Eye of the Beholder (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game
for computer
s and video game console
s developed by Westwood Studios
. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
in 1990
for the DOS
operating system and later ported to the Amiga
, the Sega CD, and the SNES
. The Sega CD version features an exclusive soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro
.
A full port to the Atari Lynx handheld was developed by NuFX
in 1993, but never officially released.
The game had two sequels, Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon, released in 1991
, and Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor, released in 1993
. The third game, however, was not written by Westwood, who had split with SSI over artistic differences and created the Lands of Lore
series.
hire a team of adventurers to investigate an evil coming from beneath the city. The adventurers start in the city's sewer, whose entrance gets blocked by a collapse caused by Xanathar, the eponymous beholder
. The team descends further beneath the city, going through Dwarf
and Drow communities, to Xanathar's lair, where the final confrontation takes place.
Once the eponymous beholder was killed, the player would be treated to a small blue window describing that the beholder was killed and that the adventurers returned to the surface where they were treated as heroes. Nothing else was mentioned in the ending and there were no accompanying graphics. This was changed in the later released Amiga version, which featured an animated ending.
The Storyline: After the adventures of the first game, the heroes head to a local inn to rest and enjoy their new found fame but a note gets slipped to them from Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun (Archmage of Waterdeep) who says that he sent a scout (Amber, a female elven thief/mage of neutral good alignment) to investigate reports of evil brewing in a temple known as Darkmoon but she has not returned. Khelben then transports the heroes to the temple to find Amber and continue the investigation, but it soon becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems....
The gameplay remains within the confines of the temple but players have to explore the vast catacombs beneath, the upper levels of the temple, and the three towers...azure, silver and finally crimson where they can fight the evil Dran Draggore. Like the first game in the series, this one was also ported to the Amiga systems.
The Storyline: After defeating Dran the heroes tell the patrons of a local tavern about their success over Dran Draggore and how it saved the town. After that, a mysterious man enters the tavern and asks the heroes to save the ruined city, Myth Drannor, which is ruled by a Lich named Acwellan. The man then tells the heroes that they need to save Myth Drannor by getting an ancient artifact from the Lich known as the Codex. After the heroes foolishly accept the quest, the mysterious man teleports the heroes just outside of Myth Drannor.
The explorable areas include the forest around the city, the mausoleum, and finally the city ruins including a mage guild and a temple.
Capcom
published a SNES
version of Eye of the Beholder in 1994.
A game titled Eye of the Beholder was released for the Game Boy Advance
that uses a "stripped down version of the 3rd edition D&D rules" with "only four basic character classes". It is not a port of the original game, though it possesses roughly the same plot. It bears stronger resemblance to the original Gold Box
games, such as Pool of Radiance
.
Eye of the Beholder is similar to the early CRPG Dungeon Master, released in 1987 by FTL Games
.
Several modules for Neverwinter Nights
have been created by fans as remakes of the original Eye of the Beholder game.
#171 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
The Lessers reviewed Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon in 1992 in Dragon #179, giving the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
for computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s and video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s developed by Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...
. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
in 1990
1990 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Bonk's Adventure is released for NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk, the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.*February 12 — Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America...
for the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
operating system and later ported to the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, the Sega CD, and the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The Sega CD version features an exclusive soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro
Yuzo Koshiro
is a Japanese video game music composer and audio programmer. He is regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune music and video game sound design...
.
A full port to the Atari Lynx handheld was developed by NuFX
NuFX
NuFX was a video game developer, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. NuFX is famous for developing the NBA Street video game series. They were acquired by Electronic Arts on February 13, 2004. Their name was changed to EA Chicago...
in 1993, but never officially released.
The game had two sequels, Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon, released in 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
, and Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor, released in 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
. The third game, however, was not written by Westwood, who had split with SSI over artistic differences and created the Lands of Lore
Lands of Lore
Lands of Lore or LoL is a computer role-playing game series by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive. Lands of Lore follows the tradition of Dungeon Master, but introduced a linear scenario-based storyline, rather than characters and feats.-Development:Westwood Studios made role...
series.
