Previous Next

Your task in Castle Frankenstein is to search the ruins and grounds of Frankenstein's old castle for his creation and kill it. The monster was thought to have been killed twenty years ago in a fire at the castle, but after a series of recent murders the village lives in fear. You've got to take your life in your hands in your search for the monster.

This adventure may be run from tape or disc, but it contains 230 rooms and many objects and problems. As with the other Epic quests, you are given adequate instructions, and a list of the most basic words from a vocabulary of about 140. You can use abbreviations in almost every case.

There is a facility to save the game to tape: this is very quick, being about two blocks long.

The program is written entirely in machine code, so response time is quick. Colour has been used on-screen to liven up the presentation, a feature of all Epic games that should be more widely used. The messages you are given are of real help in finding out what purpose objects serve or why you can't do the obvious. For example, you get different message if you're trying to do the impossible, you're in the wrong place, or you need an object you haven't got.

As the game starts you find yourself in an inn in the village. Soon you'll encounter a shop where you can buy things and a forest. Now the clues start to fit together. An interesting feature is the way getting killed or falling down pits can be useful - you'll see what I mean after killing Ygor (the hunchback) and being killed by the monster.

The content is excellent, the game holds together well and is fun to play. Like the other two Epic games available at the moment, it is good value for money at £7.95.

Stuart Menges