Dungeon Diving

Overall this does little disguise the fact that the game is a by the numbers dungeon-crawler.

You're accompanied by a talking wand which is supposed to act as your wise-cracking side kick, a bit like a magical Chris Tucker. It mainly acts as a substitution for your main character though, usually speaking for you as you remain mute and it says almost the opposite of what you would have said in the situation. Plot wise it just acts as someone for the innumerable Dwarvern ghosts to talk to and is frequently irritating in combat when it says things like “Gory!” or “Take that!” which sound corny and understated when you've just carved your way through a horde of Orcish raiders.

At the end of each level you can teleport back to a central hub where you can restore your health and magic points and trade the loot you've found to a dragon for weapon upgrades. You also get the option to barter a better price with her for her magic items; stay on her good side and you'll get a nice deal, annoy her and you'll be paying through the nose for those healing potions.

Later in the game, you get the ability to use some of the wand's magic as powerful attacks and unlock four bonus spells which come in handy as the difficulty ramps up. You'll rarely use these spells on normal difficulty though as the game is extremely easy; I finished it in an evening with little trouble, so playing on the Difficult setting is a must to get the most of of the game.

Saying all this makes the game sound like a terrible experience but it's not. I really found myself enjoying the game and after I looked up, two hours had already passed. Level design is what you'd expect from someone of Carmack's experience, and whilst there are your generic corridors and doors, navigating never becomes confusing or uninteresting. You can use the levels to maintain strategic management of your foes and as the game is turn based, you can take your time thinking about how best to tackle your enemies.