DeathKeep
{{Short description|1995 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = DeathKeep
| image = DeathKeep cover.jpg
| developer = Lion Entertainment
| publisher = Strategic Simulations
| director = Ronald Bolinger
| producer = Ronald Bolinger
| programmer = Bob Pendleton
Glen Merriman
| composer = Billy Wolfe
| series = Dungeons & Dragons
| release = November 1995 (3DO){{cite web |url=http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/omixlink?709815180+insider/press_releases/pr_dthkp.html |title=SSI: Press Releases: DUNGEON DELVING DELIRIUM!!! |website=www.ssionline.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961119123408/http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/omixlink?709815180+insider/press_releases/pr_dthkp.html |archive-date=19 November 1996 |url-status=dead}}
May 27, 1996 (Win){{Cite web |date=1996-11-19 |title=SSI: Press Releases: DUNGEON DELVING DELIRIUM!!! |url=http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/omixlink?709815180+insider/press_releases/pr_dthkp.html |access-date=2023-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961119123408/http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/omixlink?709815180+insider/press_releases/pr_dthkp.html |archive-date=1996-11-19}}
| genre = First-person shooter,
role-playing
}}
DeathKeep is a 1995 video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was released on the 3DO platform, and later converted to the PC. The game is a sequel to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer.
Plot
DeathKeep is a game in which the player character explores a large castle to find three orbs which are needed to defeat the powerful evil necromancer that has taken over the castle.
Gameplay
Reception
{{Video game reviews
|align=left
| rev1 = Arcane
| NGen = {{rating|3|5}} (3DO)
{{rating|1|5}} (PC)
}}
Reviewing the 3DO version, a critic for Next Generation praised the graphical textures but said the game is frustratingly difficult, particularly criticizing the imprecise controls when making the character come to a stop and the need to pass over some objects multiple times before the game registers the contact. Despite its flaws, he said that the dungeons are "ingeniously" designed, the game is huge, and on the whole, it's interesting enough to warrant a look at it.{{cite magazine|title=Deathkeep |magazine=Next Generation|issue=15 |publisher=Imagine Media|date=March 1996|page=84}} GamePro{{'}}s The Game Elf gave it a rave review, applauding the huge amount of content, accessible menus, "smooth" control, rendered graphics with fully 3D point-of-view, detailed visuals, and "unnerving" sound effects.{{cite magazine|title=DeathKeep|magazine=GamePro|issue=91 |publisher=IDG|date=April 1996|page=98}}
Andy Butcher reviewed the PC version of Deathkeep for Arcane magazine. He commented that "the original version for the 3DO console was less than inspiring, and this substandard conversion to the PC is even less so". Butcher concluded that Deathkeep suffers from bad graphics, low-quality sound and uninspiring gameplay, and called it one of the worst games released on the PC, and recommended Hexen instead.{{cite journal|last=Butcher|first=Andy|date=August 1996|title=Games Reviews|journal=Arcane|publisher=Future Publishing|issue=9|pages=68–69}} A Next Generation critic similarly said that the 3DO version was passable but the PC conversion is poor, with "jerky play control, blocky and pixelated graphics, and awkward keyboard configuration".{{cite magazine|title=DeathKeep |magazine=Next Generation|issue=22 |publisher=Imagine Media |date=October 1996|pages=181, 183}}
According to GameSpy, DeathKeep was "the last Dungeons & Dragons game for SSI, and it was a pretty ignominious end for a pretty distinguished run".{{cite web | last=Rausch | first =Allen | date = 2004-08-18 | url=http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/540/540115p1.html | title=A History of D&D Video Games - Part IV | publisher=Game Spy | access-date=November 16, 2012}}
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References
{{reflist}}
{{Dungeons & Dragons video games}}
Category:Dungeons & Dragons video games
Category:Lion Entertainment games
Category:Role-playing video games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Strategic Simulations games
Category:Video games developed in the United States
Category:Video games featuring female protagonists