WADE WAR 3 - Author: FISH Software
          A Text Adventure on SynTax disk PD 604.

                    Review by Bev Truter

Contrary to what the title suggests, Wade War 3 is actually the
first release in the Wade War series of games, with Wade War 1 and
Wade War 2 to be released "soon". Wade War 3 has been written with
a system developed by FISH Software, and apart from being an
excellent text adventure, it looks a very elegant one as well. WW3
has been released as Shareware, and this unregistered version is
the complete, playable game, but missing both the Save and Restore
commands. Sending US$15 for the Registered version means you get
the Save and Restore commands, plus a hint sheet, plus a map. The
Registered version also has the phrase "not registered" deleted
from the top right-hand corner of the status line, where it is
displayed in this version instead of score and number of moves.

Both versions, Registered and Unregistered, have a built-in
automatic screen-saver, which activates after about 1 minute -
very handy. The screen goes blank, and the former status bar moves
up and down. The text colour is light grey on a black background,
with a bright blue status bar across the top. Other useful
functions available in the Registered version are a flexible
window size - length of screen and width can be adjusted using
switches, and the command LOGG sends all output to a printer. Also
available in the Registered version are programmable function
keys, and when first starting the game from the DOS prompt,
certain features can be turned on and off using switches.

The WADEWAR3.DOC file contains an excellent feature on text
adventures in general, and also an informative and readable "how
to play this game" section. The game has been beautifully written
and stylishly programmed. Excellent location descriptions ensure
that you are drawn into the plot immediately, and the overall
atmosphere is charged with excitement and tension. I only found
one teensy spelling error - "thrown" instead of "throne", but what
the heck, I was so engrossed in the game by then it seemed
irrelevant. WW3 is described as Intermediate in difficulty,
although beginners would probably enjoy this one too - every text
adventurer would enjoy this game, I think; I found it completely
fascinating and gripping from the word go until I became
hopelessly stuck midway to completion. Excuse me a moment while I
rush off to register WW3 - I need the Save and Restore
feature....AND the map......AND the hints......

[Footnote: I wrote to FISH software to check if they were still at
the same address, and they aren't - my letter came back with the
official 'unknown at this address, no forwarding address' stamped
on the front. So it looks as though a full registered version is
currently unobtainable.]

I saw this game on offer ages ago in the SynTax PD Library, but
always avoided it, as the title suggested something vaguely sci-fi
and Space-saga-ish to me - was this another silly Space-trading
game? Wade War? Trade War? Space War? - It had such a nothing sort
of title. And then there was the problem of the "3" in Wade War 3
- where on earth were 1 and 2? But rest assured, the game is
nothing like the images the title conjured up in my imagination -
this is classic Good v Evil, a fantasy text adventure set in a
mythical kingdom where magical powers still exist, and an
incredible adventure awaits you..........

You play the part of nephew to Uncle Seamore. He is a brilliant
scientific wizard, and although several of his experiments have
gone awry, you are the only one in your family who has always
recognized his true genius. Your family claims he has never been
quite the same after managing to lose himself in the basement of a
Pizza Parlor for 10 years, and now he has simply disappeared
again, without a trace. Being closer to him than anyone else in
the family, you fear the worst, and decide to search his apartment
for clues that might indicate where he is.

The game starts with you wandering around Uncle Seamore's
apartment, which certainly reveals his eccentricity. You soon
discover his journal, and on reading it you find he has been busy
building a transdimensional teleportation device, proving, he
claims, the existence of parallel universes. However, he has
discovered a possible imbalance caused by the device, which he
intends following up during his next experiment. This last entry
in the journal is dated just prior to your Uncle's disappearance.
In the Laboratory you stumble across a huge machine with a round,
red button - this, then, must be the device he mentioned. Of
course you can't resist fiddling with it, and soon you find
yourself teleported to another time, in another world.......and
this is where your adventure really begins.

You find yourself standing just outside a sleek black tower in a
strange place, with an ugly Troll-like creature beckoning you to
follow him through the thick bushes to the West. With the sound of
heavy footsteps marching towards you from the North, you'd
probably be better off listening to the Troll. Follow the Troll,
and he tells you briefly about the three sister Laws - The Law of
Prophecy, the Law of Intervention, and the Law of Advice. He says
Prophecy foretold of your coming almost 3 centuries ago.
Apparently Sibad Edaw is close to gaining the power to transverse
realities, and this power rightfully belongs to you. The Troll has
been sent by the Law of Intervention to give you something - and
he presses a small gold key into your palm. With the key comes a
message from Advice, the last of the three sister Laws - "Find
your own grave".  Having done what he was sent for, the Troll
disappears into the bushes, leaving you standing alone on a secret
path in the midst of thick overgrown foliage, with just a faint
opening to the North.

This is a fascinating adventure set in a fantasy world, where the
evil Edaw (Wade from another universe?) has to be foiled, your
Uncle Seamore has to be found and rescued, and help comes from a
strange source. A totally compelling tale starts unfolding as you
progress further and further into the adventure, and you will soon
find yourself caught up in the role you are playing and the events
that occur - as they say in the classics, the plot thickens, and
what seemed like a fairly easy quest to begin with, starts looking
decidedly difficult as you progress.

   ENJOYMENT:              8.5/10
   ATMOSPHERE:             8.5/10
   LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY:      6/10
   FINAL COMMENT:          Irresistible!
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