Mageslayer
Windows - 1997
Description of Mageslayer
Another underrated released from premier action house Raven Software (most famous for Hexen and Heretic), Mageslayer is an excellent hack 'n slash-fest that rejuvenates the overhead dungeon hack genre pioneered by Atari's Gauntlet over a decade ago.
As is typical for this kind of game, the plot is negligible: a cliché premise involving an evil mage named Thane who is planning to take over the universe. It's the gameplay that matters, and Mageslayer delivers in spades. Just choose one of four character classes - the hammer-wielding Earthlord, the hell-spawned Arch-Demon, the fireball-slingin' Warlock, and the busty Inquisitor, and go at it.
Just like the classic Gauntlet, each character has a close-up melee attack and a long-range projectile - and mastery of both is crucial in the game. On each level, Mageslayer throws dozens of nasty monsters at you, triggering very furious (and bloody) fights that are very intense, and very addictive. Strategic elements are also present in the form of monster spawners, which you must kill to stop the endless hordes of the monsters. You can also use magical attacks, which are limited to the amount of mana on hand. Mana and other bonus items are scattered around the level, so dodging firefight while picking up goodies becomes a necessary tactic. Many goodies are hidden behind secret doors, especially the rarer kinds such as invisibility potions and proximity bombs.
The game also includes puzzle elements in the form of switches and buttons you will need to find and activate. There are too many jumping puzzles that require precise timing and coordination for my taste (Ultima VIII, anyone?), but at least they are few and far between. Quick timing is also a must to dodge rotating gears and other dangerous equipment.
Although the gameplay is derivative of Gauntlet, the graphics, as you can expect from a Raven game, is anything but outdated. You view the action from the top-down perspective similar to Take No Prisoners, but the world is in full 3D, with a constantly shifting perspective. Since the game is in true 3D, you will be able to drop down holes, ascend staircases, and ride elevators through all 28 multi-layered levels. Anyone with Direct3D-compliant cards will be treated to a smoother, anti-aliased version, complete with the cool colored-lighting effects common in today's 3D games. The prerequisite multi-player modes are excellent, although unfortunately hot-seat play is not supported so you will have to find opponents on-line.
With a solid gameplay, great graphics, and the same addictive furious action fans of Raven's other titles are familiar with, Mageslayer is yet another underrated classic from experts in the genre. Two thumbs up, way up!
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
npocmaka 2024-10-29 1 point
Here's a link to the game where the patch is applied, direct3d.dll is added, no-CDROM-check is turned off, resolution pop-up should not appear as it is added in the config. And the first-person mode configs are also added.. (Switch to FPS mode with K and L buttons), also the WASD controls. If you want to play it as gauntlet-like you'll need to restore the default controls... : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vf_9L6V7gxqib6RpZ-lClSscS_Qb3qo0
Arhum 2024-09-11 0 point
The video files in the FLICS folder for the RIP version are corrupted, use the FLICS folder from the ISO release. Also from what I can tell, the RIP version is already patched to 1.1.
Use narzoul's DDrawCompat from Github to run the game flawlessly on windows 10/11
Grote 2020-12-21 -1 point
im looking for a game like this it's very similar but i doesnt have any 3d parts once gameplay starts if i remember. there might have been a dragon tho
redgazelle 2020-05-29 4 points
Ho....ly....sh**
I was looking for this game for YEARS!
But it is one of this generic games which always runs through your head but you didn´t know the name! (because it was on one of these demo-discs)
So great! I am looking forward to revive this memory :)
Daisy1968 2019-05-12 4 points
Very nice game, even in 640x480x8-bit colors I like this very much.
It's also nostalgia for me cause I played it in the 90's on my P100 and 3DFX Voodoo 1 - 4MB with even better colored effects.
But I tried everything to get this work in 800x600 with the voodoo & glide patches, nothing works.
But as I said this game rocks anyways.
Thanks to Npocmaka ik can now swith between the top and 1st person view, but I prefer the standrd topview, the graphics are less pixelated and blurried.
Thanx for the game !
Does anyone knows how to make screens (cause i'm a tourist hahaha)
Bandicam doesn't work, so, ... maybe a hint from someone?
npocmaka 2018-01-04 12 points
Both Mageslayer and Take No Prisoners by Raven use the vampire engine (which looks have some similarities with quake engine). By editing their cfg files (or in the console that can be invoked with `~`) you set the following bindings:
bind K ";-6dof; sv_parallelSprites 0"
bind k ";-6dof; sv_parallelSprites 0"
bind L ";+6dof; sv_parallelSprites 3"
bind l ";+6dof; sv_parallelSprites 3"
which will allow you to switch between third and first person perspective with K and L buttns
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Windows Version
Game Extras
Various files to help you run Mageslayer, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
1 MB
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