[{"TitleName":"Hunchback - The Adventure","Publisher":"Ocean Software Ltd","Author":"Fred Gray, Ian Weatherburn, Simon Butler, Bob Wakelin","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0006457","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 33, Oct 1986","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1986-09-25","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishers: Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Franco Frey\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nStaff Writers: Tony Flanagan, Lloyd Mangram, Hannah Smith\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, Rosetta McLeod, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nIllustrators: Ian Craig, Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Gordon Druce, Tony Lorton, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nBookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1986 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"HUNCHBACK THE ADVENTURE\r\n\r\nProducer: Ocean\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: Ian Weatherburn, Simon Butler\r\n\r\nAs you might expect from a firm like OCEAN this is a step above the usual adventure game in terms of presentation. In many other respects, however, it is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff with the usual blend of objects and problems to be tied up together (although the first part of this three part adventure has more objects than problems). The game follows in the footsteps of its arcade namesakes, but this offering has more in common with Never Ending Story, what with its 'events' window on the left of the picture and up to six objects displayed on the right. These are laid on top of a tableaux depicting Notre Dame cathedral and can go as far as cartoon-like Biffs and Bops emanating from the scene where you, the hunchback, take on one of the many guards. As with Never Ending Story, I think the trendy display and atmospheric redesigned character set go a long way in compensating for any flat-footedness in plot.\r\n\r\nIn short Quasimodo has to find and rescue Esmerelda. This entails completing the three parts in the correct order. Firstly hunchback must escape from the cathedral set in the heart of Paris, made famous by the Victor Hugo novel of 1831. This involves side-stepping or disposing of the guards sent to harass you by the evil cardinal and his spineless lackey the Bishop of Notre Dame. If you survive that ordeal you then make your way under the city of Paris until you reach the cardinal's mansion. Finally you challenge the Cardinal and rescue your sweetheart Esmerelda.\r\n\r\nNot only is the game itself polished but the instructions on the cassette inlay are truly superb. The story-telling and gamesplay is related in a much more professional way than is often the case with adventures, and useful details like acceptable verbs are included making it easier to make a proper attempt at the game.\r\n\r\nNot all gamesplay is sweetness and light though; the silent key entry is error prone. This is in some way countered by the DELETE not needing the CAPS SHIFT depression, but not entirely. Another irritant is the lack of an EXAMINE command without which much of the interaction with the adventure is lost.\r\n\r\nBy the far the greatest offering Hunchback has as an adventure is its humour. Take these two location descriptions in the first part: 'Standing in the front aisle you can see to the east the altar and to the west the centre aisle which is pretty impressive considering you have only got one eye' and 'You find yourself in a bedroom that is decorated in early gothic tack. The wallpaper is garish and clashes with the duvet, and the fluffy slippers are just too passe!... Lying on the ground is a strange tattered book entitled Evil Worshipping for Beginners'. Even the Inventory list, which complements the picture tokens above, shows some good turns as in 'An old music book entitled Bell Ringing for the Deaf' and how about Zen and the Art of Guillotine Maintenance, a book which no doubt predates the one all about flowers and motorbikes and how to link them by going loopy.\r\n\r\nHunchback the Adventure is an attractive, stylised adventure with much humour and a great amount to play, what with it coming in three parts. It won't enthral adventure freaks but it will keep many a novice chuckling before they get the hump.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nDifficulty: not difficult\r\nGraphics: unusual, very attractive\r\nPresentation: very pleasant\r\nInput facility: verb/noun\r\nResponse: fast","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Superior adventure.","Page":"97","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"86","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Scrapping with the guards in HUNCHBACK - not THE BOGGIT as you might expect from the little mistake in last month's column! Sorry...."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Quality","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"86%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 10, Oct 1986","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1986-09-11","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":106,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Martin Dixon\r\nDeputy Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nDesigner: Caroline Clayton\r\nStaff Writer: Phil South\r\nTechnical Consultant: Peter Shaw\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Luke C, Mike Gerrard, Tim Hartnell, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, Tommy Nash, Chris Palmer, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith, Chris Wood\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Managers: Sonia Hunt, Judith Middleton\r\nPublishing Manager: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press 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 ©1986 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":"FAX BOX\nGame: Hunchback The Adventure\nPublisher: Ocean \nPrice: £7.95\nReviewer: Mike Gerrard\n\nWith dozens of reviewers all ready to unleash comments along the lines of 'a load of bells', 'goes like the clappers' and 'gives me the hump', here comes Ocean's adventure follow-up to its two successful arcade games. What I want to know, though, is how could they resist the temptation to call it The Hump Strikes Back?