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Dragon Wars

DOS - 1990

Also released on: Amiga - Apple II - Commodore 64 - Sharp X68000

Alt names ドラゴンウォーズ, The Bard's Tale IV
Year 1990
Platform DOS
Released in United Kingdom, United States
Genre Role-Playing (RPG)
Theme Fantasy, Turn-based
Publisher Interplay Productions, Inc.
Developer Interplay Productions, Inc.
Perspective 1st-Person
Dosbox support Supported on 0.73
4.66 / 5 - 26 votes

Download extras files
Manual and refcard available

Description of Dragon Wars

The true successor to Interplay's acclaimed Bard's Tales games that unfortunately never got as much attention, Dragon Wars is an epic fantasy game that combines the best elements of Interplay's previous RPGs. Fans of classic sci-fi RPG Wasteland will recognize puzzles that can be solved by using various skills, and there are multiple solutions to most puzzles, as well as optional sub-quests.

Even the plot of Dragon Wars is a far cry from typical band-of-heroes-kill-the-foozle fare: you start out as slaves in Purgatory, stripped of all weapons and equipment. Your party must therefore concentrate on escaping the prison before setting a lofty aim of saving the land from chaos. Your quest will take you through vast continents, including the underworld, with dozens of monster types to battle and many NPCs to converse with.

Optional sub-quests are always rewarding and interesting, and multiple solutions to puzzles make Dragon Wars highly replayable. As icing on the cake, you can also import characters saved from Bard's Tales series.

Dragon Wars is a must-have for any RPGer, although those looking for an easy RPG should look elsewhere, as this is certainly not a game that you can finish in a few hours, and the final battle will take all the skills and luck you have.

Review By HOTUD

External links

Comments and reviews

DarkVale 2023-08-27 0 point

Dang it, those are my screenshots from MobyGames. :p

BananaJane 2023-08-12 0 point

Why are the graphics so bad this came out 2 years after might and magic 2

Dusdytoall 2019-04-14 2 points DOS version

Have been playing this game since 1993, and everytime I start a new game the excitement is as fresh as that first time. The open world and character specialization was the greatest, and with the manual references for game play, it was very much a "choose your adventure book" with the digital edge. Getting my 7 yr old son i to the adventure. He has already said it's much harder than his xstation games. Search online for the manual. Thanks for keeping this beloved lesser known gem availible for the next generation!

MPTH 2018-07-26 2 points

I play this last night in the browser with the best possible colours. I think that is the colour option right at the bottom. Was really pleased with the look of the game after I got the Steam version which doesn't allow for graphic options. Although, this morning, when I hopped back on it. I accidently saved the graphics options with the most limited choice and now it looks terrible again. I don't know how to get it back the other way. Was wondering fi somebody could help me out with that???

BTW, this game is kind of gimped without the user manual. YOU need it to read numbered paragraphs referenced in the game itself to find out what is going on. Unless you have them commited to memory without the manual, your kind of lost. Fortunately for myself, use the one that came with the Steam version. Pity about the terrible looking colours.

CooperTeam 2018-03-20 0 point DOS version

Agree's with Justin. You need the manual so you know what's going on. The manual contained the info you needed to move on as well as let you know what was going on. It was the game's copy protection. Instead of using "Look for word in such-in-such on page whatever", you needed it to get maps, know what a guard said, even know some info on how to find other info.

fred 2017-10-12 0 point DOS version

As soon as you enter Irkalla's realm in the magan underworld go 2 steps forward and three left. you get 5 attribute points. its a big help.

Barrack Obama 2017-05-20 -12 points

I ruined America, hahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!

denno 2017-01-14 2 points Commodore 64 version

I actually bought this game the same year it appeared on the market for the Commodore 64. I literally spent hundreds of hours in my basement playing this game while listening to the Queen II album. I really lost myself in this game and loved it. Okay, reading the paragraphs in the manual was sometimes wearysome but it helped move the game along. Funny thing is, that whenever I listen to the Queen II record today, I instantly remember the settings of my basement and this game.

dani 2015-05-05 1 point DOS version

Played tons of pc games growing up and after the space quest series this was hands down my fav. So excited to hear about dw2! Hope it happens.

argeos 2015-02-18 0 point DOS version

There are talks "Dragons Wars 2" will be out (and even crowdfunded) this year.

I played DW decades ago, and it was really the best RPG game I played then. It was not an easy game, and the ending was simply perfect (over 90 minutes real time like to defeat the last boss/last part).

The game gave you the sense that every move counts while having lots of offering you.

The graphics, sound was OK for me. I was used to RPG on paper/dices.

waltc 2015-01-30 -1 point DOS version

Like the far superior Amiga version (much better graphics--and sound--the Amiga revision has stereo music and sound effects--the DOS version has speaker beeps) this version also automaps for you...

Jake 2014-12-30 -1 point DOS version

A very good game, not ground breaking by any stretch, but solid fun. And, yea, if your looking for an easy game look somewhere else, it's not really 'hard' per-se, but you'll be lucky to get out of prison in a couple hours play if you've never played it before.

Justin 2014-06-01 0 point DOS version

NVM, fixed problem. This game is TOUGH! Build up that bandage skill for one of your team members!

Justin 2014-05-27 -1 point DOS version

I love this game but you NEED to download the maps and paragraph booklet to play it. BTW, the screenshot here is full color, but I'm getting a monochrome image on D-Fend Reloaded. Why would that be?

duddy 2013-01-29 1 point DOS version

when we got our tandy 286 we each got to buy one game, as luck would have it thos was the one, and i have been playing it eversince. glad i found it again!!

king 2012-05-02 -1 point DOS version

itsa v v v super game friends dont miss it

Jeff 2010-10-09 0 point DOS version

This was my first RPG type of game on my comidore 64. Too bad they dont make more like this one

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Share your gamer memories, give useful links or comment anything you'd like. This game is no longer abandonware, we won't put it back online.

 

Buy Dragon Wars

Dragon Wars is available for a small price on the following websites, and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide .

Game Extras and Resources

Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Dragon Wars, we have the following files:

ManualEnglish version 7 MB (DOS) RefcardEnglish version 3 MB (DOS)

Other Releases

Dragon Wars was also released on the following systems:

Amiga

Apple II

Commodore 64

Sharp X68000

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