Dungeon Hack Review | Randomized Dungeon Crawling

[@TheFluffyDuck]

Maybe somebody can help me, there was a game that played like Arena, but all I remember is the cutscene intro. It was a wizard in a tower a bird flies in and gets struct by lightning, old 2D animation. Anybody know it’s name?

[@Safki328]

Might and Magic 5? kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWnNhah9grWLhdk Timestamped

[@thecappeningchannel515]

Crystal dragon?

[@TheFluffyDuck]

@@Safki328 BINGO! Thanks my dude. I have loooked for this for years. That is it.

[@Safki328]

@@TheFluffyDuck Glad to help, definitely worth playing MM4+5 which are tied together as World of Xeen if you haven't.

[@JelloFluoride]

@@Safki328 Not all heroes wear capes

[@Nkrlz]

It's always nice to see new people reviewing 90s PC games as true fun things instead of curiosities. Also, long live AD&D 2nd!

[@Voidbrand]

@Nkriz Only ever played 2nd/3rd Edition D&D games on the computer. Definitely prefer the 2nd! 💀 I'm going to replay this one one day.

[@Nkrlz]

@@Voidbrand The Neverwinter games are 3rd edition, no? (I Played them when they came out and didn't like them so I never played them again). The Baldur's/Icewind/Planescape games are amongst the best cRPGs I've ever played (regardless of rule set). What I love about second edition is its pen & paper original version (though finding IRL people to play is nigh impossible nowadays, lol).

[@Voidbrand]

@Nkriz Yeah Neverwinter was 3rd edition. I couldn't get into it either. Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape are amazing games. I still replay Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale every year o so.

[@redfiend]

Some legendary games were made using the 2nd edition. Thac0 was an abomination though.

[@driverdown7694]

I remember playing this back in the day after Eye of the Beholder, so I felt right at home. The problem I found was that with only a single character you're vey limited if you don't play a mage and/or cleric. As you stated in your review, you can't identify magic items (or even tell which items are magic!) unless you're lucky enough to get a scrying glass, and even then if the item is cursed, you have to reload because it's now welded to your hand. The other problem I found is that even if you play a cleric, the spell 'Remove paralysis' is completely useless as if you're paralysed, you can't cast it, and if you're not, you don't need it! It seems like they just copied the spells over from the EotB series without really thinking things through fully.

[@Voidbrand]

I was really overloaded with magical items. Lots of saving/reloading to see what I could wear safely. I wouldn't want to try that with the permadeath mode on. 💀 It was still a fun game though. Next time I'll probably just play a cleric/mage or something.

[@stevenhenry9605]

You could open your spellcasting menu, and if you had it open before you were paralyzed, you could cast the spell. ;)

[@73ingie]

I loved eye of the beholder 1 and 2. Eidolon was a great game too so many great dungeon games back then ❤

[@andrewmartin3671]

Many D&D games had the option to max out all your stats. It's so you could build your character from another computer game or tabletop campaign.

[@Lex-vd2is]

Ah, the good old times of playing games juggling 11 disks with only 1 drive and no hard drive installation. How I do not miss those.

[@Voidbrand]

I do like the floppy disk aesthetics at least.

[@Lex-vd2is]

@@Voidbrand Understandable. It aged a lot better than anything that tried to be "fancy" 3D back then.

[@WulfRanger]

You popped up on suggested and this is right up my alley, I watched this and your ultima video and was very happy that you just reviewed the game and didn’t spend half the video complaining about the wacky setups of old game, but the Ultima jump…that deserved it sooooo much

[@Voidbrand]

@WulfRanger Thanks, friend. 💀 The jumping is tediously frustrating! Thankfully got some tips in here to make it a little more bearable, which I will keep in mind for Underworld II (but will still talk about).

[@twistedturns65]

You should cover the Eye of the Beholder Trilogy, Dungeon Hack was basically those games stripped of story right down to just the dungeon crawl experience.

