Zzap


Wolfman

Publisher: CRL
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #37

Wolfman

Rod Pike writes a good story. His previous adventure exploits have impressed me - Dracula, Pilgrim and Frankenstein - and so it was with some anticipation that I loaded Wolfman.

A young man wakes, covered in blood, memories of a night of horrors flood his mind. The body of a naked, brutally murdered woman is found in the town, her throat has been savagely torn out. Rumour that the werewolf curse has returned spreads through the populace with wildfire. The man, frightened and confused, slips into the shadows...

Wolfman is in three parts. The first involves you as the anti-hero realising, and trying to come to terms with, the fact that you're a werewolf. You must fight the curse, resist the temptations of flesh or be forever plagued by the nightmare. Part two allows you to take the role of Nardia, the girl who falls in love with the man who is the werewolf. The main aim of this section is to survive a night in bed with him without getting your throat slashed. The third part involves avoiding hunters and finding the monastery of Fi Shan which is reported to have the cure to your curse.

Wolfman

Wolfman is typical Rod Pike. If you like the guy's work - as I do - you should enjoy this offering. It utilises what I assume to be the Graphic Adventure Creator to the full extent of its capabilities, Rod has created an extraordinarily involved game. From the first screen full of text, you're drawn into the world of the lycanthrope with the help of vivid descriptions that positively drip atmosphere onto the keyboard. Some of the puzzles are a little obscure, but the storyline urges you on to battle through to the end.

Admittedly there are one or two little programming errors which deviate from the near perfection of the prose, but none are too obvious to distract you from the eerie ambiance created. The three parts together with the great storyline and absorbing text make Wolfman a must for all adventures, even if the graphics are a little over the top.

Two versions of Wolfman are to be released, one which does not require a board of censorship certificate due to its static, although gruesome, graphics and an animated version which, due to the rather odd video censorship laws does. The certificate awarded to the moving version is an '18'.