Review by: Brian Clair

Anvil of Dawn, like Stonekeep, uses a 3D interface to create a unique role playing experience that will keep you enthralled for hours of gameplay. Anvil of Dawn takes place on the world of Tempest, a magical world where the gods long ago through the secret of “making” created humanity from the warring elements of the universe. Through this creation, mankind grew to have an innate understanding of the language of the elements, which gave birth to magic. All was well and at peace, even the gods went elsewhere thinking all was well, until a great lord of battle arose, “a paragon of ruthless evil.” This great lord created an army and with the power of his dark god used the secret of “making” to make his army invincable. Nations rose up to fight him and died in the attempt, now the last bastion of hope are five heroes, who must seek out the secret of making and steal it away from the warlord.

Anvil of Dawn begins with an opening movie sequence displaying essentially what I just related above. You take the role of one of the five heroes, each with different strengths and weaknesses. The game even allows you to edit characters so that you can make your own to a certain degree. Like in most rpg’s, Anvil of Dawn has attributes which represent a character’s abilities, in this case: strength, stamina, agility and power. From these basic attributes, hit points, spell points, chances to hit, etc. are determined. As you engage in combat and use magic, your character gains experience towards his/her next level. Unlike in most games though, reaches higher levels in Anvil of Dawn takes quite a bit of time.

Of course, no rpg would be complete with magic! Anvil of Dawn has seven disciplines of spells ranging from earth, water, wind, and fire, to flesh and the void. One thing you’ll notice about Anvil of Dawn is it’s far superior spells. Not only do the spells have better names (where else would you find a spell called, Laughing Skull of Thunderous Might?) but they look the way they sound. The Laughing Skull forms before you, laughs hideously and then turns, speeding away to hit it’s target. In fact, most of the spells not only sound cool, they look just as good and do what they say.

Weapons and monsters are also an integral part to any rpg and Anvil of Dawn has them aplenty! There are several categories of weapons including: thrusting, hacking, missile, and slicing. Of course, some weapons are more effective than others when battling certain creatures. There are many different types of armour in the game as well, and your armour class can save you from a lot of damage in this game. As for monsters, there are many, each of which is surprisingly deadly, cool, and which dies in a neat way (many explode or incinerate before your eyes, looks way cool). Of course, as with any game, there’s lots more but you’ll have to experience that for yourself.