Zut Alors! II - part of SynTax Disk 783
              (Text adventure for Amiga only)

                  Reviewed by David Froude

Zut Alors! 2 is a text only adventure produced by Brian Asbury and
is the sequel to Zut Alors.

The game has been created using the Hatrack II Adventure Generator
from Heyley Software.

In the game you play the part of Cyrano de Bergerbar, a young
Gascon swordsman, a member of the legendary King's Musketeers.
This tale commences a few months after the previous adventure Zut
Alors. He has found lodgings near the Musketeers' headquarters and
has acquired a dim but loyal servant named LePlank.

At the beginning you are handed a note which leads to visiting
your Colonel. The task he sets you is to ........., but that's
part of the tale.

The text is written in partially fractured English, for example
"You are standing in ze vestibule of your lodging 'ouse off ze
..............", this can add to or detract from the game
depending on your current disposition. I found it a little
offputting at first but when you get into the spirit of the game
it provides the right atmosphere.

The text inputs are normal, i.e. direction - N, S, E, W, SW, U and
so on, L(ook) etc and for these basic commands a Compass is
provided for mouse action. This is I believe a feature unique to
the Hatrack Generator and can be quite useful when retracing a
well beaten path. Words inputted on the keyboard must be two word
commands like 'get something' but the parser can also handle
longer descriptive actions like 'take the note, go north, pick up
the bag of money'.

It pays to be polite and chivalrous when wandering around but
always keep your sword handy for not everyone you meet is
trustworthy. Beware of thieves!

All in all it's an enjoyable game and provided you are in tune
with and enjoy text only adventures you should like it too.
However it's a pity that the Hatrack Adventure Generator did not
go one step further and make provision for graphics. However, even
still graphics may now be considered to be dated when compared to
the point and click graphic adventures.












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