The Blag ST - Tony Woolcock/Geoff Atkinson RRP œ7.99
                     (Text/graphics)

Through updating the Notebook section in Micronet's ClubSpot 810
adventure section, I've frequently come across the adventure game
The Blag through the QL pages. It always got good reviews so I
was very pleased when I heard it was being rewritten in an
enhanced version for the ST.

In this adventure, you play Detective Constable Adrian Blunder of
the Beeble Constabulary. Newly-arrived at Woolendon Police
Station, you are hoping for a bit of excitement but when you reach
there, you're disappointed to find it a small country town where
the most exciting thing to have happened recently is the blue
flashing light being pinched from the top of the patrol car!

As a "blag" is a slang term for a robbery, you can guess from the
title that things are about to liven up. Making your way past the
unhelpful Desk Sergeant and finding yourself in the report room,

you spot a telex that has just come through - great! - there's
been a robbery at the local bank. Now's the chance for you to show
your superiors what a good detective you are!

Your first opportunity to do a bit of detective work will come
fairly swiftly because some joker from the station has hidden the
key to the police car. Though you can cover quite a bit of ground
on foot, there are certain areas which are just too far to walk
to. Another problem is the police dog who must assist you. He'll
only obey you if you call him by name - but what is it?

Sooner or later, you'll make your way to the bank and start your
detective work in earnest. There are various characters in the
game, some criminals, some ordinary members of the public
including the frightened members of staff from the bank.
Questioning these people will obviously play a big part in your
investigations as you search for evidence, collect fingerprints
and make use of all the means at a detective's disposal as you
seek to bring the guilty parties to justice.

I always like a feel of realism to a game and with The Blag this
is just what you get - hardly surprising when you discover that
the authors are both policemen and Tony Woolcock is a dog-handler
with the Force. Without making it too complicated for the layman,
they have created an excellent atmosphere by making you follow
correct police procedure and this feeling is reinforced by the
use of digitized graphics for the locations and also for each
character so that when you question someone their picture appears
at the top of the screen. This effect has been taken to its limit
in one scene involving the police dog where there is almost an
animated sequence - brilliant!

You can end the game at any time by choosing to go to Court where
your evidence and the validity of your investigations will be
examined by the Judge and Jury in a realistic sequence. This means
that it is possible to finish the game without having brought it
to its full conclusion ie convicting all the criminals. It will
be no mean feat to accomplish this complex task and the authors
are offering a prize of œ50 of free software to the first person
to send in a saved game on disk which will, on using the COURT
command, complete the game properly. Full details will be given
to purchasers and it's because of the competition that I have
tried my utmost during this review to give you a good idea of the
game without giving any hints - and also means I won't be giving
help over the phone or by post on it until the competition has
been won!

Officially, the game comes on two disks and auto-boots which is a
nice touch though often ignored by STAC users. The two disks are
necessary because of the size of the game files and though at
first I found the disk-swapping annoying, after a while I got so
engrossed in the game that it didn't bother me so much. However,
there is an option for a double-sided, single-disk version if you
prefer, just ask when you order - or you can upgrade at a later
date.

It's clear from playing The Blag ST just how much time has been
put into creating it. It's very depressing for an author to bring
out a game after spending so much time and effort, only to sell a

few copies of it. So I hope that you will seriously consider
putting your detecting skills to the test with this sensibly-priced
adventure. After all, if we don't support the enthusiasts who
continue to produce the text and graphics adventures so many of us
profess to enjoy the most, we can't be surprised if the source of
the games dries up and the ST adventure world is reduced to graphic
and icon-driven games.

                                            Sue