Warrior of Ras, Volume Four: Ziggurat is the crown jewel and conclusion to Randall D. Masteller’s four game series. It was published by Screenplay in 1983 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64. I played the Commodore 64 version of Ziggurat on an emulator and it took me roughly six hours to finish.
Whereas The Wylde took place completely outdoors, Ziggurat concerns itself with the exploration of the famed Ziggurat of RAS, tomb of the wretched king whose reign of horror reduced prosperous lands to poverty. In this game you immediately enter the tomb in search of the Sapient Scepter of Sirocco. Masteller is obviously a great fan of alliteration. Unfortunately for you, the Zombie King’s soul is trapped within the pyramid and stands guard over the Scepter that you seek. He is said to devour the minds of would-be-looters, leaving their crazed bodies to roam the tunnels and hallways.
The game starts out much like its predecessor where you are allowed the opportunity to purchase equipment and supplies for your trek into the pyramid. You can purchase a standard pack or each of the supplies individually. A couple of notable differences in the equipment list: torches which you’ll need to light the way throughout the tomb and a pick. The pick is a unique addition to the game that allows you to break through walls in order to find hidden rooms and passages.
I really enjoyed this installment of the series. The graphics are crisp and the gameplay is extremely smooth. There are five dungeon levels which comprise the ziggurat and they are connected by tunnels that go up and down. Each of the different tunnels deposit you in different locations and different levels all of which can quickly become very disorienting.
The introduction of the pick as an inventory item is a nice feature. You choose the command PICK followed by a compass direction to excavate a particular wall.
You can see areas in the map above where I’ve excavated and taken out portions of the wall. The pick is a necessary item because the scepter you’re looking for is in a secret room that is only accessible through excavation. The scepter is also guarded by the dreaded Zombie King who is your fiercest adversary.
In order to beat the Zombie King you’re going to need to purchase the magic sword for 3000 gold pieces. This is much in the same vein as Warrior of Ras, Volume III: The Wylde which had five mummies representing the “big bad”. They could only be defeated with a magic weapon as well. The Zombie King is a tougher opponent but you do find quite a variety of magic items to help you in this endeavor.
There are quite a variety of foes which you face in the game. Lower-ranked opponents include dogs, ghouls, zombies, and skeletons. Higher-ranked foes include Wraiths, Vampires, Dalyazas (demons), Golems, and the meanest of them all, the Zombie King.
Combat is exactly the same as Masteller’s predecessor except that the tactical combat screens have been improved upon. They are smaller and terrain obstacles have been removed making for a more expedient combat experience.
Combat also takes place in turns which is pulled straight from table-top Dungeons & Dragons. Turns are emphasized even more so than in The Wylde and encumbrance and magic items such as Potions of Haste play large roles. On the subject of magic items there are quite a few to find which have different mechanical implications on the combat experience. I had in my possession a Wand of Withering, Wand of Lightning, and Wand of Paralyzation. A Ring of Shield III was a very cool magic item as it gave me six points of magical protection from foes.
Combat remains sophisticated in this game. You still have complicated attack and defense values and can choose to hit specific body part targets. I still prefer the strategy of going for the opponent’s neck. It is harder to hit but has fewer points of protection and it is an expedient way to overcome a more powerful opponent.
When you defeat the Zombie King and obtain the scepter you then have to make your way out of the complex and back to where you started. When you accomplish this task you get the following message depicted above. What would have really “sent me over the moon” is if there had been some key room descriptions or bits of text for flavor in the dungeon.
I found this quartet of games, all published quite quickly one after another between 1982 and 1983, to be extremely strong offerings. You could see the improvement from one game to the next as new features were added with each new entry in the series. There were several impressive features that were unique at the time. A sophisticated combat system that allowed you to pinpoint the body part which you’d like to strike was original and a first during this period. The third and fourth games in the series switched to a tactical combat screen only seen in two other offerings: Tunnels of Doom and Ultima III. There were a myriad of foes to face and a slew of magic items; each uniquely affecting combat mechanics. The games were “bug-free” and ran quickly and smoothly.
Alas Masteller never produced another role-playing game of any kind. He did some work for Microprose and ported other author’s games to other systems such as F-15 Strike Eagle and Silent Service. So we close the door on Randall D. Masteller and I certainly appreciated playing his particular version of the art form. My current feelings are that Warror of Ras, Volumes III and IV are under appreciated and I’m surprised they are not mentioned more fondly by those who grew up with these games or by historians who have gone back to play them.
I have a home like any other individual, except for the secret wall panel behind my bookcase. When I pull Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time the bookcase swings open to reveal a staircase leading down into darkness. I descend these stairs as I’ve done countless other times and step into a secret workroom. I move familiarly to an old desk and open the large tome resting upon its surface. Using my finger I scan down the list located on the yellowed page; ‘Ahhh – next up on my list of games to play is Warrior.’
Until next time…