创世纪 7：黑月之门 Ultima VII: The Black Gate p.160

召唤

The Summoning

可以说《召唤（The Summoning）》这部作品是“《地牢大师/ 迷宫魔兽（Dungeon Master）》遇上《创世纪（Ultima）》”，如果了解过开发者的经历，就会发现这样的描述是非常恰当的。Event Horizon 的第一部游戏——1990 年的《黑暗尖塔（Darkspyre）》——基本上就是一部带一些 rogue 元素的单人版《地牢大师》。该公司的第二部作品《诸神的黄昏（Dusk of the Gods）》，发售于 1991 年，是基于北欧神话进行大幅再创作的开放世界动作 RPG。在游玩机制上它参考了《创世纪》。

在两部前辈的影响下，融合过去经验的《召唤》是一款制作相当扎实的单人地牢探索游戏。你的角色可以完全定制化，也可以从预设模板中选择。角色成长的设计比较具有新意，在传统的经验升级以外，近战和魔法能力也会随着反复运用而提升。

在玩法方面，《召唤》与《地牢大师》颇有相似之处，依赖近战的部分较少，更多的是资源管理和解谜。尽管大多数谜题归根结底还是传统元素的组合，比如踩踏机关、传送门、滚石、地坑和钥匙等，不过设计得都十分出色，不会让玩家感到重复和无趣。考虑到游戏流程很长，能保持高水平的谜题设计是很不容易的。

游戏全程只探索了一个大地牢，内部区域分成了逐渐解锁的几大块。而在不同区域的关卡与关卡之间有千丝万缕的联系和连通方式，也有一些隐藏道路和可选区域。

不过《召唤》最出色的部分是它的故事。在穿越地牢的途中，你会遇到许多角色。通过互动你会了解到你的敌人、盟友以及游戏整体世界观的方方面面。比较顺利的话你会经历到开发者精心设计的两个剧情大反转。

The best way to describe The Summoning is “Dungeon Master meets Ultima”, which is little wonder given the track record of its developer. Event Horizon's first game, DarkSpyre (1990) was basically a single-character Dungeon Master clone infused with roguelike elements. Their second title, Dusk of the Gods (1991), was an open-world Action RPG based on a very thorough recreation of Norse mythology, with Ultima-like gameplay.

The Summoning meshes these influences and past experiences into a solid single-character dungeon crawler. Your character can be fully generated or chosen from a couple dozen premade ones. Character development is somewhat innovative, featuring both combat and magic skills that improve with use and the more traditional experience levels.

The gameplay is very similar to Dungeon Master, focusing less on combat and more on resource management and puzzle-solving. Most of the puzzles boil down to a traditional mix of pressure plates, teleporters, rolling balls, pits and key hunts. However, they are expertly designed and never grow stale – no small feat given the game's impressive length.

The game is completely set within a single dungeon, divided into several regions that are unlocked in a linear progression. Within these regions there's a lot of interconnectivity between the levels, as well as a few alternative paths and optional areas.

But where The Summoning shines is in its story. On your way through the dungeon, you'll meet many characters and learn a lot about both your enemies and your benefactors, as well as the world in general. The game features not one, but two shocking twists that is, in the best-case scenario.

游戏一共有三个结局和一个隐藏结局，结局走向完全取决于你在游戏末尾做出的那几个选择。不过这几个分支不是以对话形式呈现的，而是解谜。你需要对故事背景有充分了解才能成功解开。

《召唤》在对其灵感来源的借鉴上非常坦诚，有时候会直接照搬游戏元素。不过把两大完全不同的风格结合起来诞生的这部作品不仅新颖，而且非常好玩。它值得在一众经典游戏中有一席之地。

There are three basic endings and one hidden true ending. Which one you get is entirely determined by one or two choices made directly before the end. However, those are presented not as dialogue options, but as puzzles, which you can only solve successfully if you paid careful attention to the lore.

The Summoning does not shy away from its roots, at times blatantly copying gameplay elements. However the result of combining two vastly different styles is a unique and very entertaining game, more than deserving of being placed among the classics.