Shadowgate Download (1988 Adventure Game)

Using the same graphical interface as Deja Vu, Shadowgate is an adventure game set in a fantasy world. Players take the part of an adventurer sent to the ancient keep of Shadowgate on a quest to find a mystic artifact known as the Staff of Ages and stop the evil Warlock Lord from summoning a horrific demon known as the Behemoth. However Shadowgate has become infested with the Warlock Lord's demonic minions, not to mention the castle's still functional booby-traps.

Unlike Deja Vu, death comes at you suddenly, unexpectedly, and most of all OFTEN. Such simple acts as pulling the wrong switch or opening the wrong door can cause you to be skewered by a booby-trap or disemboweled by a monster. It's allso worth mentioning the fact that if your torch burns out (this happens quite regularly) and you forget to light a new one, you'll trip in the dark and break your neck.

A Windows update to this game was created in 1991.

At the edge of the forest the door stands before you, the skull that stares at you from over the door gives you a silent warning "Death awaits inside." With the words of prophecy from Lakmir in your mind, you face your quest and destiny, you are the last of the line of kings and only you can stop the Warlock lord. At this very moment he is casting a spell that will raise a creature known as "The Behemoth" from the depths, and if he succeeds the world will not live to see the rising sun. Sounds like you got work to do!

Welcome to the world of Shadowgate, where as a hero of royal birth you must adventure through the halls and rooms of the dark castle known as Shadowgate. Armed with a handful of weapons, a little bit of magic, and your sharp mind you must find the staff of ages and defeat the Warlock Lord and his mythical minions and stop him from finishing the spell that will mean doom to all you know. If that wasn't a daunting enough task for you, the Staff of Ages has been separated into three pieces and scattered throughout Shadowgate Castle.

Shadowgate is a First person view adventure game that uses several windows that includes the view window, the command box, the inventory window, the exits window, and the text window. Through use of the view window you can interact with what you see and take items and put them in your inventory. While you can take and interact with most of the items you see, be warned that not everything is useful or even safe.

Shadowgate is full of creatures that want you dead and traps that can be both obvious and some that are rather devious. So as with most adventure games like this, save early and save often, you never know what could be around the next corner. You don't have all the time in the world to complete your quest either, the Warlock Lord is moving as fast as he can to bring the Behemoth to destroy the world and you have a limited amount of torches which means you have to keep searching for more -lest you fall and break your neck in the dark.

The graphics are highly interactive and functional, but not impressive even for its age. The graphics do help you though in figuring out where to go and what to do, even if they don't overwhelm you.

The sound consists of growls, spewing fire, opening doors, and punches-among others. They may add a bit to the game, but you could comfortably play this game with the sound off as the music and sound effects are rare and more of an afterthought.

What Shadowgate does offer is a pretty decent challenge and over a couple dozen rooms to explore. Fans of older adventure games will not be disappointed with Shadowgate as it has the classic elements- lots of items, lots of creatures, and lots of ways to die. Again, remember to save early and save often.

It's time to roll up your sleeves, thrash the Warlock Lord, and claim your crown.

Don't forget to set machine=CGA In order to be able to save, type and prevent the game from freezing.

Shadowgate is a typical fantasy adventure game with a typical defeat-an-evil plot: you have been sent to Castle Shadowgate prevent the resurrection of an evil monster (called the Behemoth). Although most puzzles are logical, Shadowgate is most memorable for the ridiculous amount of time you will die -- just picking up a book or walking into a certain room will kill you instantly. Torch management is also a pain because there's a limited number of them lying around. Definitely NOT the game for the easily frustrated! Too bad the sequel Beyond Shadowgate was released only on the TurboGrafx 16 system.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Shadowgate have also downloaded:
Shadows of Mordor, ShadowForce, Deja Vu 1: A Nightmare Comes True, Shannara, Uninvited (Windows), Shadow of The Comet, Scapeghost, Schizm: Mysterious Journey