Menzoberranzan ('Menzo') is a new 3-D smooth-scrolling FRPG done by the same team that brought you Ravenloft. Thus explains the reason for the well-done 320x400 'tall-res' graphics (doesn't require an SVGA card.... but who HASN'T got an SVGA card these days??).
The plot is classical AD&D. Peaceful village gets plundered by the bad guys (in this case, evil Drow Elves) who steal magical items and kidnap good guys who become slaves. Villagers form a party who head after said kidnap'ees and along the way encounter various subplots and twists and turns. Enough story - you'll see more when you play.
The game has some interesting technical features such as the afore- mentioned tall-res graphics, plus a sizeable game window to accomodate various machine speeds. The action is smooth-scrolling with correct perspective as you move around objects. There's also printable auto- maps and you have the ability to write notation on your maps before you print and save them. Everything is point-and-click, like you've seen before, but this inventory management system seems quite intuitive. The digital sound effects and music are rich and enhance the atmosphere of Menzo. One cool effect is levitation and flying in combat.
All in all, AD&D players will find Menzo to be a reasonably worthy addition to their FRPG library.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1994 by Ross Erickson for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.