Gateway to the Savage Frontier - SSI/US Gold RRP œ30.99
          (RPG for Amiga (reviewed) and PC)

              Reviewed by Ron Rainbird

@~Gateway to the Savage Frontier was released last year as the first
@~volume in a new AD&D RPG. Advertised as "an enhanced version of
@~the award-winning game system used in Pool of Radiance" et al and
@~featuring an "all-new wilderness style" adding "new exploration
@~and excitement to all your outdoor adventure" it sounded really
@~special. What did Ron think of it? Read this extract from one of
@~his recent letters to me ...

I have recently finished Gateway to the Savage Frontier. What a
disappointment! I have never gone through an SSI AD&D game so
quickly. I just couldn't believe it! I've got a feeling that it is
an old game from the States, perhaps even three years old because
@+the gameplay is so slow and the graphics almost crude. ~(So much
@~for their 'new' system ... Sue)

The story tries to be different in that your party of six restless
individuals has to recover four statuettes from the cardinal compass
points of the world, take them to a certain location, place them in
prepared bases and, by invoking the Ring of Reversal, turn back
several invading forces by some form of destructive power. At the
completion of the game, I was so disinterested in the outcome that I
could not take in the long-winded finale describing the success of
my party. It seemed as though there were endless screen messages
telling me what was happening while I sat back with only a part of
my mind concentrating on the news that I was victorious.

The encounters to anyone experienced in D&D/RPGs are simple in the
extreme with no sense of accomplishment when the monsters are
vanquished. The puzzles (?) could be solved almost on presentation,
and all of the time I felt as though I had been there before - a
real example of the "deja vu"s.

For example, in the very first town, upon on entering a shop I
learned that they sold Silver Mirrors. I'm sure that you are already
ahead of me in thinking "Ah, that means Medusa-like creatures are
lurking somewhere in the game". So, of course, I outfitted my
party with a Mirror each and, sure enough, later on there were
several encounters with such monsters who were then easily
defeated by making the mirrors ready and reflecting their gaze
onto themselves with deadly results. Every encounter has been seen
before and I feel that this game should be classed as a 'Bottom of
the Ladder, Beginner's Game'.

I most certainly will not get the sequel - Treasure of the Savage
Frontier - due out later this year, unless I hear a first-class
report from a reliable source.