Otherwise, much of the game sounds very familiar. Found objects and gathered elements can be fashioned into weapons and upgrades by the town blacksmiths. Much of the game's regalia and weaponry looks quite authentic. The elaborate and detailed swords, bows armor and warrior headdresses are graphically lush, a nice break from the leather/iron/mail armor classes and standard weapon types of most fantasy RPGs. In fact, the designers are going out of their way to bring ancient Japanese myth to life by recreating legendary monsters from cultural lore. Some sort of giant turtle seems to be among them, and they crop up a good deal in the dungeons thus far. The accessories, too, look remarkably genuine. Throne of Darkness could very well give all us Westerners a quick education in Japanese feudal military hardware and mythology.

The spells come in four element classes (water, fire, lightning and earth). As your spell casting levels improve, the spells eventually run across much of the gameplay screen, so a well-aimed lightning or earth spell can mow down a front line of assaulting troops. The town priests, of course, dole out the healing, the potions and special spells.

The designer plans call for intricate individual quests in the single-player game, some of which are timed, with consequences if you fail. The design notes suggest that missing a deadline, for instance, might let the Dark Warlord upgrade nearby foes and require even fiercer battles.

Multiplay fans will be able to group together as clans, up to seven in up to four teams, to take on another Dark Warlord team. Alliances among clans will be possible, the designers say, but ultimately only one clan can emerge the winner. Now that could make for some interesting gameplay.

At the risk of offending the million or so purchasers of Diablo II, it seems to me a bit of a risk cloning this engine. After all, the recent second iteration in the series came a couple of years after the original, more than enough time for most of us to forget how shallow a game Diablo really was. Can this type of gaming really stand up to much copying? Don't get me wrong, I was hooked on Diablo II like everyone else. But frankly, after about twenty hours of hack and slash with little plot or character to speak of, I set it aside. The game is good, but is the payoff really worth the carpal tunnel syndrome it induces?

Even though I find some of the bald-faced cloning in Throne of Darkness a bit embarrassing (couldn't they have come up with their own way for found objects to come out of chests?), there are more than a few hints of innovation here. The focus on more intricate group tactics is very promising, and the attention to period detail may well make the game worth playing when it appears late this year or early in 2001. Let's just hope the designers realize that this game type desperately needs more dramatic depth, especially plot elements that give us a reason to click feverishly onward. Hey, if I am going to need wrist therapy after playing a game, I want to know that it was worth my while.

By Steve Smith
Contributing Editor