[@garrick3727]

I always like randomly generated dungeons just because of the replay value. I never played Dungeon Hack, but it looks like the kind of game I used to love. The big advantage of old-school 2D sprite graphics is that you could create a lot of monsters relatively easily, and these games are only good if there are tons of different enemies with different abilities. I was no graphics snob, although I could never get into the MUD ASCII graphics - I require some form of picture of the monster at least. It's about time some indy developer resurrected the Dungeon Hack formula.

[@marklastes312]

That's why I love the keymapper option that DOSBox has. The only drawback is that you can't type correctly unless you select a certain button to push, usually CTRL or ALT. I had to do this for Elder Scrolls: Arena.

[@Voidbrand]

@Mark Lastes I actually don't know too much about DOSBox, but I gotta check that option out. I did read there was a way to use WASD controls for Dungeon Hack, which would've been great.

[@Heike--]

@@Voidbrand Change to Dosbox-X instead. Much better that stock Dosbox. Has option menus you can choose from instead of a bewildering .conf file.

[@tacolength]

Nice review, the options for this game seem ahead of it is time.

[@Voidbrand]

@tacolength I like how customizable it is. Some classes outright need it I think.

[@zyxyuv1650]

I think you might actually like Ultima Underworld 2. It has an interesting map design with some newer ideas to make it more accessible, like a central hub/castle, and it doesn't have the jumping challenges like UW1. I haven't played it in 15 years and I only played it once, but when I think back on it, it stands out because it left an impression and I still have visual memories of places in the game and the layout of the map.

[@Voidbrand]

I actually played it a year ago. I'm looking to play through it again soon-ish. 💀 It's definitely a good game, I honestly like it a bit more than the first Underworld.

[@2x_negative]

KZbin recommended your Ultima Underworld video yesterday and now I find that you've posted a video on one of my favorite first person dungeon crawlers from my childhood? Heck yeah. Easiest subscription ever.

[@Voidbrand]

Welcome! If I played this as a kid it likely would've been one of my favorites too.

[@Cormano980]

People need to realise this was top notch graphics back then which few people could experience

[@JimsMaher]

"Od's blood! My insides feel all twisted about!"

[@Bobson_Dugnutt_Esq]

“Shallowtaint” Is probably one of the best incidental surnames I’ve ever seen

[@DaveVelociraptor]

The big problem I had with this game was the lack of environmental storytelling which you would normally get in an RPG. It's one of my favourite things in games. I've never put any time into it as a result. Great review of course! Most RPG reviews are not as deep as yours. You are doing great!

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks, man. Appreciate it. 💀 I don't mind the lack of storytelling in general for some games, like this one. But I guess they couldn't fit it in their floppies.

[@Tasarran]

IMO, the best fun in this game is turning on that 'Multi-Level Puzzles' setting

[@bruhshop2688]

Always excited for your videos, hope you continue to make more !

[@Voidbrand]

Cheers. 💀 I do plan on it.

[@chodetaculous]

Grid based dungeon crawlers are my favorite subgenre of games. Been hooked ever since Dungeon Master.

[@williamflipper]

Great video, I wouldn't know how to play it without your "how to".

[@TheVerinen2]

Thank you for your work. Your videos help me relax

[@Palendrome]

Thank you for actually putting 4:3 game videos IN 4:3. I watch a 90s CRT and it gives me a uch better idea of what the game is, and the video more enjoyable

[@Voidbrand]

You're welcome. I'm kind of a stickler for things like that.

[@JavaJack59]

@@Voidbrand In this same vein, I'm wondering if going to nearest neighbor filtering on the upscaling would look better.

[@PhriekshoTV]

DRPGs (traditional, randomly generated, or otherwise) are such an underappreciated genre. I gotta try this one.

[@Mountainmonths]

great review. this one's been in my backlog for a long time

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks. 💀 Time for Dungeon Hacking then.

