[{"TitleName":"Hero Quest: Return of the Witch Lord","Publisher":"Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd","Author":"Les Edwards","YearOfRelease":"1991","ZxDbId":"0002304","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 92, Sep 1991","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1991-08-15","Editor":"Richard Eddy","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"THIS IS CRASH, THEY ARE:\r\n\r\nEditor: Richard Eddy\r\nSub Editor: Warren Lapworth\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nArt Editor: Mark Kendrick\r\nDesign Assistant: Paul (Charlie) Chubb\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nDesign Consultant: Robin (Goodbye) Candy\r\nReprographics: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Robb Hamilton, Tim Morris\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Neil Probert, Christine Moore\r\nAdvertisement Production: Jackie Morris (Supervisor), Joanne Lewis\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nManaging Director: Jonathan Rignall\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Caroline Edwards [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting Apple Macintosh computers using Quark Express and Bitstream fonts.\r\n\r\nSystems Manager: Ian Chubb\r\n\r\nColour origination Scan Studios [redacted]. Printing in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted]. Distribution COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nYearly subscription rates: UK mainland £22, Eire and Europe £28. Outside Europe (Airmail) £42. US/Canada subscriptions and back issues enquiries Barry Hatcher, British Magazine Distributors Ltd [redacted]. Yearly subscription rates US $47.00, Canada $57.00.\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available; If something untoward happens we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop us a line). No person who is related, no matter how remotely, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material on 35mm transparencies is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Copy published in CRASH will be edited as seen fit and payment will be calculated according to the current printed word rate. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n©CRASH Ltd 1991.\r\nCover design by Oliver Frey. Powertape inlay design by Richard Eddy."},"MainText":"Hullo, what's this? It's not a game in itself (not at that strange price, anyway). It must be an expansion pack. And, it is! Mark Caswell gets into some additional Heroquest dungeon dilemmas!\r\n\r\nGremlin\r\n£5.99/£7.99\r\n\r\nNow don't go thinking this is just a cheap way of playing the Hero Quest game because it isn't! To play the new adventures you need the original Hero Quest game and have to buy it on the same media (ie players who have HQ on tape need the tape version of Witchlord, and disk players need the disk version.\r\n\r\nGremlin advise that you use a saved character from HeroQuest because the new missions are a darn sight tougher (a very slight understatement).\r\n\r\nMorcar, the evil dungeon master, is lurking around but so are the brave heroes: Messrs Stumpy the Dwarf, Eric the Elf, Arnie the Barbarian and Wizzy the Wizard (as named by me, of course).\r\n\r\nIT'S THE FAB FOUR AGAIN\r\n\r\nThe game starts much the same as HeroQuest with you choosing characters, buying supplies (if you have any gold left over from previous games) and choosing spells for the Elf and Wizard.\r\n\r\nTen new missions are on offer here: The Gates Of Doom, The Cold Halls, The Silent Passages, Halls Of Vision, The Gate Of Bellthor, Halls Of The Dead, The Forgotten Legion, The Forbidden City, The Last Gate, and the last and most difficult, The Court Of The Witch Lord.\r\n\r\nGeneral gameplay is unchanged, as are the attacking hordes, although there do seem to be more of them. One change I noticed is the static screen that appears when a character is attacked. Each creature and adventurer has their own full colour 'you have been wounded, you clumsy prat'screen, which is very pretty indeed.\r\n\r\nAs this is an extension of HeroQuest rather than a true sequel, I can't add a great deal to the original review. But these extra missions are greatly appreciated as I'd solved most of the quests in the original game. So, go and buy it (it's as simple as that, really).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Ten more excellent adventures for Hero Quest addicts.","Page":"58","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Yeeeeek! A mummy! I hope I have got plenty of strength."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 70, Oct 1991","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1991-09-05","Editor":"Andy Ide","TotalPages":69,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Andy Ide\r\nNew Art Editor: Andy Ounsted\r\nGames Editor: James Leach\r\nStaff Writer: Linda Barker\r\nArt Assistant: Maryanne Booth\r\nAdvertising Manager: Cheryl Beasley\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nPublisher: Jane Richardson\r\nPromotions Manager: Michele Harris\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg Ingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair, Future Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nDistribution: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Matt Groening\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\nABC Jan-June 1991 65,444\r\n\r\nYS comes to you from the same incredibly talented people who knock out Commodore Format, ST Format, Amiga Format, NCE, Amstrad Action, 8000 Plus, PC Answers, PC Plus, Sega Power, Amiga Power, Amiga Shopper, Classic CD, Needlecraft, Mountain Biking UK and (introducing this month's newies) PC Format and Public Domain."},"MainText":"Gremlin\r\n£5.99 cass/£7.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Linda Barker\r\n\r\nHeroes, eh? Bit crap, aren't they? All they can do is kill people. Of course, it wasn't always like that. Once upon a heroes did really amazing things like rescue maidens from ivy-covered towers and outwit the forces of evil. Hero Quest was just like that - lots of wizards and potions and things. Those were the days, eh? (It only came out a couple of months ago! Ed) But hark! What's this yonder?\r\n\r\nYep! The role-playing, spell-casting, quest-solving fantasy game is back. Sort of. In Hero Quest you had to complete 14 quests to defeat the Witch Lord, and that was pretty much that. He got clobbered, kaputt, finito (along with his Army Of The Undead). Good had (once more) triumphed over the forces of chaos. Or had it? Ha! No it blimming well hadn't.