Tuul was a peaceful world, ruled by a great Shaman. The Shaman was said to be blessed with all knowledge. The position was passed to the eldest son of the family until twin boy were born. The people of Tuul tested both boys, but founded them to be equal in strength and intelligence. So the father brought the two boys into the desert to determine who would become the next ruler.
Three days later the boys came back from the desert holding two gems, one light and one dark. They announced that their father was dead and that he had divided his knowledge into the two gems.
Half of the people followed the Light Gem, the other half followed the Dark Gem.
As time passes those who chose to follow the Dark Gem, began to suffer physical as well as phsycological mutations. One day a warrior arose from them, Sarlac, and preached against the Light Gem followers. They quickly over took the Androthi (Light Gem followers). And put them into slave labor.
The only person who escaped was the son of the King of Androthi, Kyle Blackthorne. He was sent to earth as a child, to train and prepare for his encounter with Sarlac.
Blackthorne is a 1-player 2-D Action/puzzle game, with a little bit of Role-Playing added in.
WARNING: Blackthorne was made before the rating system. It does not contain any blood or gore, but there are a few mature themes, such as slavery, mild torture and torment. If I was chosen to rate the game I would give it a 'T' for 'Teen' (Ages 13 and up).
Graphics [8/10]:
The graphics look as though Interplay(Producer) and Blizzard (Developer) were trying to do another "Out of this World" or "Flashback". But they aren't quite as fluid, and there were no polygons used for the graphics. But Blackthorne has it's graphical advantages too.
First off let me say that Blackthorne is a 2-D, screen by screen action game. Kyle Blackthorne (Main character)is pretty well animated, as are the numerous enemies. The explosions and various bombs that are in the game are also score very high in the graphical category.
The backgrounds add to the game, and create an eerie sadistic atmosphere for the game.
There is extremely limited slow-down, so little, I only noticed it once in the game.
Music and Sound [9/10]:
The music in Blackthorne is excellent. Unlike Flash Back and Out of this World, there is music always playing. The music fits the mood of the game, dark, but action filled.
The sound on BT is some of the best sound I've ever heard in an action game. The explosions, are loud! There's the sound of the trolls dieing or laughing at your misfortune. The sound is almost entirely in sinc with the graphics of the game.
Game Play [9/10]:
You go through each level as Kyle Blackthorne, who needs to find keys, bombs and allies to advance to the next level. You play in a 2-D board, it's not a side-scroller, you move from screen to screen, which adds to the suspense. Evil twisted slave masters lurk in the shadows. Rock Beasts hide amongst ordinary rocks. You must dodge their bullets, and stay alive long enough to go into the final show-down with Sarlac.
The game has more a lot more action than Flash Back or Out of this World, but it looses a lot of the puzzles and thinking.
Challenge and Replay [7/10]:
Blackthorne is a tough game, but it's not too impossible. The enemies are tough and so are some of the jumps and tricks, but the puzzle, with few exceptions, consist of finding keys or items and figuring out where to use them. This can be tough but it's nothing compared to two other games, which will remain nameless! :)
There's a pretty good replay value on this game as well. There's passwords for every level, which makes it easy for anyone to go back to their favorite level.
But there isn't anything wonderful about replaying levels, which is sad, but it will be a game I go back to in the future.
Conclusion/Overall [8.2/10]:
Blackthorne is a great game, with few faults. It's hard action, white knuckle action, mixed with a few puzzles. Throw in great music and excellent sound FX, and you've got this great game! I would recommend this game to any one looking for a fast paced action game, with loud explosions.
WARNING: Blackthorne was made before the rating system. It does not contain any blood or gore, but there are a few mature themes, such as slavery, mild torture and torment. If I was chosen to rate the game I would give it a 'T' for 'Teen' (Ages 13 and up).
