Demoniak - Palace Software RRP œ29.99
    (Text/graphics adventure for ST (1 meg), Amiga and PC)

It's a pleasant change to see a text adventure from one of the
larger software houses appearing on the market, especially as
Demoniak is said to be the first in a series of games using the
same system. The author, Alan Grant, has previously worked on a
vast range of comic book titles and the game has a high standard
of cartoon-like graphics.  My only disappointment is that I
was unable to capture one to put in the screenshots section.

So who, or what is Demoniak? Evil personified, so the introductory
blurb tells us; a fearsome creature who exists as a result of
diabolic worship by demons in another universe. Is one universe
enough for a beast such as he? No - he knows there are other
universes, other worlds, out there for the taking, so he reaches
out his fearsome claws and smiles, knowing all of it may one day
be his. Opening up a gateway from his universe to ours, he makes
his first move.

Four superheroes aim to stop him under the guidance of Doctor
Cortex, a famous scientist, whose body is abnormally small as a
result of all his growth being directed at his super-intelligent
brain and who has "a plan" ... the creation of the Ultimate Bomb
which can be detonated to close the gateway. The game begins with
you as one of the main characters, Johnny Sirius ("clean cut man
of action"), arriving at Doc's lab to meet his fellow adventurers.
They are Kyra Brand aka Flame who has pyrokinetic powers, Madlok
the sorcerer and serial killer with a wealth of devastating spells
at his fingertips and Sondra Houdini, a beautiful psychic who can
mindread both friend and foe.

Doc explains his plan and, after collecting any equipment to hand,
the four heroes follow him to the spaceship they will use on their
quest for the components of the Bomb. The spaceship, Proteus, is
controlled by a discorporate human brain, removed against the
owner's wishes by Cortex.  There are at least two other characters
who may also join your team if you can find and rescue them; Gor,
a part-human, part-robot gorilla and B-52, the last of a group of
war droids and ex-mercenary - what a team!

All Doc can tell you, as you enter the Proteus's briefing room is
that you must visit two planets. One, Fundamenta, is a colonised
asteroid in the asteroid belt, now home to a hermit who can tell
you the location of one of the parts needed. The second is the
prison on the ice planet, Freezyassov, run by the governor Mr
Buikk and home to some of the most dangerous characters in the
galaxy, including Gor and B-52.

This, then, is the basic story behind Demoniak and the equally
strange crew who are planning to sort him out. Only Johnny Sirius
sounds half-way sane and fit to be let out on the streets. Though
you initially start as Sirius and he is elected team leader by
Doc, during the course of the game you can >become other
characters, both friend and foe, and control them. Friend I could
understand, but foe ... it seems a bit far fetched that if you
wanted an object that someone antagonistic to you was carrying,
you could >become them, give the object to one of the team, swap
back and they didn't seem to notice, mind or care. Still, the game
is very tongue in cheek so I guess it fits in with its general
style of not taking itself or anything else too seriously.  The
copy protection is strange too, seemingly standard "page 3, line
10, word 1" stuff until you realise it doesn't only use the
booklet - sometimes it asks for details from the back of the box
or even the disk!

Screen display is standard full screen of text with your input
lines at the bottom. If you become Sondra and mindread another
character, the screen is split vertically with Sondra's
experiences on the left and the character she's mindreading on the
right. This is very effective and useful as you can send Sondra
off to perform a task, while still keeping in touch with
developments in another location by long-distance eavesdropping.

The graphics I mentioned earlier are displayed at the touch of a
key at the relevant points in the game but can be disabled if you
prefer. Text can be dumped to the printer too. But the main
feature of the game is the reams and reams of humorous text and
all the different characters in the game. As soon as I started
playing I thought the game reminded me of something and then I
realised what it was - a multi-user game!  The way the numerous
characters wander round, basically performing sequences of actions
(which can be quite long and complex), carrying objects (not
necessarily the same ones each time), reacting to both you and
other individuals, fighting accompanied by MUG-like messages on
the screen, asking you to help them sometimes, all added to the
effect. You can find places, people and objects, show exits and
follow people and use MUG commands such as cry, laugh, and gulp
(for those moments when your nerves get the better of you).  I was
pleased to notice when I came to write this review a small piece
in the credits saying "special thanks to Richard Bartle and MUD
for inspiration" ....

Due to the added complexity caused by all these independent NPCs,
I couldn't always work out what triggered certain actions. For
instance, once the admin clerk in the prison asked me to help with
the filing and said for me to follow him to the store room (which
I was unable to enter alone and contained lots of interesting
objects) but I never managed to make it happen again. Twice the
Governor offered a guided tour round the prison but when I
replayed, he didn't (and I would have loved to see round the place
without having to sneak round and get attacked!)

There's bags of humour in the game, not only on the prison world
of Freezyassov but also on the asteroid of Fundamenta where you
search for the hermit - Salman Rushdie. Roads on Fundamenta are
called Ramsey Street and Robinson Street and if you visit Daphne's
Cocktail Bar, you'll encounter a prince and, in other locations, a
sleeping beauty and Mary Penthouse.

In the time I played the game I found so many people and objects I
gave up listing them; I'm sure many of the objects must be red
herrings. It is the most confusing and complex text adventure I
have played for a long time but there's a basic streak of sanity
running through its madness that makes it compulsive. Despite my
apparent lack of progress in it after hours of play, I'd rate it
very highly for its originality and inventiveness.

                                                  Sue