| Gateway to the Savage Frontier | |
|---|---|
 Cover art byClyde Caldwell | |
| Developer | Beyond Software |
| Publisher | Strategic Simulations |
| Producer | George MacDonald |
| Designer | Don Daglow |
| Programmer | Cathryn Mataga |
| Artist | David Bunnett |
| Composer | Linwood Taylor |
| Series | Gold Box |
| Platforms | Commodore 64,Amiga,DOS |
| Release |
|
| Genres | Role-playing game,tactical RPG |
| Mode | Single-player |
Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991) is aGold BoxDungeons & Dragonscomputer game developed byBeyond Software and published bySSI for theCommodore 64,PC andAmigapersonal computers.[1]
When SSI began work on theDark Sungame engine in 1989 after the completion ofSecret of the Silver Blades, they passed responsibility for continuing theForgotten Realms Gold Box games to Beyond Software. DesignersDon Daglow, Mark Buchignani, David Bunnett, Arturo Sinclair and Mark Manyen set the action for the game in an area of the Forgotten Realms thatTSR had labeledThe Savage Frontier, north ofWaterdeep and south ofLuskan along theSword Coast. The area was far to the west of the region that hosted the action forPool of Radiance and its sequels.
One of the major locations in the Savage Frontier,Neverwinter, spun off a new chapter. Beyond Software gained the support ofAOL executiveSteve Case to create the first-ever graphicalMMORPG, and to base it on the Gold Box engine. To leverage the existing game and cross-promote the titles, Daglow based the new MMORPG in Neverwinter and named itNeverwinter Nights.
The game's principal technical enhancement to the aging Gold Box engine was the addition ofwilderness play, where the party traveled long distances on the map while following the basic D&D rules for combat with wandering monsters.
The game also featured character-specific side-quests, with twoNPCs who can open these optional missions. The side quests in turn open different endings for the game.
The game spawned one sequel,Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992).
The game revolves around a standard (for Gold Box adventures) party of six adventurers who inadvertently get caught up in a plot by theZhentarim to conquer the entire Frontier area.
The storyline, in rough terms, follows:
Basically,Zhentil Keep plans to use these magical statues to open a way through an otherwise-unpassabledesert for their armies. If successful, the party is hailed as the "Heroes of Ascore", which is carried over into the sequel.
SSI sold 62,581 copies ofGateway to the Savage Frontier.[2] The title was the #1 sellingMS-DOS game in North America in August 1991.[3]
Jim Trunzo reviewedGateway to the Savage Frontier inWhite Wolf #29 (Oct./Nov., 1991), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "Gateway to the Savage Frontier earns high marks for graphics, text and depth. The mystery storyline is both interesting and believable but, to reiterate, it doesn't tie you down. The new wilderness style adds greatly to the freshness of the product and proves that there's truth to the idea that 'more is better'."[4]
The game was reviewed in 1992 inDragon #177 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.[5]Scorpia ofComputer Gaming World in 1993 calledGateway to the Savage Frontier "standard Gold Box fare ... you've played this many times before".[6]
According to GameSpy, "it was a polished revision of what the early games in the Gold Box series were like, and felt very welcome, to those who'd gotten a bit weary of the far-flung conventions of its most recent installments".[7]