At over two years old, Islands of the Wheel is vintage in Blades terms. It’s also the first truly good scenario ever designed. Around this time (way back in early ‘98), there was an awful lot of garbage flooding the Blades landscape, and even the well-received scenarios were really just hunks of mediocrity players were desperate to like simply because they had nothing better (read: Erika’s Legacy, Treacherous Waters). Islands of the Wheel proved that even mere mortals, with real jobs who weren’t getting paid, could compete with — and even exceed — Spiderweb’s three scenarios, the best of which, A Small Rebellion, was hardly revolutionary.

Granted, Islands is not a revolution either. But that it included custom graphics at all, back when designers seemed reluctant and even afraid to include them, is quite a step. That the graphics are pretty good is another step on that stairmaster of scenario superiority. That the scenario itself is cohesive, challenging, winnable, and often fun is the best part of all. The Bigg Skull is a blast, the Elementals are clever and exciting, the insanity aspect is well-turned, to name just a few positive vestiges.

Frankly, if I were reviewing this “back in the day,” I’d shoot for the moon and give it at least a 9.0. But I’m not reviewing it in 1998; I’m reviewing it in 2000, after a host of superb scenarios appeared (Tatterdemalion, of course, by Islands scribe Tarl Kudrick — which ironically enough did get him paid $500, Redemption, and a select few others in the pantheon of greatness). Throw in the slew of very competent scenarios about as good as Islands and it becomes impossible to rate it as highly as the greats.

Reasons are many: the lack of initial direction creates as much frustration as it does intrigue, too many great spells are either for sale or easily found, the deliberate graphical incompatibility looks as ugly as it does interesting, and there are several plots holes (SPOILER if the Nyre are powerful enough to create the whole world of islands, how did the not-too-tough Zuwhiel steal their artifact? Why is the universe so endangered by the equally not-too-tough Whisperers, whom the Nyre were able to capture in the first place?)

Worst of all....I couldn’t get the snow goons to work! Now, maybe this last aspect isn’t Tarl’s fault — I’m sure, in fact, it isn’t. However, after emailing the man a few times, I realized I wasn’t doing a damned thing wrong. Maybe it’s my version of Blades, or a corrupt copy of Islands (dubious...I d/l’ed it again), but the “reveal town” special that allows access to the Calvin & Hobbes-derived snow goons never properly functioned. As Alcritas once said in pointing out the flaws of the Blades editor, the reveal town special just plain doesn’t work. While this is in no way Mr. Kudrick’s responsibility, it could have been worked around using if-thens that allow access to a town that was never technically “hidden.” Though I was able to win Islands of the Wheel, missing out on such cool-sounding creatures was a big let-down, and simply peering at the graphics file is hardly a substitute.

But, in all fairness, fighting the snow goon subplot would not have totally redeemed this solid, but not stellar, scenario. Like an old Hitchcock film from the nascent days of cinema, you can’t blame it for being inferior to later works — but you still prefer those following films. Islands gets an 8.0 from me. I respect it, just as I respect Sabotage and Foreign Correspondent, but I’ll take Tatterdemalion and North by Northwest over them any day.

 — Lew Titterton

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