Darkstone is by no means the latest and greatest in terms of RPG offerings. But the appeal of a solid, hack-n-slash game can too easily be underestimated. Created in the style of Diablo and Diablo II, Darkstone offers a toned down approach to just about everything: Simplified armor, weapon and equipment system, a skill/spell purchase system, one town, and only one "world" (i.e. no acts or alternate towns). The point of the game is much less focused on becoming the biggest and best character, but instead encourages the player to follow the story and move towards the resolution. The story itself, albeit contrived and rather plain, leads the player (voluntarily) to deeper and darker dungeons, and through lands inhabited by increasingly difficult monsters. To prolong gameplay, the quest is for several different crystals, each of which forms a mini-quest, of course. The most obvious downfalls are the lack of variety in some of the areas (expect about half a dozen monster types per 10-minute hack-n-slash session), the ghastly load times (~30 seconds for every zone), and the lack of an integrated map or compass (leading the player to switch between map and game to get the orientation, then continue to do so to make sure she's going in the right direction.) You will find yourself clearing out certain areas a few times so that you are leveled enough to continue, but such is the downfall of any less-than-perfect RPG: balance issues overestimate your strength early on. The action combat system lets the player run from, or charge into, battles at will, making it a bit easier to outmaneuver a giant enemy than if it were turn-based. All things considered, Darkstone kept me playing for a good bit (about 15 hours). Its style is nothing new, and if anything is reminiscient of a less-impressive Diablo II or any other RPG, for that matter. The game is solid, though, and offers a healthy dose of the time-tested, class RPG formula. Plus, for less than $10, it is indeed worth the investment.
Darkstone is an action role-playing game created by French developer Delphine Software International and released in 1999. Darkstone has many similarities to Diablo, particularly in the user interface. The user interf... Read Full Review
To start off, this game is much better than its gamespot score portrays. If you look past the graphics, which hardly make a difference in gameplay, and endure the long loading screens for each area, this game is really a... Read Full Review
