The Prince of Qin

Infobox VG| title = The Prince of Qin


developer = Object Software Limited
publisher = Strategy First
version = 1.30
designer =
engine =
released = August 19, 2002
genre = Action role-playing
modes = Single player, Multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Teen
platforms = Microsoft Windows
media = CD-ROM
requirements = Minimum: Pentium II 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP, DirectX 8.0, 8 MB DirectX-compatible 3D accelerator, DirectX-compatible sound card, 4x CD-ROM drive, and 1.6 GB hard-disk space
input = Keyboard, Mouse

"The Prince of Qin" is an action RPG set in a real historical setting during the last years of the Qin Dynasty in China 2,200 years ago starring Prince Fusu whom unlike in real history didn't commit suicide - the player will encounter numerous historical incidents and characters during that time before the creation of Han Dynasty.

Gameplay

The game balances team-fighting, with up to five heroes per team, with various strategies and tactics. You will be challenged by many enemies in more than 100 unique scenes accurately depicting society and architecture as it existed at the time. The game's novel features include multi-scenario and multi-ending systems, randomly created weapons, items and enemies, an equipment creating system and a sophisticated fighting system rooted in the ancient philosophy of the Five Elements.

Plot

The Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors are some of the world-renowned locations the game highlights.

Characters

Paladin class

Paladins are good in attacking and are equipped with some exclusive skills. They have a good balance between their attributes of HP, MP, Dexterity and their attacking and defending power. Thus they can not only attack very fiercely in battles but they can also cause a lot of disruption in the enemy area. Their skills of weapon making and repairing are very significant to a team's success.

=Fu Su=

Prince Fu Su was the First Emperor's eldest son. The Prince's mother, one of the imperial concubines, was from Zheng State. At that time she loved to sing a love song called "Fu Su in the mountains" and this gave rise to the Prince's name. "Fu Su" in ancient times was meant to describe the exuberance of trees and leaves. The First Emperor named his eldest son Fu Su with great expectations.

The young Prince was perspicacious and quick-witted with a heart full of concern for others. Regarding politics, Fu Su and the First Emperor, who was notorious for his cruelty, often disagreed. Stubbornly the Emperor thought that weakness in Fu Su's personality had led to this conflict. Later he ordered the Prince to lead troops with Great General Meng Tian to construct the Great Wall and defend the northern border from the Hun invasions. The Emperor hoped that the Prince could be moulded into a courageous and resolute hero. Years of military experience at the frontier really transformed the Prince into an extraordinary commander. Personally leading his men in action, the Prince made great achievements. His outstanding courage, valor, insight and leadership were highly admired by all the Generals defending the border. At the same time, the Prince was so kind-hearted that he loved his subjects as if they were his own children and he treated people with respect. Thus the people there loved and esteemed him highly.

Having met with considerable military success and being held in high personal regard by his subjects, the Prince's thoughts began to turn to re-joining his father and sharing the burdens of the government with him. Unfortunately, just at that moment an imperial edict reached him at Shangjun, which stated that Fu Su and Meng Tian had made no achievements for years and they were ordered to commit suicide. On hearing this ridiculous edict, Fu Su became so outraged and grief-stricken he was unable to think clearly. He then drew out his precious sword to kill himself. However, Meng Tian sensed that something was strange and wrong with the edict and restrained the Prince from killing himself. Meng Tian intended to report to the Emperor in person, but the imperial envoy was holding high the imperial sword as the sign that the imperial order must be obeyed. Meng Tian then led his forces to protect Fu Su from the imperial troops' attack. The Prince and his men then fled from Shangjun.

Han Xin

His original family home was in Huaiyin. In his childhood, his family was poor and had no profession. He studied swordsmanship and military science, particularly the latter. With his strategy, he could lead his troops to successfully defeat the enemy even if he himself was a thousand miles away. He once said "The more troops I command, the better."

But Han Xin never showed off his rare skills with the result that few people knew much about his ability and many young rascals in his county tried everything to insult him. "Submitting to the disgrace of crawling under another's legs" was an example of that. A lad said: "If you have courage, then kill me; or just crawl under my legs if you a coward and dare not." Han Xin then crawled under that young rascal's legs. Since then he wandered about far away from home. On the one hand he kept studying swordsmanship and military science and on the other hand he sought opportunities to make accomplishments. In that period, he met Fu Su. He thought that it was a precious chance, so he followed Fu Su.

