BEST OF THE INDIES - VOL II (emul) PC/ST/AM/Spec --------------------------- Various Authors. Zenobi Software 2 Disk set. œ6.99 Reviewed by: Phil Richmond on an Amiga. Here is a set of six good text adventures written with the aid of the Gilsoft PAW system by some clever independent authors. This compilation was released as a sequel to Zenobi's first 'Indies' collection which was reviewed by Steve Clay in a previous issue of SynTax. The games were originally written and released on the Sinclair Spectrum some years ago and received much praise and high ratings in the now defunct 'Your Sinclair' magazine. These games have now been converted to most formats and run with the aid of the Spectrum Emulator which is supplied on the disks. 1. The Gordello Incident by Tom Frost ---------------------------------- This is an original, perhaps unique game in that the screen is split down the middle. On one side you play Clone AB and on the other side you play Clone BA. One or other of them always does the exact opposite of what you type in... while the other one doesn't. Confused? You will be! The aim of the game is to try and get both clones into the same place at the same time! Not easy I can tell you, and it's in 2 parts! If I didn't already know it, I wouldn't have guessed this was a PAW'ed game. The display and layout is so unlike the usual format of these games. Very unusual. Full marks to the author for originality. This one will set you thinking as it has strong puzzle elements. 2. Crack City by Garry Cappuccini ------------------------------ Part 1 of 'The Snow Dogs Trilogy', Crack City is a sort of secret agent game. You get the choice of playing one of three SIF agents. What makes this game stand out is the graphical display in the upper half of the screen. There is an exit display, a portrait of your character, a room picture, and an items display. Beneath that is an information bar which shows numerical info on TIME, CASH, SKILL LEVEL, SIF RATING, MORTALITY, SCORE and TURNS TAKEN. Quite an amazing achievement by the author! The game combines skill, strategy and traditional adventuring and most definitely deserves its coveted place in this outstanding collection. 3. The Hermitage ------------- A 2 part game of murder and mystery set in the Gothic era. Text only. You are a priest who awakes with a painful headache near a dark, brooding monastery. A satanic evil is abroad and there is witchcraft and sorcery to contend with. After some exploration you will discover dead bodies that have been cruelly disfigured. Collect all the objects in the monastery and then bravely make your way into the nearby village. You will have to rescue a girl who is being burnt at the stake, exorcise a vampire, enter a burning hut, visit a dark cave and a mysterious forest... Suffice to say 'Hermitage' has a good plot and bags of scary atmosphere. A goodie! 4. From out of a Dark Night Sky by John Wilson ------------------------------------------- You play the role of Martin whose car conks out on a dark, lonely road at night. Looking up at the bright, glowing red sky you see strange alien pods falling to the ground... A sci-fi text game which has you searching the surrounding area to find and destroy these uninvited intruders. You will need to be bold and have your wits about you though, as some puzzles have a limited number of moves. Don't forget the car keys either! Can you rid the earth of these alien invaders? and is it all a dream anyway? An exciting game with a tense, creepy feel. Locate and eliminate the pods - before they hatch out and get YOU! 5. The Bounty Hunter by Jack Lockerby ---------------------------------- More sci-fi. This text game boasts 1500 locations. It starts when you beam down to the planet Karakata to a place called the Sea Of Stones, a flat, drab, lifeless expanse of landscape. As it's a huge game the location descriptions are necessarily brief, but all pertinent info is clearly displayed. There is a also a status line which keeps you updated on your progress, energy levels and score. There are LOADS of places to visit. Jack has penned a clever scenario and used PAW creatively to make this a gem worthy of inclusion on this package. 6. Diablo by Mark Cantrell ----------------------- Another space adventure set in the far future. 'Diablo' is a very good split-screen text/graphic affair, the location graphics occupying the upper portion of the screen. It's a three parter - so plenty to keep you occupied for hours and hours. You have been sent on a special investigation to find out what's going on a space cruiser. The story begins when you dock in the shuttle bay and enter the ship's cabin. You'd better get a move on though, as in a few moves there's a great explosion that rips through the cabin caused by a bomb in the docking bay! Probably caused by some evil saboteur. Once you've obtained a magnetic pass card on an upper level you can access the Science Officer's quarters thereby obtaining clues and important objects to make headway in your quest to solve the mystery. Apparently some alien lifeform which has been bred has got loose! Movement is by normal compass direction and also Port, Starboard, Forward and Aft. A nicely plotted, logical game bearing some similarity to the old Level 9 'Silicon Dreams' trilogy with shades of the 'Alien' movie. Remarks ------- All 6 games understand the standard adventure commands as well as SAVE, LOAD, RAMSAVE, RAMLOAD. This set offers you the chance to play some of the best adventures ever written for the Spectrum by dedicated authors. They even rival some of the PC and Amiga PD and Shareware adventures that are around today. My only criticism is that some of the illustrated games took a short time for the graphics to be drawn before an input could be entered when moving from room to room, but even this may not be a problem on some of the faster chip machines. Congratulations to Zenobi for putting together a fine feast of meaty marvels guaranteed to satisfy any avid adventurer's appetite. Contact Zenobi Software at: 26, Spotland Tops, Cutgate, Rochdale, Lancs. OL12 7NX - o -