GOBLIIINS and GOBLIINS2 - Coktel Vision / Digital Integration RRP œ34.99 (PC) œ29.99 (ST/Amiga) (Graphic adventure puzzle games) Reviewed by Neil Shipman (PC versions) Introduction ------------ As players of games like Captain Blood from Exxos or Chronoquest from Infogrames will testify, the French have always had a rather unique approach to the design and production of computer adventures. Five graphic goodies to recently find their way across the channel include Gobliiins and Gobliins2 from Coktel Vision. (The additional vowels in the titles are deliberate, denoting, as they do, the number of these crazy characters in each game.) Gobliiins --------- Briefly, the storyline is this: King Angoulafre has gone bonkers and it's the task of three mischievous goblins, Asgard, Ignatius and Oups, to find a remedy for his illness. The only person who can help is the wizard Niak and you have to direct these three little chaps on their journey to find him. This involves travelling beyond the comforting security of the kingdom which they have never left before. But they have heard various terrifying tales about the characters and animals that live outside. Consequently they stick together and use their different abilities to help overcome the problems they face. Asgard is the 'heavy' of the group and uses his fists to hit everything in sight. He is also strong enough to pull himself up ropes. Ignatius is a somewhat inept magician. He can cast spells at a distance but isn't always able to control their effects. Oups is a technician who manipulates the various objects found on the journey. Unfortunately he is a bit of a weed and can only carry one item at a time. The adventure takes place across 22 separate screens, each one containing a series of puzzles to be solved before progressing to the next. When you have done everything correctly a flashing GO sign lights up and you are given a 7 letter code for the next scene. The goblins are a sensible size - three or four times bigger than a lemming - and you change which one you're controlling either by clicking on it, pressing the space bar or clicking on a crystal ball at the bottom of the screen. They don't act simultaneously and one must finish its action before another can begin. Clicking with the right mouse button changes the cursor between an arrow for moving around, a fist for starting an action - casting a spell, hitting or climbing, or using an object - and, for Oups, a hand for picking up and dropping things. Wrong actions, falls, frights and the like use up energy which is shown on a bar under the main screen. When this gets to zero you have to quit or restart with the help of the screen code. The codes differ according to the amount of energy used, so once you have determined the right strategy for a scene it's worth replaying it. That way you will have all the energy you need as you approach the latter stages of the adventure. Also shown at the bottom of the screen is the name of the object currently held by Oups, four magic items which you have to find on your quest (underlined once you've done so), and a skull for quitting or reloading. The game is depicted in richly-coloured cartoon-like graphics and the animation of the goblins and other characters is excellent. Asgard, Ignatius and Oups are never still for long and repeatedly flip coins, turn somersaults and pull faces. Sound effects are limited but effective. There is no music. Gameplay tends to consist of identifying interesting points, objects and characters on the screen then casting a spell on them to see what effect this has, hitting or climbing things and using the various objects in different ways. Your overall strategy should then become apparent fairly quickly. There are a few points where actions are timed but you certainly don't need very quick reactions to cope with these. Gobliiins is more a series of puzzle screens held together by a fairly tenuous storyline rather than an adventure. It is easy to complete using trial and error but still provides a few hours of humorous entertainment. And it serves as a great way to introduce the player to the much more demanding sequel. Gobliins2 --------- This time the demon Amoniak has kidnapped King Angoulafre's son, taken him off to a far and distant land and made him into his jester. Domenic, a powerful warrior and rightful king of this land, has also been seized by the demon who now rules over its starving subjects from the safety of the king's castle. By directing the actions of two different goblins in this case, Fingus and Winkle, it's up to you to mount a rescue operation and free the Prince Buffoon. The locations in this adventure make up small worlds of two to five screens and all the puzzles in each world must be solved before it is possible to progress to the next. After a short, humorous introduction in which your task is explained to you by the wizard Modemus, you start in the village near the castle. Two more screens are immediately accessible, namely, the fountain outside the wizard Tazaar's cottage and the giant lying asleep on the hill. It shouldn't take you long to open up another screen depicting the interior of the cottage and you will then be able to move between these four screens which comprise this little game world. Solution of all the problems in this first part with, finally, success at passing the giant, means you can move on to the next section which begins outside the front of the castle. This world is made up of five screens, three of which you can wander round straightaway. The fairly gentle start introduces you to the two intrepid adventurers, lets you get used to controlling them and allows you to become familiar with the game's interface. These two goblins are very different in character from each other. Fingus tends to be serious and careful and will talk politely to other folk whereas Winkle is a joker with a care-free attitude who is more than likely to be rude to the game's other inhabitants. However, they work well as a team - as, indeed, they need to if progress is to be made. For example, Fingus works the fountain whilst Winkle fills the bottle. Timing their movements correctly is, therefore, crucial. Fortunately, they cannot be killed, nor does the supply of key objects dry up so, if you fail at a certain point you just need to try an action or sequence of actions again - and probably again and again and again - until you succeed. Once again, you change control from one goblin to the other simply by clicking on it. The game's objects are shared between them and there is just the one inventory which can quickly be brought up by clicking the right mouse button. The graphics are of the same excellent quality as the first game, being rich, colourful and uncluttered, and they take up 80% of the screen. Immediately below is a small window for a couple of lines of dialogue and, at the very bottom, a single line for identifying objects and characters and showing your use of items, e.g. USE bottle ON water. When you move the cursor to the top of the screen an information panel drops down. This shows seven icons: game management (15 save positions are allowed), joker (available on most screens to provide limited help), note-pad (saves trees!), inventory, object exchange, movement (a short cut to other screens) and options (change type font and turn music on/off). Yes, there is music in this game and the sound effects are more varied too. As before, there is no scrolling between screens, but animation of characters and events is superb. Fingus repeatedly turns somersaults and whistles a tune (even underwater!) whilst Winkle flips a coin - and both tap their feet impatiently. If something you try doesn't work they are likely to give a typical Gallic shrug whereas if it does they'll give you the "thumbs up"! The game gets harder as you progress but I found dealing with the demon and his henchmen in the throne room the most difficult part. Indeed, I must admit to having had a good deal of help from Russell Alcock at Digital Integration (who market the Coktel Vision titles in the UK). Customer support is excellent. When you register your purchase you get membership of DI Select which includes a œ5 voucher, a 10% discount on the next game you buy, a list of special offers and a quarterly newsletter. (Software available includes a number of flight simulators for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.) Gobliins2 is significantly more taxing than its predecessor and is likely to take you quite some time to complete. The storyline is still really superfluous to the action but you do get the feeling that this is more of an adventure than a series of strategic puzzles. Consequently it provides a much more rewarding experience. Conclusion ---------- Both games are unlike anything I have played before and, having recently played a working demo (still in French!) of the first screen of Goblins3, I can't wait for that to be released sometime in November. If you fancy a frustrating but humorous challenge in a colourful cartoon world then you really must take a look at these cute little chaps. You don't need arcade skills (or even particularly quick reactions) and they are a most amusing diversion from the usual run of the mill graphic adventures, RPGs and strategy games that we have become used to.