Darklands (1992)
Darklands is a 1992 role-playing (rpg) video game made by MPS Labs and MicroProse Software, Inc..
Darklands sets four companions loose in a 15th-century Germany where history and folklore carry equal weight. The Holy Roman Empire here is built from documented sources: real cities, guild politics, and alchemical formulas drawn from period texts, alongside the creatures and saints of German medieval legend. You navigate a world where praying to the right saint before a skirmish is sound tactical thinking, and where robber-knights and highway bandits are as likely to threaten your party as anything supernatural. Combat is pausable and tactical. The world does not scale to your level.
Quick answers
What is Darklands about?
Darklands sets four companions loose in a 15th-century Germany where history and folklore carry equal weight. The Holy Roman Empire here is built from documented sources: real cities, guild politics, and alchemical formulas drawn from period texts, alongside the creatures and saints of German medieval legend. You navigate a world where praying to the right saint before a skirmish is sound tactical thinking, and where robber-knights and highway bandits are as likely to threaten your party as anything supernatural. Combat is pausable and tactical. The world does not scale to your level.
When was Darklands released?
Darklands was released on 31 December 1992.
Who made Darklands?
Darklands was made by MPS Labs, MicroProse Software, Inc. and Ziggurat Interactive.
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A few thoughts on Darklands
Few RPGs have attempted this kind of rigorously historicized fantasy, grounding its magic in period alchemy and Catholic hagiography rather than invented spell schools. Players who want more of this register, a medieval setting taken seriously enough to build its superstitions from primary sources, will find Darklands still largely in a category of its own.