[{"TitleName":"Adventure G: Ground Zero","Publisher":"Artic Computing Ltd","Author":"Colin Smith","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0006402","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 10, Nov 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-10-25","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":160,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nGeneral correspondence to: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £17.50 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"GROUND ZERO\r\n\r\nProducer: Artic Computing\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nAuthor: Colin Smith\r\n\r\nArtic Computing is a company that made its name with its very popular yet difficult range of adventures. This adventure differs from the A-F series in its friendliness and extensive use of examine, and in its making use of The Quill.\r\n\r\nThe adventure is based upon the events leading up to a nuclear attack on Britain. International tension is at its greatest for many years and conventional armed conflict may well spill over into a full scale nuclear confrontation. Law and order is breaking down and those who are to survive face a tough battle in the remaining few moments of confusion and chaos. To set the scene the program reminds you this is an adventure which one day we may well all have to face for real.\r\n\r\nNuclear war is a harrowing thought and to strike home the idea the game has a suitably nauseating loading screen wit a large flashing detonation plume. Stare at this screen too long and you could become a psychotic civil defence volunteer.\r\n\r\nYou find yourself in the lounge of a typical suburban semi with floral wallpaper, foam-cushioned three piece, ornaments and a television, which, if it is your wish to turn it on, provides a tricky first problem. The game professes to be verb/noun but I'll save you some time if I tell you that on this occasion the program treats television as the verb and the next word as a proposition. I don't mind being so heavy-handed with this due because a good adventure should go far beyond simple word-matching. Once you have the television on it receives a news bulletin which gives you the dues to your survival. These loosely follow those given in that suspect government handbook which has had us all lavishly furnishing our broom cupboards. There's a humorous end to the message - 'There now follows a cartoon'. Sadly the picture fades before you can check to see whether it's vintage Tom & Jerry or not.\r\n\r\nNo sooner do you leave the entrance hall outside the lounge when the phone rings. Recent research suggests that the phone rings either when we're in the bath or when we are doing things like hurrying around collecting items for a makeshift nuclear shelter before the bomb drops. More research suggests we need more phones around the house but another solution is not to have one at all and this turns out to be the case here. A mechanical voice says 'Normal telephone services have been discontinued. Please refer to public broadcasts for further information.' Better start looking for a battery for that radio right away.\r\n\r\nThe first few frames of the game have you searching the house using examine extensively whereupon you soon obtain most of the items mentioned in the TV announcement. Other items you come across are believable, everyday items you might find around the home are refreshingly useful objects such as knives, banknotes and food rations. These objects are sensibly disposed about your abode with a knife in the kitchen and a mattress in the bedroom.\r\n\r\nMoving around outside the house is more fraught with danger as a trip out on the bicycle will soon prove. It's chaotic outside with troops everywhere trying to impose some semblance of order and many directions you attempt end in displays or an early exit.\r\n\r\nGround Zero is a Quilled, text-only adventure with a harrowing theme. Like myself you may find the theme uninspiring as the thought of building a small, poky shelter in the home is probably the largest single factor to explain why most people would rather not survive a nuclear attack. However, survive you must in this game and once the task is taken up the story flows along if not merrily, then consistently enough to have you thinking on just how you might build a shelter were the worst to happen. The extensive use of examine, clear presentation and believable plot make this a fine adventure - if you can stomach the theme.\r\n\r\nDifficulty: Average\r\nGraphics: None\r\nPresentation: Good\r\nInput Facility: Verb/Noun\r\nResponse: Very fast\r\nGeneral Rating: Good","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Good.","Page":"107","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The 'nauseating' title screen from GROUND ZERO."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Debugging","Score":"10/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 45, Jul 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-06-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigners: Brian Cookman, Sylvia Wells\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdventure Writer: Keith Campbell\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Marcus Jeffery\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Courtesy of Domark"},"MainText":"International tension is rising and already law and order are breaking down. It's every man for himself. There are queues outside food shops, and if you join one you'll be told to clear off. Squads are out with rifles ready to shoot anyone caught looting. Nuclear war is imminent.