Amiga Computing
1st May 1993
Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: ICE
Machine: Amiga 500
Published in Amiga Computing 60
ICE continue their buy-'em-up policy and bring us the second instalment of the spooky D&D tale
Abandoned Places 2
London Zoo isn't the only one to feel the current financial pinch. Publishers of Abandoned Places, Electronic Zoo, unfortunately went belly up late last year, but not before they finished the coding on the sequel. ICE bought up the rights, and here it is for your delectation.
It's all put together by the same team who did the first one, who incidentally most recently brought us Piracy. Continuing from the original, we are led to believe that "the world has moved on" - 400 years on in fact, and that the Pendugmalhe creator of the once evil (but now dead) Branagh, has decided to take out his revenge on the world.
Now the world isn't too keen to be the recipient of said vengeance, and to cut a long story short, a select party is sent to confront the vengeful Pendugmalhe and to save all and sundry.
If you played Abandoned Places - and who wouldn't after the sparkling review afforded it by Gamer? - you can transfer your saved characters; otherwise, it's a scratch start.
After a beautiful animated intro, what we find is basically everything one could expect in a Dungeon Master clone, namely, dungeons, monsters, swords and spells. Dodgy control method apart, there really isn't a huge glitch at all.
The game is very large indeed and far from easy to finish, but products of this ilk are old, and they look it.
Finding your way around a too-familiar maze and tackling monsters may be many people's idea of enjoyment, and quite right too, but the concept and novelty wore thing long before now. And although Abandoned Places 2 is a better-than-some representation of the genre, the fact that we are in 1993 means it finds itself, unfairly perhaps, in the Fanatics Only zone.
Verdict
Games of this kind are very dated, but hey - some people still prefer flares, and since this is such a large game, there is great depth and scope for adventure for D&D fans.