Review by Celine_Aensland
"Dungeon Crawling doesn't get much better than this"
- Introduction -
Released in 2000 by Artifact Entertainment, Demise (also known as Mordor 2) is a massive 3D dungeon crawler. You take control of a party of up to 4 adventurers to plumb the Depths of Dejenol to discover the horrible secrets entombed within, or even quest in multiplayer mode. The game tragically never hit stores - and despite being spread virtually only by word of mouth and changing hands to a different publisher, it has garnered a fiercely loyal following, and remains available for sale via cd or direct download.
- Story -
A great and cataclysmic evil has burst forth from the Depths of Dejenol, trapping the unfortunates who explore and mine the place, laying waste to the city, and spiriting away the most strongly guarded secrets of the guilds. Aghast at the atrocities, Emperor Jazeroth Nagul XII has charged the guildmasters with discovering and halting the evil responsible for the devastation - and to that end has pledged unlimited money, manpower, and support. Dejenol was rebuilt as a military city, with fortified guard towers, armories, and training facilities everywhere. A year later, with three other nearby cities nearly succumbing to Dejenol's former fate - only surviving due to the presence of imperial troops now on permanent garrison - it is decreed that the seal to the Depths of Dejenol should be reopened. You take the role of heroes, tasked to journey into the darkness within to discover the source of the evil - and eliminate it.
Essentially Demise is a glorified dungeon crawler. The main plot quests are given by the Lord of the City, and you may be given quests occasionally by the guildmasters of the guilds your characters join. There is also a 'public noticeboard' where you may read and optionally select to fulfill requests ostensibly made by other adventurers also braving the depths (giving the game a slightly MMORPG feel, although you don't actually encounter the others in the dungeon). The bulk of your time will be spent hunting in the dungeon, questing, and returning topside for training and upgrading your equipment.
- Gameplay -
You begin topside in the fortified city of Dejenol, where you recruit up to 4 characters for your party. With up to 9 races and 12 guilds, there are plenty of combinations to pick - and you may join as many guilds as a character's race and alignment restrictions permit! The hallmark of Demise is flexibility, and with characters allowed to attain level 999 (yes, 3 digits, that's not a typo) in EACH guild they join, with hundreds of items and spells and monster types, you will have endless hours trying 'just a bit more' to get further. Despite all that, there is no danger of creating characters horribly unbalanced and overpowered - there will always be challenges to overcome in Demise.
The dungeon itself, while deceptively simple-looking, is a work of art as a whole. Forget all those D&D-style pretenders; the so-called dungeons in those are usually merely 5 or 6 branching paths twisted about - not so in Demise. Done in the old-school grid style, each level of this 31 floor dungeon boasts a 45 x 45 layout. The sheer size of a single floor in Demise can only be described as gigantic, and can be overwhelming for the unprepared. Fortunately there is a very good automap, which also allows you to add notes to it. The dungeon is dotted liberally with themed environments such as mazes, swamps, subterranean forests, graveyards, beaches and underwater areas, and even multi-level caverns! The creatures of the deep are themselves not always hostile; occasionally you may meet those you can converse with, or those who for some reason offer to join your party as companions.
Combat is carried out in a continuous-phase style, and the default action is to attack. Later on, you can use the various action buffers to intervene with other commands such as spellcasting, although in the meantime be prepared to use a weapon. This also means fights are often quickly over, but the downside is when you get in over your head, it can come with surprising swiftness that leaves you staring in disbelief at the "you are dead!" screen. Beware especially of springing trapped chests; the nastiest of traps don't merely poison or disease you, but actually teleport-scatter your party separately around the floor!
- Graphics/Sound -
Despite being a fairly dated game and not from a big-budget developer, Demise abounds with variety and colour. The themes of each part of the dungeon are readily recogniseable, no mean feat considering the size of the place - even after traversing hundreds of rooms you can readily identify landmarks that are 'familiar territory'. Monsters are quickly recogniseable as well both in looks and sound, and different subspecies of creatures are coloured subtly different from their cousins - pay attention and you will be able to tell between one that you can easily dispose of, and one that will send you back topside in a body bag. Most of the other game sound effects are okay, nothing outstanding and never annoying.
- Replayability -
Trying out the various character race and guild combinations will keep you enthralled for a long, long time. It is hardly possible to imagine completing this game with your very first party - you learn a lot every time you discover a new facet of the game. Like any good RPG, the experience is very different depending on your approach, and there are tons of items to trick out your party with that can alter your playstyle. There are also a few in-depth guides by veteran players which you may want to try if you need a different point of view.
- Recommendation -
Definitely a keeper. Demise is one-of-a-kind, in a genre that is sorely lacking in titles, and it delivers on all accounts except for a few minor interface annoyances. You can buy it from the Decklin's Demise website as a direct download for less than $20, and that price is nothing compared to the engrossing experience awaiting you in the Depths of Dejenol.
I wouldn't give $2.50 for it as it is basically an XP game that has never been upgraded. Somebody has serious delusions. Is this guy Cleve's brother? This seems to be the old Mordor 1.1 game in a new shell, but I only looked at it for 5 minutes. I'm thankful HiddenX posted this. It was good for a laugh.
