Dark Ages is a platform game

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 written for MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

, published by Apogee Software

3D Realms

3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...

. It was the first shareware game to feature support for the AdLib

AdLib

Ad Lib, Inc. was a manufacturer of sound cards and other computer equipment founded by Martin Prevel, a former professor of music and vice-dean of the music department at the Université Laval...

 sound card.

Dark Ages was distributed as shareware

Shareware

The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...

. It consists of three episodes, with only the first episode playable in the shareware version. The episodes are:

• Prince of Destiny
• The Undead Kingdom
• Dungeons of Doom

The game was released as freeware

Freeware

Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...

 on March 20, 2009.

Plot summary

The player controls the prince and heir to the land’s greatest kingdom (referred to as the Great Kingdom). When the prince was a child, Garth, a power hungry wizard of immense power and greed, killed his father and took the throne. Rather than kill the prince he sent him to be raised by peasants, but even Garth’s evil magic could not foresee his mistake, since the very peasant he delivered him to was once the Kingdom’s greatest hero, and as the prince grew he was taught the ways of a master fighter. One of the things he learned well was how to use magic as a weapon.

In the years after Garth’s conquest, the kingdom had fallen into ruin and despair, with no hope of returning to the times of happiness and prosperity. Garth ruled with an iron fist and terrorized the population with undead

Undead

Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...

creatures.

The player's quest is to find Garth and rescue the Kingdom from the Dark Ages it’s trapped in. The difficult journey takes the player through badlands, castles, dungeons, caves, forests and finally to the Great Kingdom itself, with Garth’s army of undead creatures attacking at every turn.

The final episode ends with a confrontation between the prince and Garth. After killing Garth, the prince's destiny is fulfilled, having freed the kingdom from the Dark Ages of fear and tyranny. The prince assumes his rightful place as the peaceful King and Leader of the Kingdom. The Great Kingdom is once again free to prosper and grow without fear.

Gameplay

Dark Ages is a side scrolling game where the player's alter ego, the prince, can move sideways, jump and shoot. Game play involves killing and avoiding enemies and jumping over obstacles. Progression to the next level often involves a hidden door, revealed by one of several Wise Men type characters after retrieving an item for them. The items include a key, a shield, and an apple.

The player can use magic to fight the prince's enemies, starting out with a simple energy bolt and slowly gaining access to more destructive spells as the game progresses. There are three spells in the game: a blue bolt that flies straight forward, a boomerang that flies forward then returns allowing enemies to be hit twice, and a magic beam with a shorter range but can kill most enemies in one hit and can be fired in rapid succession.

External links

• [ftp://ftp.3drealms.com/freeware/da_freew.zip Download the full freeware game from the 3Drealms website]
• Dark Ages level viewer