Martian Chronicles
                   (PC Graphic Adventure)

                  Reviewed by Jenny Perry

For those who don't like technical games - read on ! I always
expect sci-fi games to be grey and full of horrible mechanical
puzzles. This isn't like that at all - in fact you may wonder if
this is a sci-fi game at all. This is set on Mars, which seemingly
has no Martians except time travelling spirits. Earth has
colonised Mars - but something unexplained has happened and the
colony ( which looks like a Middle American ghost town ) has been
deserted. Your mission is to discover the secrets of Mars and to
do as much research as possible on the mysterious Martian culture.

You begin the game in your rocket with a mission briefing. After a
quick look around you will find your toolkit, stuffed with useful
things like a mapping tool and a scanner. You enter the
transporter and find yourself on the outskirts of the deserted
colony. There's lots to explore and read with the aid of your
scanner, including a cave with mystic crystals, a church - like a
house with a plethora of concealed rooms and nooks, a Martian art
gallery, a prison and a strange generator room. Sadly the game is
timed. You should have 12 hours, with time lopped off for taking
Martian artefacts.  For some unknown reason if you run out of time
Earth blows up!  However, perhaps due to the effects of the
Pentium chip, you have a maximum of 4 hours gameplay. I found this
very disappointing. You can complete the game in just over an hour
if you don't do too much research.  What a shame all the early
promise of the game fizzles out - and it has a nonsensical ending
too!








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