The Horde (video game)
| The Horde | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) |
Toys for Bob (3DO & PC) Silicon Knights (SS) |
| Publisher(s) |
3DO MS-DOS Sega Saturn
|
| Designer(s) |
Paul Reiche III Fred Ford |
| Platform(s) | 3DO, MS-DOS, Sega Saturn, FM Towns, PC-98 |
| Release |
3DO MS-DOS Sega Saturn |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| Famitsu | 30/40 (3DO) |
| Maximum |
  (SAT) |
| Sega Saturn Magazine | 90% (SAT) |
The Horde is a hybrid action-strategy video game that was originally released on the 3DO platform, but was soon after ported to the Sega Saturn and MS-DOS. It was an unusual hybrid of action and strategy game for the time. It also featured full-motion video sequences featuring a number of actors including Kirk Cameron as Chauncey and Michael Gregory as Kronus Maelor. Video sequences were reduced to slideshows (with full sound) in some versions.
The game was bundled with the RealMagic MPEG playback card as a demonstration of the card's abilities to play back full motion MPEG video via the card's hardware decoder, at the time software MPEG decoding was not viable due to the lack of processing power in contemporary processors.
The music was composed by Burke Trieschmann and won Computer Gaming World's Premiere Award for Best Musical Score in 1994.
The player controls a servant boy, Chauncey, who was raised by a herd of wild cows. In a fortunate mishap, Chauncey prevents Winthrop the Good, King of Franzpowanki, from choking on his meal and is rewarded with a plot of land upon which he may build a self-sustaining town. However, the land is under constant attack by "The Horde." The Horde consists of a number of destructive and hungry red monsters referred to individually as Hordlings.
The game is played in alternating timed phases. Each season begins with a "build" phase in which the player develops a town with the resources at Chauncey's disposal. This includes constructing walls, setting traps, chopping down trees, and landscaping. Buildings, roads, crops, and residents are all added to the town automatically between seasons. The player is given only two minutes for each build phase.
Then comes the "action" phase, where the player must defend the town from an onslaught of Hordlings with a huge sword, Grimthwacker, and various magical items. These items are powered by Chauncey's ATM ("Automated Transfer of Mana") card, which converts gold into usable magical energy. Hordlings occasionally drop money when defeated, which may be retrieved and used. However, the main sources of income are cows and crops, which are also sought by the Hordlings. If Chauncey runs out of hit points or all of the town's people are eaten by Hordlings, the game ends.
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Wikipedia