[{"TitleName":"The Colditz Story","Publisher":"Atlantis Software Ltd","Author":"Barry Jones","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0001006","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 27, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-11","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editors: Fran Husband, Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Soo Abram, Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1988 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Atlantis\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: David Powell\r\n\r\nRubbish! Cheat! Swizz! Sorry, I'm not referring to the game, just my fourteenth successive failure to get past the guards. Not that this is the the most enthralling game I've played recently, nor are the guards particularly difficult to get past.\r\n\r\nThe Colditz Story is a sort of arcade/adventure game where your task is (wait for it, wait for it), to escape from Colditz castle. You are presented with three windows, the first showing the available exits, the second what room you are in and the third showing commands, your inventory and also doubling as the action screen.\r\n\r\nPity about the action though. Certain rooms contain guards who must be crawled past (hard on the knees), shot (where did the gun come from?), dropped through trap doors (these inmates are certainly resourceful), or engaged in conversation (absolutely fab if you can sprechen sie Deutsch), and so on. Occasionally, to break the monotony, you can pick up objects in the vain hope you'll be able to work out what they're for, and some of the puzzles are difficult enough to keep the ol' grey matter awake (just).\r\n\r\nBut though The Colditz Story may be a little dull at times, it can be fun in an odd sort of way, and when you've died yet again, out goes the finger for \"just one more game\".\r\n\r\nFairly good graphics, a modicum of humour and semi-tough maze of puzzles make this game reasonably worth two quid. Just don't blame the escape committee if you're caught and shot!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Not the most gripping arcade/adventure in the known universe but you may still find it hard to escape!","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Powell","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 71, Feb 1988","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Tony Bridge, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Jim Davis\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Atlantis\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: None\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nOne wonders, as one wanders through the reasonably interesting combination of time, space and existence that is 'life', why a human being could waste any time at all playing The Colditz Story, let alone programming it.\r\n\r\nIt supposedly depicts - logically - your attempted escape from Colditz Castle. The screen shows a view of the castle on the left side, with each window illuminating as you pass through the room. Each room is identically represented in looking-into-a-box form at the top left hand (tiny) corner. Doors are shown on the walls, indicating a possible route, and there are occasionally ladders - no steps? - leading to the next level. You begin in a room at the top of the castle, and work your way down.\r\n\r\nEvery now and then, the major part of the screen which has obviously been retained for immensely tedious object-handling messages (\"You now have items\") will change to show a sort of courtyard or similar affair. In these sections, you have to dodge the guards by performing a heroic feat, like crawling behind oil barrels or swinging on a rope.\r\n\r\nThe game is bugged, with parts of the words Spectrum and Play popping up all over the place, instead of the graphics. There's absolutely no atmosphere, and the whole tragic mess should have been sent to the shredding plant at conception.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Utterly hopeless waste of money. An insult to everyone under the sun. Crass, unoriginal, uninteresting and untested.","Page":"55","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"2/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]