The Ellisnore Diamond - River Software/Zenobi RRP œ3.95
               (Text adventure for the ST)

                 Reviewed by Matthew Pegg

Picture this!  England!  The seventeenth century!  It's raining!
Charles the First is on the run. "Who can I turn to?" he thinks,
"Who will give me aid and succour? (Just what I need, a glass of
succour.) Ah I know, how about Sir Roger Woodstock, governor of
Carisbrooke Castle, also known as Blackbeard because of his hooked
nose and evil eyes, as well as the fact that he has a beard and
it's black.  Good chap, he'll do.  And I shall reward him for his
help with this wacking great diamond I just happen to have
secreted about my person." And so it was.  But sadly as history
shows us Charles the First was not one of the best judges of
character.  After receiving the diamond Blackbeard promptly
shopped Charlie to the Roundheads, hoping to get another diamond
from them no doubt, probably in order to make a pair of earrings.

The Roundheads were better judges of character and "suspicion fell
on Blackbeard".  He retired from his castle to the village of
Moonholm and died there, the secret of where he had hidden the
diamond dying with him.  Just before his death he had repented and
wanted to sell the diamond and give the money to the poor of the
village.  (I bet the poor of the village were kicking themselves:
"If only I had given him an asprin, or a sticking plaster!"  they
thought.) Blackbeard's spirit can not rest and searches the
village for the diamond, thus lowering property values and causing
a slump in local trade.

This is the gist of the scenario of "The Ellisnore Diamond".  It
certainly makes a change from the tedious parade of ultimate evil
beings wanting to take over the world.  (Let them take it over I
say:  they can't do a worse job....) It is nice to play a game
which seems to have some sort of foot in the 'real' world.

At the start of the game you have discussed all this with the
local priest and decided that you should find the diamond allowing
the ghost to rest.  A flash flood strikes the village just as you
are about to start your search and it is after this that the game
proper starts.

Initial progress is reasonably easy.  Most of the puzzles seem
involve finding the right object in the village and then using it
in the right place.  You are told at the start that you have lost
your door key in the churchyard and sure enough a careful search
in what is a fairly small maze reveals it and allows you to
explore your house.  The problems are fairly clearly signalled and
there is no point at which you are unsure about what you are
supposed to be doing.

The game area is nicely worked out and compact and in a similar
way to the house, different areas become available as you go on.
A useful touch is having the available exits displayed at all
time.

Some events are triggered by your actions for instance when you
enter the church, and you have to sit back and let these 'set

pieces' happen.  In fact these are the most atmospheric bits in
the game, which seems to owe something to the novel 'Moonfleet',
even down to the name of the village and the bit where you have a
close encounter with the occupant of a coffin.

This brings me to the negative aspect of the game which is that
most of the time it is actually lacking in the atmosphere promised
by the scenario and the set events.  I presumed it was set in the
eighteenth century due to the smuggling references but there is
nothing much in the game to indicate when it is supposed to be.
The location descriptions are rather sparse as are the responses.
It is rather a shame because the game is enjoyable to play and the
scenario offers such rich opportunities one feels that it could
have done with a bit of beefing up on the old prose front.

Another problem is the fact that some events in certain locations
are triggered by your actions, all very well but if you are not in
the right place at the right time you can miss vital things and
important objects without any indication that this has happened.

I also found what I think is a bug which stopped me progressing
for ages:  if you happen to be hiding behind a coffin, go down as
soon as you are allowed to, don't hang around or a vital object
disappears!

Still it is a good game with lots to do and I enjoyed playing it,
in fact writing this has made me think about something I haven't
tried at a point where I got stuck. I think I'll have just one
more go...