video board or 3d sound board, nonetheless, these requirements are steeper than many of Dreamcatcher's other fine games. However, even with this increase in requirements, I think that most gamers will likely easily have the resources necessary to support the efficient operation of this adventure game.

Computer games are notorious for taking over machines, and this is why users will need to be sure and close out all their other open files, before playing this and any computer game.

About DreamCatcher

In 1996, DreamCatcher Interactive launched their first title and since then, they have become a very successful publisher in the computer game entertainment software industry. In my opinion, one of this company's strongest assets is their dedication to provide customers with high quality entertainment software at very affordable prices. Some of the best interactive computer games now on the market come from DreamCatcher.

Bringing to market titles that are affordable, without jeopardizing content quality, is another significant factor that helps distinguish this company from the many that flood the market with countless game titles. DreamCatcher thrives on innovative marketing strategies, solid retail and developer partnerships, and on providing excellent customer support that is well above industry standards.

A new partnership with Her Interactive has enabled DreamCatcher to now sell the super games in the Nancy Drew series, including Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill, Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger, and Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion. Check this link to read a review of these Nancy Drew Interactive Mystery Adventure Games.

Dracula: The Resurrection and In Cold Blood are two current games for the PC that will soon be released for the Playstation, and DreamCatcher also plans to release more games in the future for the Playstation 2 and the GameBoy Color platforms.

Necronomicon ($19.99) and The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin ($19.99) are two of DreamCatcher's newer games that should also prove to be successful titles in their long list of super adventure games.

Other super games from DreamCatcher Interactive include Traitor's Gate, The Messenger, Riddle of the Sphinx, Jewels of the Oracle, Jewels II, Egypt 1156 B.C., Odyssey, TimeScape, Ancient Conquest, Beyond Time, Beyond Atlantis, Lightbringer, Legend of Lotus Spring, Nightlong, Seven Games of the Soul (also sold in Europe as Faust), SafeCracker, The Forgotten, The Sacred Amulet, and Time Machine.

All these are similarly designed adventure games, and all are priced very reasonably, the most expensive being $29.99 (In Cold Blood), with most around $14.99, and many even priced at $9.99, which I think are super prices for these super games. At the time of this writing, I have purchased and played nearly all these games, and these reasonable price points have always gotten my attention.

I think these affordable price points represent a very important strategy of DreamCatcher that has helped them achieve their success. When you consider the very expensive proposition to invest in the coding and other very expensive costs to develop and produce a computer game today, I think it is quite remarkable that this company markets their products at such a reasonable price.

I also think it is important to remember that DreamCatcher is still very much in the business of producing quality computer games, something many other companies can no longer attest to since they have gone out of business. What is even more remarkable, in my opinion, is that at the time of this writing, DreamCatcher Interactive remains wholly owned and self-sufficient, and has not yet been absorbed by a larger company.

So, with the easy on the pocket-book price of the game, and the also minimal price of the solution guides, you have the makings of a winner in the hotly contested battle for our limited disposable income and free time to invest in playing computer games. DreamCatcher Interactive is certainly a company worth watching and supporting.

Contact Information

DreamCatcher
The Adventure Company
5000 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T5
info@dreamcatchergames.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.