FIRE RUBY
               Written by Laurence Creighton

      Reviewed by Karen Tyers on a PC under emulation

This the latest game to come from the pen of the Master himself,
although after playing only half of it I have decided to rename
him Laurence the Evil!  I always felt that Mummy's Crypt was the
most difficult game he wrote, but I think personally that this one
overtakes it by miles.

You start the game in a boat out at sea, presumably lazing around
and having a good time, until suddenly along comes a bottle
floating in the water.  On retrieving this you find that there is
something tucked inside, which is not going to come out easily....

Having managed to get the boat to shore (watch out for one or two
people appearing and disappearing throughout the game who shall
remain nameless for the moment), you find yourself on the main
street of a small town, where you can visit a library, a hardware
store, an antique shop, a beauty salon and a travel agents.  First
priority is getting what appears to be a map out of a bottle, but
this is definitely not as easy as it looks, and even when this is
managed, you find that the said map disintegrates in a very few
moves.....  It makes very interesting reading though, telling the
story of a lost gem, i.e. the Fire Ruby of the title, so you
decided to see if you can track it down and return it to the
proper owners.....

Having explored the town thoroughly, you manage at last to find a
way to leave (perhaps not in the way you intended, and it's a one
way trip!), and find yourself deposited on a small jetty with only
one way out.  Not to bad you might think, but that exit is
unfortunately blocked by a tripwire, and getting past it is no
mean feat.  A couple of moves further on brings you to the edge of
a deep pit, and guess what?  The only way is down....

Searching around in the pit, you might find, if you're lucky (not
dense like me) that there is a way out up the other side, but it's
certainly difficult to locate.  While you're down in the pit you
can also find a secret tunnel.  I thought I was being really
clever, until I found that the floor of the tunnel was covered in
sharp spikes, and I couldn't get across them.

By this time I was really pulling my hair out, and several very
rude e-mails were flying through the air waves, to the said
Laurence the Evil, begging for help.  I informed him, more than
once, that the number of pins in his effigy was growing by the
minute!

However, pressing on finds you in a forest, where you can find a
convenient tree stump, a cobbler's shop, a locksmiths, an
explosives store that you can't get into, a small brook, and the
shore of a lake, completed of course by the scenario of `you can't
swim so how do you propose to get across?'

However, a way was found and as soon as I landed on the other
side, I was faced with a very high brick wall that had me
completely stumped because I had read something and taken it
extremely literally.  Once past this I came to a cliff which was
not climbable, with a path to one side, guarded by some pillars
with an electrical current passing between them.  When I finally
figured out how to get past this, I managed to find the way up the
cliff, only to be faced with a locked hut in one direction, and a
guarded bridge in the other - and that's as far as I've managed to
get so far.  I thought I was doing really well until I checked my
score and found that I had only achieved 48%!!!

This game (so far) is absolutely packed to the brim with difficult
puzzles.  I have been playing it for 4 weeks solidly and haven't
even managed to get halfway.  This is an absolute must for all
dedicated adventurers, but I think it will take even the most
experienced a long time to complete.  Certainly not one for
beginners.

@~Fire Ruby is available through Zenobi Software for œ1.49 but you
@~must supply your own disk. Remember to say which version you
@~want - PC, ST or Amiga emulation. Zenobi are at 26 Spotland
@~Tops, Cutgate, Rochdale, Lancs. OL12 7NX.
                              - o -