Anvil of Dawn

Anvil of Dawn, like the somewhat more technically advanced Stonekeep, uses a 3D interface to create a unique role playing experience that will keep you enthralled for hours of gameplay. Anvil of Dawn takes place on the world of Tempest, where your stereotypical dark lord has arisen and whipped out all of civilization. Now, five heroes rise to the challenge and it’s up to you to guide one of them through.

14The game allows you to edit these characters so that you can make your own to a certain degree. Like in most role-playing games, Anvil of Dawn has attributes which represent a character’s abilities. In this case – strength, stamina, agility and power. From these basic attributes, hit points, spell points, chances to hit, etc. are determined. As you engage in combat and use magic, your character gains experience towards his/her next level.

Anvil of Dawn uses a complete graphical interface. You can access various game components and character information by clicking on the appropriate icon. Gameplay is also played with the mouse and you can access practically all of your character’s main combat functions without having to enter the character sheet. Spells are laid out for you on the right hand side of the screen in bubbles with a spell icon within and weapons are available by simply right or left clicking on an opponent or in the right/left hand boxes below your character portrait.

Magic is a huge part of this game and the spells devilishly fun! Anvil of Dawn has seven disciplines of spells ranging from earth, water, wind, and fire, to flesh and the void. One thing you’ll notice about Anvil of Dawn is it’s far superior spells. Not only do the spells have better names (where else would you find a spell called, Laughing Skull of Thunderous Might?) but they look the way they sound. The Laughing Skull forms before you, laughs hideously and then turns, speeding away to hit it’s target. In fact, most of the spells are not only conceptually cool, but they look just as good.

Anvil of Dawn is a fun role-player, much more so than some others I’ve played in the past. What it lacks is a story that grabs you and pulls you into the game. It has that special high fantasy feel so common with New World’s computer games.


System Requirements: 80386/33 MHz, 2 MB RAM, Win95


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