Dune II
O h man, I just started playing Dune 2 for the first time (after many customer recommendations) and I LOVE IT! I haven't been this addicted to a game since X-Com (from me this is a fairly good thing considering I stink at strategy games)...I played 4 hours straight last night until my roommate came in and asked how long I'd been playing (much longer than I thought)...I am a huge fan of Westwood (I play Lands of Lore equally; have solved it with three different characters) and I've played Kyrandia 1-3 (haven't solved 3 yet). I just want to say that your company RULZ!! I'll keep recommending all your products to customers as long as you keep putting them out. GREAT JOB!!
- Jason, America Online



W hat a tribute to your programming crew! Here it is 1995 and Dune 2 still is superior to most of the other newly available games. Command & Conquer must really be something to behold. I tried to buy it today and was informed that early April is the new target release date. From the solid quality in Dune 2, I know you won't release it until it's ready. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy Dune 2.
- Customer, America Online



D une II is the best simulation-strategy game that I have ever played. It took many long nights but I finally managed to complete Dune II with all three houses. I have never been addicted to a game before.
- S. Mair, Austria; Letter




Fables & Fiends
I had to drop a note congratulating you guys on Malcolm's Revenge. I've loved the Kyrandia series since Game 1 and each one seems to get better. I love the great puzzles, extraordinary graphics and that, depending on which conscience you take, you get different puzzles and a different ending. I LOVED IT! Please, please, please don't say this is it for Kyrandia (and especially Malcolm). Here's another rabid fan at your gate (at least that's what you said in your newsletter) begging you to continue the adventures in Kyrandia. Have Malcolm search for his kidnapped son. Have Darm go on a quest to save Brandywine. For God's sake have Zanthia hold a wardrobe contest with Imelda Marcos. But please keep your warped, twisted, mind-bending fun going.
- C.J. DeSilvey, Westwood BBS



I 've been searching for months for a game I could play with my 10-year-old granddaughter. How could I have been so lucky as to have picked Hand of Fate out of the multitudes...my first game purchase ever (great packaging). Not only is the "hero" female but she actually has clothes on, and is a POWERFUL woman. It's tough for a first game, but I love the challenge and can't wait for my granddaughter to visit. Keep up the strong female image. Don't forget grandparents as a market. I've spent a lot of money on software for my grandchildren to use on their computers.
- Ann Cummings, Texas; Letter



H ello Virtual Ted and all of you at Westwood Studios. I just completed The Legend of Kyrandia Book 3 today and I want to congratulate all of you for such an enlightening game. This is what all games should be like. I enjoyed most of it except some of the randomness factors. (Did you know how many bones I had to get to receive the last gem!) I thought some of the puzzles were rather difficult compared to the HOF and I found myself cheating by looking in a hint book more than once. The Kyrandia series just get better and better :) The music in Book 3 stands out above everything. I wish I could listen to the soundtracks on my CD player. I really think you should consider producing a CD containing all the soundtracks from the Kyrandia series... I hope you continue with the Kyrandia Series and I want you guys to know that you have many fans cheering you on.
- Yeong-Hao Han, Westwood BBS




Lands of Lore
P urchase... drive home... open the box... install... install... install... change...

Music and sound effects climb out of the speakers and turn the walls of my office into a castle while graphics on screen become the whole of my sensory world. It is not a VR helmet or even a large monitor with an incredible sound system backing it up; it is simply my computer and Lands of Lore.

I move forward, taking that first step on the long journey, and go in search of King Richard. My feet walk this path and my words make the guards move aside for my advance.

All in all, a heady thing.

Then I am going in search of the Ruby of Truth, my mission looming large in my mind: I must find the Ruby and save the kingdom.

Companions come and go, my feet tread on grass or stone or through the misty streets of a strange city, yet I never waver in my quest.

Puzzles abound and enemies to slay as well. Strange towers hold clues important to me and all the kingdom, and races of amazon warriors strive to keep me from getting them. Orcs, minions of the enemy, seek to hem me in and prevent my success.

I fight in city streets, swamps, and forests. I work against skeptical councilors and work for the directives of yet others, beautiful and demanding. Underground, in strange realms, and finally in the heart of an evil castle.
All to rescue a king, save a land, and defeat an evil.


Then I do it all again. And again. And again.

I have played Lands of Lore, completely through, eleven times. Every single time I have loved the game and found myself as caught up in the struggles of Richard, Conrad, and the others as I was the first time.
This isn't just a game, it is a story where you are a part of the telling.

That sort of thing doesn't come along very often and when it does, it generally can't be done again, much less eleven times.

Were this any other game, I would wonder why so many continually ask for the next installment when it has been said, time and again, that it is too early and no information is forthcoming.

With this game, I feel the urge to ask myself, even knowing what the answer will be. Lands of Lore was and is an amazing piece of work. I would think I was finished and find I had hours or even days to go before I had won.

I will wait, if not exactly patiently, for the next one and hope that it is just as good in every detail. If it is not one job better, I will be happy, so long as it is just as long.

An excellent job. I shall wait for September, with the rest, impatiently.
- Talon, email




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