Prophecy of the Shadow is a role playing game with a wonderful fantasy theme that was both published and developed by Strategic Simulations Incorporated (SSI). It was released in the early nineties, and was created specifically and only for play on the personal computer running the MS-DOS operating system. Despite being released in the post Advanced Dungeons and Dragons era for which SSI was most famous, Prophecy of the Shadow is new and fresh. The entire game plays out in the third person perspective (two-dimensional), and while it is mainly a role playing game, it does feature some valid elements of adventure gaming in it, as well.
The story line of Prophecy of the Shadow involves, as one could likely guess from the title, a very ancient and long-told prophecy that is about to be fulfilled. Somewhere in the great beyond lie the Shadow Lords, and according to this fabled prophecy, they have found a way to enter the world of mankind, and are preparing to do so. Somehow, the user will have find a way to break the string of events that the prophecy details. As each predicted event occurs, the prophecy comes closer and closer to coming to a head. To make matters worse, the world’s magic is steadily dying and those in power have made it illegal to use it.
| Screenshots: |
 | | |
Mage Hunters have been turned loose upon the land to seek out and destroy any that thwart the law. Since the powers that be are not taking good care of the land, Prophecy of the Shadow wheels out an added twist. Whereas most role playing games have the overall theme of “destroy the big foozle,” Prophecy of the Shadow charges the user with resuscitating a great evil in order to create a system of checks and balances and alter the course of the predicted events. To make matters even worse, your master has been killed and you have no real direction.
In Prophecy of the Shadow, the gamer will control only a single character instead of the usual large adventuring party of various character classes. The story will unfold as the gamer advances in levels, and is told mostly through text and still pictures, although there are a few brief animated sequences. Much of these sequences are “live actors” that appear when you meet an important character on a quest.
Prophecy of the Shadow is a fairly basic game, but it does feature some very nice elements that will keep it rolling along at a fair clip. Give it a try, because it is definitely worth a look.