\r\n\r\nYour objective is to survive the attack and its aftermath using a number of potentially useful items lying around your house. How and where to use them to shield yourself is the problem. Should you risk a trip into the town to try to get in some supplies, or should you get on your bike and pedal away as fast as you can?\r\n\r\nThis is a text Adventure with two-word input and fast response. As well as the overall strategy you must develop to survive, the plot hides other little problems which, pleasingly, the adequate vocabulary allows you to unravel without the frustration of word-hunting.\r\n\r\nAlthough a well-written game, I found the subject too depressing to be enjoyable. Nuclear war is hardly a subject for humour, and I didn't find any in the game. I do enjoy a bit of fun in an Adventure, which I think should be for relaxation and escapism through fantasy. This one seemed too much like a grim possibility - some would say probability. I know we should all be aware of the horrors that would ensue, but a game is not the right vehicle for this sort of education.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"85","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 9, Aug 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-07-19","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor, Bob Wade\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: David Hine\r\nGame-of-the-month poster: Jeff Riddle\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: James Scoular\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pete Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nSales Executives: Ian Cross, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"ESCAPE FROM HELL\r\n\r\nPCG's in-house mystic, the White Wizard, takes a trip to hell, survives a nuclear holocaust, has trouble with trees and explains the secrets of Valhalla. All this, plus news, reviews and hot tips from the land of Adventures.\r\n\r\nThe White Wizard is well aware that the names of Artic, and Richard Shepherd software are both inscribed in the Adventure Rolls for outstanding services to Spectrum owners. He is therefore pleased to announce new programs from both companies, both of which will have you in the hot seat.\r\n\r\nRichard Shepherd's inferno is (very) loosely modelled on Dante's vision of Hell, whereas Artic's game Ground Zero is modelled on the Home Office documents relating to civil defence in the case of nuclear attack. In each case your objective is the same - don't get fried if you can help it.\r\n\r\nFirst Ground Zero. Artic have already gathered a reputation for trick text-only adventures with their Island of Death series and other games. These programs have been the cause of many a nervous breakdown and Ground Zero is no exception. Who wouldn't have a nervous breakdown when the three minute warning goes, I'd like to know?\r\n\r\nYour objective is to build a nuclear shelter from available materials and gather rations and water to enable you to survive until it's safe enough to come out into the open again.\r\n\r\nTo make best use of the limited time available you are advised to travel from location to location by taxi - and make sure you remember your Highway Code.\r\n\r\nLooters, dozy neighbours, sirens, and ringing phones all help to make this an enjoyable but very tricky game - typical Artic fare.\r\n\r\nArtic's game is two-word input only, but Richard Shepherd's Peter Cooke (programmer of Urban Upstart) has gone on to greater things with complex input and interactive characters.\r\n\r\nIn Inferno you must penetrate the nine circles of Hell to escape. The usual Richard Shepherd split-screen format has some rather average graphics and a scrolling text-window below.\r\n\r\nCommands can be joined together by 'and' and other characters can be addressed by prefacing a command with their name. For example, 'Virgil go south' may persuade Virgil to go south, provided he is in the right mood.\r\n\r\nThere are ten characters in the plot, each of whom may help or hinder you, though to be honest only one of them, Virgil, plays a major role. You cannot solve the adventure without Virgil's help, and his disposition towards you depends to a certain degree on what you do.\r\n\r\nBoth of these games provide good value for money for Spectrum owners, but, strangely, I enjoyed Artic's game rather more than Richard Shepherd's. Somehow the relevance of the theme to the present day gave it a more compelling atmosphere than Inferno, though the latter is undoubtedly the more complex program.\r\n\r\nGround Zero\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nFROM: Artic, £6.95\r\n\r\nInferno\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nFROM: Richard Shepherd Software, £6.95","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Cooke","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Complexity","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Interaction","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Micro Adventurer Issue 11, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-16","Editor":"Brendon Gore","TotalPages":48,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Brendon Gore\r\nAssistant Editor: Martin Croft\r\nSoftware Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nMaster Adventurers: Tony Bridge, Mike Grace\r\nEditorial Secretary: Geraldine Smyth\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Lake\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Langston\r\nAdministration: Theresa Lacy\r\nManaging Editor: Brendon Gore\r\nPublishing Director: Jenny Ireland\r\nTelephone number (all departments): [redacted]\r\nUK Address: [redacted]\r\nUS Address: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: UK £10.00 for 12 issues, overseas surface (excluding US and Canada) £16 for 12 issues, US and Canada air-lifted US$33.95 for 12 issues.