\n\nThe game comes in three parts, plus a core program which has to be loaded first. And naturally enough you need to solve each part in succession before going on to the others.\n\nThey've gone all out to make the text as jokey as possible, a sort of Humpstead, and you begin part one chez Quasi, a semi-detached hovel with all the charm of a sewage farm. Quasimodo's quest is to rescue Esmerelda, and you're told that first you must escape from Notre Dame itself, then part two will see if you can find your way underneath Paris (obviously a sewer-side mission) to the Cardinal's mansion, where part three takes place.\n\nThe graphics window at the top of the screen promises much - it has pictures of the objects you pick up added to it, and the occasional change of picture within a location, but with no clearly defined area for each part of the picture the overall result is just a mess. Some of the fight sequence illustrations are quite amusing, though.\n\nThose fight sequences are my first niggle though. As you map out the first part, you continually encounter guards who attack you. Your part in the proceedings is to type ATTACK GUARD or STAB GUARD several times in succession, till eventually the guard pegs out. Combat sequences are all very well, but the program doesn't respond to SCORE, STRENGTH or STATUS, so you have no idea what your own strength is - if indeed there's a counter for strength in the program at all. After a few plays, no guard had managed to kill me, though when I tried STAB GUARD one time I did get the interesting response \"Your attack fails! You have killed the guard!\" Pardon? This bit is really tedious, and when I came across the third guard in three successive locations I thought it was time to check the swear-word routine (but it doesn't have one.)\n\nNor does it have a help routine, as typing HELP results in \"There's no verb in that sentence.\" Funny, I thought help was a verb. After so long in production, it's annoying to see so many faults in the game. Some exits that exist in the text don't exist in reality, such as the blacksmith's showroom where you're told \"Exits are down and southwest.\" Type DOWN and \"You can't go in that direction.\"\n\nMajor drawback to me, though, was when, after about thirty minutes' play (twenty-nine of them spent typing ATTACK GUARD) I discovered I'd finished the first part! There I was, thinking I'd actually found my first real problem at last, how to deal with the bishop in the library, and when I solved it I was on my way to part two! On an action replay I managed to get the solution time down to five minutes! The guards are always in the same places and you can easily avoid more of them.\n\nPart two takes you straight into a maze, and you're not allowed to take enough objects through from part one to enable you to map it properly, so your time here is spent shifting things about to work out which exits lead where. Tedious. This is where I pulled the plug on the game, deciding my Spectrum had done nothing to deserve being treated so badly. Give me the arcade version any day.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Text","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"2/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 54, Sep 1986","Price":"£0.98","ReleaseDate":"1986-08-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writers: Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nAdventure Writers: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nHardware Correspondent: John Lambert\r\nContributors: Gary Rook, Richard Price, Mike Wright\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jacqui Pope\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Lee Sullivan\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. Please write Program Printout on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We cannot undertake to return cassettes unless an SAE is enclosed. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"Label: Ocean\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: Gary Rook\r\n\r\nIt's not much fun, being a hunchback in medieval Paris. Especially when dastardly Cardinals keep on kidnapping your girlfriend.\r\n\r\nHunchback - The Adventure is the third game from Ocean to feature the exploits of Quasimodo. If you managed to jump, duck and weave enough in the last two arcade efforts, you might be forgiven for thinking that rescuing Esmeralda was going to be simply a matter of joystick control and superb timing.\r\n\r\nYou'd be wrong. This is a proper text and graphics adventure.\r\n\r\nIt isn't small either. Over 100K of code and data. That massive programming feat is divided into three separate parts, each of which needs a Load to itself.\r\n\r\nPart 1 finds you, as Quasimodo, desperately lurching your way through the gothic surroundings of the cathedral of Notre Dame, trying to avoid the guards the Cardinal has out hunting for you.\r\n\r\nPart 2, which you can't get to until you've finished Part 1, involves a little trip through the underworld - under Paris - to the Cardinal's mansion. And in Part 3 you have to beat the Cardinal, rescue Esmeralda, and escape.\r\n\r\nAs I have yet to finish Part 1, I can't give you any first hand information on what the other two parts entail, but I'll tell you what I have managed to do.\r\n\r\nThe top third or so of the screen is a graphics window which shows you, at first, a general view of the location you are presently in.\r\n\r\nSuperimposed on the right-hand side of the graphics window, you will see the various objects you are carrying.