
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
PC
Developer: Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Publisher: Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Release Date: 1993
As someone who grew up entrenched in D&D campaigns and fantasy novels, I bought pretty much anything with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons logo on it. This included SSI's legendary Goldbox games such as Pool of Radiance and Champions of Krynn, as well as the lesser-known but equally awesome Buck Rogers titles, and even the buggy but mildly entertaining SpellJammer: Pirates of Realmspace.
After many years of faithful service, the venerable Goldbox engine was retired and SSI developed a new one to replace it. The first game to use that new engine was Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, the first foray into the incredibly unique (and appealing, to me) Dark Sun campaign setting.
Taking place in a harsh desert wasteland, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands captivated me immediately upon seeing the first screen shots and previews various in computer gaming magazines. It looked unlike anything out there, especially traditional AD&D worlds.
Shattered Lands was eventually purchased as a would-be birthday gift for me, but I had other plans. Having been there when it was bought, I asked my mother if I could "read the manual," knowing full well this would give me access to the game disks when my parents weren't around. She obliged, and the first chance I got, I installed the game.
Unfortunately, at the time my grades were slipping - a result of spending entirely too much time gaming, and not enough time doing homework. As punishment, my parents banned me from the computer by instituting a password, and I could only get on when they were around. This posed a problem for playing my newly-installed game - a problem that was remedied when I discovered an index card on my brother's desk with the new password written on it.
I played Shattered Lands in secret for several weeks leading up to my birthday, until the day I lost track of time and my brother came home to find me sitting in front of the computer. The jig was up, but it didn't matter. By the time my birthday rolled around a few days later, I was more than halfway through the game, and honestly, it lived up to all my expectations.