Lands of Lore III

The Good
It's more playable, more interesting, more spectacular than the second game. (It doesn't mean that it was bad). Graphics: The screens are very colorful, and the sprites are nice. Spell effects are really nice. The in-game videos are beautiful, just like in any other Westwood title. Music is good, Westwood-quality, it adds a great feeling to the scenes. Interface: You have the opportunity to customize all the controls, but the game can be handled easily anyway (mouselook, spell shortcuts, etc). Gameplay: There are a lot of cleverly hidden secrets, items, buttons. There are 4 guilds you can join. These add some replay value. To explore all secrets, you will have to join all 4 guilds, but you will develop very slowly. However, you can train at the local fighting arena, even to the maximum. The journal system is really great and necessary, description of all monsters, items you encounter, the texts of previous dialogs/videos (especially for people whose native language is not English), automap, pharmacopia items, etc. The storyline shows some non-linearity: if you complete a quest first then another, you may not get the third quest, but a fourth one. The mirror worlds don't have to be completed linearly, but there's some kind of sequence. There are a lot of reference to the previous LOL titles: characters, items, storyline. Draracle's chambers is from the first and the second LOL!!! And finally, I was very surprised, that in the last mirror world, I had to explore the Temple of NOD! (after a nuclear war... maybe after Command & Conquer: Tiberian Twilight?) And you will have to defeat Cabal... Should I say more? C&C fans should check it out.

The Bad
You almost always have to change disks when you enter a new level. Since you repeatedly have to return to the starting 'hub' levels, it seems to be irritating. Graphics: The engine is a bit outdated, it's Doom-like so-called 2.5D, however the sprites are rendered from a lot of directions, so they almost look like 3D. It isn't true 3D however. Gameplay: You roam lonely in most of the game. You may choose a familiar to join you, but it's not the same if you had a whole party. The control over the familiar is very limited, you can tell her/him to collect items, fight, stay, but that's not too much. Unfortunately, some bugs remain, even with the latest patch (1.07A). Completed quests NOT always get crossed out; graphical glitches; and sometimes the game freezes/hangs.

The Bottom Line
If you liked LOL: Guardians, it's a must for you. Otherwise, it's a nice game, but consider it before purchasing.