Li You

He was the son of Li Si, the Prime Minister of Qin. Li You had been a good friend with Fu Su since his childhood, yet they were still very different in character. He had a sober mind and was reticent, shrewd and meticulous, which was quite like his father's style. Later he took office as the Governor of the Prefecture of Sanchuan, garrisoning that area. After the death of the First Emperor, Li Si was framed by Zhao Gao and was jailed on Zhao's orders. Zhao Gao even planned to use trumped up capital offence charges against Li You so as to put his whole family at risk. In the meantime, Li You, who was stationed in Sanchuan Prefecture, met with his good friend Fu Su who was in exile. He manages to escape from the venomous plot of Zhao Gao and sets off upon the long road of revenge with Fu Su.

Assassin class

Assassins are nimble in activity. They have a vast visual field, and excel in making traps and long range attacks in every kind of landform and environment. At the beginning of a combat, they establish all kinds of traps, and induce the enemy to fall into the traps. In fighting they can wage a long-range attack. Assassins' related technical abilities involve primarily laying traps and long-range attacks. In addition, Assassins excel in stealing and hiding, which qualify them as the best choice to scout the landform.

Zhao Qian

She was a native of the Zhao State. She was born and grew up in Zhaocun village. Her father Zhao Ping once was the No.1 warrior under the leadership of General Li Mu, a famous general in Zhao State. However, on seeing the King of the Zhao State order the beheading of Li Mu based only on slanderous reports, Zhao Ping returned to his hometown in huge disappointment. So under her father's dedicated instruction, Zhao Qian successfully trained herself to become extraordinarily gifted in marshal arts and many other skills.

When a wounded Fu Su fled to Zhaocun village, no one dared to go near to him as if he had the plague, but Zhao Qian offered her help to him selflessly. She hid Fu Su in a cave behind a mountain. Fu Su recovered his health very quickly under Zhao Qian's devoted care. Unfortunately, one of the villagers reported all this to the government, which gave orders for the arrest of Zhao Qian and for the sacking and destruction of Zhaocun village.

Jing Wuji

She was the daughter of Jing Ke, a prominent hero at that time. Learning that the Qin State was trying to annex the Yan State, Crown Prince Dan of Yan invited Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng, the King of Qin. However, in the end Jing Ke failed because of a momentary error. Later the Yan State was annihilated by Qin and the King of Qin ordered Jing Ke's descendants to be arrested. Zhao Ji, Jing Wuji's mother, had to trust Gao Jianli, one of Jing Ke's good friends, with Wuji, who was still wrapped in swaddling clothes then. Gao Jianli then changed his name, disguised himself and fled from the Yan capital.

All the way he was looking for and finally at Yuei found Gai Nie, Jing Ke's only sword fellow. Besides offering sacrifice to his good friend, Gai Nie decided to concentrate all his attention to educate Jing Wuji. Because she was unusually quick minded, Jing Wuji had achieved expertise in many skills when she was only 15 years old. By chance, Xiao Qi, Gai Nie's good friend, called on Gai Nie when he was passing by Yuci. Gai Nie then let Jing Wuji follow Xiao Qi to learn the skill of laying traps. At the same time she could travel around to broaden her knowledge.

Tian Yuelin

She was a granddaughter of Tian Dan, the Prime Minister of the former Qi State. When the Qi State was annihilated by the Qin State, Tian Yuelin, a new-born baby, was saved by Xue Ping, one of Tian Dan's followers. When Tian Yuelin was ten years old, Xue Ping was tragically killed, pursuant to the absurd laws that then applied, because his neighbor committed an offense. Fortunately, Tian Yuelin was rescued by a hero and was brought up by the hero and learned many extraordinary skills from him. After the hero's death, she began to travel around. On arrival at Sanchuan Prefecture, she went to Jin Hai, a richman, for shelter and served as an assassin there. Tian Yuelin, however, had her own principles: she only killed corrupt officials, local tyrants and other evil men. She was tender and warm-hearted though she appeared ice-cold. As one of Jin Hai's most powerful assassins, she always took part in every important mission.

