Copper is the bastard son of Eric LeGré, brother of King Richard and commander of the White Army who had a relationship with a half-dracoid dancer, Copper’s mother. On a pig hunt with his father and brothers, who resent him because of his mixed blood, some rift hounds appear from another dimension and kill everyone but Copper himself. He is able to escape, but the monsters take his soul with them. It is Copper’s task to prove himself in a world where everyone suspects him of having killed his father and brothers to claim the throne. His second task is to find out how to get his soul back.
Lands of Lore III is the third and final part in Westwood’s Lands of Lore series. Just like the previous game, it is an action RPG played from the first-person perspective. It introduces features such as mouse-look and inventory quick spots, but is otherwise similar to its predecessor in basic gameplay mechanics. Copper can jump, crouch, and attack any creature encountered in the game with melee and ranged weapons or magic spells. Unlike the previous game, polygonal objects and characters are used, and pre-rendered 3D cutscenes replace live action movies.
After the introduction the player is free to join one or more guilds in the city of Gladstone: Fighters, Clerics, Magicians and Thieves. Each guild comes with different abilities, upgrading Copper’s rank three times within each chosen path. These abilities include, among others, requiring less time to swing a weapon, becoming a sniper, drawing mana from the environment, reviving companions, etc. By using actions linked to the guild (fighting with swords, using magic, healing, lockpicking), the player character’s expertise improves. The protagonist is also offered a familiar, a creature that helps him during the quests. These familiars come with their own abilities, which include identifying various types of objects, protection from certain kinds of damage, picking locks, etc.
Copper has a large inventory, room for spells, a compass, a map, a journal and meters for health, mana and hunger. There is a fairly large amount of freedom; the player can opt to kill innocent NPCs and choose different ways to finish the game, with many side-quests. The locations include a volcano world, a frozen world, the underworld and various caves, woods, lairs and castles.
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