Throne of Darkness

In Throne Of Darkness you must quest to defeat a powerful demon who is destroying the mythical land of Yamato! Intense 8-man multiplayer games will test your battle skills to their limits!

Throne of Darkness is the first game from San Francisco-based Click Entertainment, a company founded by two of Diablo's original developers, and the game shows its pedigree. Like Diablo, this is a click fest, featuring hordes of monsters, treasure, weapons, and magic items all set against a medieval fantasy Japanese backdrop. You play as up to seven powerful samurai warriors on a quest to rid the lands and castles of the evil hordes, with the ultimate goal of invading an evil demon's castle and ending his reign of terror.

As in Diablo, you control one character at a time. Each character has weapons that degrade from use, health and mana potions, and the ability to cast spells. Characters gain experience as they battle, eventually achieving higher levels and skill points that you can add to various attributes such as strength, vitality, and dexterity. While you're controlling one character, the computer is controlling the rest (up to four at one time). As your characters are damaged, you can teleport them to the sanctuary, where they can heal and rest up while you teleport in alternates. This is accomplished by using an interface toggle that opens the Daimyo screen at the bottom interface bar. Your Daimyo can teleport characters in or out, and even resurrect fallen comrades for you. But his power to do these things regenerates slowly, so a fast hand at the Daimyo screen is needed to teleport the wounded out (before they die) and fresh guys in (there are seven samurai total).

This system works well, but something feels missing from the gameplay. Perhaps it's the cartoonish graphics, or the somewhat uninspired enemies that make combat seem a chore rather than a nail-biting adventure like in the Diablo games. The story is thin, but told well, and there's always something to do and creatures to fight. Multiplayer is especially fun, so maybe that's where this game will find its audience. While it isn't as good as Diablo or its sequel, Throne of Darkness is a reasonably fun romp, especially if you're a fan of samurai fantasy. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Unique setting
• Plenty of interesting characters
• Lots of monsters and plenty of combat

Cons:

• Cartoonish graphics
• Less fun than Diablo

In the ancient land of Yamato, an aging and power-hungry warlord, in his desire to live forever, has unleashed an unspeakable horror--the demon Raien and his horde of monsters and undead warriors. The land is soaked with the blood of your people, and the seven samurai in your party are Yamato's only hope. Use magic, weaponry, and wits to destroy Raien before his darkness becomes complete.

Throne of Darkness introduces a control interface that allows for the simultaneous command of up to four characters through a series of tactical "plays," or formations. Each play is designed to combine the unique strengths of the samurai--such as the ranged attacks of the archer and the two-sword technique of the berserker--into a distinct tactical advantage. Play calling allows for a high level of control and coordination between the player and computer-controlled samurai.

In multiplayer mode, up to 35 simultaneous players vie for the mantle of Dark Warlord in a king-of-the-hill-style competition. Through competition and cooperation, four clans of seven samurai challenge the Dark Warlord, his seven lieutenants, and his countless minions, all of which can be controlled by a human player. Once the Dark Warlord is defeated, the conquering team becomes the new warlord.