New At Rampant Games: The Three Musketeers
Hey! Look! A new indie RPG that is not in the 16-bit jRPG style! Huzzah! (And I have another one coming up in a couple of days). And - get this - it's for the Mac as well as PC! See, it does happen once in a while...

Dingo Games has released The Three Musketeers: The Game, now available in the Rampant Games Store. That's right, a game inspired by the famous candy bar! Now you too can enjoy chocolaty goodness in a role-playing game...

Er, oops. No, sorry, that's not right.

No, this is a game based on the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, which has gone on to spawn countless movies, stage performances, TV shows, and other incarnations. It is the original master prototype of all swashbuckling tales of adventure. I'm fairly partial to buckling a few swashes myself, and became an immediate fan of the book when I read it in the sixth grade. While not the first game based on the novel, it IS the first computer RPG.

You play young d'Artagnon, off to seek his fortune and join the Musketeers. The game has you covering quite a bit of territory in 17th century France, though fortunately travel by horseback is fairly speedy. The game consists (as far as I've played) of a linear arrangement of quests. A path of yellow footprints are provided by default (I think you can turn off this option) to help you find the next quest So you won't get lost. While that feels a little like being led by the nose (and it is), the game also encourages you to go off the path and explore. By doing this, I found one subquest (which I didn't yet qualify to undertake), and I found some thieves, ruffians, and men being very impolite to women who needed to have their ways adjusted by the tip of my blade and / or a gunshot.

Man, it's like being Batman, but with a fancy plumed hat.

The game does have unavoidable "cut scenes" in the form of comic pages. One thing I liked about these scenes is that you can mouse-over the speakers to find out their names, just to make sure you keep the characters all straight. If they haven't been identified yet, they may only be referred to as the "Man from Meung" or something like that.

While I'd rather see these scenes play out in-game, there's just a lot of cases where it just isn't feasible. Especially on an indie budget. They work. That's the important part.

One of the more interesting points of the game that I want to explore more is the concept of honor. You have four major stats (besides health) - your attack skills with firearms and sword, your defense ability, and "honor." Honor comes by leveling, and also by your equipment. While a new, fancy collar might only give you a minor defensive benefit over a cheap, dirty one, it may grant you a significant bonus to your honor. I'm not sure all what honor is used for, but I do know that you need a minimum level of honor to qualify for undertaking a subquest. People in Paris do not just let ANYBODY run their fed-ex quests... no, they need someone who looks professional and has a good reputation.

And really, there is some sense to that. It's just kinda nifty to me that your clothing and gear is important beyond combat. This was also the case in Cute Knight, where I found I had to maintain two separate outfits - one for social occasions, and one for exploring the dungeons. Hey, at least this time I get to play a guy when I do that...

And when I play Tennis. Yeah, there's a tennis mini-game in this thing. The game of French nobility.

Combat is ... well, I hesitate to call it an "action RPG," because it's not the traditional click-fest. But it does happen in real-time, and you have to time your usage of healing ointments or timing a click on an opponent during the brief moments in which he is most vulnerable. But otherwise you click to start the combat and watch them go at it, trying to time other actions when necessary. It won't tax your tactical skills or anything, but it does take some active participation and skill.

Guns take time to reload, dependent upon the type of firearm you own. They reload even slower if you are busy doing something else. So normally you open a combat with a pistol or musket shot, and then go at it with swords.

I've had fun playing it so far, and I encourage you to check it out if it looks anything like your cup of tea. Actually, I encourage you to buy it from Rampant Games to help me support my indie game habit. But only if you like it.

How do you know if you'll like it? Why, by playing the free demo, of course! It gives you enough time to get into a lot of trouble, fight a bunch of duels, and become buds with Athos, Porthos, Aramis (after your duel to the death with them is so rudely interrupted by the Cardinal's guards...)

Download The Three Musketeers: The Game at Rampant Games
Available for Windows and Mac.

Have you tried it? What did you think? Did I miss anything cool or clumsy? Let me know here, or in the forums!

Labels: Game Announcements

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 6:06 AM (Permalink)