The Dark Tower - River Software - price œ2.50
                (Text adventure for ST)

                Reviewed by G L Wheeler

In The Dark Tower you take the part of a luckless novice who has
been selected by the Abbot to undertake a hazardous task.

During the years that have followed the Great Wars, small bands of
Orcs from the defeated army of the Dark Lord have roamed the
country looting and killing. In one such raid the Monastery of
Uffogha lost many of its priceless artifacts and the leader of the
herd of White Unicorns was captured and subjected to barbaric
treatment. The Abbot explains that the stolen items must be
returned and that you are the only person who can be spared (or
perhaps he should have said the only one that would not be
missed!) to undertake the mission.



Reluctantly you agree, and set out on your journey accompanied by
the Abbot. On the way you encounter a lone Orc soldier, and your
only weapon, a dagger, is lost when you attempt to throw it at
him. About this time the Abbot decides that it is not possible for
him to come any further (he is obviously not noted for his
bravery) and he returns to the Monastery leaving you alone and
unarmed to locate the lost artifacts and rescue the Unicorn.

At the start of the adventure you find yourself in a Forest (no,
it isn't a maze!). To the north a spiral of smoke drifts lazily
over the tree tops - moving north to investigate you discover a
cottage and subsequently the first puzzle in the game. I found the
puzzles refreshingly logical, perhaps not the most difficult that
I have encountered but certainly hard enough to keep you on your
toes throughout the entire adventure. I like an adventure with
atmosphere and as is usual with River Software adventures this one
has plenty, in fact it held my imagination from the moment that I
first loaded it into the computer.

One of my pet hates is the poor screen updating which occurs in
many adventures, so I was pleased to find that in this adventure
the screen updating was exceptionally good. I particularly liked
the text which I found easy to read and was not tiring on the
eyes, which no doubt many of you will have found is very important
when playing an adventure, especially if like me you spend many
hours with your eyes glued to the screen!

This adventure is text only and was written with STAC, all the
usual commands have been catered for and some of the more common
ones have been abbreviated e.g. X or EXAM = EXAMINE / A = AGAIN
etc. Also included in the instructions are a list of the more
unusual commands in the adventure.

This is an excellent adventure in every aspect and one that any
self respecting adventurer cannot afford to miss, and at œ2.50 it
represents unbelievably good value for money. Rush out now and
post off your cheque to purchase it .. on second thoughts why not
send for TWO copies and make one of your friends very happy!
After all if we do not support the small software houses they will
soon stop writing adventures for our computer, and the ST
adventure world would be a much poorer place for us enthusiasts!

@~Available from River Software, 44 Hyde Place, Aylesham,
@~Canterbury, Kent, CT3 3AL. Cheques/POs should be made payable to
@~J A Lockerby.