Eye of the Beholder - Review @ CRPG Addict

Arhu

Arhu

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CRPG Addict finished his play through the classic AD&D dungeon crawler Eye of the Beholder, his first RPG from 1991. The final rating according to his own scoring system is 42/100.

I'll say right away that Eye of the Beholder is not a better game than Dungeon Master, and if it rates higher than Dungeon Master on my GIMLET, we'll know that the GIMLET is broken or I rated the previous game too low. What Beholder gains through NPCs and better quests, it loses in fundamentally worse character development, combat, magic, and puzzles. I'm sure it's possible to blend Dungeons & Dragons rules with an action dungeon-crawler, and Beholder is an important step in that direction, but it's not the destination.
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As usual, his experiences were recorded with lots of attention to detail, sprinkled with historic facts and philosophical musings. In chronological order:


  1. Game 189: Eye of the Beholder (1991)
  2. Out of the Sewers, Into the Spiders
  3. Made It This Far
  4. Oh Great. Drow.
  5. Stuck!
  6. Flayed and Quartered
  7. Won!
  8. Final Rating
More information.
 
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I once tried out Dungeon Master.

When I found out that I get health reduced when I bump into walls, I quit.
Never started it again. I just don't care about better character development if this is happening.


It might be a challence for other players, though.

I never played through EOB, but I liked it more.
And currently I'm playing through another Westwood game : The Legend Of Kyrandia Book Two ...
 
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This game looks *awesome*! It reminds me of the indoor/dungeon sections of Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun, which was a Sega Genesis game that I recently played.

I would love to try this one. Is the SNES version a faithful representation of the game? Anyone know?
 
I once tried out Dungeon Master, my life was never the same after that, walls of death I used to call them ;)

My love of RPG's was cemented for ever. A true classic.
 
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Fluent said:
This game looks *awesome*! It reminds me of the indoor/dungeon sections of Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun, which was a Sega Genesis game that I recently played.

I would love to try this one. Is the SNES version a faithful representation of the game? Anyone know?
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Why would you want to play a SNES version? By the early 90s PC games had VGA graphics at 640x480 - a whole load better than what the SNES offered I would have thought. EOB is a good game, even if it does get more frenetic than tactical when you meet the game's namesake villain.
 
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Fluent said:
Because I can emulate it easily on my PSP. =)
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Hmm - you don't have a PC? In any case I thought DOSBOX ran on almost everything these days including PSP, ios etc. I have used a SNES emulation for running Wiz1-3 on windows and it works quite well, but those are early 80s games... and even a SNES was superior to 80s PC graphics.
 
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I played EOB2 before EOB and DM. I enjoyed EOB2 a whole lot and by comparison EOB and DM both felt shallow, okay but not all that good.
 
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I remember it being a bit of a step down from the turn-based tactical combat available with the Gold Box game series, which were also from SSI. I suppose the graphics were a little nicer though.
 
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I loved this game back in the day, but I have to agree that Dungeon Master is the better game.

Now, if we're talking EotB 2, it's more of a toss-up.
 
rjshae said:
I remember it being a bit of a step down from the turn-based tactical combat available with the Gold Box game series, which were also from SSI. I suppose the graphics were a little nicer though.
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I think EOB 1&2 were made by Westwood studios and that EOB 3 made in house by SSI was apparently quite poor - although i didn't play that one, don't even recall seeing it in the UK.
 
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Roq said:
I think EOB 1&2 were made by Westwood studios and that EOB 3 made in house by SSI was apparently quite poor - although i didn't play that one, don't even recall seeing it in the UK.
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IRC, when SSI decided to make EOB3 in house, Westwood went and made Lands of Lore. Which was an amazing game in the real time dungeon crawler sub genre.
 
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rjshae said:
I remember it being a bit of a step down from the turn-based tactical combat available with the Gold Box game series, which were also from SSI. I suppose the graphics were a little nicer though.
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Yeah, was my feeling at the time as well, and (for this type of game) I preferred Lands of Lore quite a bit more than EOB 1 or 2.
 
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DM is a great game no doubt but EOB 1 and 2 are just awesome games. :)

I've replayed all of these in the last few years, playing them with an Amiga emulator is the best bet.

Daniel.
 
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Can any of these versions be played with a basic controller like the SNES version, or is that the only one with controller support?

Also, how complex are the keyboard controls? Can they be mapped in an emulator to a controller?

Also, do you have to map this game yourself?
 
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Must be mapped by yourself. A most basic map came with EOB1, at least. I know because I have one.

Roq said:
I think EOB 1&2 were made by Westwood studios and that EOB 3 made in house by SSI was apparently quite poor - although i didn't play that one, don't even recall seeing it in the UK.
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Yes, I think that's how it was.
 
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I am skimming Youtube for Eye of the Beholder Music regularily.
And some of the things which make Eye of the Beholder and other Westood games really great are it's graphics and sound.
The SNES Version of the game sounds bad in comparison.

Regarding EOB3: As Nephologist said - SSI and Westwood Split after EOB2. While Westwood made Lands of Lore, SSI made EOB3. EOB3 wasn't bad though, just not as good as the previous ones. You start outside in a big wooden area with TONS of undead you have to bash and some forest tiles you can remove by hacking them with your axes.
The big advantage was that you had an all attack button which mad life easier.

Also make sure to start with EOB1 and then transfer your Characters over to the next game. Another reason to play the PC version I guess.
 
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Personally, I prefer Menzo and the Ravenloft games... altho, I never
did like the lack of stores/money in any of these games, but, it
comes w/ the territory, I guess.
 
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