PERDITION'S FLAMES
          Tads Interactive Fiction by Michael J. Roberts.
      Distributed By High Energy Software. RRP $29.00 incl S&H

                 Reviewed on PC by Joan Dunn

You can start by reading the instructions but this takes quite a
while and the information is all in the manual. So if you are
anxious to get on with the game, I should skip it.

A funny thing happened today, you were minding your own business
when ... WHAM ... you're dead! You are not quite sure what
happened, but now for the bad news ... you are in HELL. Why?
You've lead a relatively blameless life, kind to animals and old
ladies, given to charity, so why have you ended up here? Of course
there was that rather dodgy business deal ... you did quite well
out of that, and a chap has got to live.

You find yourself sitting in a luxury yacht with a lot of other
people, all looking totally bemused. When the boat arrives at the
pier you may disembark and make your way to the briefing room.
Here you are welcomed by a middle aged woman who asks if anyone
has any questions. You can pick up quite a bit of useful
information here listening to the questions and answers. You are
told you are free to go wherever you like, take a job, join a
project and even switch to Heaven if you want to do so. Although
as you have no material needs and do not need to eat or drink, a
job isn't really necessary. There is plenty to do and lots of
places to visit. The Heaven/Hell Border was opened a long time ago
and souls are randomly selected for one place or the other by the
last four digits on their Celestial Security number.

Due to the number of arrivals you are unlikely to personally see
the devil.

In your game pack you have the Official Tourist Guide to Hell with
information about driving regulations and details of the climate,
(Daytime temperatures are usually under 140 degrees ... Whew!!)
places to visit, and local currency. There is a map, so if you
dislike mapping that is a bonus. There is also a manual and hint
book. This gives full information about playing the game,
interacting with characters, scoring, how to save and restore etc.

There is a very complete series of hints and I should imagine you
could play the game completely, using these as a solution, but it
would take a very long time. You pick your problem and are told a
hint number. This gives you a little push in the right direction,
and this leads to another number, and so on until you get to the
final answer. There are so many hints for each question that by
the time you have got the answer you feel like throwing the hint
book out of the window .... a real time waster when most of the
puzzles can be solved with your little grey cells. Some problems
are tricky but not too difficult and the text is most amusing.

At the back of the hint book there is a list of point scoring to a
total of 666 ... the number of the devil.

Now Heaven was an interesting place. You need a ticket before you
can get in the lift. The ticket had a colourful picture of a
rainbow against a background of fluffy white clouds. Printed
across the top in gold script, the letters "Elevator Pass To
Heaven." The word Heaven was inside an ornate box with cherubs and
harps flying around it. On the back it said "Good all day. Admit
one Adult (Deceased)". You travel up to the ninety-nine thousandth
floor and reach the pearly gates. A recorded message tells you
that God is unable to take your prayer just now, your call is
being transferred to the Automated Prayer Mail System.

There are several useful commands ... UNDO takes back the last
command and can be used multiple times in sequence, generally over
100 previous commands can be recalled and edited before
re-entering. There is also a REVIEW MODE ... F1 activates this so
you can go back and reread text no longer on the screen. 20
screens are available for review at any one time.

You need to find five amulets to complete the game and you end it
once more in a boat. Who knows where you will sail to this
time ... You are told you will face great danger and excitement on
your journey. You are also told that you have the rank of Master
Adventurer (Deceased) I feel this leaves the game open for a
sequel. I hope so, and I shall certainly take another trip to
Hell.  An unusual topic for a game, well thought out and most
amusing.