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Good game, very good for Pern Fans

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 49 / 49
Date: August 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I grew up visting the world of Pern. I have enjoyed the stories and the characters. It was logical, then, that I would be interested in this product.

So far I have enjoyed playing. First I can't understand the people who are complaining about system requirements. The packaging makes it very clear that a 3D acceleration card is needed and the processor speed. The game runs fine on my system at the highest graphic detail settings (I have a 1.1gig AMD and 128mb ram).

On to the game. It is very task oriented so far. These tasks are actually fun since they start giving you the opportunity to feel what a day might be like for a dragonrider. The graphics are decent, but you would buy and enjoy this program for the storyline. There are nice surprises like finding fire lizard eggs during your tasks and hatching new fire lizards. You start off with a green one who is essential for interacting with other characters. I now have a blue and bronze or gold one in addition to my green and I can switch between them. As far as I can tell, there is no difference in gameplay but it is fun.

There is some combat that is necessary and that was entertaining once I got the hang of it. As a side note, there was a nice feature in that it autosaved right before my first bout with combat when I couldn't get my character to fight so when I died, I could go right back to where I was. The key to fighting is when the computer says you are in range of an opponent, you must keep the space bar pressed down to go into combat mode. The instructions told me this, but I had to do it a couple of times to do it right.

There are bugs that will crash the game, so beware. In my 8 hours of playing this has happened to me 3 times. Each time it was because I had moved my character in such a way that it prevented another NPC character from moving, thus creating a loop. When this happened I just powered down and resumed playing and the game autosaved to right before the power down. Also there is no way to change camera angles, which I hate. There are times you simply can not see your character and moving him back into your sight is problmatic.

Clearly, this game does not, for me, deserve 5 stars even though I am a huge Pern fan. It simply doesn't have the game play wows or graphic wows to get 5 stars. That being said, it is also clearly, to me, something most Pern fans who like RPG type games would enjoy playing and is certainly worth the modest price. It is just plain enjoyable to be in Pern, and enough detail has been done to graphics and storyline to justify the purchase. And yes you do ride Zenth. There are also many scrolls where you can read about Pern. This was old news for me, of course.

The main task of Ubisoft was will someone get a sense of being part of Pern and a dragonrider when playing. They were not making a game to be state of the art with graphics, or gameplay, or music. And they succeed in this main task. So it is not really correct to overly critcize them for the other things. The bugs are annoying but they are just that, annoyances, nothing more. Lastly, I would suggest people look closer at the packging when buying software. It is clearly stated in at least 2 places with emphasis ! on the package that you need a 3D accelerator. If you bought online and did not know then that is the fault of your online retalier not ubisoft.

Bottomline? Pern fans, buy this and enjoy this. Others, if your looking for a good, decent RPG/Adventure buy this, if your looking for state of the art, do not buy it. And please those of you new to Pern read the books, and parents out there looking to get there kids into fantasy and scifi, do not forget the Harper Hall trilogy, they make great bedtime reading.

It's the Dragonriders of Pern...sort of

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: August 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The long awaited video game based on Anne McCaffrey's awesome Pern series is a mixed bag to say the least. On the one hand it provides a great interpretation of life on Pern. You get to interact with all manner of people, be they Rider, Holder, or craftsman. The game is set in the Seventh Pass so don't expect to see any of the characters from the books make appearances. The story is pretty good and the game follows a find item and take it here type of gameplay. If you're familiar with "Resident Evil" you know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, the game has its flaws. For one, you can't really "ride" your dragon. The dragon acts as more of a glorified transport from area to area. So no Thread fighting. And combat is simplistic and tedious. (tap forward for light attack; hold for heavy). It doesn't really add to the game. In short, if you're a Pern fan its worth a look. But if your looking for a solid video game experience, look elsewhere.

Enjoyable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: September 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, I have followed the development of this game for nearly 5 years with much anticipation. It was inevitable that my expectations would be too high so I have allowed for this in my rating.

It ran just fine on a P2-300 celeron processor but I do have a heap of ram (296Mb) and a cheapo 3d accelorator video card.

