Gauntlet III: The Final Quest

For the Atari Lynx game, see Gauntlet: The Third Encounter. For the television series, see Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III.
Gauntlet III: The Final Quest

Developer(s) Tengen
Publisher(s) U.S. Gold
Platform(s) Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Release date(s) 1991
Genre(s) Hack and slash, dungeon crawl
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution Floppy disk, casette

Gauntlet III: The Final Quest is a home computer game by U.S. Gold and Tengen it was released in 1991 for the following systems; Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC.[1] It was released one year after Gauntlet: The Third Encounter which was for the Atari Lynx. Besides the standard four main Gauntlet characters, Thor, Thyra, Merlin, and Questor, four new playable characters were available: Petras, a rock man; Dracolis, a lizard man; Blizzard, an ice man; and Neptune, a Merman.[2] The game is viewed from an isometric perspective and includes a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode.

Plot

A land called Capra was having many wars among its kingdoms; peace would come but then another war would start. Then one day a wizard named Magnus came and brought peace, but to make sure there would never be another war he created a door to the dark dimensions from which evil things would come, if there was ever another war. "This be the Final Peace for if it is broken, all Capra will be at the mercy of the devourers."[3] Then the Velcrons came to these kingdoms. They were servants of the things behind the door. They took over the magic kingdom and their king, Capricorn, held the wizard as his captive. Evil slowly came from this magic kingdom, bringing plagues, and even poisoning the food. The people of these lands begin to hate, and the peace was threatened. Eight champions have come to try and put an end to the darkness covering their land.

The back side of the box has the tagline, "The Gates of Hell are Open..." The cover illustration is by Peter Andrew Jones.

Gameplay

Gauntlet III is an original game with an isometric projection type view that would later be used in Gauntlet Legends and other Gauntlet games made after Legends. Its view is much like that of Solstice and games made with the Filmation engine. The player walks around various areas of each kingdom, with five areas for each of the eight kingdoms giving a total of 40 areas.[4] The locations can be traversed from one area to the next. Places like the forest and castle dungeons have obstacles such as logs and tables blocking the player's path, creating a maze-like area. Each area has at least one doorway or pathway to the next. At times certain things must be done in order to advance into the next area. To avoid the player being lost the programers created a hand that appears from time to time, holding a note to remind the player what they are supposed to do; this clue feature is also an option to call up the clues.[4] Another feature programed into the game is a combination lock key code for which the player must consult a code wheel packaged with the game, needed to open certain doors; if someone made a pirated version of the game they wouldn't be able to get past that portion of the game without the Combination Key.

The enemies in this version, as in other Gauntlet games, come mostly from generators that keep producing the enemies until the generators are destroyed. Other elements from the series also make an appearance, such as potions that make enemies disappear or weaken them, food (both good and poisonous), invincibility amulets, and treasure chests, some of which can contain traps or other items the player would need.

Reception

Most reviews praised the games graphics, but some found they were over used in many places with very little variation.[5] These reviews seem to center around the fact that the player is required to go from location to location and complete certain tasks, and follow a certain route to achieve these goals.[4][6] Another problem with the graphics was that the backgrounds would shift as the player advanced,[2] and that of the enemies themselves blocking the view covering the player and background.[5] One of the games main attractions was the well received music by video game composer Tim Follin.[2][5][7]

Video game reviews
Amiga Action 84% out of 100%[2]
Amiga Format 63% out of 100%[5]
Amiga Power 67% out of 100%[6]
CU Amiga 80% out of 100%[7]
The One 87% out of 100%[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/gauntlet-iii-the-final-quest MobyGames review
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Amiga Action, Issue 25, page 106, review of "Gauntlet III: The Final Quest" with images of all eight playable characters and their abilities.
  3. ↑ Instruction Booklet for Gauntlet III: The Final Quest
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The One, Issue 31, Page 56
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Amiga Format, Issue 27, Page 87
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Amiga Power, Issue 5, September 1991, page 40-41
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 CU Amiga, September 1991, page 100