Zenobi Reviews @~All games in this section are supplied by Zenobi Software and @~are PC or Amiga emulated Spectrum text adventures. In all cases, @~the unregistered version of the emulator is supplied with the @~game. For more details, or to order, contact Zenobi Software, @~26 Spotland Tops, Cutgate, Rochdale, Lancs., OL12 7NX. Prices @~are œ2.99/disk plus 25p P&P. @~This issue we have reviews of The Well of Zol, the latest game @~from Laurence Creighton, and Balrog's Day Out. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Well of Zol by Laurence Creighton/Zenobi (Available for PC and Amiga) Played on the PC with Emulator by Joan Dunn A Virus ... strange and previously unknown, is spreading rapidly across all countries of the globe. No-one is immune, no-one is safe. People are dying in their thousands ... panic reigns for there is no known cure. Only one man offers hope to mankind. PROFESSOR ZOSTER, an eminent virologist, has been experimenting with several substances in the hope of producing a vaccine. He knows of a well in which grows a fungus containing the missing substance he needs to complete his cure. With this fungus he is confident of success in producing a vaccine and stopping this ravaging disease which is destroying mankind. The professor is an old man and the journey to the well would be too arduous for his frail frame. However there is always someone mad enough to volunteer (especially in adventure stories) and you say you will go in his stead. So you set off with the professor's words ringing in your ears ..."Good luck, my boy. You will need it!" You start in a clearing from which you can go in all directions. South is a stream, too wide to jump and filled with piranhas, so you decide not to wade through. North is a large repulsive looking statue in front of a cave. West leads you to another clearing and east to a crossroads. South of the crossroads you meet a woodsman, not the chatty type, unless you try to take his axe. North of the crossroads is a cabin and examining the floorboards you find one of them is warped, now if you could lift it, that might be a useful item ... but how? There is a mine shaft you need to explore. It's dark in there, but you have cleverly found a lamp, but guess what? ... No bulb! So that is another puzzle to solve, and so on to further problems. The usual abbreviations apply and there is a Ramsave/Ramload facility, also percentage score. There are a few new commands, LIN ... look inside, LUND ... look under and LIND ...look behind. The text is pleasing, easy to read white on black with objects in blue. A few sound effects and after 200 turns, there is a flash of lightning and you receive a piece of paper with several clues to help you on your way. The usual problem with two word inputs to find the right synonyms. Not always the obvious one, and I was held up quite a while trying to sharpen a scythe, tricky one this. Apart from that grumble it is up to Laurence's usual slick standard with good problems, plenty of them and logical solutions. Search is much needed, sometimes more than once in a location. Everything has a use ... even a plaster covering a sore on your hand comes in useful. There are a number of hints in the text and descriptions of objects and locations, so you need to be careful not to miss anything. Not a large number of locations, but each one is important to the adventure. A good game, I never got bored with it and was sorry when I finished it. Don't miss it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~Next, Balrog's Day Out ... * BALROG'S DAY OUT * ---------------- Author: George E. Hoyle Zenobi Software (PC and Amiga - Spectrum Emulation) Reviewed on Amiga by: Philip Richmond This is a Spectrum text adventure written using Gilsoft's Professional Adventure Writer (PAW) and works on all Amigas via the Spectrum Emulator, which is supplied on the disk. There is also a PC version. The game is a sequel to the 'BEHIND CLOSED DOORS' trilogy released over 5 years ago (also available from Zenobi) and written to satisfy 'demands' for another episode. The previous 3 games all involved Balrog's attempts to either enter or escape from the small outside loo located at the bottom of his back garden. If you have ever played any of these you will know the sort of thing to expect. 'BALROG'S DAY OUT' continues in a similar vein... The Mighty Balrog, together with his wife and son, are visiting a nearby Theme Park and, after excursions on some of the 'hairier' rides, Balrog feels his stomach rumbling and gurgling - the first tell-tale signs that he will once again need to visit the porcelain pretty soon! You, the player, must guide Balrog to the lavatory which is situated on the other side of the Park so that he can do the necessary! Failure to complete this task within a certain time limit will result in Balrog's bowels erupting and the game will come to a rather 'messy' end. There are plenty of 'toilet jokes' and humorous responses which have made this series so popular, but I found myself wondering how a scenario like this could possibly have spawned 3 sequels. I guess there's no accounting for taste - some people obviously relish wisecracks about the 'smallest room' and 'natural bodily functions'. Players should be warned that there are phrases and sayings that may offend the more mild mannered. (although the instructions say it's all a bit of fun and done in the 'nicest possible way'.) Careful exploration is needed early on to locate a much required object and so avoid getting sidetracked by red herrings which have been deliberately planted, so you need to examine everything and LOOK UNDER and LOOK BEHIND objects. One of the first things to be found is the 'Goblin Gazette' newspaper which contains some game news and 'in-jokes' about adventure writers. The adventure magazine 'PROBE' even makes an appearance! Talking to the various characters can elicit some amusing banter as well, and there are some extra hidden messages which can be called up using special inputs which you can look at when you have solved the quest. I found trying everything and even repeating some commands sometimes produced the desired effect and enabled progress to be made. The very first 'Balrog' game consisted of just ONE room (the toilet) with several puzzles to be sorted out before exit was allowed. BDO is not a large game either. In fact, it can be solved in around 50 moves - once you know how to! However, don't let me give the impression that it is easily solved. To one, such as myself, who had not encountered the 3 previous tales in the saga, it did come across as a rather 'strange' game, at first. Although there are a couple of puzzles which will cause much hair wrenching at times, BDO is a a fairly simple game. I got stuck early on with a score of 10/100 and it took several play sessions to improve my position, mainly because I had failed to spot a vital object. Had I found this earlier it would have saved hours of frustration - typing in inputs which were simply not required or just irrelevant to the solution. BDO is a standard adventure game (BOG standard??) presented in the familiar PAW text format. Phil's Rating 63/100 ------------- 69/100 if you're a toilet freak! - o -