''Firelord'' is an

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

written by

Stephen Crow Stephen Crow (also known as Stephen J. Crow, Steve Crow, and Steve J. Crow) is a game programmer who worked in the 1980s on the ZX Spectrum platform, programming for companies such as Hewson Consultants and Bubble Bus Software. He also worked with ...

and released in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

for

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

Hewson Consultants Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced video games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable ...

. The game's opening theme was composed by Ben Daglish.

Gameplay

The player controls the knight Sir Galaheart, who must explore the cursed kingdom of Torot on a quest to recover the four charms of eternal youth. The Evil Queen has tricked the Dragon into parting with the sacred Firestone and used it to curse the kingdom with ghostly apparitions and deadly fireballs, and will only relinquish it in exchange for the four charms. Galaheart is initially defenceless and must quickly find an enchanted crystal in order to defend himself against the cursed apparitions the Evil Queen has flooded the kingdom with. He must then explore the kingdom, destroying apparitions and looking for clues to the location of the four charms. Galaheart can trade with various inhabitants for spells, information and items or attempt to steal them - being caught attempting to steal during trading leads to a "trial" in which the player has to attempt to stop on "innocent" rather than "guilty" with three successively faster alternating arrows. Items can only be stolen if the player has sufficient items to trade for them in the first place. Extra enchanted crystals can be found scattered around the kingdom and the player can use these as initial trading items. Galaheart has a constantly depleting energy level which is sapped further by contact with the apparitions and which can be restored by collecting food, "trading energy" which is depleted during trading and can be restored by collecting trading tokens and weapon energy which is depleted by firing and can be restored by collecting small crystals. Galaheart has an initial allocation of lives which can be lost by running out of energy, colliding with a fireball or being executed after being caught stealing. Extra lives can be found scattered throughout the kingdom. Most collectible items are of a fixed type, but some cycle through the available options allowing the player with careful timing to collect the powerup most needed at the time. When the game ends (either through successfully returning the Firestone or losing all the lives) the player is ranked in a pseudo-mediaeval ranking from

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

through various English

titles of nobility Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke), ...

up to the ultimate accolade of "Firelord". In order to achieve the highest ranking, the player must successfully steal the Firestone rather than trading the four charms for it, however it is only possible to steal the Firestone if the player has the four charms available to trade to begin with as with any other attempted theft.

Reception

References

External links

* {{lemon64 game, id=923, name=Firelord
''Firelord''
at

World of Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour ...

1986 video games Action-adventure games Amstrad CPC games Commodore 64 games Fantasy video games Video games scored by Ben Daglish ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Hewson Consultants games