Larry Elmore is an American artist, who is perhaps best known for his work for Dungeons and Dragons. He actually was the first professional staff artist to join the ranks of TSR. There, he illustrated game modules and novels as well as did paintings for posters and calendars. Because of his work, he is one of the best-known D&D artists as well as a well-respected fantasy illustrator. So, in that light, it's no surprise, that Elmore's works found their way to game boxes as well. The images used on the game boxes might not have always been created specifically for the games, especially what comes to SSI's gold box titles, but that doesn't diminish them one bit.
Even if you don't know Elmore by name, it is quite possible, you've seen his works. You can see more of it on his webpage.
A bit before Ultima 6, Origin was experimenting with different games in order to find the best features to be used with the new entry of their main franchise. One title was Times of Lore, another was Bad Blood, a dystopic sci-fi adventure, light on RPG features but filled with action.
Somewhere in the future, after a nuclear war, humanity has divided. The pure humans live in big cities, while their mutated brethren dwell in small villages in the desert. As the leader of the pure humans decides to wipe out the mutants, it's up to you as a representative of the mutants to find a solution to the upcoming war.
Like Times of Lore, Bad Blood was created by Chris Roberts, who decided to go towards action instead of RPG. The game itself looks pretty solid for the age, sporting decent VGA art and an open world, just like Times of Lore. The big issue with the game is, however, the viewscreen, which is pretty small and zoomed close to the player, making moving around rather frustrating, as there are enemies everywhere and the combat system isn't that robust.
Anyway, as you might have guessed, the box art was done by Larry Elmore. It's a decent piece that captures the game pretty well if you ask me. There's a print sans the Origin fluff on sale at Elmore's official site.
Secret of the Silver Blades is a sequel to the game that placed SSI on the map, Pool of Radiance. If you've played the previous entries of the series, you can import your party and carry on adventuring after arriving in a city in a need of heroes.
This time around, the story takes place in a city under siege by monsters. The people asked a Wishing Well to grant them a hero and you were the one the well chose. And from there, it's up to you to protect the realms once again.
As far SSI gold box titles go, you get more or less what you'd expect: 1st person exploration of the locations and top-down, turn-based combat en masse. The story itself is mostly an excuse for the combat that can take its sweet time.
The cover art by Elmore wasn't done specifically for this game, but nonetheless, it's one of my favourite pieces done by him. The name of the painting is Blood Stone Lands, and I guess it was originally done for other D&D related stuff. Fantastic work, none the less and a print of it is available at Elmore's own store.
Here's something a bit different in mood. While I've not played the game itself, it's apparently similar to The Settlers. So, you know, city builder where you need to make sure, that there are always enough resources to keep expanding the city and perhaps enter in a skirmish or two.
While this particular game is not sold anywhere, its sequel The Peasant Rebellion is sold in GOG and that version includes this one as well. So while the original is not sold as such, you can still get it if you buy the sequel.
Again, the box art was done by Larry Elmore and is a very nice piece of art.
If you want Elmore's official prints to adorn your walls, you can get them from his official web store. And probably from other stores as well.
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