Drakan: Order of the Flame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Drakan: Order of the Flame | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Surreal Software |
| Publisher(s) | Psygnosis |
| Release date(s) | 18 August 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows) |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | Pentium 166, 32 MB RAM, DirectX 6-capable 4MB 3D Accelerator |
Drakan: Order of the Flame is an action-adventure computer game by Surreal Software, released in 1999 by publisher Psygnosis. A sequel, Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, was released in 2002.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
- See also World of Drakan.
The game tells the story of Rynn, a young woman with extraordinary martial skills and abilities, as she struggles to free her younger brother, Delon, who was kidnapped by evil sorcerer Navaros' minions.
The story begins as Rynn and her brother walk home after completing an assignment of the village elder, Atimar. On the way home, they are attacked by a pack of wartoks (Orc-like creatures serving Navaros), whereby Rynn is injured and left behind, while Delon is kidnapped. As Rynn returns to the village, she finds it devastated by a group of wartoks and other minions of Navaros. She also finds Atimar, pinned to a doorway with a spear, who tells her to see the dragon Arokh and apply the Order of the Flame, and dies.
She finds Arokh in an ancient cave littered with traps, and uses the crystal of Arokh's former partner Heron to awaken him from his statue-like state of sleep. Although reluctantly, Arokh agrees to bind with her in the ancient magic unison called the Bond, the most powerful magic once possessed by the Order of the Flame.
Rynn and Arokh's journey takes them all across the world of Drakan and into various minor quests, and eventually, after countless battles (both in the air and on the ground), they find out that the minions of Navaros are trying to use Delon's body to incarnate Navaros. Near the end of the game, Rynn has to fight the possessed Delon, after which Navaros leaves his body and Delon falls into an abyss. After that, she and Arokh first need to slay Navaros' dragon Kaeros, and then they descend into the abyss themselves, after which we see a mirror display Delon falling down while an evil laugh is heard.
[edit] Characters
Rynn is a very attractive young woman who is capable of wielding all kinds of melee and ranged weaponry. She is athletic, obstinate and impetuous. Rynn lived with her younger brother Delon in a small village near Arokh's resting place. Delon was also the reason for her to go on an epic journey, as he was captured by the minions of Navaros when her entire village was destroyed. While chasing her brother's kidnappers, Rynn found Arokh and performed The Bond ritual, becoming one with him.
Unlike Lara Croft, Rynn had a real life prototype, a model from San Francisco whose name was never officially uncovered. However, it is quite certain that it was Myrna Blankenstein who also appeared on promotional posters of Drakan later on.[1] Nevertheless, Rynn's voice was provided by Lani Minella.
Arokh is a living legend, a dragon who had defeated Navaros once before centuries ago and retired to eternal sleep after his human companion, Heron, had died. When Rynn first met him, he was impressed enough by her courage to agree to help her in her journey. Throughout the game, he becomes Rynn's most powerful weapon and a true friend. He may appear intimidating and cynical at first but deep inside he is noble and good-hearted.
[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay of Drakan consists of two parts - in the air and on the ground. While in the air (Arokh allows Rynn to mount him after The Bond), the duo is superior to any kind of non-aerial foe but to defeat flying enemies takes a great deal of maneuvering and aiming. On (and under) the ground, Rynn has to fight alone unless Arokh can find a way to follow her, which usually isn't the case since the only places where they cannot fly are narrow dungeons.
While Arokh's weapons are limited to mere a range of different fire/ice/lightning-breath attacks, Rynn can use many kinds of swords, daggers, maces, axes, bows and body armor found in the game. The number of these reminds of role-playing games but since they cannot be repaired once broken, Rynn has to switch them quite often. Apart from normal weapons, there are some magical ones as well as potions, arrows for bows and quest items.
Throughout the game, Rynn must also solve numerous puzzles in order to follow the story or obtain special artifacts like unique armour or weapons.
[edit] Sequel
A sequel, Drakan: The Ancients' Gates has been released in 2002 exclusively for PlayStation 2 (Drakan: Order of the Flame was PC-exclusive) telling of Rynn and Arokh's adventures after the end of the first game.
