Albion

Tom Driscoll, space jock. That is you in this action-filled science fiction RPG from Blue Byte Software. Your mission: to pilot the factory ship Toronto to the presumed deserted planet of Albion and harvest its resources. The problem(s): Tom crash lands due to a systems failure on his shuttle and Albion is decidedly NOT deserted. Tom needs to relocate his ship, and stop its Artificial Intelligence system from destroying Albion and the rare sentient beings living therein.

While you cannot create your own characters in this turn-based RPG, you can control up to six members in your party (although their comings and goings are based on the story and they are automatically added or subtracted.) Still, manipulating statistics or managing a wide-range of items, such as clothing and magical objects, can improve your characters. The personalities of each character are still well fleshed out and interesting, even if they are not totally customizable.
Fights in Albion are turn-based and are situated on a type of chessboard to control motion. There is not a wide range of enemy monsters, but those available put up a moderately good fight and require some strategy and use of items and appropriate weaponry to defeat. There are vast items and treasures to find, a plus to most RPGamers, and naturally, a range of spells. Albion’s characters have limited carrying ability and cupboard space, making the purchase and sale of items a must, as well. Characters need to rest and eat, and the gamer needs to manage sleep periods and also purchase food for travel.
Overall, it’s an interesting and unusual setting for the RPG of this era. Most role players are looking for the gloom and doom of caverns and dragon hordes as opposed to the unexplored depths of space, but it works. The story line is good, the graphics are a plus, and it is a fairly long and involved game. There is plenty available for the hack and slash player and Albion is still quite playable for the true RPG fan. Offering both 3D first person and 2D bird’s eye views, based on the area Tom is negotiating, Albion has a little bit to offer a lot of gamers.