Ludography
Hellfire Warrior cover

1980 · Role-playing

Hellfire Warrior

Sequel to "Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai". It is advised that this top-down real-time action RPG is only tackled by experienced gamers who have at least played "The Datestones of Ryn" or "Morloc's Tower" or better yet "The Temple of Apshai".

Released
1980
Platforms
Apple IIApple IIGSAtari 8-bitCommodore PETTRS-80TRS-80 Model I
Genres
Role-playing
Developers
—
Publishers
—
Perspective
Third personBird view / Isometric
Themes
Fantasy
Country
United States
Languages
English
Time to beat
12hwith extras

About

Hellfire Warrior is a dungeon crawl video game for the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80 published by Automated Simulations in 1980. A port to Atari 8-bit computers was released in 1982. Hellfire Warrior is the direct sequel to 1979's Temple of Apshai. Two expansion packs were published.

›Story

One year after emerging from the presumably deepest level of the Temple of Apshai alive, Brain Hammerhand returns to the legendary ruins once more. The nearby town has started to flourish since the rumours of untold treasures to be found has been spread throughout the lands. All sorts of adventurers are drawn to the dungeons beneath the temple, hoping to get rich beyond anyones imagination.

Brian Hammerhand, however, had different reasons to return to Apshai. Each night at full moon since he has left a year ago, he has the same dream over and over again. He returned to tell his old friend the wizard Merlis about that dream and to seek counsel.

In the dream, Brian Hammerhand staggers through some kind of fiery, hellish dungeon. He fights a huge winged demon and after conquering it, he discovers a woman sleeping on some kind of altar, surrounded by rings of flames. After picking her up to rescue her, he is followed by some hooded bony figure who seems to be Death himself. The figures grabs his arm and Brian Hammerhand wakes up.

After showing Merlis the mark on his arm where the hooded figure touched him in his dream, the wizard explains that the woman Brian has seen in his dream is Brynhild, a warrior queen, who has vanished three hundred years ago.

It seems, that Brynhild is held in a magic prison somwhere beneath the stil mostly buried Temple of Apshai. And although Brian Hammerhand thought he had explored every nook and cranny thouroughly, it seems there are still some mysteries to be unraveld. Why, even on his way to Merlis he heard about a fifth level which was discovered only weeks before. And didn't he meet Shalimar, a fierce fighter who could be mistaken for a amazon, claiming she barely escaped from a labyrinth unbeknowest to anyone until now?

Although Brian Hammerhand does not want to venture down into the dangerous dungeons of Apshai again, if he ever wants to find peace and those terrible dreams to stop, he has no choice but to try and rescue Brynhild...

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Hellfire Warrior leads players into the ruins that are unearthed below the Temple of Apshai. The levels are "The Lower Reaches of Apshai", "The Labyrinth" of the minotaur, "The Vault of the Dead" and "The Plains of Hell". Only the first and third levels have room numbers and descriptions. The game is meant for expert players and characters who already explored all the levels of Temple of Apshai; advertisements warned that "newcomers to Dunjonquest should begin with something easier".

The complexity is also increased, with more shops and several new strengthening potions, some of which can give the player character an addiction. While the focus is still mostly on becoming stronger and richer, the last level also has the secondary objective of rescuing a princess from hell, who is represented as a particularly heavy treasure. There is still no ending trigger related to this goal, though.

Reception

Forrest Johnson reviewed Hellfire Warrior in The Space Gamer No. 38. Johnson commented that "I won't forget my last view of Sanson - badly wounded, crawling desperately towards the exit, with sweet-but-cumbersome Brynhild in tow and an outraged fiend at his heels. If you enjoyed the earlier games, Hellfire Warrior is a must."

Computer Gaming World in 1993 stated that Hellfire Warrior was "better than Apshai, but not by too much", criticizing the outcome of rescuing the princess.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Commodore PET31 December 1980North America
TRS-8031 December 1980North America
Apple II31 December 1980North America
Atari 8-bit31 December 1982North America

Editions and related releases

Expansions
Dunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior - The Keys to AcheronDunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior - Danger in Drindisti

Games like this

Collections3 collections

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.