After several years working as an assassin, she gradually began to have doubts about what she was doing. She could hardly eat meals or sleep at the thought of the miserable death of Xue Ping, her foster father, and the lessons she learned from her teacher, the hero. Just at that moment, she met Fu Su. She then followed Fu Su to pursue a new life.

Muscleman class

Musclemen are strong in physical stature, and are good at near body attacks. At the same time they can protect their side from a magic attack or a long-range attack. While fighting, they can hurtle into the enemy's battle array to attract their attention, and thereby create opportunities for the others on their side. Raising fierce beasts and fierce fighting are the two main technical abilities of Musclemen. Moreover, only Musclemen are able to use those heavy weapons required to be used with both hands.

Kong Gang

He was bestowed with an in-born outstanding power. He was brave, powerful and could fight with great ferocity. Later he became one of the commanders in Meng Tian's and Fu Su's army. Legend has it that once at noon he was taking a nap when he heard that more than one hundred Hun troops were invading the border villages. Without a word, he stood up, took his sword and rode there as fast as he could. He was in such a hurry, he even forgot to put on his armor. When his troops reached him, they found that he was in the thick of a fierce battle, wielding his broken sword with his hair loose and disordered and his eyes open wide with rage. He was soon chasing the remaining Hun troops who were retreating in a state of shock. Thereupon he won the title "Iron Crazy" in the army.

Later, Kong Gang wounded somebody when he was drunk. As a result he was going to be beheaded for he had broken military law. Out of kindness and in consideration of Kong Gang's great achievements in fighting against the Huns for so many years, Fu Su pardoned him and sent him to be a junior officer in Yangzhou. Soon Kong Gang won the governor's favor for his valor and was promoted to be the Commander of the county. Quite by chance while patrolling in Yangzhou one day on duty Kong Gang met Fu Su again at a time when he, Fu Su, was in great danger. To repay Fu Su's kindness and generosity, Kong Gang then gave up his command without any hesitation and almost abandoned everything he had to follow Fu Su.

=Modu=

He was the eldest son of Touman, the Khan of the Hun at the time. Since his childhood, Modu was well-known for his outstanding courage and valor. He was so full of valor that he was regarded as one of the most heroic men in the realm. However, the Khan preferred a beauty called E'shi and decided to raise her son to be his successor. So he adopted a cruel plot to kill Modu by another person's hands: the Khan sent Modu to the Yuezhi, another tribe, as a hostage and then he waged wars against them, to make Modu the victim. Fortunately, Modu had sensed something suspicious so he pretended to be seriously sick when he was staying in the Yuezhi area. His watchers then slackened their guard. In the evening when the Khan was massing his troops to attack the Yuezhi tribe, Modu killed the watchers, stole the Yuezhi's precious horse and fled. To avoid the pursuit of the Yuezhi tribe and a surprise attack by the Khan, Modu disguised himself and entered Yanmen Pass, where he met Fu Su who was suffering a similar fate. Modu decided to join Fu Su, so they could help each other.

=Qing Bu=

He was born in Liu'an County and his original name was Ying Bu. Since his childhood, he was strong and valorous. In his youth, he met a wizard who predicted that he would become a king but had to suffer a severe penalty first. Several years later, Ying Bu committed a felony and, as a punishment, he was tattooed on the face and then banished to Lishan Mountain to serve his sentence constructing the First Emperor's tomb. He always joked to other convicts:"Someone once said that I would commit a crime first and then become a king, and now, the first half has come true. What about the second half?" He then named himself Qing Bu (Qing in Chinese means punishment by tattooing of the face) instead of Ying Bu.

While serving the sentence in Lishan Mountain, Qing Bu killed some guards and led the convicts in an escape from the prison. They went to Jiujiang and hid there to bide their time to start a rebellion. When Chen Sheng rose up in rebellion Qing Bu felt it was a good opportunity to join him, but unexpectedly, the rebel forces were defeated by the Qin troops and Chen Sheng was killed by his wagoner, Zhuang Jia. Qing Bu later found out that Zhuang Jia had fled to Jiujiang. After meeting Fu Su, Qing Bu decided to ally with him to kill Zhuang Jia and make some great achievements.