[@Doommaster1994]

Love this game! Fun fact is most of the assets from this game (graphics (including monsters)/sound effects) were taken from Eye of the Beholder III. In fact, the enemy at 7:35 is actually a boss in Eye III (Captain Fflar). I also have the Japanese PC-9801 version which I've played through on my channel.

[@BlackReaper0]

I don't think I've seen this one before, the art is really nice!

[@FleetStreetBarber765]

Thanks for the post love old RPG games 😊😊

[@JavisoGaming]

So glad I found your channel!

[@Voidbrand]

Welcome aboard. 💀

[@philipguisinger4502]

Ahhhh... the age of Thaco!!

[@Maggerama]

This channel is such a lucky find! Thank you for the video, gonna binge now.

[@Voidbrand]

You're welcome. AND welcome. 💀

[@wolfman11983]

Thanks for the review man. Excellent game :D

[@braindamage_eclipse]

Loved Dungeon Hack... thanks for the memory triggers

[@devMashcom]

Od’s Blood! Dungeon Hack was a favorite of mine back in the day. I still fire it up on the retro P3 sometimes.

[@malloid]

Loved this game. Reviewed it for PC Player magazine in '94.

[@Voidbrand]

That's awesome. Old gaming mags really opened me up to PC games I'd never get to play back in the day.

[@tonedecoder633]

Great channel! Probably worth mentioning this game is essentially based on the Eye of the Beholder engine which is why its grid based. If you enjoyed this, be worth checking out EoB 1 and 2 ... they were great AD&D games from the early 90s and IMO a lot more fun than Dungeon Hack as they don't rely on procedurally generated dungeons.

[@aristoxenedagonie9316]

Yes, it's a mix of Eye of the Beholder and NetHack ( the mots popular roguelike back then) : Dungeon (Dungeon Master) Hack (NetHack) ^^

[@locnar1988]

glad youtube recommended me your channel. cool video

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks man. Cheers. 💀

[@mattshuey1]

Seeing that button permadeath be your then high score run... Oof. Great upload dungeon crawlers are the perfect game type for a randomizer.

[@Voidbrand]

@mattshuey1 That button really surprised. I almost thought it was a bug. 💀 There was also a book that makes you go insane, I read that on level 17. The instant game over screen is pretty funny unless you're playing through the permadeath mode. Though you wouldn't be clicking on things randomly in the first place, other than buttons, which can apparently kill you too. 🤷‍♂️

[@rodneylives]

Dungeon Hack is a Wizardry-style dungeon maze exploration game, made for MS-DOS machines. It runs on the engine they made for Eye of the Beholder. It's not a classic-style roguelike but takes a lot of inspiration from them, right down to including the word _Hack_ in its title. Like roguelikes, it has randomized dungeons. By Wizardry-style, I mean it has that distinctive type of grid-base dungeon movement. Some people call them "blobbers," I understand, but I think that name is more indicative of Wizardry's style of combat. There is still not a good name for its exploration style, except maybe "Wizardry-like.

[@geofftottenperthcoys9944]

Still play this to this day.

[@dungeonchill]

Excellent video yet again. Keep it up!

[@Voidbrand]

@Dungeon Chill Thanks Dungeon Chill. 💀 I'm glad people are enjoying themselves.

[@Conradsonvideo]

Love your videos

[@LevitatingCups]

that intro music is quite good tho, so for the music it has, its great

[@demonicsuperiordruid]

Great video man, I've never even heard of this before!

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks. 💀 Me neither until GOG released the Forgotten Realms collection awhile back.

[@jrheard]

love your videos, keep it up!

[@mpettengill1981]

Yup, I remember playing this back in the day - Still have my original copy in box too! I don't think I ever finished it. The game was interesting at first, nice graphics for the day, but I remember feeling it got pretty repetitive. Also, I remember re-loading a saved game being super slow...like a minute plus. So that's not just a dosbox thing.

