Infidel - Infocom
         (Text adventure for ST, PC and Amiga)
Individual game on ST, Amiga and PC deleted but available as part
of Lost Treasures of Infocom by Mediagenic on PC and Amiga.

               Reviewed by Joan Dunn

I have just read a Stephen King book in which he says all authors
and readers have the "gotta" syndrome ..... "Gotta" know what
happens next.  I certainly was under the spell of "gotta" in this
game. I just couldn't leave it alone, blow the housework and any
other mundane tasks, I had to know just what was around the next
corner.

I have always been intrigued with the stories of Ancient Egypt,
the Pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, all places to stimulate
one's imagination, and to make one marvel at the wonders of an
ancient civilisation that could construct such mighty edifices,
without the aid of present day mechanisation.

I was enthralled with this game, and breathed a sigh when I
finished it.  I shall certainly return to it sometime and enjoy
replaying it ..... And the ending, that was the most exciting and
surprising part of all.

You start in the depths of the Egyptian desert. You are not a
tourist come to marvel and enjoy the wonders, but a hardened
adventurer, a soldier of fortune, and you have come in search of a
lost pyramid, said to hide numerous jewels and a fortune in gold.
This time you feel sure your luck is in, this is the chance you
have been waiting for.

Actually, you are not a very admirable person, just a small time
explorer. You are puffed up with your own importance, and quite
sure you are in control of any situation.  Having dumped your
partner, you have now upset the native workers, hit Abdul the top
guide, and tried to make everyone work on a holy day. Now all the
men have gone, fed up with your aggresive manner, poor food and
low pay.  You are alone, but determined to carry on and find the
pyramid and treasure on your own ....  it will be all yours.

Anyone familiar with Infocom games will know all about the
descriptive text and tricky problems.  Finding the pyramid and
getting inside is relatively simple, but then the problems come
fast and furious and there is no time to be bored.  It is a fight
for life, with traps and death stalking you at every move. Every
door is booby trapped in some way and it is luck whether you will
be crushed, or cut to ribbons, so you need to make good use of
SAVES.

You travel through passages to the numerous chambers, the Chamber
of Ra, the Golden Room and Alcove, the Circular Room and the Royal
Barge, and eventually the Burial Chamber, where the final chapter
is played out.  But how do you open the four doors in the Circular
Chamber and how can you move the statues in the Burial Room?  You
will need to solve these and many other problems.

The pack says this is advanced level, but personally I found it
much easier than other Infocom games I have played.

I thoroughly recommend it to all adventurers, but beware, you will
not be able to leave it until the tale is told and the mystery of
the pyramid revealed.