ABSTRACT
Let's turn back now to Sir-Tech's Wizardry series, which was Ultima's only serious rival during the Silver Age. Unfortunately for Sir-Tech, Wizardry had grown rather stale since the glorious Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and the fifth game, Heart of the Maelstrom (1988), seems like just another attempt to squeeze a few more drops of blood from a well-worn engine. Although the box boasts of new mazes, abilities, spells, monster encounters, and combat system, the screenshots certainly don't look new. The dungeon corridors are still depicted in monochrome wireframe. Furthermore, the larger and more realistic mazes are even more difficult to map than before; they no longer fit neatly on 20 x 20 grids. “Such a significant change in Wizardry's mapping design is especially curious at a time when many maze games are trying to de-emphasize paper and pencil mapping,” writes one contemporary. 1 Although many critics are forgiving and still recommend the game, it is rarely discussed today beyond hardcore fans of the series. It's notable for being the first game in the series designed by David W. Bradley; Robert Woodhead and Andrew Greenberg had moved on to other projects.