[@LevinQGame]

Mmm Dreamforge Dungeon Hack and it's cousin Anvil of Dawn that got all the music are still fun to play, just make sure to keep plenty of stones.

[@txmetalhead82xk]

One of my favorite dungeon crawler. I like watching the game play.

[@BonesawIsReady]

One of my favorite DOS games, honestly. Although I'll admit watching your gameplay it was triggering me when you'd leave your cleric symbol equipped in your off-hand. You mentioned the dual-wielding spiritual hammers as good but even just going bare-handed with the spell menu up is good too. Always hoping for a +3 staff of striking during dungeon hack runs!

[@ThePlayerOfGames]

I've seen some similar games but you've sold me on this one!

[@javvyjavvy]

I got this as a kid with unlimited adventures and fantasy empires.

[@orionion]

That map there 4:18 . It seems to me most of these fantasy maps, however much they may be set in imaginary realms, still kinda have Europe, the Americas, the British Isles etc.

[@wooramee]

Awesome video! Thanks!

[@MaitreMechant]

really good vid (and that music from ToEE, nice

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks, welcome aboard. 💀 I actually have never finished or even got too far in ToEE, but I kept the soundtrack saved for years.

[@tuwl1452]

Love the videos Void. Working on watching your Ultima Underworld series. Let me recommend Stonekeep, a first person dungeon crawl.

[@Voidbrand]

@Tuwl Thank you. 💀 I saw a bit of a let's play years ago on Stonekeep, definitely looks like something I'd play, which makes my list a bit longer. 😁

[@NinjaRunningWild]

@@Voidbrand I unreccomend Stone Keep which has _massive_ gameplay combat problems & recommend in its place Dungeon Master 1 & 2, Eye of the Beholder 1-3 (which Dungeon Hack reuses the engine from), & Lands of Lore.

[@Wolf359inc]

As someone in his fifties, and has been gaming for decades… I do not feel that games necessarily need a soundtrack. Particularly ones with first person views, where you ARE your avatar. Real life does not come with a soundtrack, and I often find them to be a distraction, rather than a bonus. There are exceptions, of course. I would never turn off the soundtrack in Skyrim, for example, as it is one of the best, and the “mood” changes depending on the situation - it’s clunky, and old, but few games have done it better. That said, having a soundtrack just for the sake of having some background sound, especially in older games where the sounds are sampled, can just be an annoyance. Just discovered your channel, and am loving your offerings. Cheers,

[@Voidbrand]

That's understandable. Sound effects and monsters growling and groaning can be enough. But thanks, welcome. 💀

[@ryanc5572]

Great review mate. Been playing this one a bit today myself. It def seems incredibly vast and open ended. The environment variety is nice, too. Can I suggest you review the Realms of Arkania games? I don't see much gameplay of them and they are all timeless masterpieces of the past

[@Voidbrand]

Appreciate the comment, thanks. Not sure if I'll get to RoA but it looks like something I'd play at least.

[@chrisdanks6447]

I played this so much,I was well into d&d at school with a bunch of friends. Another great old game that needs a proper remaster. And adding the newer versions of d&d too.

[@lanereynolds4567]

this game is actually on gog, just not as a standalone. It's part of a batch of games that you can get. Still rather cheap, only like five bucks for the pair. Forgotten Realms Collectio 3 or something like that. Comes with Menzoberranzan and Dungeon Hack. Also, yeah, this game is brutal when going in blind. Especially if the grappling hook doesn't spawn in and you fall multiple floors.

[@alexl7213]

Yeah, cleric+spiritual hammer. It's not specific to this game. It's full D&D. Spritual hammer (spiritual weapon) is OP.

[@dickheadrecs]

I never could get too far in this when i was a kid. No youtube or gamefaqs back then - just trial and error! btw this game is great when you think you want to play eye of the beholder but *actually don’t want to really go through all that again* pretty sure you can play this in the browser on some sites

[@dickheadrecs]

think i always played as a mage or fighter 🤷‍♂️

[@michaelreid5307]

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Eye of the Beholder series.