Story
The lords of the city of WaterdeepWaterdeep (city)
Waterdeep is a fictional city-state that forms part of a popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. It is a port city that is located along the western coast of the Faerûn sub-continent...
hire a team of adventurers to investigate an evil coming from beneath the city. The adventurers start in the city's sewer, whose entrance gets blocked by a collapse caused by Xanathar, the eponymous beholder
Beholder
The beholder is a fictional monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It resembles a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, single central eye, and lots of smaller eyestalks on top with deadly magical powers....
. The team descends further beneath the city, going through Dwarf
Dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, dwarves are a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for play as player characters...
and Drow communities, to Xanathar's lair, where the final confrontation takes place.
Once the eponymous beholder was killed, the player would be treated to a small blue window describing that the beholder was killed and that the adventurers returned to the surface where they were treated as heroes. Nothing else was mentioned in the ending and there were no accompanying graphics. This was changed in the later released Amiga version, which featured an animated ending.
Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon
Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon used a modified version of the first game's engine, added outdoor areas and greatly increased the amount of interaction the player had with their environment, along with substantially more 'roleplaying' aspects to the game.The Storyline: After the adventures of the first game, the heroes head to a local inn to rest and enjoy their new found fame but a note gets slipped to them from Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun (Archmage of Waterdeep) who says that he sent a scout (Amber, a female elven thief/mage of neutral good alignment) to investigate reports of evil brewing in a temple known as Darkmoon but she has not returned. Khelben then transports the heroes to the temple to find Amber and continue the investigation, but it soon becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems....
The gameplay remains within the confines of the temple but players have to explore the vast catacombs beneath, the upper levels of the temple, and the three towers...azure, silver and finally crimson where they can fight the evil Dran Draggore. Like the first game in the series, this one was also ported to the Amiga systems.
Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor
Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor was not developed by Westwood Studios, the developer of Eye of the Beholder and The Legend of Darkmoon, but rather in-house by the publisher SSI. Despite employing an updated version of the engine, interesting and oft-unique NPC selection and welcome gameplay tweaks such as an 'All Attack' button and the ability to use polearms from second rank, it was not well received. Reviews criticized the oversized and maze-like maps, lag issues, unchallenging battles, poorly designed puzzles and uninteresting storyline.The Storyline: After defeating Dran the heroes tell the patrons of a local tavern about their success over Dran Draggore and how it saved the town. After that, a mysterious man enters the tavern and asks the heroes to save the ruined city, Myth Drannor, which is ruled by a Lich named Acwellan. The man then tells the heroes that they need to save Myth Drannor by getting an ancient artifact from the Lich known as the Codex. After the heroes foolishly accept the quest, the mysterious man teleports the heroes just outside of Myth Drannor.
The explorable areas include the forest around the city, the mausoleum, and finally the city ruins including a mage guild and a temple.
Collections
Eye of the Beholder Trilogy (1995, SSI) was a rerelease of all the three games for DOS on CD-ROM. They also (as did a number of other AD&D DOS Games) appeared later in Gamefest: Forgotten Realms Classics (2001, Interplay).Related games
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
published a SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
version of Eye of the Beholder in 1994.
A game titled Eye of the Beholder was released for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
that uses a "stripped down version of the 3rd edition D&D rules" with "only four basic character classes". It is not a port of the original game, though it possesses roughly the same plot. It bears stronger resemblance to the original Gold Box
Gold Box
Gold Box is the name for a series of computer role-playing games produced by SSI. The company won a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc...
games, such as Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
.
Eye of the Beholder is similar to the early CRPG Dungeon Master, released in 1987 by FTL Games
FTL Games
FTL Games was the video game development division of Software Heaven Inc. FTL created several popular video games in the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite the company's small size, FTL products were consistently number-one sellers and received the highest critical acclaim and industry awards.FTL was...
.
Several modules for Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
have been created by fans as remakes of the original Eye of the Beholder game.
Reception
The original Eye of the Beholder game was reviewed in 1991 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#171 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
The Lessers reviewed Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon in 1992 in Dragon #179, giving the game 5 out of 5 stars.