Hard-core role-playing fans probably won't find solace in Druid, since it's aimed at the novice player. The venerable masters of the CRPG realm, Sir-Tech, have deviated from their usual path with a title that is far from the statistic-heavy titles of the Wizardry series. Druid walks the line between RPG (character development, stats, combat, and magic) and adventure (story driven, simple point-and-click interface) admirably, offering benefits of each genre to the overall package. While this may turn off some veteran gamers, Druid, even with its little quirks, is a fun game, and more accessible to new players than many of its RPG competitors.
Sir-Tech have taken great pains to research druidic lore, and that attention to detail is obvious throughout the game's nature-oriented play. Interacting with the world around you is easy—you can mouse-click your way through almost everything—but unfortunate problems with the inventory system make the interface far from perfect.
The story unfolds nicely, against the game's backdrop of intricately rendered backgrounds. The hero in Druid is rendered in detail, and is viewed during play from a three-quarters view similar to that of Origin's Ultima VIII. The dedication to visuals pays off, and the game is almost as much fun to watch as it is to play. Druid is a rich experience, even with its failings, and perhaps more importantly, it's accessible to the veteran and the novice alike—a broad appeal the entire RPG genre lacks.
