Introduction

The Mines of Gorr is a very interesting BBS door game. While there are countless numbers of role playing games for BBS systems, few are actually graphical where you travel about the world or dungeon. Those of you familiar with Usurper or LORD know what I mean. Mines of Gorr on the other hand is a 3D dungeon crawl with nice ANSI graphics. Think the original Wizardry series or even better, think the Bard's Tale and its 1st person 3D dungeon crawling. Mines of Gorr's dungeons are in the same vain as those original RPGs for computers back in the early to mid 80s, yet Mines of Gorr is certainly a refreshing door to play on a BBS system, with its actual 1st person dungeon crawling and its PvP (Player versus Player) ability. Players can meet other adventurers within the dungeon and do battle with them. This adds a MMORPG type feel to the game if you can get enough players in the game at the same time.

The Story

Gorr is dwarf and the owner of a gold mine near the castle of the king. He had been working in his mine, digging deeper and deeper in his search for gold. Upon digging on level 10 of his mine he recalled feeling a great disturbance and grew very worriesome at this new felt presence. Being the persistent dwarf that he was, Gorr continued to dig, feeling the gold he sought was close at hand.

One day Gorr did not return from his mine and after some time, residents of the local villages and towns started witnessing strange things, such as fields of crops just withering overnight and dying. Wells, drying up and animals disappearing during the night also raised concerns amoung the populace. Eventuall strange beasts were reported as being seen throughout the land. During all this nothing much was done, untill citizens themselves began to disappear. Some said they moved away perhaps, but to move and leave ALL your belongings behind, does not sound logical. It then started a hysteria throughout the land and the masses began fearing for their lives. This is when the wizards on the council decided something or someone (read YOU) had to go and inspect the mines and see what is causing this great plague and horror to sweep across the land.

Gameplay

Players start out in town which is just a nice menu system with lots of options. Players can visit the shops to buy or repair arms and armor. Players can also visit the University to study new and more powerful magical spells that will assist the player in the dungeons below. There is the Review Board where players go to have their experience reviewed. If the Review Board deems the player experienced enough they will grant thee a greater level of expertise. Other areas in the castle are the Temple (Healing Services), the Vault (Bank), the Inn (rest and Logoff), and the entrance to Gorr's Mine!


Exploration: Players view the dungeons below in first person 3D view. The dungeons are complex labyrinths that consist of seemingly endless halls and doors which lead to other halls or rooms. There is a View Map feature which allows the players to view where they are in the dungeon and any areas of the dungeon that they have visited previously. As with most role playing games, the deeper you go in the dungeons the more dangerous it becomes, yet the more valuable the loot and experience is. Movement is simple with the use of the arrow keys and all other options available to the player upon entering the dungeons is listed in a small menu below the main 3D view pane.


Combat: Combat is also similar to Wizardry or the Bard's Tale. You see the picture of the monster(s) that you are fighting and below the picture is the list of monsters and number of each that you are fighting. Below that is the information box that describes each action taken such as which monsters hit the player, miss the player and of course vice versa, which creatures were hit or missed by the player. Just below the 3D view pane and above the information box is a list of ALL the combat commands available to the player, so there is no memorizing commands, as they are all listed constantly for the players. After combat, loot and experience is issued to the player, of course this assumes the player successfully vanquished his foes. If the player fails to survive the battle, well you know what happens....


Treasure: Well, what do you expect? What else would a fearless adventurer be doing wasting his/her time in the darkness of the underworld? Its all about wealth and power! Its all in the LOOT baby!!!!


Magic & Spells:Magic also plays an important part in Dungeon exploration and combat. There are spells that can teleport the player to another locale in the dungeon, or teleport the player back to town. There are also the obvious healing, buffing and damage based combat spells like fireballs, ice storms, etc.... The players can obtain new spells by collecting enough gold, advancing levels in their character and then going to the University in town where a scholar will teach the player new spells at a hefty price.

Summary

All in all, Mines of Gorr is a very interesting role playing game with player versus player ability and more than the typical text only combat based RPGs that primarily fill out the BBS door listings on most BBSes. If you are a RPG fan or a fan of games like Wizardry, The Bard's Tale, or the early Might & Magic role playing games, then you will enjoy the Mines of Gorr.