WarWizard was a fantasy role-playing video game that was released as shareware in 1993, first for Amiga, then ported to MS-DOS for IBM-compatible computers. It was developed by MicroGenesis, a small company founded by Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover in 1989. Today, the game is most notable as the commercial start for McQuaid, Clover, and artist Milo Cooper, who would later work together at Sony Online Entertainment on EverQuest and at Sigil Games Online on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.
The player acts as a "WarWizard", a powerful magic-using character that fights and completes quests. WarWizard features VGA graphics and sound effects, but touted greater emphasis on gameplay than on anything else.
One notable feature of the game was its combat mode, which featured the ability to target specific parts of an opponent's body, hampering movement or disabling the opponents altogether, rendering them unable to flee from the battle or to retaliate. The same thing could also happen to the player, WarWizard, himself.
Today, the game is mostly unknown except to a few fans and appears impossible to find anywhere on the net. Even the official site (doesn't display correctly on current versions of Mozilla Firefox), which became unavailable since September 2007 (possibly connected to Sony Online Entertainment's takeover of Sigil Games Online on 15 May 2007) and right now only contains a short biography about Brad McQuaid, offered only a shareware version of the game for download. According to earlier inquiries to Brad McQuaid, the full version seemed to be misplaced and nowhere to be found.
Few people mentioned to have ordered the full Ms-Dos/PC Version of WarWizard at the time, but never received any answer or the game. It appeared for a long time that the game has been discarded by its makers without any chances ever for the full version to become available today for anyone.
However in August 2009, a member of RPGWatch Forums indicated to actually possess a registered version of WarWizard. After Brad Mcquaid gave his approval to release the full Ms-Dos/PC Version of WarWizard to the public, the link for the game has been put up on the forums.
At the present moment the full game has also been reviewed and made available for everyone on an Abandonware (classic Ms-Dos and Windows games) site named Abandonia.
Famous quotes containing the words war and/or wizard:
“Borrowers are nearly always ill-spenders, and it is with lent money that all evil is mainly done and all unjust war protracted.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)