Videogame Review: Ancient Domains of Mystery

Ancient Domains Of Mystery (or ADOM, as it is better known), was first released in 1994, and is one of the odder roguelike games out there. Unlike most projects started in this genre, like Angband and Nethack, the source code is not publically available, and only closed-source binaries exist. The upshot of this is that there remains only one 'core' version of the game, maintained by its creator, Thomas Biskup.

As with most roguelikes, the game is set in a fantasy, swords and sorcery style setting, in this case one of Biskup's own creation, the world of Ancardia: Specifically, in the Drakalor mountain chain on that world. The objective of the game is to investigate the outbreak of hideous monsters under the forces of Chaos in the area, and to try and find a way of stopping them.

Character generation is far more complex than the typical roguelike, with ten different races to pick from (from the typical fantasy fare of humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, and so on, but with some of Biskup's own races thrown in, such as drakelings and grey elves), and 20 classes, ranging from warriors and wizards to more esoteric professions such as farmer or blacksmith. Additional bonuses and penalties are derived from answering a series of questions regarding your characters history, much like some kind of personality test, and detailed affects occur right down to what your character's particular starsign is.

Unlike the solitary dungeons of most roguelikes, the game itself consists of several varied dungeons scattered across a large wilderness of mountains, forests and hills, and characters have to physically move between them to complete various aspects of the game. Quests can be obtained from people in the various towns and villages, many of which are time-dependent. Indeed, the whole game has something of an inbuilt time-limit, in that after 90 (game) days of play, the chaotic background radiation in the chain greatly increases, causing your character to acquire mutations more rapidly. These mutations are rarely beneficial, and if the character acquires too many, he or she eventually becomes a shapeless protoplasmic creature of chaos, and the game ends.

The storyline is very strong in the game and gives it much of its character, but to me, it's also one of its downfalls. Whilst the game is essentially open ended, some events are best dealt with early on. For instance, if you choose a character type that doesn't start with the Healing skill, it's wise to acquire this as soon as possible, which can be done with a specific set of early quests. But the trouble is, for all the the randomness inherent in ADOM's roguelike nature (dungeons, treasure and monsters are generated randomly each game), the quests remain the same. Which is not a problem in each individual game, but when you play it dozens of times, they can become rather repetitive. This is why I tend to play ADOM as a break between more conventional Roguelikes, rather than playing it heavily in the hopes of winning.

ADOM is currently at version 1.1.1 beta, and has been for some time: Biskup is currently working on JADE, the 'sequel' to it, with a wider world to explore. The game is considered 'postcardware', in that while it's completely free to download, if you find you enjoy the game, the author would appreciate it if you sent him a postcard from wherever you are in the world. Plans for a commercial shareware version of ADOM, an 'ADOM deluxe' as it were, have been mentioned in the past, where users could pay a nominal fee for more customisation options, but this has never emerged.

Overall, if you're a fan of things such as Nethack, I would highly recommend giving this a go. I've been playing it on and off for several years, and am still no closer to saving the Drakalor chain, but I certainly haven't felt the urge to give up yet.