''Battle Master'' is a

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

action adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

Mirrorsoft Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992. History In the early 1980s, Jim Mack ...

. The game is a fantasy adventure in which the player controls a champion who must battle evil forces to conquer four kingdoms, uniting the four kings' crowns and presenting them to the Watcher in order to restore the world to peace.

Gameplay

Battle Master is a squad-based action-adventure game viewed from a top-down isometric perspective. After choosing a race - human,

elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

or orc - and a Dungeons & Dragons-style

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

- warrior, merchant, archer or mage - the player is presented with a map, from which destinations are chosen. At each destination the player may choose to

parley A parley (from french: link=no, parler – "to speak") refers to a discussion or conference, especially one designed to end an argument or hostilities between two groups of people. The term can be used in both past and present tense; in pre ...

- giving an opportunity to purchase useful items from the destination, rather than having to find them - or may enter the destination. At this point the player enters the area and must defeat a minimum of 75% of the hostile forces present in order to proceed. Combat is either close-quarters

mêlée A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...

, using such weapons as swords and clubs, or ranged, using arrows or magic. In addition to the main player character it is possible to recruit up to four followers, who may be given rudimentary formations (row, column, wedge), positions (front, rear) and basic commands (rally). Defeating enemies and proceeding on from an area is the only way to unlock further destinations on the map. Difficulty increases as the player progresses to new areas; to cope with this players may either find or buy (using looted gold) improved equipment such as armour and weaponry.

Plot

Following an age of conflict between the races of men, elves, dwarves and orcs that destroyed towns and cities and left the land decimated and impoverished, the mysterious Watcher came and settled in the Tower. The Watcher withdrew the power of magic, leaving remnants of magic only in artifacts created before his arrival, and cast a spell of apathy on the four kings. Then he spoke a prophecy: "Where there is chaos there will be order; where discord, harmony will flourish. From the south will come a hero to conquer the land and unite the crowns. Where there were fragments, there will be a whole. then will a new age begin."

Reception

Critical reception of Battle Master was mixed, with scores ranging from 58% (''Zzap!64'') to 83% (Amiga Format) for the Atari ST and Amiga formats of the game. Whilst Amiga Format praised its graphics, "clever design" and "instant and lasting appeal", Zzap!64 criticised it for having "too little depth" and "too little tactical meat", and although ST Format also criticised the graphics it considered its action to be "heart-racing" and its strategy "innovative".

References

External links

''Battle Master''
at Lemon Amiga

at Atari Mania *
''Battle Master''
official website {{Personal Software Services 1990 video games Amiga games Atari ST games DOS games Fantasy video games Personal Software Services games Sega Genesis games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Orcs in popular culture Single-player video games Mirrorsoft games