Gerbil Riot of '67 - author Simon Avery
                (TADS text adventure for PC)

              Reviewed By James Judge on a 486SX

After being a great success on the 8-bit scene and bringing a lot
of enjoyment to a lot of people (myself included) Simon Avery has
now learned how to program in TADS and has converted one of his
old 8-bit games to the PC.

I was very glad when, after getting the PC and notifying Simon, I
had a Jiffy bag clunk on the door mat and, upon opening it, I
found the shareware version of Gerbil and, hastily scrawled on the
package, half obscured by the torn Sellotape, was a message "JJ.
Can U review Gerbil 4 SynTax. Please?". Well, sure I said, wrote a
letter to the great one and said that I'd do it - risk sanity,
life and a few other things to peruse his newest old game.

After unzipping it on my hard disk I then had to copy it on to a
floppy to install it properly onto the HDD - it worked fine in
its uninstalled version, it's just Simon loves his invisible files
and, for those of you who have seen his Round Corner catalogue,
this is no exception. So, after a few minutes of file deleting
etc. (still got to get used to MS-DOS at that point) I reset the
computer and then typed in GO.

Up popped a menu (again, just like his RC catalogue) asking me
what I wanted to do - read one of the three documents on disk,
print the order form, change the font, run the program or
(unthinkable though it was) quit to DOS.

After having a look at the documents I felt fully prepared to see
what Simon had come up with.  At this point I must be brutally
honest with you - I have completed and loved this game on the
Spectrum so, if it sounds as if I were a clever dick completing it
within an hour it's 'cos I've had prior experience (and I know
Simon's style).

After the standard TADS setup messages the game started proper,
with you in your cell, a body at your feet and not the slightest
clue as to what to do next. There I sat for many days, wondering
what to do next and then I typed in help (Oh, OK I didn't - I
typed in help straight away) and from there I could, again, see
how to register, get an idea as to what an adventure was, what the
aim of the game was and what the history of the game was.

According to the help menu you have been committed to a loony bin
- purely by accident, of course. Oh, if only you hadn't listened
to the gerbil that persuaded you to liberate all of the gerbils
and if only the police car hadn't come cruising down the road at
THAT particular moment and if only the gerbils hadn't disappeared
when you tried to explain your plan and the situation to the
police... if only!

Then you were thrown into the bin (the loony type, that is). BUT,
there is one way that you can get out of this predicament - in a
couple of weeks time the asylum is closing down and, in the
hubbub, you hope to escape. After this idea came to your head it
was time for your medication. After that your memory is a fuzz,

but you can get some idea of what had happened by the body with a
hypodermic needle jabbed into his arm...

And so the game begins.

It is a standard adventure game with a wacky idea (as it is with
most of Simon's games), strange plot and a great sense of
playability.

Upon examination of the asylum you come across a few characters of
the place who will all help you or give you (willingly or not) an
item that will help you on your way. They all have their own
personal histories and personalities (from someone who thinks
they are an ostrich to someone who claims to have invented some
X-Ray specs) and they all come to life - they are not just pieces
of cardboard in the game. True, they are stuck to one location but
you can have enough fun with them (oo-er) in their own cells.

As this is a shareware version of the full game, you only get to
see about a third of the full game, so don't expect a lot of
things to happen. Mainly what will happen is you getting a few
items that you won't be able to use in this version, you putting
out a fire and scaring someone. It doesn't sound a lot, but it
sure seems a lot when you are plugging away, trying to figure out
what to do with Ralph or just why the man with the specs is
staring intently at the north wall. Simon did supply me with the
password, though, and I've had a look at nearly all of the game
now. After the shareware part it still follows in the same style
as the previous part, but there is much more to do - all of your
items, that you picked up in the first bit, are put to use and
your brain is still taxed to the limit.

The text is lengthy when it needs to be, but otherwise suffices.
Simon's style is very easy to read, funny and enjoyable while not
making the game stupid or boring. There is always something going
on or something to think about.

For those of you who have played this game on the 8-bits you won't
find anything different in this version (at least not as far as I
have got) apart from the better, longer descriptions and a few
other cosmetic touches. You will notice a few absences, mainly the
hello messages and other such personal messages that Simon seemed
to have littered his other games with.

This is a brilliant game that has got the 'SA' mark stamped all
over it.  Although I have played it before I feel that this is the
superior version with a better interface (latest version of TADS)
bigger and better messages and a better all-round feeling that you
get from games.

Yes, as it is an 8-bit game it is short compared to the 300+ room
sagas you expect from AGT games of today, but the question is do
we want these big goliaths that are empty, boring and just plain
useless or do we want smaller, better games that are packed with
good, enjoyable puzzles, a wicked sense of humour and have a nice
feeling? If you prefer the latter you'll love Gerbil, if you
prefer the former - what is wrong with you?

When you register your version you will get a password for
continuing with the game and a demo of Simon's next game which I
am looking forward to playtesting for him. Oh, talking of
playtesting, as far as I can see there are no bugs - just a couple
of continuity errors - but I've let Simon know of those.

Get your version of Gerbil Riot from:

Simon Avery, The Round Corner Shareware Library, Hamlyn's Cottage,
Old Exeter Road, Chudleigh, South Devon, TQ13 0DX

and remember to enclose œ3 if you live in the UK or œ5 if you live
anywhere else (that is not in the UK, so if, for example you live
in Paris, you should send Simon œ5 sterling. However, if you live
in London send him œ3. Now, if you live on Mars I think you'd need
to include a bit more - you know, what with these interplanetary
rates going up and up and the posties don't really like the
atmosphere up there, and the dogs, you should see them - great big
green things with antennae!).


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