The Gist: Words can kill. That’s the premise of Dungeon Scroll, a word-puzzle RPG that forces you to think on your toes or be torn asunder by venomous beasts. Each dungeon presents a gauntlet of evil foes to battle through, and the only way to harm them is through casting spells by forming words from the limited number of letters you’re given to work with. Bigger words do more damage, and you can’t repeat any words you’ve already spelled in a given dungeon. It’s harder than it sounds. Your health is restored slightly with each word you form, but the enemies whack away at you every few seconds, so it’s a mad wizardly spelling race to keep from being disemboweled.
Saving Throw: “You found a bluish plunger. You found a golden coat hanger. You found a brownish skull.” Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot.
The Gist: The first few entries in the Heroes of Might and Magic series are easily among some of the best fantasy turn-based strategy games ever made for the PC, and if you loved them, you’re in luck. Palm Heroes is an almost-perfect clone of Heroes of Might and Magic. Half of your time is spent exploring the map with your heroes to collect resources and upgrade your armies in your cities, and the other half is spent rampaging across the wilderness with your massive force to crush enemies in turn-based field battles.
Saving Throw: Slaying enemies, raising them as undead, and becoming a necromantic scourge. It’s so good to be bad.
The Gist: Orcs, golems and winged creatures are among the vile invaders winding their way up the towering cliffs where your hero must mount a last-ditch defense. Fortunately, he’s not alone, as you can plop down barracks to produce warriors, archers, wizards, and other upgradeable specialty units in this tower-defense RPG. Warding off enemy forces in this extremely challenging, story-driven adventure requires careful planning and frantic building. Hours can pass by without notice, so be prepared and dig in for a long, hard fight.
Saving Throw: Everybody wants Sean Connery as a military advisor, right?
The Gist: It looks like Warcraft. It smells like Warcraft. It plays like Warcraft. Hell, it even tastes like Warcraft. It’s not Warcraft, but it’s pretty damn close. Rise of Lost Empires packs a sharp, familiar visual style and gameplay that will appeal to fans of the ultimate real-time strategy series. It’s a great pocket-size substitute that manages to get the flavor just right.
Saving Throw: For the Horde! Oh, wait.
Sep 30, 2009
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