Strahd's Domain

Strahd has not only taken centre stage in novel after novel and campaign after campaign, but has also made his name known in digital media - video games to be more precise.

Unfortunately I know very little about this title other than it is a game run on DOS and released back in 1994. It is a simple adventure role-playing game with the blocky graphics of the era and played in first person view mode. Ever the victim of hatred, Strahd is once again under attack in this game - the plot is to enter his castle and destroy him. Does anybody ever do any different? Play as a heroic adventurer searching the village of Barovia for weapons and items which will aid you in defeating Strahd, and any other evil creatures you meet along the way. Occassionally it's available on eBay, but otherwise Strahd's Possession is very hard to come by. It was available on CD or on floppy disks and probably took up little more than a few KB! If anyone knows where I can purchase a copy of this game (other than eBay), please let me know via my e-mail address or guestbook.

Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft, released in 1996, was available for PC, Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. It was of the "beat 'em up" genre and was good for its time, but compared to today's standards, it is exceptionally poor on all levels. It has a loose theme implicitly suggested in the opening cutscene (there are no words): Lord Soth is wanting revenge on Strahd Von Zarovich and has called together warriors of all different abilities, shapes and sizes. He sends them to Barovia to defeat Strahd using everything from their fists, to their special weapons and magic spells.

During the game, you can either fight in campaign mode (pick a team and fight another team) or you can go head-to-head where you have to fight each other warrior Soth has sent until only you remain. From there, you fight four hidden characters, including Strahd himself. Amazingly, you can defeat the Lord of Barovia simply by punching and kicking him a few times. Flawed logic there. I bought this game because it was a Ravenloft title, not because I was looking for a good beat 'em up. If you choose to purchase this title (only available second hand these days), please do not expect to find an amazing, gripping game. The lifespan is as long as your characters' and there's not really much satisfaction to be gained from seeing the credits at the end of the game. It's better if you're playing against a friend since you can mess about, but the graphics are blocky, the sounds are OK for a while and the variety of gameplay is incredibly small. You could grow bored of this game very quickly. To make it slightly more interesting, here are four cheats (for PlayStation) that enable you to unlock and play as the special hidden characters. Simply enter these codes on the character selection screen:

Play as Minion of Order: Left + Square, Right + Circle

Play as Lord of Chaos: Up, Left, Triangle + X     or     Up, Left, Down, Triangle + X

Play as Minion of Chaos: L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 + Up + X (I've never succeeded in getting this cheat to work. You may have to press the buttons one after another, or not include X, the confirm button)

Play as Strahd Von Zarovich: Up, Left, Down, Right, R1, R2, L2, L1

Also, since this is a Strahd fan site, I have included Strahd's phrases from the game (there are very few of them!)

"I am Strahd Von Zarovich"

"Your death served a higher cause - me!"

"I am master of this realm; you can never defeat me!!"

Strahd and the Ravenloft world also feature in a range of free downloadable Neverwinter Nights modules. To play these you need the Neverwinter Nights roleplaying game on your computer (still available in shops!!), and possibly some - if not all - of its expansion packs (it depends on the module). Here are some great Ravenloft things for NVN gamers to look out for:

The Spires of Ravenloft - original module - revised edition

House of Strahd - module

Strahd character - character

Ravenloft: A Requiem for Jander - multiplayer module

Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist - texture GUI

Ravenloft: Beyond the Gate - module

Return to Ravenloft - module

Plus there's loads more stuff (Ravenloft and otherwise) available. Reviews will come when I'm finally able to download them! (Problem at my end; not the modules!) If you have a good module or other downloadable item for NVN and want to advertise it here, just let me know of its existence. If you are unhappy with me advertising your module to potential gamers, please let me know.