In the classical mold THOSE not faint of heart who want to travel back in time, take a look at Topologika's Philosopher's Quest. Years ago this was an adventure that had thousands of BBC Micro users groaning in their sleep. You wave a magic wand in an old antique shop and transport yourself to another dimension. Then follows a classic hunt through a maze of tunnels, caves and rooms. There is treasure, but the prime purpose of your trip is to solve the excellent puzzles thoughtfully provided by writer Peter Kilworth. The game is disc only - CPC and PCW - and has no graphics, but plenty of descriptive text. The puzzles are ingenious, if not devious, and are fairly logical.
As with many games in the classical mold, the vocabulary is not extensive and the way in which you can input commands is limited. There are good hints for those who lose their way, and as with other offerings from Topologika, they are on the whole hints, not answers. You have to interpret them for them to be useful.
The hint sheet has a list of potential areas of difficulty listed as objects and locations. Each has a number that can be typed into the computer; you then get a clue. You may be offered another on the same subject and the answers you get will be clearer the longer you persist. There is no RAM save, but saves to disc are very rapid and should be made frequently. EXAMINE is not recognised at all. Although this may seem a strange omission it is based on the belief that the normal use of EXAMINE is as an extra puzzle, rather than as an aid to the player. It is assumed that the adventurer would automatically look at his surroundings carefully, so all relevant information is given when you enter a location.
Philosopher's Quest is a little dated in its presentation and command structure, but will give you a great deal of satisfaction in playing, and elation if you can solve it without recourse to the clues. ACU #8810 |
