Deena of Kolini
   (AGT text adventure on Disk Ref 168 (PC) or 261 (ST))

                      Reviewed by Sue

Look out; the evil Gendi tribe are on the warpath! They have
invaded the land and are attempting to conquer it and enslave the
people. Though many tribes, including your own, banded together
against them and a terrible battle ensued, many of your side were
killed. You, a young female warrior, were the only one captured
and are currently in the dungeon of a castle which used to belong
to a handsome prince and is now in the hands of the Gendi. Death
would be a welcome release from the horrors the Gendi General is
planning to inflict on you and he should be arriving in your cell
any minute now. Luckily you had the foresight to steal a piece of
cutlery from a serving tray and have been digging away at the
mortar between the stones of your cell. Will the General have his
wicked way with you? Not if you can help it!

Once out of your locked cell and into the adjoining one through
the hole you made and carrying a torch which had been conveniently
lying in your cell, you discover a bloated corpse next door.
Examining the body will give a hint for your next move and you'll
hear a "clink" as something falls to the floor and the body
(amazingly) disappears in a puff of smoke. However when you look,
there's nothing to be seen - apart from the body vanishing again
... and again.  Pause for thought .... then make use of the handy
GET ALL command and you will pick up two seemingly-invisible
items, one of which is a key and the other a piece of parchment
signed "Merlin" which, once read, will give some hints for your
best course of action - hardly surprising since it is entitled "Ye
Olde Eskape Planne".

Leaving your cell, you will soon discover that almost everyone is
out for your blood - or worse. It's lucky you're a strong young
lady and well able to take care of yourself, especially once
you've found some weapons hidden in a cabinet though the method of
unlocking it may seem a mite strange.

The game is described by the author, E L (Ev) Cheney as an
"adventure for women warriors". I am a bit confused by this - does
he mean it will appeal to women, in which case, Ev, I'd say you
were wrong. Does he mean it features a heroine?  More likely I
think, unless Ev has a strange opinion of what sort of games women
like to play. I'm all for a bit of hack and slay myself (though
only in adventures, of course) but Deena is R-Rated which means
adult-only in the States and thus features a fair amount of rape
and torture as well. 'Nuff said.

Deena of Kolini is written using the Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT)
which, as you all know, is an American adventure writing program
producing text-only games. Two sorts of games can be produced with
it - standard or professional.  Deena is standard level in all
senses of the word. Standard level games feature a limited number
of built-in verbs such as read, examine, pull, push, turn, unlock
and open. This means a rather inflexible game. It is only in the
professional level games which use metacommands that AGT games
really come into their own. There are exceptions, of course, but
Deena isn't one of them.

An ability to spell is an advantage when writing a game and E L
Cheney has been short-changed in that department too. So in the
11-line introduction to the game we have such gems as a "handsom
prince", "letcherous", "morter" and the inevitable confusion
between "its" and "it's". There also seems to be some confusion as
to whether you are a member of the Kolini or Koloni tribe. Later
on you will find a "jeweled" pendant and a "cabinette". I could go
on but I won't. Suffice it to say that things don't improve and
are further complicated by incorrectly labelled exits, various
bugs and a 17 room maze of caves (the complete adventure only has
50 locations).

The one nice touch (yes, there IS one) is the inclusion of limited
graphics done with ordinary keyboard characters. They may be
simple but they are effective and recognisable and show some
effort and time has been taken over them. It's a shame I can't say
the same for the game itself.

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