Gameplay Problems:

Very occasional freeze-ups (perhaps 2 per completed game)
Occasionally the camera fails to properly track D'kor
Inconsistency between audio and text dialogue
Names of some NPC's just don't match up (Forn in the smithhall unaccountably referred to as Klor by all other NPC's?)
Unable to truncate or skip quite long cinematic sequences when travelling between areas (likewise with npc dialogue)
Too much time waiting for areas to load and unload :(

Pernese Consistency Issues.

Dragons are supposes to be 6 fingered, in the game are five fingered.
The 'Temple' on Ierne Island might raise hackles with McCaffrey diehards
The Smithcraft Hall erroneously called 'Mastersmith Hall'
The dragons look a little deep chested to me ;)

Gameplay Good points:

Great storyline!
Great visual setting
Great musical accompaniment
Easy fighting system to get to grips with
Impressive cinematics, particulary after the first 'chapter'
Relatively cheap price!
Reasonable length (20 hours of elapsed gamplay my first time through)
Enough little sidequests unfinished to make me want to play again to achieve the maximum status

Pernese Consistency Bonuses:

Great eyecandy for pern lovers!
The dragons are /huge/ as they should be.
Mostly rates excellent for consistency with one or two small exceptions (some of which were obviously necessary to make this a good rpg plot).
Have I mentioned great eyecandy for pern lovers?
The feel of the game is a pretty good approximation of the Pern books IMO, the visuals and audio are just right.
The storyline is of a high enough quality that Ms McCaffrey would likely approve IMO
If you play any online pern rpg's this game will revitalise your concepts of Pern :)

Biggest regret about this game? Just that it isn't an online world ;)

Welcome to Pern!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: August 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Gamers and McCaffrey fans rejoice! This is the game we've been waiting for. This game is a wonderful look at Pern and the society therein. Action gamers take notice..you dont exactly hop on your dragon and begin to fight. Two hours in and I'm still in the weyr..talking to people, figuring out puzzles..this game will take you a long time to finish, and you'll love it.
The graphics are a mix of cartoon to wonderment. The main characters though are even more blocky than those in the DS:9 Fallen video game (game play is much the same too).
The world is populated with over 170 characters to talk to, barter with, and one is even sweet on the hero...laughed happily when I saw the innocent flirtation. This game has it all. This game leaves me with a smile on my face. Something many havent done in a long time.
At the low price of 29.99, I'd say to date, this has been my best purchase for the pc this year!

Pern Comes to Life!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: September 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I've been a fan of the Pern series for about 8 years, ever since a teacher suggested one of the books to me.
When I heard about a computer game being made, I had high expectations. I was not dissapointed.
In DragonRiders, you play the role of D'kor, rider to bronze Zenth. Your Weyrwoman has died recently, and her golden queen dragon, Morath is withering away on the hatching grounds, gaurding a clutch which includes a golden egg. Your mission is to Search out a woman who might be able to Impress the new queen when she hatches.
As you play, you find more and more quests to accomplish, from rescuing a lost boy in the caves, to befriending and helping the people across Pern.
Any fan of the series should get this game, some movie scenes may be slow and the lip synching is sometimes off, but in my own opinion, this is the greatest PC game ever!

Pern is so real!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: August 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the first time Pern fans have been able to get a realistic view of Pern! As a dragonrider, you can run around Pern performing tasks and saving Pern from yet another plague. Now while the game designers ai did not catch every correct detail of Pern or its creatures, this is the closest you can get outside your imagination! The game runs pretty smooth and has a lot to do. The music and graphics are excellant. I always enjoyed going from one place to another on Zenth, my bronze dragon. The sequence of mounting the dragon is unavoidable and is always cool to watch. I finished the game in about 18 hours, and I played it rather fast, so there is not really any lack of things to do. Play it slow, do everything, and enjoy it!!

Thinking about playing it again.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: December 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I will admit I have never read the novels of this series but the game intrigued me.

Your character throughout the game is D'kor. You get to travel with him and the dragon he 'impressed' (the dragon accepted him and they share a telepathic connection). You start off very nicely and the characters train you as you go. So you are not left to your own devices on what to do.

The plot line is great, there is a lot of intrigue. You find out about someone D'kor has a crush on (and your dragon chastises you about it, it's cute) and you learn a little gossip about the people in your team.

