BSS Jane Seymour - Gremlin RRP œ24.99
                      (RPG)

I'd seen mention of BSS Jane (or sometimes Jayne) Seymour for some
time before it was released and kept wondering, what could an RPG
set in space have to do with the famous actress? At last, having
seen the game, the mystery is at an end....  The fact is that the
correct spelling is Jane Seymour and the reason a biological
survey ship has been given that name is that a fleet of 20 of them
have been named after the various queens of England.

So where do you fit into all this? Having wrecked your own ship in
the middle of an asteroid belt, far out in space, you are making
your way back to Earth in a small emergency craft. Woken by the
sound of your computers doing a system check, you expect to look
out of your ship to see Earth floating in front of you. Wrong ...
what you DO see is a fleet of 20 Federation craft from the Regal
Fleet. An SOS message picked up explains that the complete fleet
has been damaged by radiation from a star which went nova. The

Captain and crew have all entered suspended animation in the hope
that someone will come and rescue them.

You're still 14 light years from Earth and you only have enough
fuel to travel 9 of them. But, your helpful computer informs you,
the fleet's flagship has sufficient fuel for your needs.  The main
problem are that this ship can only be reached by you travelling
through all the other ships in order (starting from the
aforementioned BSS Jane Seymour, which is the twentieth in
command), repairing each to 80% efficiency, finding and replacing
the energy flux decoupler and using an inhibit lock so you can use
the navigational computers, transporting to the next and so on til
you reach the flagship.

Unfortunately, you already know from the SOS that the Captain
reckoned the stasis chambers would start to fail after 15 months,
and the message was recorded over 5 years ago. And what do BSS
ships collect in their stasis chambers? That's right, aliens -
mean aliens with big teeth and heaven knows what else - and
they're now loose!  Add to this the fact that any crew members you
encounter roaming the ships are unstable and more likely to blow
holes in you than offer to help and it doesn't sound as though
this trip is going to be much fun!

The game seems to me to be very much like Dungeon Master in space.
The main screen shows your forward view and, by clicking the mouse
on a range of arrows and icons, you can move forward, backwards
(very useful when being chased!) or sideways and also turn through
90 degrees. When you reach a lift or ladder, you can also move up
and down.  As in DM, there are hand icons showing what items you
are carrying in each hand and an inventory screen will show what
other objects you are carrying, wearing, have in your belt or pack
etc.

Where the game differs from DM is that there is (nominally) only
one of you against the hordes of nasties on the ships. I say
"nominally" because you will encounter robots which you can give
instructions to stay, follow, carry things, or go to a particular
room. If you find the correct cartridges, you can also program the
robot in several fields eg repair, medical, attack ....

Your stamina recorder is shown as a face which, as you lose
stamina points, will gradually turn into a skull. A beating heart
will also show, by the speed at which it beats, how strenuous an
activity you are performing and by changing colour whether you
have been poisoned or affected by radiation.

Most of the repairs needed are accomplished by replacing liquid
coolant in various systems. There are several restrictions on the
number and size of the receptacles you can make and each one you
make will use up vital ship's power. These are made in a
manufacturing room and then filled with coolant in a laboratory.
Any receptacles made which have a flaw in them will be rejected at
this point! Finally, entering the relevant room (Biological
Control, Life Support, Bridge and Communications) and accessing
the repair screen, coolant and repair kit (or suitably programmed
robot) at the ready, will enable you to effect the repair.

Mapping is helped by the fact that the levels are pretty easy to
map anyway and if you access the ship's computer it will show the
areas you have visited so far. As in DM, some of the doors are
locked so you'll need a certain door pass to get through. The
graphics and sound effects are pretty good, each room has
sufficient detail to make it atmospheric and is more interesting
than the continuous stone walls of DM, the aliens are nicely
designed (if you can call such lethal creatures "nice" in any
sense of the word) and any crew members you encounter look
suitably unhinged. The fact that the ship's systems gradually
deteriorate as you play adds to the suspense too.

I'd normally finish by saying that I'd expect this game to take
some time to complete but some clever bod will no doubt have
finished it in days rather than the months (if ever) that it will
take me so all I'll say is ... if you liked DM and Chaos, I reckon
you'll enjoy BSS Jane Seymour - and if you finish it, please send
a solution and maps into SynTax!!

                                             Sue