1/05/2013

Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern Review

Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I grew up visting the world of Pern. I have enjoyed the stories and the characters. It was logical, then, that I would be interested in this product.
So far I have enjoyed playing. First I can't understand the people who are complaining about system requirements. The packaging makes it very clear that a 3D acceleration card is needed and the processor speed. The game runs fine on my system at the highest graphic detail settings (I have a 1.1gig AMD and 128mb ram).
On to the game. It is very task oriented so far. These tasks are actually fun since they start giving you the opportunity to feel what a day might be like for a dragonrider. The graphics are decent, but you would buy and enjoy this program for the storyline. There are nice surprises like finding fire lizard eggs during your tasks and hatching new fire lizards. You start off with a green one who is essential for interacting with other characters. I now have a blue and bronze or gold one in addition to my green and I can switch between them. As far as I can tell, there is no difference in gameplay but it is fun.
There is some combat that is necessary and that was entertaining once I got the hang of it. As a side note, there was a nice feature in that it autosaved right before my first bout with combat when I couldn't get my character to fight so when I died, I could go right back to where I was. The key to fighting is when the computer says you are in range of an opponent, you must keep the space bar pressed down to go into combat mode. The instructions told me this, but I had to do it a couple of times to do it right.
There are bugs that will crash the game, so beware. In my 8 hours of playing this has happened to me 3 times. Each time it was because I had moved my character in such a way that it prevented another NPC character from moving, thus creating a loop. When this happened I just powered down and resumed playing and the game autosaved to right before the power down. Also there is no way to change camera angles, which I hate. There are times you simply can not see your character and moving him back into your sight is problmatic.
Clearly, this game does not, for me, deserve 5 stars even though I am a huge Pern fan. It simply doesn't have the game play wows or graphic wows to get 5 stars. That being said, it is also clearly, to me, something most Pern fans who like RPG type games would enjoy playing and is certainly worth the modest price. It is just plain enjoyable to be in Pern, and enough detail has been done to graphics and storyline to justify the purchase. And yes you do ride Zenth. There are also many scrolls where you can read about Pern. This was old news for me, of course.
The main task of Ubisoft was will someone get a sense of being part of Pern and a dragonrider when playing. They were not making a game to be state of the art with graphics, or gameplay, or music. And they succeed in this main task. So it is not really correct to overly critcize them for the other things. The bugs are annoying but they are just that, annoyances, nothing more. Lastly, I would suggest people look closer at the packging when buying software. It is clearly stated in at least 2 places with emphasis ! on the package that you need a 3D accelerator. If you bought online and did not know then that is the fault of your online retalier not ubisoft.
Bottomline? Pern fans, buy this and enjoy this. Others, if your looking for a good, decent RPG/Adventure buy this, if your looking for state of the art, do not buy it. And please those of you new to Pern read the books, and parents out there looking to get there kids into fantasy and scifi, do not forget the Harper Hall trilogy, they make great bedtime reading.

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For centuries the dragons of Pern and their riders have protected their world from the alien Thread. Mightiest among the dragons are the gold dragons and their riders, the Weyrwomen, who are the leaders of the free people of Weyr. And now your Weyrwoman is dead, and her gold dragon is dying. Unless you can find a new Weyrwoman to take up her mantle, your Weyr, and perhaps all of Pern, is doomed.
Based in the sci-fi/fantasy world of Pern, the setting of Anne McCaffrey's The Dragonriders of Pern novel, you take the role of D'kor, a novice dragonrider known as a Weyrling. Your fate is tied into a complex adventure in which the Red Star is not the only threat to life on Pern. With more than 200 characters with which to interact, a complex and thrilling story, and some fiendish puzzles, D'kor must venture across the rich world of Pern in the hope of saving it from its greatest enemy.
Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern is a 3-D role-playing game with an epic story that spans four chapters and contains dozens of subplots. At the heart of the game is a story that constantly progresses as you explore the world and interact with the vast array of characters that inhabit it. Set at the seventh pass of the Red Star, there is a whole new cast of characters exclusive to this title. Experience dozens of environments through the cinematic camera system as you guide your dragonrider through more than 120 detailed locations on three continents. Interact with numerous non-player characters while you build up your player by improving skills and your social status.

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