\r\n\r\nThe effect looks a bit like an advent calendar with only a few windows opened, and a rather odd choice of icons behind. There is space for up to six objects in this area of the graphics window. This is all you can carry.\r\n\r\nOn the left-hand side of the graphics, you get an event window. When something interesting happens, like an evil guard attacks you, you get an appropriate picture. For example, if you get into a fight with a guard, you see a little strip cartoon fight, all flailing arms and legs, and suitable 'sound effect' words like Biff, Bop and Bite.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are unexpectedly effective and quite unusual to look at.\r\n\r\nBelow the graphics window, you have the text. Orders are of the by now familiar two-word verb/noun sort, or you can shorten to n, s, nw etc for movement.\r\n\r\nOn the whole the location descriptions are pretty good, and are supplemented by the graphics. There is also a considerable amount of humour.\r\n\r\nThe Spectrum's character set has been redesigned for the game, and is suitably Gothic. Unfortunately, while it looks great, it is sometimes very difficult to read.\r\n\r\nSo far I have mapped about 30 locations, although I've been to at least another half dozen. I've made my way from 'Chez Quasimodo', down through the belfry (taking in a side trip on the roof where I found a sharp object), wandered round the catwalks spanning the roof of the Cathedral, then down the main staircase to the high altar. I've rolled in the aisles, peeked in the choir stalls, visited two chapels and unearthed the Bishop in his library.\r\n\r\nI've also killed innumerable guards - the first with the dagger I found on the roof, the rest with the short sword I took off the body. With a dagger you have to get in two good blows before guards drop, but with the sword you only need one. It can get a bit dull, squaring off against the fifth guard. While I've been wounded countless times (well, at least six) I don't seem to have fallen over yet.\r\n\r\nI haven't been able to find that many problems yet - at least, none of the classic locked door, monster that won't let you pass, falling portcullis type. I can't help feeling that I must be missing something obvious.\r\n\r\nThe thing that's really taxing my brain right at the moment is how to kill the Bishop - nothing seems to touch him!\r\n\r\nI've found enough books to stock a small library (and don't drop them around the Bishop - he'll put them on the shelves and you'll never find them again), including a bible, a book on bellringing for the deaf, a black magic treatise and a cook-book. None of them have proved to be any use to me, as every time I try to read them I'm told I'm not smart enough! I've also nicked a crucifix, a candle, a lantern and a net and I haven't been able to work out what the heck to do with them either.\r\n\r\nThe problem with Hunchback - the Adventure is that there doesn't seem to be enough to do. I suspect that I should be using the book on black magic to raise a demon, which at some point I'll probably have to get rid of using the old exorcism routine of bell, book and candle. I'm also pretty certain that the way out of Part 1 is via the crypt and into the catacombs, but I haven't been able to find any steps down yet.\r\n\r\nOne difficulty with the game, incidentally, is that it doesn't always tell you about all the exists available from a location. In the library, for example, you aren't told any exits yet you can go north and east. Nor is this the only time this happens. If it's deliberate, then it's laziness - a good adventure writer creates problems according to the rules, not by cheating on what he tells the player.\r\n\r\nWhat I have seen is a fairly decent introductory adventure, and I'm sure that those people who buy it on the strength of the first two Hunchback arcade games, and who haven't played adventure games before, will enjoy it.\r\n\r\nFor the hardened adventurer, the other two parts are going to have to be a lot better. Not that I didn't enjoy it - the graphics, with their comicbook feel, hold your interest and there's plenty to explore.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Over 100K of adventure with interesting graphics let down by unsatisfying gameplay. Still great value.","Page":"68,69","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gary Rook","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The graphics are very unusual. Though sometime difficult to figure out. THe redefined character set give the program a strong gothic feel."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 60, Oct 1986","Price":"£0.98","ReleaseDate":"1986-09-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":128,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nDesign: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdventure Writers: Keith Campbell, Paul Coppins, Steve Donoghue, Jim Douglas\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi, Chris Cain\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nAd Production: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\nCover: Simon Harrison\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nJuly-December 98,258"},"MainText":"SUPPLIER: Ocean\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K, Amstrad, 64\r\nPRICE: £7.95 (Spec), £8.95 (C64, Amstrad)\r\n\r\nOn the outskirts of Paris, mischief is afoot. Two evil characters, the Cardinal and his sidekick Bishop, have captured Esmeralda, and are holding her captive somewhere in the area. You, as Quasimodo, must rescue Esmerelda.\r\n\r\nAfter an apparent age, Hunchback - The Adventure, has finally arrived. As you begin, some very colourful (if not particularly clear) graphics will pop onto the screen, and some pretty, redefined text will tell you what has happened so far.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are quite small, taking up the top region of the screen. There is a large strip, stretching from one side to the other. On top of this background, a small picture of the current location appears, and on the other side, each object you have picked up (six is the maximum) is shown too.