\r\n\r\nMicro Adventurer is published monthly by Sunshine Books, Scot Press Ltd. Typesetting by In-Step Ltd, [redacted]. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Distributed by SM Distribution, [redacted].\r\n\r\nISSN 0265-4156\r\n\r\nRegistered at the Post Office as a newspaper.\r\n\r\n© Sunshine Books 1984"},"MainText":"APOCALYPSE APPROACHES\r\n\r\nMICRO: Spectrum 48K\r\nPRICE: £6.95\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nSUPPLIER: Artic Computing, [redacted]\r\n\r\nPack away your wands, elixirs and double-handed enchanted swords and step into the less esoteric, and ultimately more frightening world of Artic's Ground Zero. Set not in Middle Earth, but in the very real world of nuclear Superpower conflict, you are Mr Average, residing in 'Dunroamin', in quiet suburbia except that the world is in a grave period of international tension, with the threat of a holocaust looming high.\r\n\r\nAt the start of the adventure, you are placed in your semi in a lonely cul-de-sac. On switching on the TV, you break into a civil defence warning. The telephone rings to announce the loss of all services. On exploring the house and garden, you find various essential objects, such as keys, a knife, a mattress and an old door to construct a shelter against the blast with, and, in the kitchen cupboards, some food, but with the ominous label \"a week's rations\". The temptation is to sit around and wait for the worst, but, against the advice on the TV, I went out to explore the town, pausing only to restart the game after being trapped in the neighbour's garden.\r\n\r\nOutside, the situation is grim, with riots in the High Street, hoarders queuing at the corner shop and trigger-happy soldiers guarding the motorway. The atmosphere created by the program is first class, encouraging the player to feverishly type in commands before the bomb drops. This scene-setting is done with no graphics and fairly short descriptions. Technically, too, the game is of a high standard, with an instant response to input and a very large, and wittily used, vocabulary, although on most occasions it does only accept the traditional Verb-Noun format. Essentially, a save-game facility is provided.\r\n\r\nThe object of the game is Protect and Survive, and, with the grim setting, it will provide quite a challenge to those tired of the more arcane adventure scenarios and has to be recommended.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"35,36","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"GW","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 10, Oct 1984","Price":"£0.9","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-20","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":218,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nStaff Writer: Simon Beesley\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSub-Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Nicholas Ratnieks\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Julian Bidlake, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Ron Southall\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Lucy O'Sullivan\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1984\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 154,334 January-June, 1984."},"MainText":"Spectrum 48K\r\n£6.95\r\nArtic\r\n\r\nInternational tension is at an all-time high. At home, law and order is beginning to break down as the ever-present threat of nuclear war looms clooser.\r\n\r\nThis text adventure kicks off with a more comfortable cosmetic scene. You're in the lounge of a typical suburban semi which comes complete with floral wallpaper, foam-cushioned three-piece suite and a TV. Turn on the TV and you'll be given some alarming advice - build a nuclear fall-out shelter! Picking up the phone, you are told that all public services have been suspended.\r\n\r\nBy now, you're really getting worried. Exploring the house will reveal plenty of useful material for what looks like an emergency situation. In the garden, a high wall prevents you seeing further. However, if you shin up an apple tree, you'll spy, on the far side of the wall, old Mr Hodges, sitting in a deck-chair and staring up the sky!\r\n\r\nA bike in the garage might come on handy but you've got to be careful where you ride it. Out side the house, all is strangely quiet though if you venture up the High Street, sounds of rioting and looting will reach your ears and you'll see soldiers walking about with rifles!\r\n\r\nAn interesting and challenging adventure with plenty going on. Response to input is instantaneous and the vocabulary seems pretty extensive.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"51","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Hugo North","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]