Sword of Fargoal was written by Jeff McCord and published by Epyx in 1982. I could find no evidence that Jeff McCord worked on any other game other than Sword of Fargoal. The manual contains some very nice graphics and high production values which was typical of Epyx during that time.
The premise or goal of the game is that you are magically transported into the uppermost level of a dungeon with three things: a short sword, a teleport spell and a healing vial. Your quest is to find the Protectorate Sword which is located somewhere between levels 15-20. The Protectorate Sword was forged, it is told, in the fires of the Gods and protected the Great Forest from evil for countless years. When wielded against an evil hand, the enemy is surely defeated.
The forces of evil ended up capturing the sword and have hidden it deep in the mountains where it could no longer protect the land. A powerful, evil wizard known as Ulma has been terrorizing the land during the sword’s absence; so it is up to you to enter the dungeon and retrieve the sword to use against the evil wizard.
The Sword of Fargoal is a lite rogue-like that is played with both a joystick and a keyboard; though it is possible to play with just a joystick. I played Fargoal on a Commodore 64 emulator and it took me about 5 total hours to beat. I did use a “snapshot” feature of the emulator which allowed me to save my game at any time. There is no regular save game feature so I would imagine that very few people finished this game even after hours and hours of play. I ended up finding the sword on the 18th level and then had to work my way out of the dungeon.
The graphics are very nice but it is the sounds which steal the show. This is the first game I’ve played where the sounds are an integral part of the game. It is amazing what the developer was able to do to produce growls, sword clanks, shield smashes, and various spells being cast. The sound effects are a treat and it is the first game that I’ve played where I had the sound turned up and it didn’t bother me.
When you first appear on a dungeon level there is a fog of war in play and thus you can only see the space in which you are standing in. When you begin to move in a particular direction more of the surrounding dungeon begins to appear before you. Each level has staircases going up and down, wandering monsters, bags of hidden gold, traps and special items to find such as magical maps and spells. When you move your joystick over a wandering monster then battle ensues. There are terrific sound effects which help to represent the battle. The monsters become increasingly more difficult to beat as you move lower and lower throughout the dungeon.
When you progress from one level to the next you are shown a screen which will detail your inventory to you and the items which you’ve picked up. You are not allowed to access your inventory at any time nor are you allowed to create your character. Your character starts with 11 hit points, a battle skill of 9, a short sword, a healing potion, and a teleport spell.
There are five different spells that you can find and cast within the game: Drift, Invisibility, Light, Shield and Regeneration. Drift is used to slow your fall in a Pit Trap. You can press the Panic Button or the letter D on the keyboard to activate the spell. Light increases the distance you can see around you in the dungeon. Invisibility makes you invisible to your enemies. Shield protects you from damage by a monster or an explosion. Shield must be cast before combat. Regeneration allows you to heal at twice your normal rate much like the temple in each dungeon level. Invisibility and Shield are very powerful spells.
You can also find magical sacks which allow you to increase the amount of gold you can carry with each bag you find. Each bag allows you to carry an additional 100 gold pieces. You may also encounter an enchantment which increases your weapons ability to hit and do damage by +1.
There are three different kinds of traps in the game which trigger when you walk over them. There is an explosion – that never feels good, a Pit Trap, and a Ceiling Trap. The Ceiling Trap, much like the Explosion, does damage to you. The Pit Trap does damage as well but it can also cause you to fall multiple dungeon levels lower.
In between each dungeon level is the only time you can examine your inventory as well as monitor your statistics. You are shown your total number of experience points thus far as well as experience level, hit points, battle skill, the dungeon level you are on and total monsters slain.
Unlike Rogue, there really isn’t much of a strategy to employ with the game. It is a CRPG but plays more like an arcade game. However I did find the game to be very enjoyable and addictive. The Protectorate Sword is randomly found between levels 15 – 20. I found the sword on the 18th level. You’ll know you’re on the level of the sword because there are no rooms on that level and it is constructed more like a maze.
You can compare the picture above with the other dungeon level picture that I posted and note the difference.
Once you find the sword the game drastically becomes much different. You now have to make your way back out of the dungeon; but you only have 33 minutes in which to do so! This is very difficult to do and I found myself saving the game at each level, finding the stairway UP, and then reloading the game and heading straight towards the stairway. Even doing that I barely made it out. To make matters much worse, anytime you encounter or touch a wandering monster, most of them immediately steal your sword. So you have to literally avoid almost all encounters as you make your way back to the surface. Each level does have a temple area, which is depicted by a cross, and if you stand on that temple icon, your hit points regenerate at twice the normal rate. On the way DOWN, I would clear a level and then make my way to the temple to regenerate my hit points as healing potions were scarce. On the way UP, you do not have time to seek out the temple.
My experience with the game was not a short affair. It is not terribly difficult with a save game feature however there is still quite a sacrifice of time spent with the game. I imagine that if you tried to beat the game without any save feature that it would be almost impossible; quite possibly taking you weeks or months to do. You would also need to have a block of HOURS to be able to spend in front of your computer.
I greatly enjoyed my experience with this 1982 offering and while it seemed more arcade than rogue-like I found it to be a pleasant surprise.
I should have started this blog post with Aloha! I have been in Hawaii the past 11 days and thus there were no additions to the website nor blog posts. I started Sword of Fargoal before I left and then spent the past three days finishing the game and writing this blog.
I wanted to take this time to let my readers of the site know that I did also create a Discord room for the site which will allow us to discuss our favorite games in a real-time manner. The invite link does expire in 7 days however you can search RetroGamesTrove to find the discord room as well. Link to Discord Room