Eye of the Beholder (PC, 1991)

 As gamers we're constantly crushed between the onslaught of new games being released, but also all the games that came before we were old enough to play them or at least enjoy them. I am always trying to balance my gaming of new and old games, to make sure I don't miss out on old classic like Thief, Deus Ex and Heroes of Might and Magic 3. But my quest to sift through the Good Old Games I often come across the ones that didn't age so well. And also the ones that try the old formula but don't quite hit the mark. 

Eye of the Beholder, a game that came out on MS-DOS (remember that thing?) back in 1991 falls somewhere in between. For a dungeon crawler it actually holds up really well and improves on a lot of features and gameplay to similar games like Might & Magic that came out in the mid 80's. But dungeon crawlers of this era still rely on the players immense patience and fortitude to get through, having some cruel design choices. Let's go explore.

You control a group of adventurers, based on basic D&D rules (with all the problems that entails, I'll get back to that). You've been tasked to investigate the sewers beneath a city to find out what is going on down there. As soon as you enter your only way out is blocked and your only option is to work your way further in and further down.

The controls, at least on my version, were with the number pad. This actually worked well since it allowed me to choose between turning and strafing, which would really come in handy when fighting certain enemies. It was also something that on occasion would get me lost, when I accidentally hit turn instead of strafe and suddenly found myself facing the wrong direction. Fortunately the game provides you with a compass, which is quite crucial to keep track off. Some parts of the dungeon will deliberately try to throw you off by turning you around, and some times the only way to spot it before you get lost if by keeping an eye on the compass.

You fight by clicking your weapons/spells. Your front characters can hit (and be hit) in melee range, so it is wise to put your ranged characters in the back row. You only have two spots in the front row however, and this is the first occasion you can smeg yourself over during the character creation screen.

Oh D&D rules. I have complained about them before. And I will probably complain about them many times more. Maybe I should just learn to steer clear of games who implement this system too rigidly? Then again, Eye of the Beholder is actually an example of a game where this system doesn't work too badly. You really have to know which classes are worth rolling in the beginning however, I implore you to throw your pride out the window and look up a walkthrough for at least a bit of guidance on this. If you, for instance, think you want a group of only mages, you are in for a hell ride from the beginning.

Some group compilations are simply the way to go, and when you roll your character stats it's also important to remember that you can't just wing it. Old-school D&D is very harsh and doesn't play kindly to experimenting or deviating. 

Once you've made your best group however, I found Eye of the Beholder didn't suffer so much from one of the worst D&D curses, the combat targeting. Anyone who has played old D&D knows that combat is mostly spent missing whatever you're trying to hit. I don't understand why anyone thought this would be any fun, because it really isn't. In Eye of the Beholder there will still be a lot of missing, but not to the point where it gets frustrating.

Monsters are fortunately not infinite nor random, a certain amount spawn on each level and once you've worked your way through them you are free to explore. Overall I found the difficulty well balanced, and as long as you have a cleric in your group you can heal up between fights. Some enemies have cruel features however which make them a pain to deal with. Spiders have a high chance of poisoning you (unless you were smart enough to roll a dwarf with high constitution!) and I had no way to remove it. You can just watch your characters slowly die when this happens (there is also no way to resurrect characters to my knowledge). If you're lucky you've found some Cure Poison potions at this point. You only other option is to reload the game. You can save whenever so I just made it a habit to save after every combat or every 15 minutes or so.

I called EotB a dungeon crawler, but it really is more of a maze crawler. The game doesn't provide you with any map or mapping system, instead you need to rely on good old pen and paper, or if you're lucky you've got the Clue Book. It is provided with the GoG version of the game. I love the Clue Book, it is absolutely amazing. And absolutely necessary if you don't want to go insane down in those sewers. They twist and turn and like I mentioned even actively try to confuse you. The Clue Book provides maps, with detailed information on the whereabout of enemies and items and I don't care if it's considered cheating - as a working mom I simply don't have the time nor the mind power to work these things out on my own.

I can see the fun in trying to do it the old pen and paper way, it plays a bit like an escape room with added monsters. The dungeon is full of buttons to press, levers to pull, messages on walls and secret walls to walk through. Everything just takes so much time. I wish I had that time, I really do. These game designs reflect a zeitgeist that is gone, those times when that one game was the only new one you had, for months. Eye of the Beholder represents one of the better products of its time in this aspect.

After having struggled through four levels, the first two without guide and the subsequent two with one, I decided that my nerves couldn't handle more. And if I am going to play the game entirely by guide I might as well watch a let's play, right? Maybe I do mind cheating after all.

Eye of the Beholder deserves better than me. It is not a bad game, or at least it wasn't, but time has outrun it. There is not much to complain about, it's got atmosphere and fun gameplay. But also endless running down corridors feeling lost and the stress of being chased by a spider knowing its bite will be the death of you. 

So four levels down I decided it was the enough for me. Looking in the Clue Book I knew that was about a third of the game, but also that much worse (and fun) was waiting for me further down. I will regret not finishing Eye of the Beholder, or maybe I regret not being able to play it back when it was released. I am sure it would've been a great experience.