''Shannara'' is a 1995

point-and-click adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...

released for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It is based on the book series of the same name by

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly high fantasy, epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times Best Seller List, ''New York Times'' ...

Gameplay

Like other games of its genre, the gameplay mainly consists of interacting with characters, game environments, and items in the inventory. There is also a battle system used in certain places in which the player character can choose to retreat, give orders to party members, attack, or defend.

Plot

Although the game contains characters from the Shannara novels, it is not an adaptation but an original story set after ''

The Sword of Shannara ''The Sword of Shannara'' is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy. The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called The Four Lands. One follows the protagonist ...

'' and before ''

The Elfstones of Shannara ''The Elfstones of Shannara'' is a 1982 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first sequel to ''The Sword of Shannara'' and the second book in '' The Original Shannara Trilogy''. It expands upon the history of the Elves, ...

''. Players take on the role of Jak Ohmsford, son of Shea. In Shady Vale, Jak meets Allanon. He tells Jak of the horrible Warlock Lord's return. Jak sets off into the Land of Shannara.

Development

Reception

A reviewer for ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' criticized the game, saying it fails both as an entry in the Shannara saga and as an adventure game. He opined that the story lacks the quality and depth of Brooks's novels, instead featuring a linear plot with a generic "villain's revenge" premise, while the gameplay falls short due to its bare bones combat system and its "clunky" overhead view when moving characters long distances. In ''

Computer Games Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

'', Cindy Yans greatly disliked ''Shannara''s

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

mechanics, and wrote that "you ''really'' want to avoid combat at all costs." However, she praised its puzzles, characters and story, and believed that "most Legend fans" would enjoy the game if they played it as a graphic adventure. ''

Computer Game Review ''Computer Game Review'' was a print monthly magazine covering both computer gaming and video gaming. The magazine was started in 1991. Also known as ''Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment'', and then later as ''Computer Game Review and ...

'' described it as "a solid story from fantasymeister Brooks", and "an adventure game that will appeal to everyone's tastes and pocketbooks.

References

External links

Official website
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* {{Terry Brooks 1995 video games Adventure games DOS games Legend Entertainment games Point-and-click adventure games Shannara Single-player video games Video games based on novels Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by George Sanger Windows games