Wizard class

Wizards are weak in defence, have low HP and defense power and they are not good in near-body attack, so they may be killed in a combat situation if careful attention is not paid. But at the same time the technical ability that Wizards have may make up for their lack of physical attacking power. This technical ability can not only empower Wizards to attack, but it also helps improve their team's attributes and helps restore HP for their friends.

Zhang Liang

Originally, Zhang Liang was a descendant of an aristocrat in the Han State. His ancestors had been taking the position of Prime Minister for five generations. After the Han State was annihilated by the Qin State, Zhang Liang disguised himself as a rascal and fled from Nanzheng. Later on he dismissed all his servants and failed to bury his dead younger brother. He then he spent his entire fortune seeking heroes all around the country to assassinate the First Emperor.

Finally he found a person of great physical strength and won his help. At Bolangsha, Zhang Liang arranged for the powerful man to attack the First Emperor, when he was passing by, with a heavy hammer of more than one hundred and thirty pounds. Unfortunately for Zhang Liang, the hammer just hit an escort chariot. Zhang Liang later had to conceal his identity and lived for some time at Xiapi. One day on a bridge at Xiapi, he met an old man who called himself "Revered Mr. Yellow Stone (Huangshi)". The old man tested Zhang Liang on many aspects and finally he handed him a set of books titled "Tactics of a Greatly Esteemed Elder".

Kun Pu

He was the sacrifice wizard at Hejiang village. Because Kun Pu's family had cultivated the sacrifice wizards for generations, Kun Pu had great prestige among people around the area of Hejiang. In addition, Kun Pu was amiable, zealous and slightly fat and as a result people admired and trusted him even more. Since his childhood, Kun Pu followed his father to learn the occult arts of the Miao minority. Usually he was only a sacrifice wizard to pray to the gods for the villagers to avoid disasters and have good fortune. Actually his secret identity was that he was a wizard destined to root out black magic. Because of generations of guarding by Kun Pun's family, Hejiang Village had been free of black magic for many decades.

Owing to the long time the village had been free of black magic and the complicated sacrifice activities in the village, Kun Pu relaxed his guard. Consequently, black magic again stealthily crept into Hejiang Village. At that moment, Kun Pu met with Fu Su who was passing by. To regain peace and happiness for the villagers in Hejiang Village, Kun Pu determined to ally with Fu Su to get rid of the evil magic.

Fang Zhong

He was the last head of Mohist School. In the period of Qin's unifying of all the Six States, Fang Zhong led more than two hundred of his disciples to defend a city in the Zhao State for more than one month. Though in the end the city's defences were broken and he and his disciples had to flee, Qin's army suffered huge casualties in the battle. After the Qi State was conquered, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin ordered that no effort be spared to track down and arrest Fang Zhong. Later his disciple Zhao Ba betrayed Fang Zhong out of greed for fame and fortune. Fang Zhong then had to go on the run and got to know Fu Su in Xianyang. To exterminate Zhao Ba and pass on Mohism to later generations, he followed Fu Su and fought side by side with him.

Liao Yi

He was once one of the followers of Lu Buwei, the former Prime Minister of Qin. When he was a follower of Lu Buwei, he was lucky enough to be an editor of Lu's Almanac and thus had access to many books on wizardry and was deeply impressed by them. Lu Buwei recognized his abilities, always putting him in charge of important missions. When his mother was ill, Lu aided him with gold; when she passed away Lu gave him a great deal of gold to hold an elaborate funeral. Liao Yi was, therefore, devotedly loyal to Lu. Together with thousands of other followers Liao secretly buried Lu, who had taken poison and killed himself. Their deeds shocked the First Emperor as well as the common people. The First Emperor, after hounding Lu to death, banished all Lu's followers to the Shu region. Liao Yi then hid himself among other followers and safely carried a copy of Lu's Almanac out of Xianyang, realizing Lu's last wish. For the next two decades Liao dedicated himself to the study and practice of wizardry. He became an excellent wizard.

Witch class

Witches mostly come from the underdeveloped area in the south. They are experts in all kinds of herbs and poison. Similar to Wizards, they are weak in HP and defence power and they are unable to conduct near body attacks on the enemy. Attacking and Making curses are the two main skills of Witches, a very important role in the game.

