ICE PRINCESS by Rudiger Hanke (c) 1997
 (A text adventure on SynTax disk 904 (Amiga) & 1158 (PC))

                   Review by Bev Truter

The Amiga PD version of this game has already been reviewed by
Phil Richmond in SynTax issue 43 as part of `Gecko's Adventures
1'. However, the PC PD version of Ice Princess appears to be much
longer than the Amiga one as you can progress quite far into the
game (50/130 points) before you realize that it's necessary to buy
the registered version if you want to finish the game. And yes, I
agree wholeheartedly with Phil on his last comment - this cutback
version gives a good idea of the quality of writing, and the full
registered version IS definitely worth the asking price; 20DM to
the author in Germany (about œ7 or œ8, I think).

Rudiger recently converted his original Amiga version of Ice
Princess into an Inform version for the PC, with all the usual
features and ease of use that characterise the Inform gamewriting
utility. Although English is obviously not Rudiger's first
language, Ice Princess is well written, with descriptive locations
which provide exactly the right sort of wintry feel to the whole
game, which is a kind of fairy tale set somewhere in an icy
northern hemisphere winter. Brrrrr! Just the sort of game to enjoy
in summer, I think.

The main thread of the plot in Ice Princess is to find a way of
entering the castle to rescue the missing `princess', who went
wandering off across a frozen lake and up a snow-covered hillside.
It was a case of love at first sight for you (you play the part of
a young orphaned lad), so naturally you followed her across the
lake and up the hill; but now she's nowhere in sight. Perhaps
she's been taken to that strangely deserted castle - will you ever
manage to lower the drawbridge to gain entry?  The outdoor
locations are all set in this freezing winter landscape - not
surprising really, given the title `Ice Princess'. Indoor
locations are a bit warmer though, and overall the PD version
rambles over approximately 38 locations. You can enter the castle
after solving several puzzles, and get as far as the Gaming Room,
where a game is laid out on the table. What sort of game? Register
for the full version and find out, as this is: [a] apparently the
cut-off point for the PD version, or else [b] I'm too thick to be
able to progress any further.

As the story unfolds you'll have to interact with several of the
game's inhabitants to obtain help in solving some of the puzzles.
There's a crying kid outside the castle, a wounded fawn in the
woods, and a surly guardian preventing you entering the Crystal
Caverns. Now what would cheer him up? Some appreciative tourists,
perhaps? There are also several assorted animals to deal with, and
it appears there are a number of objectives in this game, along
with the main rescue- the-princess thread to the plot. Chatting to
the Healer in his hut reveals that you must bring him 3 objects,
and he will give you something in return. But he phrases his
request in such a cryptic way that working out exactly what he
needs is a puzzle in itself.

This is an interesting, busy kind of game that will keep you
guessing, to-ing and fro-ing across the wintry landscape while
trying to work out what to do next. If only you could get that
fish from the bear near the river, or borrow the crying kid's
toboggan, or cheer up the guardian of the caves so he might let
you in to explore.  Aaaarrgghh! So many puzzles to solve, and so
few solved.

This version kept me entertained for about 2 weeks, and I expect
the full version will strain my brains for quite some time to
come. If you like text adventures, have a squizz at Ice Princess
and see what you think.

ENJOYMENT      6.5/10
ATMOSPHERE     6/10
DIFFICULTY     6.5/10
FINAL COMMENT  Atmospheric and entertaining - definitely worth
ordering the full version.




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