It Has Puzzles As Well As Monsters

This game is pretty much one of the best old pc games and it had a part 2 and part 3 created for it later on. When I first played it many years ago, I died a lot just at the beginning. This is just because I was a teenager and I did not really know what I was doing. The concept of dungeons and dragons was somewhat new to me due to my brothers not letting me play the actual role playing game (the book version) with them.

After getting my butt kicked several times I made it to the next level just to find out that it gets harder. Geez! It was hard enough mastering the first dungeon level. As I passed each level, I got more and more frustrated. It is not a matter of the monsters being tough, it is due to the multitude of puzzles I had to figure out. If you want your brain synapses firing, this game will definitely do the job.

The Game is Beatable

Did I beat this game? Why I most certainly did. Yea me! It took me a long time to beat it, but I did. The trick is not about just beating up things and pushing the keyboard buttons until your hands go numb. No, it is instead all about good timing, searching for secret doors by bumping into walls all day, breaking out your graph paper to make a map, and collecting the right items.

Also, choosing the correct character for starting out is a big must. Make sure they have classes you are comfortable using as well.

Mapping With Graph Paper

Ok, I want to go over the graph paper idea I just mentioned earlier. Back in the day there was no flippin’ map on your screen so you would not get lost. Yes, it had a compass, but that was not enough. I had to brake out my graph paper to figure out where everything was otherwise I would end up being lost. Some areas in the game look almost identical.

Next thing you are asking, “Why didn’t you google it?” Gee, because it was back in the 1990’s when google was not even a dot on the map. There was no searching online for the games back then. Even if there was some way of searching, it was very limited. That is why cheat books and hint books were high in demand back then. No, I did not buy hint books. Personally, I think that ruins the whole game experience. As my brother always told me, “When you win a game without cheating, you get the greatest satisfaction because you did it all on your own.” Just try it sometime and you will see what I mean.

So, I would constantly refer to my hand made map for directions. I used squares for the rooms and little squares for the doors. For items and monsters, I used letters inside each square so I could mark where I found the items and such. This not only helps me find out where I found stuff originally, but it also was useful if I ever decided to play the game a second time around. Keeps me from having to map stuff twice.

A Map Maker Would Be Nice

Yes, I do still make maps for games, but only for the ones that do not have mini-maps. Would it be cool to have a map maker in a game? Yes, it would be totally awesome. When I say map maker, I do not mean the auto maps like they have in most games these days. Personally, I think the computer doing all the work takes the fun out of games. I was speaking of a map being in the game and the player puts all the map rooms together himself. Yes, a compass is not a problem in my book. That would help the player know if he is doing the map wrong.

Anyway, that is slightly off topic. So when reaching the end of the game (sorry for the spoiler), you will be head to head with a beholder as the title of the game points out. After hacking at the goober for awhile and dodging is magic attacks, you will eventually beat it. The reward? You will be given the option to transfer your characters – at least last that I remember.

Transfer Characters to Other Games

Yes, character transfer is possible between all three beholder games. I love those days the most. They do not really do that in games any more. Whenever I can get some real games created someday, other than my Fighting One Eyed Bears game, I would like to make character transfer possible like the golden days. Believe it or not, that is actually a common question that players ask to creators of mmorg’s. The response from them tends to be, “No, character transfer will not be possible. You will have to create a new character all over again.”

That pretty much summarizes the Eye of the Beholder game, which is based on Dungeons and Dragons mechanics. No, it is not 3rd edition or 4th edition. I know everybody craves the new, but sometimes there is nothing wrong with reverting back to the good old Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd edition) days.

Also, one more thing. You may need dosbox to play the game.

If you are interested in playing the game, go ahead and buy it in the below link.

If you already won the game or you lost part two or three, you can buy the sequels via the below link. As a note, the below collection also includes part one of the trilogy. You may also need dosbox for this as well if using Windows 7 or greater. Older versions of windows (Windows XP and below) should not require the usage of dosbox. If installation is a problem, just manually make the directories and move the files to their needed folders. Installation is not required for a lot of the older games out there.

If you need any assistance with the game(s), dosbox, or installation, feel free to leave me a comment below. Thank you.

Your Fellow Gamer,

Jakob