Publisher: Electronics Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Size: 8 Megs
No. of players: 1
Official Ad: Yes
Got it for: Christmas! Wow, nothing like hardcore violence on Christmas day!
Wow, it's hard to believe that even Sega let the blatant violence of this game slide, but they did, and I thank them every day for it. What starts out as a quest to find a long lost magician quickly turns into an epic bloodbath. The wizard you control, is fucking hardcore: He does the most unbelievable things to these poor creatures. Aside from the graphic death portrayed at the end of every fight, the game also takes you to various locations as you move deeper and deeper into the dungeon to find your master.

What's it all about?
It's an adventure game set in two basic parts: The 3/4's view dungeon crawling scenes, and the one on one fight scenes. You basically make your way around the dungeon, picking up items and solving puzzles, then fighting any enemies you may encounter. The fights consist of you dodging and countering enemy attacks as both you and your opponent's life and "stamina" meter are drained throughout the fight. At the end the fight, your character treats you to some horrible, horrible finishing move that he'll perform on the poor enemy...
Graphics - Excellent. Everything has exquisite detail and looks just like you would imagine a dark dungeon to be like. The characters are large, and well detailed during the fights scenes, and the attention to detail on the death sequences....yeesh, some of it is truly nasty.
Sound - The music is nice and medieval-like(think Renaissance Fair), and the sound effects they have used go great with those enemy deaths. The noises that come out of this game when you cut a goblin/troll in half will gross you out, no doubt.
Control - As it's in a 3/4 view mode during the gameplay, it takes a little getting used to, but it's not bad at all. The fight scenes are easily controlled with your dodging, sword swipes and stabbing's coming off quickly and easily.
AI - There's not really a whole lot of it. You show up, the goblins/trolls attack you...and that's about it.
Replay value - Moderate. This is one of these games that, when you've beat it, you've really beaten it. You would expect to find yourself shelving it for quite a bit after playing...but you won't, those death sequences and trying to get through the game doing everything right will have you coming back for more.
Tips for better gaming experiences:
Get a FAQ, you will need it at some point. Remember, this game is all about death, if questions come up like "There's something wet moving under the bones, do you want to uncover it for a closer look?" SAY *NO*!
Game Genie:
Genie doesn't fear the Reaper, just take his hand...

My rating: 91(out of 100) - A great, learn-as-you-go game with spectacular graphics, sound and some of the goriest death scenes you will ever encounter. This is gaming the way it should be: Hardcore.
GamePro gave it: 5.0(graphics), 4.0(sound), 4.0(control), 5.0(funfactor), 5.0(challenge)(out of 5)
(
Cat's review: Bleeeeehhhhhh, man this game is sick! You upper mammals and your appetite for gore. Aside from its blatant violence, it's an alright game that, for the most part, you'll be content with playing through once and putting it up for a good, long while.

I wouldn't read the ruins on that medallion if I were you...
The things you can do, my God! After the head explodes, you can actually make out the eyes and part of the brain on the floor.
An audience with the Goblin King...
Even after tearing these guys apart, you can see their remains in the normal gameplay screen. Notice the brain smear from the top of that goblin's skull. Nasty!

Gotta be quick:
When it was first released, the game came with a card that you could use to order the official hint book with. More than just a hint book, it's an actual story, told by your character as he makes his was through the dungeon. As he solves puzzle and such, you will be able to. It's a very well written, short story. Now out of print(without a doubt), most people will never have the chance to read it. I got a copy shortly after I received the game on Christmas, I've yet to run into another person who has one. For a quick picture of the hint book, click here.

Thanks to our unknown, but much appreciated "Henry" who has HTML-ized not only The Immortal's manual, but the "Codex of the Serpent" cluebook I was talking about above. To download it, click here.