You can visit the library and read scrolls. It was quite interesting actually, if you read that in the beginning it helps you locate where to go on some of your quests.

Unlike most RPG games there isn't much fighting, it is a more interaction based game. You primarily go questing. One of the major quests is you go on a search for the Waeyerwoman (the female keeper of the gold dragon) and in searching for candidates you happen on a lot of sub-quests.

The plot keeps you guessing who the 'bad guy' is. I highly recommend this game to those who like RPG (role-playing games) and fantasy games.

Good storyline, but poorly designed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I waited for this game eagerly for a couple of years, and purchased it right when it came out.

There isn't as much dragonflying as I expected. The only flying in the game exists in video clips as you go from one destination to another.

The storyline, however, is quite interesting. You are a bronze rider, set out on a quest to unravel the causes of mysterious deaths. Your quest takes you all around Pern, and you meet a bunch of great characters, gathering clues along the way. There are also subplots that tie in nicely with the story.

Gameplay is simple with commands that are quick and easy to use. The game centers more about character development (building strength, reputation, and knowledge) that it does in your skill of using the keyboard or mouse to fight. Fighting techniques are easy to master.

There are several problems with the game, however. It can be very very slow unless you have a good processor and a large amount of RAM. (I gave up playing it until I got a 1 Ghz processor and 256 mb of RAM - it works nicely now.)

The camera view on the character shifts frequently, and sometimes this becomes disorienting. The camera view also often places you behind walls, unable to see your character. (There is a freestyle camera mode which you can access by hitting 5 on your keypad, though the freestyle camera is difficult to pan with.)

Some parts of the game seem unfinished - such as a door here and there that don't actually lead to anything, or a character who is speaking, but doesn't have a voice recorded for them. (Not to worry - there is text accompanying the speaking parts.)

Sometimes the flying video clips become a bit tedious to watch, as they can be quite long. Too bad there isn't a way to escape the clips.

If you're a big fan of Pern and have a decent computer system and are willing to spend time with this game, then get it. I do enjoy playing it, even if I have to work around some bugs here and there.

Addictive and Lovable Goodness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: August 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Personally, I don't know what the bloody is wrong with these people giving DR:CoP less than above average in reviews. So WHAT if the angles and such are a pain? I've found the whole 'loading time' problem not to be the game, but your computer. Granted, DR:CoP wouldn't load on my old 98 machine, but works like a charm on my new XP. But other than the technical mumbo-jumbo, I tend to look at the whole gameplay interaction rather than how you play it.

Just the *thought* of a Pern game set my senses wild. I've been a fan of Anne McCaffrey's world going on five years now, and I have to say, this game brought /so/ my sense into my perspective of the books. To tell you the truth, I had zilch ideas of what a Weyr looked like - I mean, I knew the whole cavern dealie and such, but this game just made it so much more.. clear. And the firelizards! I /loved/ my little flits, and Zenth. Come on! While I used to think D'kor was just.. icky to look at, you grow to love him even through the hysterical faces and gestures he makes in the Tunnlesnake Caves..

Sure, I know how aggravating it is to deal with the game freezing on you in the glitches (it just about drove me mad some times..) and I know it can be touch with the angles, but I really found the game itself worth it. Come /on!/ You get to be the sexy, confident Bronzerider looking for Gold candidates all while saving Pern. And the Hatching Sands! That had to be my -favorite- environment in the games. **swoons at the pretty Gold..**

Needless to say, if you are a diehard Pern fan (you gotta have atleast some knowledge of the books to understand the game..) and enjoy roleplaying / goal-oriented / generally interesting games, this is for you. The battles aren't exactly dynamic, but then again, did you expect fluffy D'kor to be a ruffian?

**crosses fingers.** I can only wish they'd do a sequel now.. or something of the sort. *_*

Be aware of the minimum requirment for this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: August 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I pre-ordered this game for my daughter's birthday. It finally arrived and she is excited. But every thing ended in frustration. THe game requires a 3D video card that we don't have on our PC. This is not so obvious from the product description of Amazon's page. Without the right video card, the game will simply crash the PC. By the way, according to the UBI soft's web site, the game may not run on Window's 2000 or Window's NT.

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