Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse

Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse is an action role-playing game for the personal computer set in the Al-Qadim campaign setting of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The game was developed by Cyberlore Studios and published in 1994 by Strategic Simulations (SSI). The game combines role-playing game and adventure with a simplified interface; the player character is a young corsair trying to clear his family’s name, rescue his betrothed and determine who has been freeing genies from their masters.

Gameplay

Unlike the games in SSI’s Gold Box series, character generation is greatly simplified. The player chooses a name, by which they are known throughout the game. There is no race, class or skill selection, and play begins immediately. The single player character begins as a 2nd-level corsair, whose statistics are predetermined; the player also cannot change his weapons or armor, although he can eventually improve his starting sword. The character earns experience points by answering puzzles and completing quests, some of which do not involve combat. The character gains levels after accumulating sufficient experience points; gaining levels improves his hit point total, and grants the ability to master new skills for combat. The game features a simple interface, with icon menus instead of text. Character movement and most object manipulation are controlled by mouse, although the player may use a keyboard or joystick. The player chooses all actions (except movement and projectile weapons) by pressing a single action key (or mouse button), which causes the character to automatically take the correct action with an object; the character either automatically picks up significant objects or can choose to take an object that the character looks at. To talk to characters, or attack monsters with the scimitar, the player moves the character towards the target and clicks. The player selects the difficulty level of the game, which determines the how powerful the monsters are. At the beginning of the game, the player learns how to maneuver the character by moving quickly through a trap-filled dungeon hallway. Al-Qadim features simple, real-time combat, with the character using either one or two weapons simultaneously. The character can use special objects to increase the power of the scimitar, and his ranged weapon is a sling or magic shards which cast various spells. If the character is injured, he can regain hit points with healing potions or be magically healed at special locations. The game places less emphasis on typical role-playing game elements (such as exploration, combat and magic), favoring adventure-game elements (such as problem-solving and object manipulation) and featuring a smaller world to explore. Travel is shown overhead, including using ships and flying carpets. The character is visible in three-quarter view, but the character and monsters are shown in side view when moving. In many areas, travel is one-directional. Conversations are shown on the screen as text, and the player clicks on which sentences (or phrases) to use. The game includes puzzles and mazes which are important to advancing the plot.

Plot

A genie becomes freed from his master’s control by mysterious forces which are liberating genies for the Nameless Masters. As the story begins, the player character (the son of sultan Zubin Al-Hazrad of Zaratan) is a young man who has just finished his training as a corsair. The corsair is betrothed to the daughter of a caliph. The caliph and his daughter are involved in a hurricane-induced shipwreck, which sweeps the girl overboard. The corsair and his family are blamed for the shipwreck; he must find his bride-to-be and restore his family’s honor. The character can interact with his family (including his parents and sister), working to save them from execution; they must also explore the mystery of who has been unleashing genies on the land, and investigate the Genie’s Curse.

Read more on Wikipedia ↗