''Death Knights of Krynn'' is the second in a three-part series of

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

'' "

Gold Box Gold box may refer to: *Decorative boxes made in gold *''Gold Box Gold box may refer to: * Decorative boxes made in gold *'' Gold Box'', a series of video games of 1988 to 1992 * Gold box (phreaking), a phreaking box to create a bridge between two ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

s, published by

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and video game publisher, publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994. The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames ...

. The game was released in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. The story is a continuation of the events after ''

Champions of Krynn ''Champions of Krynn'' is role-playing video game, the first in a three-part series of Dragonlance ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' "Gold Box" games. The game was released in 1990 in video gaming, 1990. The highest graphics setting supported in ...

'' and is followed by ''

The Dark Queen of Krynn ''The Dark Queen of Krynn'' is the third in a three-part series of Dragonlance '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' " Gold Box" role-playing video games. The game was released in 1992. Plot At the beginning of the game, the characters are summoned b ...

''.

Plot

One year after the defeat of Myrtani, the party, now stationed at Gargath Outpost, has had little to do. The outpost is soon attacked by undead forces. The party's old colleague, Sir Karl, is revealed to be brought back from the grave as an undead death knight under the command of the evil

Lord Soth Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose, is a fictional character appearing in the fantasy realms of ''Dragonlance'' and later ''Ravenloft''. He is depicted as a death knight and fallen Knight of Solamnia from the world of Krynn. Development Ac ...

. Soth has been raising dead, great warriors and turning them into his own evil undead forces. His primary goal is to possess the body of the legendary hero

Sturm Brightblade Sturm Brightblade is a fictional character from the ''Dragonlance'' series of role playing games and novels, based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons franchise. The character was created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and is published by Wizar ...

. He and his vast undead armies now threaten the land. It is up to the party to overcome this threat. The party's ultimate goal is to storm Dargaard Keep and defeat

. Along the way, it will travel to many towns and face numerous monsters. One particular monster, the Dread Wolf, will taunt the party many times until they finally fight the creature. The party may enlist the aid of the knight Sir Durfey at the Clerist's Tower. He will join and help the party for most of the game. There are a few optional side quests the party can undertake if desired. The party can gain some extra experience points and usually some extra treasure items can be found.

Gameplay

To play ''Death Knights of Krynn'', the player needs to create characters and form a party. The available character races are humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves and kender, while the selectable classes are fighter, ranger, knight, mage, cleric and thief. The gameplay basics are identical to all games in the series. Characters can also be transferred from ''

''. However, the useful magical items from the previous game will not be retained. There are some differences in play from the prior goldbox games: * ''Death Knights of Krynn'' does bear similarities to its predecessor in gameplay and graphics. * Graphics are about on par with ''Champions of Krynn'' and everything is still drawn in 16 colors (DOS/C64). Amiga version has enhanced 32 color graphics. * The Paladin is once again a playable class. It had been replaced by the Knight in ''Champions of Krynn'', though the Knight is also playable. * Just like ''Champions of Krynn'', the arrow keys are conveniently usable to select menu options as opposed to using hotkeys. Hotkeys are still available for most options, if one desires. * If a character has enough experience points to train, the character's name is colored purple as an indicator. This was not the case in past games. * This was the first appearance of the fireball sprite. There are only two known versions for MS-DOS:

Game credits

* Created by: SSI Special Projects Team * Game Development: Ken Humphries, Dave Shelley * Programming: Russ Brown * Encounter Code: Rhonda Gilbert, Carolyn Bickford, Cyrus Harris, Terrea Thompson, Ken Eklund, Gary Shockley, Alan Marenco * Graphic Arts: Maurine Starkey, Mike Provenza, Laura Bowen, Cyrus Lum, Fred Butts, Daniel Colon, Jr. * Playtest: John Kirk, Jeff Shotwell, Mike Gilmartin, Glen Cureton, Phil Alne, Erik Flom * Music: "The Fat Man", Dave Govett

Reception

SSI sold 61,958 copies of ''Death Knights of Krynn''. It had more substantial tie-ins to the Dragonlance setting than its predecessor, and was well received at the time of its release. The game was reviewed in 1991 in ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' #173 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

''s Scorpia in 1991 was less positive, stating that "there is a humdrum feel to the game", criticizing the lack of puzzles or role-playing. She stated that "even the side quests begin to look depressingly similar after awhile", and warned that the Gold Box series "has fallen into a predictable rut". In 1993 Scorpia called ''Death Knights of Krynn'' "mainly just another chop-em-up". According to GameSpy, "the game's more substantial ties to the DragonLance universe made it relatively well-received in its day, though at this point, it doesn't particularly stand out". Ian Williams of '' Paste'' rated the game #10 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames" in 2015.

References

External links

* *
Review
in

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...

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