Dracula: Reign of Terror, also known as Vlad Tepes Dracula, is a 1997 release by SoftKey. The title is one that will draw the attention to it or repel the gamer away from it because of its gothic subject. However, the title is misleading. Dracula: Reign of Terror concerns Dracula the emperor, not Dracula the famous vampire.
The game is still set in fifteenth century Transylvania, the historical home of the great vampire, Dracula. The protagonist of the tale, if he can be called such, is Count Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler because of his propensity to leave his enemies dead and wounded skewered upon their own lances and spears.
In DRoT, the Turkish army has usurped Valachy, Vlad’s homeland. Leading a small but elite force, Vlad intends to repel the enemy forces and retake his ancestral lands.
DRoT becomes, at this point, a straightforward strategy game based on empire management. There are real-time tactics and strategies that play a part in the battles, but management of the empire is the crux of the game. Upon retaking Valachy (which happens right away in the beginning), Vlad must oversee the commerce in her thirteen counties, managing resources enough to support the growing military. From a tactical level, Vlad must position his troops to defend and support Valachy, train a plethora of units (cannons, knights, crossbowmen, swordsmen, and siege weaponry) and lead the troops into combat.
The level of micromanagement
that some people have chosen to embrace is not present in DroT, and neither is massive strategic skill. Tactical combat is very important, since many of the battles are in real-time mode. There are many random factors that also come into play. The possibility of disease or famine is about the only things historically accurate in this game, not that accuracy is necessary to improve game play. Sometimes it’s just a nice touch. Vlad’s minions also will find abandoned units that can be brought into the Transylvanian army. However, there is nothing present about the historical character that the game is based on, save for his name in the title. The protagonist is not nearly the ruthless tyrant that would spawn Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This is somewhat disappointing, but as an empire builder/war strategy, Dracula: Reign of Terror comes together nicely with a premise that is not overdone and a lot of great game play.
