Rent-A-Hero

Another day, another hero. Faces can come and go, the surrounding land might change but the task always remains the same: saving the world and everybody else in it. Although I must admit, not all of the characters we get to play do this for a living. But, I suppose in times of danger it's best to let a professional handle things.

Story

Somewhere, near the middle of the Sea of Eternity, surrounded by the Warnian Ring of Fog, protected by unscalable coastal cliffs there was a magical place called Tol Andar. This simple and peaceful land gave home to equally simple and peaceful people. On an ordinary day, their lives were changed forever by the accidental discovery of a never before seen kind of new shiny stones. The village elder -- Soromann recognized the importance of these stones, and called them Gloomstones.

The stones quickly brought envy and greed into this idyllic place and soon after that, came war. After long years of fighting it finally looked like peace could be restored again. Some however, loved the battle, but they were successfully overcome and outlawed into the open sea. With these Pirates gone, peace ruled the land once again.

Our story takes place generations after the great war. The descendants of the Pirates grew strong during all those years, but the unscalable cliffs protected the land from any possible attack. Until now. The Pirates started collecting all the Gloomstones and with their magical power, their ships were able to fly. Nothing could be done to stop them. Our hero--Rodrigo is - as strange as it may sound - a professional hero (being a hero is a very respected and serious profession in Tol Andar). Rodrigo specializes in rescuing princesses, but he desperately wants to make a name for himself. What better way to do that, than to save the world from the Pirates?

Opinion

What a game! Saying that the graphics are absolutely amazing and the music is perfect don't even begin to describe Rent-A-Hero. The 'weak point' of the game - if I can even say such a thing - would have to be the story. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's just too simple. The game (despite taking up 2 CDs) is extremely short, and there isn't enough time take more detail into the story. That's not a real problem though, R-A-H is still great. Only a couple of bugs (mostly in the form of non user-initiated exits) and some minor glitches in the very short story prevent this game from being perfect.

Definitely a gem!