The sound is bugged in that video. He must be using incorrect soundcard/dosbos settings.

Played it years ago, never finished it, all I can remember is that I found it graphically a very bland game.
I liked Entomorph a lot more, but then oppinions vary.

I played it for a few days ages ago. As I recall it it was actually pretty cool. I haven't played many RPGs of that kind yet but I liked how it mixed 3D FPP exploration (with jumping and everything) with turn based combat and riddles. Also it has some steampunk in there. And it has a pretty cool CD audio soundtrack mixing heroic tunes with some electronic stuff and electric guitars. That's pretty much all I can say.

It's a first-person 3D dungeon crawler, you just kill stuff there isn't much more to it, there is some mazes/puzzles as I remember though. You control a party of 6 characters which you create at the start, you can choose their race, skills etc. Movement is smooth (not grid-based) but when you get in range of an enemy it snaps into turn-based. Combat is like Wizardry/Bard's Tale as you said, you give orders to all your party and then you start turn and they execute them. You can choose different types of attacks like "Attack for Vitals" and "Berserk Attack" etc which have different strengths and resistances associated with them. You can also cast spells.

As you said the game takes places in a fantasy world which is in a "Steam Age", you start off with standard weapons like spears, swords, axes, halberds, bows, but the most expensive weapons late in the game are primitive gunpowder weapons. My mind might be playing tricks, but I think there's a unbalanced-as-fuck machine-gun called a "Storm Cannon".

Game is buggy, but nothing game-breaking from what I experienced. Graphics are pretty bad environmentally speaking due the the fact that this was 1995 and they used "real" 3D, but they still used sprites for enemies though.

The game has an AWESOME manual, the game was apparently based on a P&P RPG of the same name, and the manual has little descriptions and information on everything.

Game also has a metal (yep) soundtrack, I guess they figured it would fit with "Thunder" but some of it sounds like a more subdued version of early Slayer.

EDIT: Oh and apparently their was also three Thunderscape books published all around the same time to promote the game. Probably wouldn't be possible to have them included as extras I guess. I think SSI planned World of Aden to be their next big thing after they lost the D&D license to Interplay, but it didn't sell well and the rest is history.

By the way, about a month ago I was in contact with Ryan Carman (of Kyoudai Games) about bonus material, and he said,

"I am working hard to locate every possible piece of information and items we own to release with the games.

Currently I have located a thunderscape strategy guide. And I am working on the soundtracks."

So good news there, I think! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3p3LzO5hGg

Awesome stuff. Most games on GOG lately only seem to get the minimum of extras.

If you like classic crawlers, give it a try. It's not a fantastic game, if I'm honest, but it deserves a lot better than the obscurity that it got. It is a sentimental favorite of mine, and I can't wait for it to arrive here since I've had trouble running my copy in Dosbox.

Crosmando covered most of it. Gameplay is heavy on combat and navigating mazes, with some puzzles and riddles thrown in. Like Wiz 6 or EotB, the entire game takes place in enemy territory; it's a mega-dungeon that progresses through a variety of different locations, including old mines, ruined fortresses, a steam golem factory (!) and so on. It's great fun, and the steampunk setting and awesome soundtrack (which really MUST be an extra) help set it apart.

But yeah, even when they aren't glitched, the monster sound effects in particular can be rather unpleasant at times.

If it's Peter Olafson's guide that they have the rights to release, that would be awesome. That was a great guide and an entertaining read to boot.

I liked the part where they tied him up and put him on the horse blind with the water just out of his reach and then they...oh wait. I'm thinking of Thunderdome.

Sorry.

How buggy are we talking about? Enough to where it makes it a pain to play? I'm considering grabbing this as it looks like an interesting "cult status" RPG, but I don't want to end up with another Darklands where the bugs really hurt an otherwise good game.

Throughout the whole video or only in the beginning? Because the sounds in the second half are still pretty annoying, even though they sound more like the actual game than buggy noise interferences ...

I can tell you that I've never heard of it before. Does that help?

Looks good to me.

It was one of a few games set in the World of Aden. A world created by SSI after they lost the D&D License and were trying to revamp their RPG Arsenal. Its an OK Dungeon Crawl - Still have my original Complete Box Version. As time tells the story the World of Aden didn't last long as the minions followed the D&D License to Interplay / Bioware and we all know what happened then.

Never played it, but the reviews I read about it back then made it sound kinda "okayish".

I'll probably try it when it gets here. Especially if it gets all those neat extras.