Ahem... Am I the only Russian here who read this post? :-0
I learnt about DROD from
this review at Absolute Games.
Actually, AG assigned DROD exceptionally high rating. See this "
gold pantheon"
page - DROD is rated 97%, which makes it number 10 game in the list of best games ever. Personally I respect AG's opinion as very authoritative, and it's reviews almost always tell truth about games. In plain words it means that reviewers would rather write about what's bad in the game, instead of praising it. The game must be really good to get a positive review. Hence, I remember myself very surprised to see a game rated
that high
and receiving "
our choice"
award. Needless to say that such review made me immediately download Architect's Edition (since it was free) and solve it.
Reading AG's forum after such review has been published was like watching a little war :-) 140+ posts from variously biased users. To name a few trends in those posts: (not a precise translation - that would be too long - but the spirit of posts)
- Hey? Is it really that good? I'm going to download it.
- See, AG rate terrible games high. How much have you been paid to promote such crap? Just look at the screenshots, it's not even 3D...
- And you'd play chess only if it is 3D with shader materials and surround sound, right? And boy, you must've been shocked by Championship Manager, which doesn't have any graphic to talk about. This is a logic game, not a HL2. It has a lot beyond graphics.
- None of my friends had ever heard about it. Someone who downloaded it, post your opinion.
- I'm on the second level. There are queens that lay three eggs every several turns. It's becoming more and more interesting.
- What if the next day there will be a better logic game with incredible graphics. How would you rate it then?
- This game is not about dumb finding the only possible solution. It's about thinking and I like it. Thanks AG for discovering this game!
- Calling this game terrible means that you was unable to solve the first level, dumb.
- What's the difference between its freeware and shareware versions? Post a direct link to downloads.
- Why is player's rating so low? You should listen to people and lower your rating.
- Rotating sword could make for a good multiplayer TBS, but this game is primitive. There isn't even a multiplayer mode.
- Could be. But in logic game genre, this one is really good.
- If you rate a game above 85%, it must be a game which everyone would like, not just adepts of a given genre. Like HoMM3 and Fallout.
- DROD distributive has over 350 rooms, and the official site has a lot of downloadable holds. Playability of this game is huge. Especially compared to many "
modern"
games that offer 8-10 hours gameplay.
- I'm stuck on the third level. Does anyone know a cheatcode to walk through force arrows?
- ANY AND ALL GAME MUST SUPPORT MOUSE CONTROL
......
Having read that review now again, I see that it is fair. It gives an overview of game principles and feeling of an interesting puzzle-with-a-story. Without messing with fine details that aren't important to a first-time DROD player.