Archon: The Light and The Dark (ZX Spectrum) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 48
12Dragons are OP... almost
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, retrogaming fan, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EVERY game in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game reviews are just for fun, this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey. Let's try out those classic retro games we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Archon: The Light and The Dark
Released 1983
Developer(s) Free Fall Associates
Platform(s) Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, etc.
Genre(s) Action, Strategy
Jay's Thoughts
In the classic series Star Trek: The Next Generation the characters would sometimes play a version of 3D chess that looked pretty impressive, but which utterly befuddled me. Yes the game looked cool, but I could never figure out how it was supposed to work and really if I ever played someone in that game, I'm sure I would be at an utter loss. Meet Archon: The Light and The Dark. Essentially, it might as well be 3D chess.
OK so this game looks a heck of a lot like chess from the outset. And I'm not the best chess player in the world, but I figured I would at least be able to figure out the basic rules and do OK at it. Well, I kind of figured the game out, but I definitely did not do OK at it.
In Archon you take control of either the light or the dark (surprise), and take turns moving pieces around a chess-like board. The goal of the game is not to checkmate any king piece however, but to either wipe out the enemy team or take control of 5 power points in the middle of the field. The pieces themselves do not capture each other like in chess either, but rather when two pieces come into contact a mini-battle is launched, and you get to control your piece in an attempt to kill the opposing piece. So even if someone attacks you on their turn, you can still win and kill their piece. This mechanic actually isn't a bad idea, however, the mini-battle itself is well... a bit random.
The battlefield itself is strewn with random dots as obstacles, and the "combat" between the pieces usually amounts to just running at your opponents and pressing buttons rapidly. There is also a spell mechanic that you can use on the larger battlefield to do things that I never fully figured out.
Overall, I think actually if you took the time to learn how to play this game properly it might be quite an interesting modernization of the idea of chess. And so for that reason I can't totally reject this game. However, because it flew a little over my head I can't fully recommend it either.
➙ Must You Play It?
Archon is an interesting gamification of the concept of chess, and I think the ideas behind it are intriguing. The game itself was a little bit confusing for me and the actual combat mechanic between pieces wasn't as sophisticated as I was hoping. That said, the idea behind the game is a good one so maybe some of you out there may enjoy this one.