\r\n\r\nObviously the pesky Witch Lord was only pretending - 'cos here he is again! And this he's even angrier than before, and the Undead have been on a special 'How To Be Really Nasty' refresher course. Eek!\r\n\r\nSO WHAT EXACTLY iS AN EXPANSION KIT THEN?\r\n\r\nWell, first of all - the expansion kit doesn't work without the original Hero Quest (So, if you want to take full advantage of this rather spanky new addition, you'll have to go and buy the original game.) Load up Hero Quest and you've got two options. You can either go straight into Return Of The Witch Lord or you can hack 'n' slash your way through the original 14 quests and then go onto the extra ten.\r\n\r\nIt's best to take the second path (as it were) and play all the way through, 'cos then you can start the new bit with a saved character. An experienced elf (or wizard, or whatever) is likely to have more strength and brain-power than a newie. And there's a fair chance that he'll be wll equipped in the weaponry and treasure departments too. (In fact, I'll go one further and suggest that you definitely use a saved character or you're not really going to get very far at all!)\r\n\r\nSCARE ME!\r\n\r\nAll the new quests have seriously spooky names guaranteed to send shivers scampering up your spine, like The Gate Of Doom, The Silent Passages and, ooohh! I can't go on, it's all too frightening for a fair maid such as me, and... (Get on with it. Ed) Ahem.\r\n\r\nOkay. It's exactly the same as Hero Quest. Basically. Yep, it looks, sounds and plays just like the first game. Movement works in exactly the same way, as do spells, searching and the buying of weapons. Which is probably a very good thing. I mean, you wouldn't expect an extension to look or play any different from the, erm, thing that's being extended, would you? No! After all, it'd be pretty confusing if you loaded Return Of The Witch Lord and it was all pink and fluffy, wouldn't it? (Yes, it would. Ed) Right.\r\n\r\nThe most impressive thing about the pack is the sheer bargainosity of the whole thing. I loaded it up expecting just one extra level and, aye carumba, there were ten of the jolly things! If you've got Hero Quest already then I urge you to go out and buy this poste haste. If not, this really is an incentive to kill two birds with one lump of granite and buy the game and the pack in one go. You won't regret it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A definite must-buy for everyone who's already got Hero Quest. A barg!","Page":"57","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Linda Barker","Score":"86","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Eek! I'm only little. How can I deal with a big 'orrible thing like that? (I need help!)"},{"Text":"Hurrah! This is just what I need. Where have all those gruesome ghouls gone? I don't know, they're just like buses! (Eh? Ed)"},{"Text":"It's not fair! There's more of them than me!"},{"Text":"Lawks! They obviously don't want us going that way. Better go back the way we came, eh, dwarfy?"},{"Text":"Look, will you lot stop following me? I don't know where I'm going!"},{"Text":"You never know what's going to be around the next corner. But it's definitely not nice."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"87%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"86%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 118, Dec 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-11-18","Editor":"Garth Sumpter","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nDesign: Andrea Walker\r\nDesign: Yvette Nicholls\r\nSoftware Editor: Steve Keen\r\nSU Crew: John Cook, Pete Gerrard, Phillip Fisch, Ian Watson, Alan Dykes\r\nAd Manager: Jerry Hall\r\nAd Production: Jo Gleissner\r\nMarketing Man.: Mark Swan\r\nMarketing Women: Sarah Ewing, Sarah Hilliard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1991 EMAP IMAGES\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour by Proprint.\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher"},"MainText":"Label: Gremlin\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £11.99 Tape, £15.99 Disk\r\nReviewer: Big Al Dykes\r\n\r\nWe raved about Hero-quest in these very pages back in June giving it 90 percent and a SU Gold award. Now Gremlin have gone one better and brought out a genuine sequel to the original. Get your dragon's teeth into this one if you dare!\r\n\r\nReturn of the Witchlord is basically the same game and you MUST have a copy of the original Heroquest to play it. However the story is a a continuation with a new and even more treacherous task and many new, stronger and more advanced enemies.\r\n\r\nThe evil Morcar your adversary in Heroquest was but a child by comparison with the Witch Lord whose ambitions stretch to control of the entire empire. He's holed up in the mountains of Kalos, looking out over the plains of death, and it's in the labyrinth of the mountain that your quest takes place.\r\n\r\nTo play return of the Witchlord you must not only have a copy of the original Heroquest but be able to play it successfully too as the outcome of this adventure will depend entirely on how well you've managed to develop your character and his skills. Return of the Witchlord is difficult.\r\n\r\nThere are still options for four player games, save and load options and everything that was in the original. If you enjoyed Heroquest you will enjoy this too, there is no doubt about it.","ReviewerComments":["I must say that I am a fan of the genre too. The computer version has everything the wargamer needs to go about their strange business. Fab!\r\nGarth Sumpter"],"OverallSummary":"A beautiful adventure game. It's a bit expensive for an add on scenario but I think anyone who enjoyed Heroquest will consider this game essential.","Page":"45","Denied":false,"Award":"Sinclair User Silver","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alan Dykes","Score":"87","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Garth Sumpter","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"WITCH FAX\r\n\r\nReturn of the Witchlord is a new, load in extension to the original Heroquest game.\r\n\r\nYou must already have a copy of the original Heroquest in order to play the extension."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"87%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]