A problem that seems to have been solved in Monolith's follow up to Rage of Mages, Rage of Mages II: Necromancer. The game's plot develops pretty much from nothing, which is suprising to me. The player doesn't start out with a grudge against a dragon, or a kingdom to save. The player simply is what he is, a mage trying to make some gold. The plot picks up as the main character is hired for small jobs here and there, making money of course. What sets this title apart from the formula of story telling in a lot of RPG titles is that every mission is part of the bigger developing quest. That is what makes the way this title starts so great, there wasn't a dragon to slay, or any larger plot to tarnish, it all actually builds itself up from the subplots.

The building story is full of twists and turns, kingdom politics and of course some evil. You eventually build up your skills and become more powerful. Along the way you meet allies, enemies and a few monsters. The PC RPG inventory system in general has taken a very familiar look in all titles of the genre. Veterans of previous PC RPGs should have no problems with controls in this title.

Now I don't want to sound like a person who judges a game by graphics, but presentation should be an important part of any title. The graphical representation of this title sadly doesn't even rival Diablo, which is a couple years old now. Characters are short and stubby, very generic looking and spell effects leave a lot to be desired. Fantasy titles should at least try and inspire some sense of awe in the player; this title simply does not accomplish that. All towns are pre-rendered images with click-able doors that lead the player to the standard shops.

The sound goes hand in hand with the graphical performance of the title. Immersion is lost with the generic spell sounds and voices.