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Sir-tech Canada Releases Wizardry 8

Posted by Hemos on from the i-wub-that- dept.

NichG writes "Sir-tech Canada has finally released Wizardry 8. This has been long awaited by fans of Wizardry 7 (1992) and the series of games which precluded it. It should be available at Electronic Boutique. For those not familiar with the Wizardry series, they are first person, turn-based (more precisely, phased) RPGs, which grew from pure dungeon crawl to RPGs with plot and characters with whom to interact." This, the Bard's Tale series, and the first four Ultimas together were where most of the late 1980s went for me.

2 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Not to rain on the parade by Lord_Pall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But this appears to be the last of the sir-tech games..

    If i remember correctly, Sir-Tech's publishing arm went out of business around 15-18 months ago.. Their development house struggled for a while afterwards, finished wizardry 8 and one other title I don't remember..

    Wizardry 8 languished, finished, for a while.. They didn't have a publisher.. I think somewhere during that period they shut down operations (Or at least laid off a LOT of people)

    And now wizardry 8 is out.. An extremely depressing moment for computer gaming.. One of the longtime companies and founders of PC gaming is gone..

    Sure sir-tech had some big stinkers.. Virus, Druid.. But they also did some of the truly great games. Jagged alliance, Wizardry..

    With Interplay foundering, sir-tech gone, Origin DOA, SSI on its last breaths.. Well the old school rpg makers are gone.. Sorta depressing if you ask me..

    BUT! Its not all lost.. We've got new blood on the horizon.. Mostly in the shape of those rascally canadians, Bioware.. And even the longtime scapegoat.. Bethesda..

    So we've lost the old school.. Which is depressing from a historical standpoint.. But we've still got RPG developers building games that we couldn't have even dreamed of 15 years ago..

  2. Usenet response is good by mdwebster · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Everyone I'm seeing in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg is giving this rave reviews so far. Of course, these are just first impressions as the game just came out yesterday...

    This game is PHENOMENAL. I am SO going to get in trouble by my wife for staying up so late, but man, it's GOOD! - Plissken

    But the true beauty of the game lies in the gameplay... wow. All other developers out there... this is what turn-based, tactical, Role-Playing combat is supposed to be. - Aether

    This is true "old-school" RPGing...in the same legacy as Dungeon Master, Bard's Tale, Might & Magic, and of course Wizardry. This game is beautiful, deep and addicting. - Tachyon

    The real strengh is the flexibility...so many classes, races, and skills. It makes BG2 look like a console RPG, IMHO - bad sushi

    Hopefully I'm within my fair use rights as these are just excerpts and the authors, as they are, are attributed ... :)