A Gem In Gaming History
Even today I can remember how I played Drakan for the first time: I had a demo version of the game which
included the second level of it and I played it over and over again until I finally got the complete game for my birthday.
By then I was quite familiar with the mechanics and used to the beautiful graphics which were quite good for
1999s standards. The story, however, which involved the young woman Rynn and her quest to liberate her little
brother from the evil war mage Navros with the help of an ancient dragon named Arokh, hadn't unfolded for me, yet.
Though the story clearly wasn't the main focus of the game, it did a good job justifying why you had to be wherever
your quest led you. You got to know more about the Order of the Flame as the game progressed and you met other
dragons and characters of old descend.
As I wrote before the graphics were quite nice for the late 90s but of cause they are not as well-aging as 2D sprites
from the time. All in all I believe they are still adequate and bearable in case you want to go back and play the game
yourself. Far and yet colorful landscapes make the game appealing even for eyes that are used to high-res state of
the art games.
But your journey not only took place on your dragon (though that was the best part), there were a lot of tasks which
you had to do on foot, mostly in order to clear the way for your prehistoric pal. You probably did as much walking as
flying.
The variate of equipment that you found in the game can probably keep up with that of most modern action games:
axes, swords, shields, bows and armor were exchangeable and weapons also could have certain attributes like
fire and frost.
That said the game also had its downsides. At times it was necessary for you to jump from stone pillar to stone
pillar to reach your goal which could be quite a hassle due to the imprecise on-foot controls. Clipping errors could
also occur from time to time when you came too close to walls. Those glitches were annoying but far from being
game breakers.
A multiplayer mode was included in the game. Thinking back it played a lot like Halo multiplayer: different weapons
were spread across the map and invisibility and indestructibility were also available. On the other hand you could
also play with dragons only. Weapon upgrades were available as different flames the dragon could pick up and
ultimately use.
Thinking back the game still fills my heart with joy and it will probably always be one of my favorite games - five stars!
