Might and Magic IV:Clouds of Xeen - New World Computing
                                          RRP œ49.99
                  (RPG for PC only)

               Review by Alex van Kaam

After moving my old and trusty ST to a small corner and installing
my PC I went out to buy myself a good RPG game and I came home with
Might and Magic, Clouds of Xeen.

Installing the game was very easy but because it was my first PC
game I couldn't get it started because there wasn't enough memory
free. After experimenting with the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and removing
a file name from it the game loaded.

Once the game is loaded you can choose between Adventure or Warrior
mode and you get a party of 6 and are dropped in the town of
Vertigo. The first thing I did was remove the party members and
make my own party.

Once outside the tavern you see a red-white tent and after entering
the mayor will ask you to clean up the town. Being the brave
adventurer you are, you accept and start cleaning up the town.
When you have cleaned up the town and returned to the mayor he
thanks you and tells you that there is trouble in the Red Dwarven
Range so you go and help the dwarves and return to the mayor. He
will give you your award and from here on you are on your own.

Throughout the land of Xeen there are little huts or tents with
people who have quests for you, and after completing a quest you
are rewarded with gold, items and exp. points.  Slowly you find out
that you have to rebuild Newcastle which Lord Xeen destroyed as
you could read in the manual and find the sword called Xeen Slayer
in the dungeon of Newcastle.

First you have to buy the destroyed castle for 50000 gp. so you go
out to get some money together. Once you have bought the land the
master builder in Castle Burlock will put up a new wall for 5 of
the king's mega credits and build a keep for another 5 and clean up
the dungeon for, again, 5 mega credits.

Throughout the game in the subquest there are enough hints telling
you what you need to defeat Lord Xeen (try the Witch Tower, once
on top of it cast Levitate and you can walk on the clouds, now
examine all the statues). And when you accept the quest of the
mermaid to get a potion in the Temple of the Yak Priest and you
find your first 5 mega credits the game rolls on by itself.

I've now have the game and my PC 11 days and I just defeated Lord
Xeen and saw the end sequence.  I never did explore the Desert of
the Sphinx or the Lava Lake region but my characters were strong
enough to defeat Lord Xeen anyway (they were all on level 16). But
they are all still alive so I can still explore these regions and a
dungeon and a tower.

All in all the game really had me hooked, the control system is
easy and efficient and some spells like Teleport or Lloyd's Beacon
or Incinerate can really get you out of a hot spot.  I was a bit
disappointed that I completed it so fast but the end sequence
really made up for it.

About the graphics and sound I can't say much, I am used to my ST
and this was my first PC game so I can't really tell, I didn't know
what I saw and heard when I first loaded the game. The only point
I noticed was that the mouse movement system couldn't compete with
the one on the ST but if that is all.........