Torin's Passage - Sierra
            (Graphic adventure for PC on CD-ROM)

                      Reviewed by Sue

The start of Torin's Passage shows a tragic sequence of events as
a King and Queen are killed by a mysterious force while a baby is
spirited out of the palace and taken to safety by his nurse. When
we see a later scene and meet Torin and his elderly parents, who
are spirited away by yet another strange force, we're bound to
think, hey - could this be the same chap?  Having been given a
hint by a mysterious stranger that a sorceress called Lycentia
could be responsible for the disappearance of his (foster)
parents, Torin sets off on his passage - in two senses of the
word. For this is not only a physical journey, it is a quest in
which he will undertake a "passage" of a more spiritual nature,
finding out exactly who he is.

His physical journey, however, is just as far-reaching, taking him
through the various layers of his world, aptly named Strata,
because the mysterious stranger told him that Lycentia could be
found in The Lands Below. First he will have to find a way into
these mysterious regions. There is only one route, and it's
guarded by a dwarf gatekeeper who is waiting for his replacement
to arrive. He's been waiting an awfully long time so he won't
actually check Torin's credentials ... but he will want several
favours before he lets Torin take over. Torin will then have to
work out how to use the controls and this visual puzzle is the
first of many that you'll have to solve during the course of the
game.

Torin's constant companion during his travels, save for a short
part near the end, is a strange character called Boogle. I'm not
sure what he's meant to be but he has shapeshifter abilities ...
once he's seen an object, he can mimic it. Not every object,
obviously, or the Boogle code would have taken over the adventure,
but he has a fair repertoire of shapes.

The Lands Below are arranged like the layers of an onion. First
there is Escarpa, arranged vertically down cliff faces, locations
linked by cliff paths and bridges. Here Torin will meet a silent
yet helpful washer woman, a King and Queen (whose daughter is
missing) and a strange sitcom family called the Bitternuts. (I
found them the only annoying and unfunny part of the game - I
think it was the canned laughter that drove me crazy). In Escarpa
Torin will be on a hunt for tiles and only when he has collected
the full set of nine and arranged them in a particular order will
he be able to progress to the next land, Pergola. This starts
off as a woodland area with shades of Gulliver's Travels but this
scenario isn't fully explored and is merely a means of introducing
the "Love Interest" in the guise of the shapely Princess Lena.
There are several more visual puzzles in this section which
involve little singing creatures who wear items of clothing of
particular colour.  As Torin ends this section, he travels on -
alone - to Asthena.  This is a land of lava flows, a big maze and
yet another visual puzzle, involving the passage of light through
a series of crystals this time.  Finally Torin arrives in the last
region, Tenebrous, and after taking part in a strange talent
contest, our hero will be ready for the final showdown.

Torin's Passage is the best Sierra adventure I have played so far.
Okay, it may be a bit cute and aimed at kids rather than adults
but I found it very enjoyable and I prefer a game to entertain
rather than shock (which is why I haven't touched the
Phantasmagoria series). Some of the puzzles were solved more by
luck than good judgment and I'd be hard pressed to explain how I
got the answer.

The controls are easy to use. Remember that some screens can be
scrolled across - that caught me out more than once and is
sometimes essential if you're going to progress. Torin effectively
has 2 inventories ... one for items that he is carrying, and a
second for Boogle's abilities. Carried items can be viewed on a
hologram plinth to get the fine detail - again, this is essential
in some cases.

The best thing for me about the game was its appearance. Torin's
Passage is a true cartoon and I love cartoons! The animations
are hand-drawn cels and it shows ... if you tell Torin to, say,
pick up an item, he goes through a complete routine of movements,
beautifully executed and very entertaining. The speech, sound
effects and music are all digital and a pop-up teleprompter
lets you recap on recent conversations. There is also an
auto-save function, and built-in hints if you need them.

This is a very classy game from start to finish and a surprising
departure in style for programmer Al Lowe, who also brought us the
Leisure Suit Larry series and Freddy Pharkas, neither of which
were known for their subtlety (I still remember the farting horses
in FP). There are definite possibilities for a sequel for
Torin's Passage, which leaves several questions unanswered but I
haven't heard rumours of one.







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