Prince of Qin (PC)

CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Greg Kasavin
• Reviewed on: 08/30/2002
• Released on: 08/19/2002

Ancient China has been the setting for any number of exciting martial arts-themed Hong Kong action movies, but still, it's an era largely unknown to Western audiences. Though the Roman Empire is sometimes considered to be the first great civilization, China had been there and done that hundreds of years earlier--the Qin (pronounced "chin") Dynasty, dating back to around 220 BC, had all the token features: lots of political intrigue, social conflict, and outright war. It is in this setting that Prince of Qin, a role-playing game from Beijing-based Object Software, takes place. Prince of Qin is inspired in equal parts by popular role-playing games like Baldur's Gate and Diablo II, making for an experience that should be familiar for role-playing gamers, despite the unfamiliar setting. And though Prince of Qin is an epic adventure in the same vein as the Baldur's Gate games, a decidedly awkward English translation, some lackluster production values, and a poorly implemented multiplayer mode all prevent it from having the same appeal as the games that influenced it.

Ancient China makes a fine setting for a role-playing game.

Throughout the single-player portion of Prince of Qin, you play as Fu Su, a prince living in exile. The main character of the game is actually a real historical figure, regarded as a hero of the era, but one whose life was tragically cut short by a false order demanding that the prince take his own life. The game offers up a "what if" scenario in which the prince suspects foul play when the order arrives, so rather than kill himself, he flees to investigate. In so doing, he disguises himself as a simple commoner, and then goes off on a lengthy adventure where he'll meet new allies and plenty of enemies and discover the source of corruption within the royal family. Though the characters and the places in Prince of Qin are based on historical information, for the purposes of turning them into role-playing game material, plenty of liberties were taken. The game doesn't just play it straight, but heavily incorporates magic and mysticism into the gameworld, making for a setting that's actually quite distinctive.

Those who've played Baldur's Gate and Diablo II will be quick to note that the gameplay of Prince of Qin draws directly from both these games. Though the game can be played completely in real time, you can pause the action at any point by hitting the space bar, a feature that will frequently save your characters' lives in the middle of a battle. The combat itself is reminiscent of Diablo II, in which characters gradually acquire and improve in a number of different special abilities and can equip a wide variety of different types of weapons and armor, all with various statistics and special attributes. The combat isn't nearly as polished as that of Diablo II, however. A generally haphazard pacing and some balance issues make battles in Prince of Qin not nearly so addicting as in Blizzard's hit game. Many of the skills you'll be able to learn as you gain levels just aren't useful in practice, and despite the party-based nature of the combat, it's difficult to get your characters to act intelligently in battle short of micromanaging each of them. And a somewhat counterintuitive interface interferes with the micromanagement. You can't click on one of your characters to select him, but must instead click on his portrait on the right side of the screen. Seemingly simple actions like exchanging equipment between characters are fairly cumbersome to perform.

Prince of Qin does incorporate an interesting elemental magic system, based on the ancient Chinese theory (which predates Aristotle's similar theory by centuries) that the physical world is made up of five elements: earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. A five-way rock-paper-scissors-style relationship exists between the elements in the game, making some powerful against others, but also making some able to bolster others. Certain combinations of elemental equipment produce results greater than the sum of the parts. The game also has a rudimentary trade skill system, whereby you can make new items by combining raw materials if you're proficient enough and know the proper recipe. Beyond all that, Prince of Qin is obviously similar to Baldur's Gate, insofar as this game is likewise split up into a large number of relatively small areas enshrouded in a fog of war that clears away as you move through it. Many of the areas are towns, and you'll often meet characters willing to send you on fetch quests or other simple tasks in exchange for experience points and some other rewards. Leveling up in Prince of Qin is treated much like in Diablo II, where you can spend attribute points to improve your characters' core stats, and skill points to gain or augment special abilities.

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