I had been playing this for only about five minutes when I was hooked. Written by Rose Harris and programmed by J.C.Johnson who call themselves Incantations. This game is the best. You are Ashar and your people are being sacrificed on the altar to join Masaeophrain and it is your mission to find out why no Priest or King ever wish to join him and put an end to the killing. This game has been programmed using the G.A.C. and is text only. Location descriptions are very atmospheric and make you feel that you really are Ashar. In fact some of them are bordering on the verbose, in the location you begin I counted eighty-one words. You start in a vault that has been converted from the palace wine cellar and you are tightly bound with thongs and stretched upon a rack. A torturer is with you sitting beside a fire drinking wine. Once you have discovered how to get away from your bonds you are able to get into the game quite easily. This is a delusion because the further you get the harder it gets. The vocabulary appears to be very extensive and accepts quite a lot of single letter verbs. Usually it also accepts the first two letters of a word as well as the normal four letters and complete words. Altogether a very user friendly program. I know nothing about the authors but if this is the usual example of their work then all I can say is lets have more of them! This is the best game I have played in a very long time. - Tape version available from P.K. Computer Graphics, 153 Standhill Crescent, New Lodge, Barnsley S71 1SB. Price £2. Disc version from The Guild, (cheques etc to Glenda Collins) 760 Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham. Price £4. Available for Amstrad CPC's.
Reviewed by Frank Fridd |