Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: Quotix Software
System: PC
Minimum requirements: 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 or Athlon XP 1600+ processor; 512 GB RAM; 1.3 GB hard drive space; nVidia GeForce FX or ATI Radeon 9500 with 64MB; CD-ROM drive; Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Genre: Action-RPG
Release date: Available now
Review by: Jason Pitruzzello

Evil stalks our land. Yes, again. This time, the demon Pompolic has opened a gateway to the Outer Worlds and hordes of monsters threaten our very existence. Annihilation beckons and the people cry out for a hero. Will you take up the challenge of slaying thousands of creatures, collecting the Dark Souls, and stopping Pompolic’s evil plan for enslaving the world?

If this doesn’t sound like the most original premise for a video game, that’s because this is the same premise a large percentage of offerings use, including almost all titles in the fantasy, role-playing and adventure genres. As such, Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars is treading a well worn path that goes further back than the original Gauntlet. Since the premise is of this variety, the real question before any serious gamer is whether or not taking up arms against Pompolic and his endless hordes is a dull diversion or an enjoyable evening.

Quotix Software says Call for Heroes is “a third-person action game with RPG elements placed in a fantasy world.” To that end, there are two characters available: the Warrior and the Amazon. Each character has unique weapons, special powers and methods of fighting. As you might expect, the Warrior is a melee specialist, while the Amazon focuses on ranged attacks and speed. True to Quotix Software’s claims regarding RPG elements, neither character is static. Each character has three attributes, each starting at 0 when you begin. You also have three categories of special powers, each with five increasingly powerful abilities. When you level up, you raise one attribute and add one special power.

At first, many gamers will find this to be very simple; however, the simplicity dies away after you play through the first level and realize the icons that power each separate category of special powers are finite. Thus, you cannot rely on one set of special powers, as you’ll run out of the icons that power that particular ability. On the other hand, taking special powers from multiple categories will allow you to use special abilities more often because you’ll have a larger number of icons to power them, even though you won’t have access to the most powerful abilities.