Civil Service: Part Two - Jack Lockerby/Zenobi œ2.99 (Text adventure for Spectrum, emulated on PC, ST or Amiga) Reviewed by Shebo on a 1040STe This game is available through Zenobi and, unsurprisingly, it is run through the standard Spectrum emulator. This means that the game looks primitive and lacks all of the 'mod-cons' which you would expect to find on a modern adventure. Because of the emulation, the game runs very slowly and it is often frustrating to be typing away and then to look up at the screen to find only half your letters having been inputted. The plot behind the game is short and simple. The Civil Service has an entrance exam which all prospective members must pass to enter its ranks. For the more aspiring student, however, there is an extension exam for which only those with superior minds and public schooling may take part in. This is where the game starts. You are a wannabe Civil Servant and you just happen to have a superior mind (allegedly) and have had been to a public school. Lucky old you. The game is not like a standard text adventure. What I mean is that you don't have a scenario with a little world which you walk around. Instead you are in an enclosed environment which consists of just plain rooms (in interesting geometric shapes). Also the puzzles you come across aren't your standard garden variety - there is no get object x, give it to person y to receive z points. Instead the game is subdivided into a number of different logic problems. The logic problems run from the usual crossword affair through to the infamous numerical square where you must supply the missing number and matching animal names up to their group definition (eg a herd of cows). If you like logical puzzles - of both the numerical and verbal variety - then you will probably find something you like in this game. However the puzzles aren't all THAT difficult and often the stumbling blocks appear because of the archaic interface and parser used by the game. Quite often I found I knew the solution to a puzzle, but I couldn't figure out how to get the computer to accept my input. Even when I resorted to using the solution there was one puzzle which didn't accept any of my inputs and not even the 'official' solution by Zenobi. Other problems with the game lie in the way in which the puzzles are implemented. Take the crossword, for example. Here you must map out your grid by entering a small kind of maze, and this can become quite tedious. Also having to match up fourteen pairs of cards proved to be a nuisance. Overall I didn't find this game too enjoyable. The puzzles that were there weren't ALL that taxing, once I had found out the correct input, and also there just wasn't enough of them. There were only a few puzzles and only one example of each puzzle variety, so given these constraints as well as memory problems it's not really surprising that the game is small. If you like logic problems and are a fan of Jack Lockerby or Spectrum emulated games then this game will suit you. If you like logic problems only then buy a book of them. If you like neither steer well clear. - o -