Scourge of Worlds (Special Collector’s Edition) Review

It’s not often that we review DVD movies at Just Adventure – in fact, this is probably a first – but while watching/playing Scourge of Worlds Special Collector’s Edition recently it occurred to me that this is fertile ground for an adventure game developer with some gumption and imagination.

Scourge of Worlds is an interactive Dungeon & Dragons DVD adventure that will work on most DVD models or your Xbox or PS2 system. It is a modernized version of those Choose Your Own Adventure™ books and, regardless of whether you are a fan of role playing games or Dungeon & Dragons or not, it is fun to work your way through the numerous decisions and six different game endings.

This 3D interactive, computer animated movie – the appearance of the dragon is especially impressive even though it does burn your buns – lets you choose your own path as the story progresses. The Scourge of Worlds, aka the Aryx Orthian, is an ancient weapon created by a group of Mages that was meant to destroy their enemies and put an end to all wars. Its power was, of course, unmanageable (or else we wouldn’t have a story!) and it was hidden away in a secret cave. You play as three different characters: Regdar, a Warrior, Lidda, a Halfling and Mialee, an Elf who bump into Barathion, an old friend and teacher, who has stolen the map and is intent on laying claim to the Scourge.

As the story plays out, you are presented with the opportunity to choose the path the story will follow and while the beginning and end locations of the story are always the same, the path you follow in-between is entirely dependent on your decisions. Should you engage in a bar fight or smooth talk your way out of a confrontation? Should you join Barathion on his journey to find the Scourge, or should you arrest and turn him over to the authorities? The game promises over 1,100 possible story combinations and – though I am anal retentive – even I did not encounter every combination though I have seen all six different endings.

This ‘Special Edition’ DVD also comes with an extra disk that contains Behind the Scenes, a very interesting ‘Making of Scourge’ feature, a Trivia Game based on the adventure, a Gallery of Game Environments, Monsters and Characters and a full linear version of the movie/game that you can enjoy without the pressure of making those life-saving (or ending) choices.

Now, as usual, my interest in this DVD is how it applies to the adventure genre. What a great opportunity it would be for some developers who are having problems obtaining funding for their games to release either a computer rendered or full-motion-video adaptation of a character like Tex Murphy or Gabriel Knight. Sure the DVD game would not have as much depth and the puzzles would be almost non-existent, but development costs would be much lower and the potential audience much larger – think Netflix and Blockbuster rentals & sales in mainstream stores like Target and Wal Mart – which in turn could lead to acquiring the funds necessary for a full-blown computer version. In fact, the only limitation seems to be the mindset of adventure developers and publishers who don’t seem willing to think outside the box.

But alas, this is just another pipe dream, for we know it would never happen as it makes too much sense – much like putting Nancy Drew games in Barnes & Noble – but kudos to the Dungeon & Dragons team for at least attempting to take their genre in a different direction with Scourge of Worlds.