\r\n\r\nThis pictorial representation is quite a good idea, but the pictures are too small. Everything on the screen becomes cluttered, and I had to read everything twice to make sure I hadn't missed a vital point.\r\n\r\nThe descriptions are very well written, and always witty. Although there are some errors, such as Paris being spelled with a lower case 'p', everything sails along with lots of jokes, all in keeping with the period.\r\n\r\nOn your travels in the early stages of the game, you encounter a number of uncouth and very violent guards. Should you have come across a weapon, you can throw your soul into battle.\r\n\r\nDuring the fight, you are given a running commentary, and as this happens, cartoon strip style pictures take the place of the location graphics.\r\n\r\nThe most popular objects in the game seem to be books. Zen and the Art of Guillotine Maintenance is a personal favourite. Wandering around in the cathedral, you will come across a number of locations which serve little purpose other than to help the game along.\r\n\r\nFinding a thoroughly vandalised area, you investigate and discover it is the choirboys' stalls! A dodgy lot, these choirboys...\r\n\r\nAs in Never Ending Story there are three parts and no SAVE facility, and the same maddening programming slips. THROW KEY produces the mind-boggling THERE IS NO VERB IN THAT SENTENCE.\r\n\r\nDespite its shortcomings, Hunchback is a great game. It is well assembled, fun to play, and offers a reasonable challenge.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Personal","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 29, Sep 1986","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1986-08-21","Editor":"Bryan Ralph","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bryan Ralph\r\nAssistant Editor: Cliff Joseph\r\nConsultant Editor: Ray Elder\r\nAdvertising Manager: John McGarry\r\nDesign: Argus Design\r\nA.S.P. Advertising and Editorial [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Alabaster Passmore and Sons Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Lynn Collis\r\n\r\nDistributed by: Argus Press Sales and Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing Monthly is published on the fourth Friday of each month. Subscription rates can be obtained from ZX Subscriptions, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication, including all articles, designs plans, drawings and other intellectual property rights herein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of the company.\r\n\r\nArgus Specialist Publications Limited. ©1986"},"MainText":"Ocean\r\n£7.95\r\n\r\nOcean aren't exactly renowned for adventure products, and for them to release a second one following last year's Never Ending Story is significant. Obviously they feel the market exists, since the company is always commercially motivated.\r\n\r\nI'm sure you will have worked out yourself who you play; your task is to rescue Esmerelda from the evil Cardinal. To do this you must battle past the guards and the Bishop in Notre Dame, escape through the Paris sewer network, then confront the Cardinal at his mansion and rescue your sweetheart.\r\n\r\nThe whole product is polished in a way only Ocean could manage. On loading a pleasant, full blown musical piece plays while you read the credits. Then you notice the slick presentation - split screen graphics, good use of colour and a redesigned font.\r\n\r\nThe graphics system is unusual. An attractive Parisian scene remains on screen constantly as a background, whilst small pictures of any objects you are holding are printed on top of this together with either an illustration of the current location, or a picture of the humped hero himself. The problem with this overlaying is that the smaller graphics have only thin black borders and tend to merge into the backdrop. Still, you eventually learn to pick out the relevant areas, and what you see is good: high quality and worth the effort, unlike in many adventures. The pics frequently capture cartoon style; a similar atmosphere pervades the whole game.\r\n\r\nBy keeping the graphics small, there's enough room for reasonably lengthy text. Although this is not particularly descriptive, it provides all the relevant information and is stylish and sometimes witty. I liked the constant references to your character: you stand \"in your own inimitable way\", and can see east and west, \"which is pretty impressive considering you've only got one eye.\" It can be sell mocking, and occasionally parodies general adventuring. The balance between text and graphics is just right. Shame the author doesn't know that proper nouns have capital letters.\r\n\r\nGameplay is disappointing. I expected Ocean's technical capability to produce a more sophisticated parser; instead we have an under fifty verb vocabulary, with no EXAMINE, although fortunately the words understood are listed in the instructions. You are unable to do much.\r\n\r\nNot that there seems much to be done. Although I haven't yet made much progress (not least due to the infuriating vocabulary), there are few apparent problems to be solved - certainly this was the case with Never Ending Story. Much of the game would seem to be moving around, and finding a use for the objects. But I will reserve full judgment on this until I at least reach part two.\r\n\r\nThis adventure is similar in many respects to Ocean's arcade games. It's slick, looks impressive, has pretty graphics, and is technically competent; but underneath the gloss, it lacks substance. This game is thus not for the purist, but occasional adventurers may enjoy it - and that's probably the market Ocean are aiming at.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"46,47","Denied":false,"Award":"Globert","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gordon Hamlett","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":"Good"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"Good","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]