[@Voidbrand]

I'll play through them one day, probably sometime this year.

[@mayawhite447]

Love the video

[@endlesspath3044]

I remember reading a review of this game back in the day and it said the mysterious thinking breaks occurred even then, so it’s probably not caused by dosbox. This game or one of the Beholder games, not entirely sure.

[@chrismoon2961]

Great content, keep it up!

[@Voidbrand]

Thanks. 💀

[@quarkbent9165]

Gotta go back for the last coin!

[@999apeman]

Honor Among Thieves was also in the Forgotten Realms.

[@CowCommando]

Oh man, I had a love hate relationship with this game as a kid until we lost the manual and got locked out of it. I think I made it to the boss a couple times using hybrid caster/fighter classes, but I don't think I ever beat it. I died to carrion crawler paralysis more times than I can count.

[@laudennn]

great vids, thanks!

[@aaronkirk5904]

Good stuff my friend! :)

[@dylanpaul7371]

The best "Dungeon Music" is a genre known as "Dungeon Synth". Swap out those "Dungeon Music" youtube searches with "Dungeon Synth" and you will find yourself exploring a genre you never knew existed that is oozing with quality.

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Lovely review sir. Also, big HELLO to that Sorceress...

[@Voidbrand]

@WhatHoSnorkers Thanks, friend. 💀 I read that she's actually evil, so be careful. She teleported me to an ancient dungeon without letting me get more supplies.

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

@@Voidbrand Why are the hot ones always evil... :)

[@NinjaRunningWild]

Ctrl-F1 you can remap the DOSBox controls to WASD.

[@thewhyzer]

Ah, I spent so much time on this one back in the day. I'm surprised you didn't mention the Eye of the Beholder games, because this is basically a roguelite (before the term was even coined) spinoff of those, using the same engine / mechanics / UI and much of the same assets. I preferred using the Fighter/Cleric/Mage class - Fighter for obvious reasons, Cleric for Healing / Create Food /etc, Mage primarily for the Identify spell. I always used Custom difficulty and set most things to the max except I'd disable level draining undead and keys. Fun times!

[@Voidbrand]

The Eye of the Beholder games are games I hope to put some playtime into in the future. I decided not to mention them because they weren't developed by DreamForge, but I may as well have. 🤷‍♂️

[@Lex-vd2is]

@@Voidbrand While they were not developed by DreamForge they do have a lot more relevance than Baldur's Gate and its follow ups. But those seem to have been your entry into AD&D games so I guess there's that. But if you plan on giving EoB a go than you should also take a look at Lands of Lore 1. It's by the same devs that made EoB1 and 2 and arguably a better game. For DreamForge there is also the excellent Anvil of Dawn, also a single character first-person dungeon crawler.

[@zsix6]

i played this when i was young. its great!

[@Voidbrand]

Good! It's a fun game.

[@mr.pavone9719]

You can complete this game with any character class. It will provide you with items, scrolls and weapons to overcome any obstacles you face. Water level? You'll find a ring of underwater breathing somewhere. No cleric? You'll find healing stations. It's by no means easy, but you will be provided with what you need.

[@sideeggunnecessary]

Bro i played this game so much

[@GeorgeL909]

Thanks for this! I been keeping an eye on the d&d gold box collections, and am gonna go all in as soon as I confirm they'll play nice with the steam deck. Proton db recently had someone say dungeon hack works, so it might be time to pick it up 😅

[@Voidbrand]

@GeorgeL909 Playing this on the deck sounds great, other than no music. 💀 One day I'll playthrough both Ravenloft Games and Menzoberranzan.

[@NinjaRunningWild]

DOSBox works on it so technically EVERY DOS game will (or should) work. It's a simple matter of transferring the files to a DOSBox config & running it. It's very easy.

[@kiba3x]

Sanitarium ... I remember it was game of the mount in a gaming magazine I was reading back then ...

