STARTING AT THE DEAD END
LET'S face it, we BBC adven-turers are becoming spoilt. There
are so many top class games about now that a new adventure has
to have quality and imagination to grab the attention.
And so, having loaded A&F's Horror Castle, and sat down
in front of the TV set, I was a bit disappointed at first.
"Your objective is to release a beautiful princess ..."
What, another one? These days, you can't move inside the average
castle without tripping over imprisoned princesses.
There seem to be an awful lot of them about — or could it be
just one terribly unlucky girl? No matter. On with the game.
My second disappointment came almost immediately. Text-only
adventures are greatly enhanced by imaginative descriptions of
the locations.
The initial set-up in Horror Castle is this: "You are at
a dead end". Hardly deathless prose.
By now I was expecting a pretty poor game, and was ready to
reach the poison pen.
But an hour later I realised I was well in to the game and enjoying
it.
Although it isn't a very long game, nor a particularly difficult
one, there are enough puzzles to intrigue even the most seasoned
campaigner.
The HELP and EXAMINE commands are useful, and there's a nice
little twist at the end, just when you think you're cantering
home.
Admittedly there are a few spelling mistakes that impart a vaguely
amateurish feel, but overall, it's well put together, and good
fun.
Not a great game, but a good one, and ideal for the inexperienced
adventurer.
James Bibby
