Ultizurk III - The Guildmaster's Quest
                (RPG on SynTax Disk No. 928)

                      by Laura Duncan

Well, here we are again, strangers in a strange land.  Or perhaps
not, I think the guildmaster has been here before, probably in
Ultima, oops, I mean Ultizurk I and or II but I haven't so I shall
be looking at it all with a fresh but wary eye.

Trouble has already brewed in the land of King Eldor before we
arrive, late as usual, but not too late, I hope.  We, the
guildmaster and trusty female companion, Loki, start outside a
rather grand castle that seems strangely empty apart from one or
two unusual glowing creatures that we eventually start to talk to.
The main man, King Eldor himself is glowing gently in his throne
room but manages to explain that the kingdom has been invaded by
bad creatures who have a tendency to violence.  To get out of their
way the king has cast a spell moving all the good people into
another more ethereal dimension, which though safer is not so much
fun as the material world.  Cutting to the bottom line he would
like us, please, to get rid of the bad creatures, thankyou, so that
life can return to normal.  Well that's the plot.  Oh and to aid us
we can use anything we find to help with the practical details.
The King is also helpful in being able to HEAL, ADVANCE and HELP
you.

The game is of course a RPG with a top down view of our little
people (in 256 colour graphics) filling half of the monitor screen.
Control icons occupy the middle, accessed by mouse or keyboard, and
two lovely portraits of our adventurers form the rest of the
picture.  Clicking on the chest icon takes us to the inventory
screens and from there we can move to equipping or unequipping our
characters.  It's all very straightforward and rather charmingly
simple.  There are other icons for looking, picking up, saving
money (a ledger), fighting and even a map that helps in finding
where to go.  Sounds are basic using the PC sound chip.

So is it any good?  I'd have to say, yes, it is quite enjoyable in
a primitive way.  There is a huge area to explore which you can
find out about by talking to the geographer in the castle.  The
place is littered with stuff to collect and there is a storage room
in the castle to keep your valuables.  As usual you need food to
give you energy and weapons and armour to face up to the beasties
that pop out to attack you.

Nearby the castle is a village with shops and training facilities.
Talking to the natives, who are visible, but in a different
dimension fills in a lot of detail and gives you ideas about where
to start sorting things out.  It's very much part of the game to
winkle out this information while playing so I won't give too much
away.  However it does seem as though the Guildmaster has been
quite friendly with some of the locals in the past.  The business
of talking involves actually typing words into the computer (don't
sigh, not many words, and it does give you the spelling) so it is a
bit tedious though children seem to enjoy this activity.

This is a capitalist society, so money is essential.  You can find
it, or sell things to get it, or get yourself a proper job and
jolly well earn it.  There are magic weapons that need mana to
operate them and all manner of exotic weapons and armour in the
shops.  The cute pictures, especially when you open the chests,
tree stumps and deceased persons are attractive, well my children
aged four and ten, liked them.  Exploring is initially on foot but
there are rafts to cross the sea to travel to other continents.
The game area is big and there's lots of quests to go on.

There do seem to be a few glitches in the game.  I had trouble
giving a gem to this bossy Queen who asked me to go and get it for
her!  Talk about gratitude.  Also the screen started flashing red
during some combat bits but I have a feeling this could be special
effects.  There is a phone number and address to get in touch with
the author in the U.S.  for registration and access to even more of
this adventure.

So if you feel like a bit of old fashioned exploring, puzzling and
fighting this could be for you.  However the emphasis is on old
fashioned so don't expect a state-of-the-art powerhouse of
excitement.
                              - o -