[@computercrazies]

Would anyone like a modern day remake of something like this? Also what are your thoughts on making something like this multiplayer. (Which has been done if you check out Neverwinter Nights 1)

[@Voidbrand]

I would like it. Maybe we're the minority though. Don't really play MP games.

[@CharlesBlazer]

That's basically Diablo.

[@computercrazies]

@@CharlesBlazer - more like Dark and Darker meets duke nukem.

[@helldog3105]

I always liked Anvil of Dawn from Dreamforge. I know it's not a D&D game and uses its own rule set, but I still find it to be entertaining. I don't know if you have tried that one yet. For whatever reason though, it plays strangely in DOSBox for me. But on the 5x86-133 machine I use for playing DOS and Windows 3.11 stuff on, it works great. DOSbox being strange is why I still play on old hardware. As long as I have something close to what is required by the time period, it runs great, and for things that run too fast, I find turbo buttons are great.

[@KubinWielki]

That Sanitarium shoutout surprised me, but positively. As I always say - Sanitarium is the best game I definitely shouldn't have played as a 6 years old kid. I attribute a fair chunk of my fucked up personality to that game :D

[@bristol-emo]

I like your videos. Keep making them, and maybe you'll attract more viewers.

[@Verilee1970]

Very good game, especially for fans of traditional roguelikes.

[@suucat]

Illusionary walls? No problem, im an Elf... The best class to play? IMO is a Half Elf Cleric/Magic User, Create Food and Water, Cure Spells, Remove Curse, Identify Spell (if you manage to find an improved invisibility scroll and copy it to your spell book you are nearly untouchable), the OP Spiritual Hammer... and he can also locate illusion walls like an Elf... Annoyed by those pesky 20d6 fireballs casted by Death Knights? you have protection from fire spells. And the best items in the game are either ioun stones or rings of sustenance/regeneration.

[@ritaheggdal453]

More, please!

[@Disc147]

Hella yeah

[@doublestarships646]

Someone played Temple of Elemental Evil. I love that game. 😌

[@emmanuelbeaucage4461]

i spent so much time in this game and amiga's bloodwych!

[@FleetStreetBarber765]

Just Subscribed 😊😊

[@Voidbrand]

Welcome! 💀

[@JoJoLux2013]

Well, well, well. I never heard on this one. it's remind me Dungeons Master i've played on my Atari ST520 ^^

[@taroturtle6943]

I subscribed like an hour ago, amazing...

[@laudennn]

same

[@Voidbrand]

@Taro Turtle Welcome. 💀 Came at the right time it seems! 👍

[@rebalice9899]

@3:00 I'm pretty sure that button closed a false wall. On you. Which was why you were crushed, I suspect.

[@alialramadhan4748]

if you thought this was too easy or if you really hate your self you can try realms of arkaina series (the second one is one of the most technolgically advance game i ever played equips your party with cloths as soon as you can that is my advice) looking for your other videos

[@OLIV3R_YT]

Cool 😎

[@hommedegout]

A game like this but with a party of 4 would be great :D

[@JavaJack59]

Legends of Amberland somewhat fits the bill.

[@chrisdanks6447]

Void,The Summoning is out on Gog now. Did you ever play that one ? Another classic I never completed back then.

[@Voidbrand]

I have not, looks interesting.

[@nfapeng187]

I might give this a shot, im still playing the old Ultima online. Not the original 1-7 ones but like the actual online one. Its a free-server but I cant quit playing old games man. New ones just never hit home for me. It much garbage and microtransactions to suite me.

[@whyishoudini]

You should review The Dark Spire or one of the Etrain Odyssey games

[@Makalai-Azaylin]

Rather than Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, you'd have been better comparing it to Eye of the Beholder, 1 through 3, as that's EXACTLY what the system in Dungeon Hack was based upon back in the day.

[@twistedturns65]

I dumped so many hours into this game back in high school.