Rynn is a protagonist of the Croft-ian variety (meaning female, well-endowed, and scantily-clad), whose brother is kidnapped by a vicious horde of orcs and wartoks. In her quest to rescue him she awakens and then bonds with Arokh, the dragon-hero of the now legendary Order of the Flame. Together they follow the trail of Rynn's brother only to find that it leads to a dark and sinister plot to return an ancient evil to the land of Drakan. (Admit it -- you knew it would.)
What fan of fantasy games and literature hasn't dreamed of flying on the back of a giant fire-breathing dragon, burning your enemies from the sky or simply feeling the wind in your hair as you examine the beautiful vistas before you? Drakan: Order of the Flame fulfills this desire with a dragon to ride, enemies to flame, exquisite 3D graphics, 3D sound, and force-feedback joystick support. The only thing they forgot to include was a fan to give that 'wind in the hair' feeling. Of course, only part of the game takes place astride a dragon. The rest is a third-person hack-'n-slash action game with the puzzles and plot of an adventure game. As an action/adventure game crossover, Drakan definitely falls more into the action genre, much to the disappointment of many adventure game purists. Personally I was just disappointed that it wasn't a role-playing game. But more about that later.
Drakan: Order of the Flame is an action game (TPP) released in 2001 by Psygnosis. The game was released for PC (Windows). Many centuries ago, Drakan's world was in chaos - there was a constant war between dragons and people. After hundreds of years, a peace led to the creation of the Order of the Flame, in which people and dragons stood.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
Since it's a third-person game, the view is that of a camera from just behind Rynn. You control her movements through a combination of keyboard, mouse, joystick, or gamepad, and I found that the default controls of keyboard and mouse worked quite well. The controls for Rynn map well to controlling Arokh. There's very little mental adjustment to playing the different modes, although ground combat is the area where Drakan really shines. Rynn has several different attacks, some of which require a variety of key combinations and include jumps and rolls. Rynn's weapons are rated for length and speed, and some have special abilities like flaming, which causes extra damage and lets you watch your foes burn. Monsters have their own fighting style and Rynn must adjust to each, balancing her reach, weapon speed, and type of attacks. The game adds some thoughtful touches too. When attacking an opponent with a shield, you must direct Rynn's attacks against the unshielded side or you'll simply hear a clank as your attack lands ineffectually. Armored opponents fall much quicker when you have the foresight to switch Rynn's weapon to an armor-piercing one. Footwork and dodging are also important as Rynn will rarely be in a situation to go toe-to-toe with her foes. You get to make up for that when you have the opportunity for Arokh to battle non-flying foes. A couple of flame breaths and most enemies are 'toast.'
Puzzles
Most puzzles in the game are the pull the levers, push things around, and step on the pressure plates in the right order type. Frequently there is a barrier which prevents Arokh from passing, and Rynn must leave him to battle monsters or solve puzzles in order to open it. Most of the puzzles are not very difficult, and if you get stuck there are walkthroughs available on the net.
Graphics
I am consistently amazed at the current abilities of 3D game programming and 3D accelerators. My video card has a Riva TNT chip which is sufficient to play the game with a good frame rate and most of the detail turned on. All I can say is that I'm really impressed by the job the art and programming teams have done. The outside vistas are outstanding and the caverns are nearly as good. The 'special rooms' are really something to behold. The dynamic lighting is superb. The lava caverns give a red glow to everything and the flaming sword illuminates and casts shadows. All the cut scenes are done with the game engine. The only real problems were that Rynn would occasionally jump into a solid surface and there is poor camera movement inside close quarters -- a problem common to all third-person games I've encountered.
Audio
My system can't take advantage of the 3D audio, but the sounds I did hear were impressive. Most active elements have sound effects, even creaking floors when Rynn walks across them. The only disappointment was the voice acting, but for computer game standards it's not that bad.
Drakan is rated Mature by the ESRB and this rating shouldn't be taken lightly. There is a lot of blood and gore in this game; fortunately it has an option to set the gore level to none, some, or excessive. The game also includes a password to lock the gore setting to none. While I didn't like playing the game on the 'excessive' gore level, I must admit to a certain satisfaction of seeing orcs splatter when tossed about by giants.
Realism
I know it's a fantasy game, and I know it's not a simulation, and I know that nobody knows how dragons would really fly, but I have to express a major frustration with the game's 'realism.' The dragon Arokh flies alternately like a hummingbird or a truck. When 'at rest' in the air, Arokh hovers in place just like a hummingbird. From this position he can fly directly up, down or to either side. However, when in forward flight, Arokh is difficult to control since you can only control his bank, not his heading. The upshot of all this is that in a dogfight moving forward is the quickest way to get shot down. Circle-strafing will carry the day every time.
