“Blood & Magic” is Interplay’s first real-time strategy game under TSR’s Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) Forgotten Realms license. Although gameplay is similar to other real-time strategy games (e.g., WarCraft/WarCraft II), there are enough differences to make it of interest. Let me say one thing up front: you do NOT have to have an interest in AD&D stuff or knowledge of the Forgotten Realms story to enjoy this game. I had neither of these but still had a lot of fun with this game.

“Blood & Magic” comes on a CD-ROM and is a DOS-based game compatible with Windows (3.x and 95). I had no serious problems with installation, although the CD-ROM did not autoplay as described in the manual; hopefully, Interplay will correct this problem with a patch soon. The paucity of significant information in the 52-page Instruction Manual is probably my biggest gripe about the game; there is simply not enough information in the manual, either to describe gameplay, structures, or the various creatures of The Utter East (a previously unknown part of the Forgotten Realms). Fortunately, the excellent tutorial incorporated into the game provides all you need to know.

Each scenario/map contains mystical sites (Arbor Lodge, Barracks, Crypt, Runestone, and Temple), magical items that can be picked up, ruins, and other buildings that are revealed as you explore. The landscape changes with each scenario, ranging from forests to swampy lowlands.

The basic units of “Blood & Magic” are Basal Golems, creatures created at your Bloodforge (i.e., home base). Although the Basal Golems can be used to fight enemies (they walk very slowly), they are of most use when they are sitting still; when not moving, they transform into a pyramidal obelisk structure and generate mana (energy in the form of spell power which is needed to create additional creatures). Mana will eventually transfer to the Bloodforge automatically, but manual transfer from each unit is required to quickly create more Basal Golems early in the game (a feature allowing simultaneous mana transfer from all Basal Golems would have been nice). Other than the slow movement of the Basal Golems, the only quirk in gameplay is that the game will freeze for a couple of seconds whenever a mystical site is destroyed.

Once you have sufficient mana production, you can then begin to explore your world. Ruins may be converted into mystical sites by placing four Basal Golems on the corners and transforming them. Once you have created a mystical site, you can transform your Basal Golems into higher level creatures if you have conducted the appropriate research. The higher level creatures are many and varied, depending on the type of mystical site. This is where the manual is really lacking, since it does not describe the types of creatures available at each site, nor does it detail the amount of research that must be completed before creating these creatures. Nevertheless, these 28 unique creatures (from Druids and Ghouls to Nymphs and Wyverns) add a lot of variety to the game, since each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

“Blood & Magic” contains five separate stories with multiple parts which can be played from either the good or bad side, effectively doubling the total number of levels. The stories have quite a bit of variability and must be played in order, with the difficulty increasing as you progress. The criteria for winning and losing are clearly identified before you start each scenario; usually the goal is to destroy all enemy units and/or structures, although sometimes there is a specific quest. Although “Blood & Magic” does not include a scenario editor (this would have been nice!), there is a random campaign option available after all five stories are completed which allows you to create a customized character and will take you through all of the maps, which adds to the replay value. “Blood & Magic” also allows network/modem play (at least 9600 baud recommended). The game has very good graphics, sound effects, and music.

Bottom Line:  “Blood & Magic” is an entertaining real-time strategy game that has enough differences from the rest of the crop to be of interest. Despite a few annoyances, I had a LOT of fun with this game.

System Tested On:  IBM-compatible PC with a 133Mhz Pentium; Windows 95; 64-bit PCI-bus video card; 32 Mb of RAM; 8x CD-ROM drive; 16-bit Soundblaster-compatible sound card; mouse

Minimum System:  IBM-compatible 486-66 Mhz processor (486DX-100 recommended); 8 MB RAM; Microsoft-compatible mouse; color monitor with 256 VGA graphics; double-speed (300Kb/sec. or faster) CD-ROM drive; 35 MB hard disk space; MS-DOS 5.0 (or later); supported sound card

“Blood & Magic” retails for $50. Technical support information is available either by toll number or on Interplay's World Wide Web site.

Interplay Productions, 16815 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, California  92606; phone (714) 553-6678