Review: The Bard's Tale

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The Bard's Tale PC box
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By Gordon S. McLeod

This review was written as a game journalism assignment during my time as a student at the International Academy of Design & Technology, and was subsequently published at http://www.elecplay.com/, the home of Electric Playground online. The complete review can be found in its original location, here.

Embark on a deathly serious quest for coin and cleavage with a character voiced by The Man in Black from The Princess Bride. And hey, there's a pretty solid ARPG in there too. What's not to like?

The Bard's Tale seems, much like its titular hero, to have gained a bit of a reputation for itself. Maybe I've just been talking to the wrong people, but it seems to me that people see it as just a funny, silly game not to be taken too seriously. "Haha, boobies! And hey, it has that guy from The Princess Bride!" This is a shame, as it's one of the better games I've played in a long time and gamers would do well to look at it a bit closer before writing it off.

First off is the pedigree this game carries. Some younger gamers may not realize this, but this is actually the fifth Bard's Tale game. Way back in the C64 days of computing, the first four Bard's Tale games satiated the appetites of gamers just learning the joys of computer RPGs. The new Bard's Tale is the creation of the same man, Brian Fargo, who went on to work on a number of other CRPG titles like Baldur's Gate and Fallout.

That's not to say that this new game's reputation is completely unfounded. It doesn't even pretend to take itself too seriously. The humour is frequently on the lewd and crude side, and the game's packaging itself seems to encourage that perception by billing it as a "quest for coin and cleavage," so sure, many people will view it that way. But for those who care to venture deeper, there’s a lot more in store.

To read the rest, please visit Electric Playground.

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