Yin Zhu

She was the only daughter of the King of the Miao Minority. Her father doted on her very much when she was a child. In her childhood, her tribe suffered severely from pestilence whilst their incompetent wizards couldn't help much and in consequence more than half the people lost their lives, including Yin Zhu's mother. Since then Yin Zhu made up her mind that she must grasp the skills of a really capable witch doctor. To learn to be a witch doctor, she left home secretly when she was only 15 years old to seek out throughout the whole Miao area disciples of the legendary witch doctor called Di Fu. Five years later, she had acquired this speciality from her study and travelled around the Miao area to treat the diseases of ordinary people and was highly praised by them.

Chunyu Qiu

She was the daughter of Chunyu Yue, a citizen of the former Qi State. When Chunyu Yue was executed for illegally keeping the banned classics of various schools of thought, Chunyu Qiu and her mother fled to the Miao territories. In her years of exile Chunyu Qiu devoted herself to the study of Miao wizardry and she also taught the Miao people to read and write in her spare time, winning love and esteem from them.

Before his execution, her father, Chunyu Yue, secretly transferred copies of the banned books to her care, telling her to use them well. After her mother's death Chunyu Qiu came back to Handan to realize her father's last wish. She kept all the books in a secret room in her house, awaiting the one who truly understood the value of such priceless works.

Yao Tong

She was the wife of Prince Ying Gao, the twelfth son of the First Emperor. In her childhood Yao Tong learned from a prominent wizard and was thus good at wizardry. Later she married Prince Ying Gao.

After Prince Hu Hai ascended the throne, he began to murder his brothers and sisters in case they threatened his crown. Prince Ying Gao fled Xianyang with Yao Tong and her sister, Yao Yun, and on their way they met Fu Su, who was also in exile. Together they managed to evade the soldiers who were pursuing them. However, Yao Yun took her own life for she didn't want to be a burden to them and on the same day Prince Ying Gao died too from a serious wound. Deep in grief, Fu Su and Yao Tong buried Prince Ying Gao and Yao Yun. Yao Tong then decided to join Fu Su's team, beginning her journey to avenge her husband and sister.

Non-playable characters

=Hu Hai=

He was the son of the First Emperor and the younger brother of Fu Su. He succeeded to the throne after the death of his father, although he was not the rightful heir according to the edict left behind by his father. Hu Hai, in fact, did not wield the actual power of the empire in his hands, and was merely a puppet emperor under the control of Zhao Gao. Hu Hai trusted Zhao Gao and followed almost any piece of advice Zhao gave, and he even ordered the massacre of his own brothers and sisters. Hu Hai's tyrannical rule eventually came to an end, when he was killed on Zhao Gao's orders.

Zhao Gao

The chief eunuch who served the First Emperor and Hu Hai. After the sudden death of the First Emperor at Shaqiu, Zhao Gao and the Prime Minister Li Si collaborated together in a scheme to falsify the edict left behind by the First Emperor. The edict was changed such that Fu Su, the rightful heir to the throne, was to commit suicide, while Hu Hai was to become the Second Emperor. Later, Zhao Gao monopolised power and even had Li Si eliminated. Zhao Gao had Hu Hai totally in his control, and was the one who instigated Hu Hai to commit those acts of tyranny and atrocity, such as the killing of members of the royal family. Zhao Gao is a master of sorcery and the principal villain in the game, so to win the game, the player has to defeat him.

Li Si

Li Si was the Prime Minister of the Qin Empire and contributed greatly to the founding of the empire. At the height of his power as Prime Minister, he was central to the state's policies, including those on military conquest, draconian centralization of state control, standardization of weights, measures and the written script, and persecution of Confucianism. However, he had certainly betrayed the First Emperor, whom had placed great trust in him, when he collaborated with Zhao Gao to falsify the edict left behind by the First Emperor, who died suddenly at Shaqiu. The edict was changed such that Fu Su, the rightful heir to the throne, was to commit suicide, and Hu Hai to become the Second Emperor instead. Zhao Gao eventually controlled the power of the empire all by himself and had Li Si framed on charges of treason and had Li Si executed.

* Liu Bang
* Xiang Yu
* Xiang Liang
* Chen Sheng
* Touman

Development

Reception

References

External links

* [http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/games/PrinceOfQin/ Official Prince of Qin Website]
* [http://pc.ign.com/objects/480/480727.html IGN "Prince of Qin" Page]