Swords and Serpents

Infobox VG
width=
title= Swords and Serpents


caption=
developer= Interplay Productions
publisher= Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
distributor=
designer= Paul O'Conner, Bruce Schlickbernd
series=
engine=
version=
released= ^NA September, 1990
genre= RPG
modes= Single player
Multiplayer
ratings=
platforms= Nintendo Entertainment System
requirements=

"Swords and Serpents" is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by Interplay for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this game, the player controls a party of four adventurers on a dungeon-crawling quest to destroy a terrible serpent. Along the way, the party encounters an onslaught of fantasy monsters and collects gold and treasure while gaining experience points needed to raise their individual attributes. "Swords and Serpents" focuses mainly on gameplay, and contains a minimal storyline with very little plot development.

The game was originally designed by Paul O'Conner (lead designer for Dragon Wars). Interplay President Brian Fargo, after a dispute with Paul, refused to allow Paul's name to be listed in the game credits. Bruce Schlickbernd was assigned to revise the game design, but didn't feel it was appropriate to be listed as the sole designer. Thus, there is no game designer listed within the documentation for the game.

Gameplay

"Swords and Serpents" can be played by one, two, or four players (by use of the NES Satellite or other 4-player adaptercite book|year=1990|editor=Acclaim|title=Swords and Serpents Game Pak Instructions|pages=page 6|publisher=Acclaim|language=English|id=] ). Control of the characters is divided evenly among the number of players, but one player must be chosen as the party leader to control navigation through the game. Upon starting the game, the player creates a party of four adventurers, choosing one of three available classes for each character: warrior, thief or magician. Character statistics can be randomly generated, or the player can choose a ready-to-play party which includes characters of each class. Continuing the game requires the player to record and later input five passwords: one password for each character, and a fifth password for overall game progress.

Gameplay is simple. The player navigates through a crude representation of a dungeon, presented in split-screen format which allows the player to simultaneously view the dungeon from a first-person perspective and a simple map of the current level showing the party's location. Encounters with monsters occur randomly, during which the map is replaced by gauges representing the creatures' health. During fights the player controls the characters' actions to attack, cast magic spells, or flee. The entire game takes place in an underground dungeon composed of 16 levels, with the serpent at the bottom.

References

External links

*moby game|id=/swords-and-serpents|name="Swords and Serpents"