He killed you. Now his soul is in danger and his daughter pleads for your help. But you can’t do it alone – you will need help, lots of it.

Heroes Chronicles: Conquest of the Underworld is a turn-based adventure game from 3DO and New World Computing that requires little from your computer, but seeks to enthrall with bright graphics and an easy user interface.

This program is two-dimensional, from the main playing screen to the combat screen. You simply click on your character, click where you wish him to move and if he can’t move the entire distance in the current turn, you pick up the move on the next turn. But you can be attacked in the meantime. That means you must fortify your troops through recruitment, or simply accepting the help offered.

This program is based on the Heroes of Magic and Might III game, though it does not require that game to play. It is an independent program chronicling the life of Tarnum, the immortal warrior, prior to his legendary status as an immortal.

Rion Gryphonheart has been stolen away to the underworld. His daughter, Queen Allison, seeks out the warrior that can free his soul – and that is you. There are eight scenarios, each building upon the last. You will battle demons, undead, and a host of other creatures. But you don’t actually battle them in a face-to-face confrontation. You merely direct the troops you recruit.

The game board is clouded beneath the “fog of war,” areas unrevealed until you venture there. There are puzzles that must be solved, keys unraveled before you can cross certain boundaries. But once you clear the paths, you will find challenges, battles and treasure.

The main drawback to this program is the graphical elements. This program is strictly two-dimensional, with most of the combat sequences limited to movement in a mostly vertical and horizontal mode. The elements of the main adventure screen are bold and bright, and allow you to determine at a moment’s notice just what you are getting into.

You must manage both armies and resources. The more resources you have, the more wealth you have to hire mercenaries. Heroes allow you to battle on several fronts, and gain more resources.

The game play is turn based and quite simple. You move, collect or battle. Perhaps the action is too simplified for hard-core turn-based gamers – certainly the graphics are. But though the graphics are quite simple, they present no offensive material and the wide selection of difficulty levels allow anyone a solid introduction to the world of strategic turn-based programs.

The sound elements are solid, but hardly extraordinary.

This program is rated for Everyone, but does contain tame animated violence. Heroes Chronicles: Conquest of the Underworld does not support multiplayer gaming.

This is a simple, inoffensive program suitable for a wide range of ages, with enough challenges and adventure to appeal to the beginner and still give the experienced a pleasant diversion.

Install: Easy. This program installs quickly and only requires 230 megs of hard drive space.

Gameplay: 7. This program has a big game board, lots of areas to explore and seamless play.

Graphics: 6.5. These are two-dimensional graphics vying for a spot in a three-dimensional world. Harmless and pleasant, but not extraordinary.

Sound: 6. Nothing exceptional here.

Difficulty: 7.5. There are several difficulty levels, which will allow you to select the strength of the forces you battle against. The nice thing is this program will appeal to newcomers to the genre simply because of its simplicity.

Concept: 7. This is a continuing storyline involving one character – not a bad concept, especially with the volume of missions available with this and other Heroes Chronicles programs.

Overall: 7. The graphical elements are not the best (the game only requires a Pentium 133 processor and 32 megs of hard drive space), and the sound quality falls a little short, but the program appeals to a wide range of players because of its lack of violence, easy player interface and customizable difficulty levels.