REDGUARD Originally Bethesda Softworks, now on the Sold Out label Win 95/98 - P166 - 32Mb Ram - 3Dfx recommended Reviewed by Stefan Herber This game was released after the mighty 'Daggerfall', which I played several years ago. Anyway, I fancied buying it at the time, but was put off when I discovered it was one of those games where you have to guide a character around 'Lara Croft' style. I much prefer my RPGs to be 'First Person Shooter' mode. Anyway, I didn't bother with it until I saw it in the January sales this year for the vast sum of œ4.99! Well, I couldn't resist, but I rather wish I had, even at that low price. The manual, in the budget pack, is of course on the CD and you have to use Adobe Acrobat to read it. The game is on two CDs, one for loading, one for playing, and although it claims to be 3D it will only accept the 3DFX chipset (it plays fine on my old Voodoo2), or you can use software mode. The game sets out to tell the tale of a Redguard from Hammerfell (which you'll know about if you have played 'Daggerfall'). His name is Cyrus and he learns that his sister has disappeared, and his quest is to find her. He lands on the island of Stros M'Kai and from thereon you have to help him achieve his goal. The game is not in any way an RPG, but rather an action adventure. You can't change any of Cyrus's stats or his appearance. I hate to be too negative, but the controls are horrible. You cannot use the mouse, and must guide Cyrus with the arrow keys. This isn't too bad, except that the viewpoint has a disconcerting tendency to swoop up and down and every which way, which is very annoying when all you want to do is go forwards. Fighting is done using a combination of keys, and is basically hack and slash, and I admit that I still haven't got the hang of it after several weeks of playing. Unfortunately you can't rest to recover hit points - you can only take potions. You are supposed to spend your first few hours on the island talking to everyone you meet about your sister's disappearance, and you soon learn that there is a background story going on about local politics, which I didn't find too interesting, so I won't go into it. Unfortunately, you have to go through every topic and sub topic with everyone, and they nearly all say the same sort of stuff, so you are sick and tired of hearing it after about ten minutes. The male voice acting is quite good, especially Cyrus himself, but the women are dire. There is one absolutely appalling female with the most dreadful voice I have ever heard, but I discovered, via a good tip on the internet, that if you allow Cyrus to approach her with a torch equipped, she will disappear in a puff of smoke, and he will remark 'Excellent'. I really enjoyed that . I found manipulating the hero very awkward. The game is all about jumping, tightrope walking and surviving in awkward spots, and trying to keep him alive with the keyboard is very trying. Especially when you consider that once you have got Cyrus to where he wants to be in a dungeon, after many hours of saving, and loading, and tearing your hair out with frustration, you have to turn round and go back the same way! There are no quick exits from dungeons, unfortunately. There are also supposed to be some truly challenging puzzles later in the game, but I haven't got that far yet. Graphically, the game is quite good, considering its age, and the music is quite attractive. Maybe I am too old to have the patience for all the saving and reloading you have to do in this game. The need for the pixel- perfect manoeuvres actually reminds me a little of Ultima 8, but without the RPG elements. I was sorry I didn't enjoy Redguard more, because it didn't strike me as a bad game, just not my sort of thing, and I think that I'll soon be uninstalling it and maybe even going back to Daggerfall. This is purely a personal opinion - if you are a person with infinite patience, who likes action adventures and are not put off by keyboard controls, then I would suggest you give it a try as you may well enjoy it. - o -