Bottom Line
Overall I really enjoyed Drakan despite its few weaknesses, but I was constantly wanting to play it as a role-playing game -- really immerse myself in the game world -- but alas, maintaining suspension of disbelief is all but impossible. There are no uninvolved NPCs except for torture victims and insane miners. Your interaction with others is limited to cutting them up or watching cut scenes. While the external views are gorgeous, you'll find that every area (even the ocean) is enclosed by mountains too tall for Arokh to fly over. The caves and caverns have multiple passages, but there are no wrong turns. Either the way dead-ends quickly, often with a weapon or magical item for your trouble, or you'll find that all paths lead to your next goal -- there's no need for an automap here. Rynn is healed only with healing potions that fly out of some monsters when they are killed. In fact, the whole escapade must take place in a single day since Rynn never rests and one location leads directly to the next.
Don't let these gripes keep you from trying the game, however. If you're looking for a third-person action game that lets you go beyond 'raiding tombs,' then pick up Drakan and get medieval on some brother-snatching baddies. And besides, where else can you fulfill the dream of torching orcs as you fly over them on the back of a dragon?
Overall rating: 8.5
Drakan: Order of the Flame is best described by one word: Breathtaking. Upon hearing of the concept for Drakan, I couldn't wait to try it. When the demo was released, I downloaded it immediately and awaited the full release. I was not disappointed in the least!
As a fan of the Dragonlance series, I had long dreamt of a game in which I'd be able to mount a dragon and embrace the skies. While Drakan is not affiliated with the Dragonlance series, the whole flying-on-a-dragon theme is common.
Arokh, the dragon, makes the game unique and revolutionary. Soaring magnificent above rivers, and lush fields, while combating airborne and ground-based enemies above, is truly an experience like none other. Having the ability to rise thousands of feet above the ground, and then dive upon a hapless Wartock in seconds bears a fiendish, unique glee.
Rynn's adventures, on foot, are reminiscent of Tomb Raider and aren't as innovative as travelling atop Arokh. In fact, Rynn was added as an afterthought. She is the typical heroine in video games: busty, beautiful, and witty. The most interesting fact is that Rynn appears to be super-human in some respects. She can parade about frozen environments wearing a simply leather outfit without fear of frostbite. As well, her physique is so hard, that it shows through whatever type of armor she is wearing: even chainmail! While playing as Rynn was enjoyable, it was nothing really special. Most of the time, she was charged with a task (kill this, and I'll give you this. Go there, do this, and I'll give you directions) which seems relatively mundane for someone charged with dispatching evil. One thing that has always bothered me about games where you're saving the world: people aren't extremely co-operative and eager to assist.
The graphics, and environments in Drakan are nothing short of beautiful. Rising far up above the land on the dragon, and then diving towards the ground is a fluid, marvelous experience. The game looks amazing, and the environments are truly immersive. One problem I had was with the way mouths did not move with the voices. In fact, mouths did not move at all. In a game as pleasing as Drakan, I was baffled as to why they didn't make faces more expressive, and more than just one image.
Another point to bring up is the voice acting, which is awful. Voice acting is like putting paving stones down. If you do it right, the end result is impressive. If you do it wrong, everyone points and laughs. Everyone should be pointing at Drakan and laughing for the bad voices, but thankfully the voice acting: gameplay ratio is swung in the gameplay's favour greatly. You'll suffer through the voices because Drakan is so darn good!
In closing, Drakan is a must-buy for anyone interested in medieval fantasy, swords, babes with cleveage, or Dungeons and Dragons, this is for you!
Graphics: Breathtaking and beautiful, Drakan's innovative dragonflight is not only attractive in name, but in looks. I still marvel at how good swooping from a mountain top to brush the ground looks. With my Viper V770, I can enable 32-bit colour.. one word: Amazing!
Sound: Sound in Drakan is.. average. The music is something you'll easily forget, and the voice acting is horrible.
Enjoyment: While I found Rynn's missions to be monotonous at times, riding dragonback on Arokh made it all okay! Rynn's aspect isn't bad persay, it's just very... normal.
Replay Value: It really depends on your mood. Like most action/puzzle games, I generally don't feel like going back and playing through all the puzzles again. Replay-wise, this is a title that you'll find yourself sitting around craving out of the blue. The multiplayer aspect gives it a whole new universe of play though.
People who downloaded Drakan: Order of the Flame have also downloaded: Blade of Darkness, Dark Earth, Dino Crisis, Devil Inside, The, Darkened Skye, Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr, Deathtrap Dungeon, American McGee's Alice