DeathKeep
DeathKeep is a 1995 video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was released on the 3DO platform, and later converted to the PC. The game is a sequel to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer.
DeathKeep
- Date
- 1995
- Publisher
- Strategic Simulations
- Language
- English
- Genre
- first-person shooter
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Documentary summary
DeathKeep is a 1995 video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was released on the 3DO platform, and later converted to the PC. The game is a sequel to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3020701
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — DeathKeep • Developer — Lion Entertainment • Publisher — Strategic Simulations • Director — Ronald Bolinger • Producer — Ronald Bolinger • Programmer — Bob Pendleton Glen Merriman • Composer — Billy Wolfe • Series — Dungeons & Dragons • Release — November 1995 (3DO) May 27, 1996 (Win) • Genre — First-person shooter, role-playing • Platforms — 3DO, Windows
Plot
Plot
DeathKeep is a game in which the player character explores a large castle to find three orbs which are needed to defeat the powerful evil necromancer that has taken over the castle.
Gameplay
Gameplay
DeathKeep is a first-person dungeon crawler where the player can choose to play a dwarven fighter, an elven mage, or a half-elf fighter-mage.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
DeathKeep is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
Reviewing the 3DO version, a critic for Next Generation praised the graphical textures but said the game is frustratingly difficult, particularly criticizing the imprecise controls when making the character come to a stop and the need to pass over some objects multiple times before the game registers the contact. Despite its flaws, he said that the dungeons are "ingeniously" designed, the game is huge, and on the whole, it's interesting enough to warrant a look at it. GamePros The Game Elf gave it a rave review, applauding the huge amount of content, accessible menus, "smooth" control, rendered graphics with fully 3D point-of-view, detailed visuals, and "unnerving" sound effects. Andy Butcher reviewed the PC version of Deathkeep for Arcane magazine. He commented that "the original version for the 3DO console was less than inspiring, and this substandard conversion to the PC is even less so". Butcher concluded that Deathkeep suffers from bad graphics, low-quality sound and uninspiring gameplay, and called it one of the worst games released on the PC, and recommended Hexen instead. A Next Generation critic similarly said that the 3DO version was passable but the PC conversion is poor, with "jerky play control, blocky and pixelated graphics, and awkward keyboard configuration". According to GameSpy, DeathKeep was "the last Dungeons & Dragons game for SSI, and it was a pretty ignominious end for a pretty distinguished run".
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.SSI: Press Releases: DUNGEON DELVING DELIRIUM!!!. www.ssionline.com.
- 2.SSI: Press Releases: DUNGEON DELVING DELIRIUM!!!. 1996-11-19.
- 3.Imagine Media. Deathkeep. Next Generation. 15. 84. March 1996.
- 4.IDG. DeathKeep. GamePro. 91. 98. April 1996.
- 5.Butcher, Andy. Games Reviews. Arcane. Future Publishing. 9. 68–69. August 1996.
- 6.Imagine Media. DeathKeep. Next Generation. 22. 181, 183. October 1996.
- 7.Rausch, Allen. A History of D&D Video Games - Part IV. Game Spy. 2004-08-18.
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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