DragonStrike

Title		DragonStrike
Game Type	Flight Sim
Players		1
Compatibility	All (with atleast 1 MB)
Submission	Emmanuel Henne 

Review
Up in the air, and to the horizon !


You`ve steered a Sopwith Camel, and You`ve tried to keep it
in the air.

You`ve flown a Spitfire, and were stunned by it`s speed.

You piloted a Stealth Fighter, and giggled about the MiGs
hunting You.

All of these are nothing against the things You`ll fly in "Dragon Strike ",
because this time, Your vessel "thinks", "feels" and....is HUNGRY !

In 1990, the unknown developer "Westwood Associates"
(later known as the "Westwood Studios") created a
game which was absolutely DIFFERENT from all the fantasy games
the world had seen before.

In this game, the player could become a Knight and ride into
war on the back of a mighty DRAGON.
Of course, a dragon that can SPEAK, breathe fire, ice, acid...
and eat enemy soldiers.

Dragon Strike is set in the famous "AD&D"-universe, or, more
specifically, in the "DragonLance"-scenario, where already
"Champions of Krynn" took place.

The player slips into the role of a young aspiring knight, who
starts his "career" in one of three different orders:
the Rose, the Crown and the Sword.
All orders lead to a different set of missions to fulfill,
and the difficulty rises from order to order and mission to mission.

The first missions are designed to practice the steering and guiding
of Your dragon.
Your dragon can dive and climb, roll, accelerate, decelerate, everything
You would exspect from a traditional plane.
But Your dragon has also its individuality: if You fly too high too
fast, Your dragon will automatically "stall", that means:
he will ignore Your command and say "I am tired", and begin to glide,
to regain his power.
He will also tell You when it is time for him to eat...then You`ll
have to land close to enemy troops and Your dragon will start to...well,
You can imagine what,a dragon is a carnivore, after all....

The essential weapons You have are the Lance and the dragon`s breath.
In Your career, You will ride different dragons, all with more
or less effective breaths: fire, cones of ice, acid...anything
goes, and recall that there are several species of dragons,
which require different attacks.
An ice dragon, for example, is better fought with a cone of fire....

To add more variety to the game, all missions are connected with a
traditional dense "Krynn"-storyline, which provides You with black dragons,
wyvern,draconians, manticores, archers, beholders....the bestiary
is almost complete.
Plus, there`ll be magic items like potions, crystal orbs (as a radar)
or rings.

The 3-D-environment is, considering its age, fantastic !
You`ll see flying citadels, green meadows, mountains, rivers,
castles, ships, tents...the landscape is very similiar to
the one You find in "Gunship2000", not flat, but very realistic.
The enemies are shown either as bitmaps (a la WingCommander)
or (optional) as vector objects.

The sound is less impressive, rather functional, and , at least,
not embarassing. Occasional "arrow sounds" and the sound
of dying enemies and fireballs, that`s about it.

The steering is best with joystick, but either mouse or keyboard
can be used and configured, too.

At the end of the day, if You like the movie "Dragonheart", this
game will make the experience much more intense, and with all
the variety and story elements, "Dragon Strike" will entertain
You for weeks!

Alphabetical list.