DARKNIGHT - author anonymous
         A text adventure on SynTax disk PC PD 990

                    Review by Bev Truter

I wasn't expecting much from this game - yet another primitive text
adventure on disk 990; and two glaring spelling mistakes in one
screenful of Introduction sent my low expectations plummeting even
further. But wonders never cease, because in spite of all its
shortcomings this is quite an interesting game to play, generating
a surprisingly suspenseful atmosphere given there are absolutely no
room descriptions - you are simply told the name of the room, and
where the exits lead. There are very few noun descriptions too,
most objects just have the standard "it looks very ordinary"
description when you try to examine them. I suppose the game's very
lack of descriptions might be exactly why it's more atmospheric
than a game with poorly-described locations - you're just given the
bare bones, and your imagination can take over completely and fill
in the gaps. Before listing some of Darknight's peculiarities and
quirks, here's the Introduction, given verbatim.

"It is the year 906, a time when kings and their knights ruled the
lands. Struggle for control of Europe has fallen between two
mighty kingsdoms (sic). On a previous journey your king and his
royal guard were ambushed by a band of Darknight thugs. One of the
guards escaped, and reported that the king was last seen being
taken to Darknight. Being a responsible young prince, you decide
that a rescue is in order. This is an expectionally (sic) good
time, as well, for the mystical orb, the source of your power,
must also be retrieved. The journey is long and treacherous, and
you don't know how much time you have, so you seek the help of
your wizard.  He informs you that he can send you, but the only
thing you can take is a piece of advice: be careful!".

Darknight has a few peculiarities, which had me stumped at first,
stuck in the first location for longer than necessary. So here's a
list of some of the words it does NOT understand:
get - you'll have to use TAKE.
examine - only understands LOOK.
inventory - you can only use I - neither inventory nor inv work.
unlock - only "open door" will work.
look at - use SEARCH if you want to examine something closely.
There is no status line or indication of score, but typing "score"
gives you your score out of 195. Darknight accepts only a two-word
input, and if an object has an adjective, eg. "silver key", it is
referred to by the adjective, not the noun, so only "take silver"
will give a response; or "look silver" - "get key" and "examine
key" gives the "I don't know what you are talking about" response.
Typing "instructions" during play will bring up a short file on
how to play the game, and if you need further help you can peek at
the PASSAGES.DAT file which has chunks of text relating to the
major problems in the game.

As the Introduction suggested, you start the game outside
Darknight Castle, and you'll have to find a way in, and then roam
around trying to find out what's happened to the kidnapped king,
and where the mystical orb has been hidden. Along the way you'll
find 7 pieces of coloured crystal, which need to be magically
combined to form a single shard, which will open.....something.
There's a strange Beast lurking below ground in his lair - make
sure you're adequately protected before tackling it.  And that
strange statue in the Junction...so incredibly
life-like....Perhaps you'd better find something to eat as well,
before you feel too hungry - the kitchen and dining hall seem full
of edible possibilities.

You can `end' the game minus the orb and king, but the townsfolk
waiting to welcome you home as a hero are decidedly disgruntled if
you have neither king nor orb (sorry, `mystical') with you. If you
escape the castle with either the king or the orb, but not both,
they are still not happy chappies - there's just no pleasing some
people...only having both king and orb will ensure a suitable
hero's reception.

There are some nice puzzles scattered about this game, and one
terrible maze, near the end. Darknight has a total of 80
locations, 50 in and around the castle, and 30 in the underground
maze. The lack of object descriptions means that some puzzles are
difficult to solve only because of a lack of information about the
objects you are carrying - one example is a bar. I assumed it was
an iron bar, like a crowbar or lever of some sort, and a friend
who played Darknight assumed it was a fixed object, as in cocktail
bar; but it turns out to be neither of the above.

I found this an enjoyable medium-sized game, pleasant enough to
while away a wet week in winter. Although the room descriptions
are Spartan in the extreme...well, non- existent really, you can
give your imagination some exercise and create your own Castle
Darknight in your mind's eye.

ENJOYMENT       4.5/10
ATMOSPHERE      2.5/10
DIFFICULTY      5/10
FINAL COMMENT   I wouldn't give it a rave recommendation, but it's
good enough to play and enjoy.




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