C&VG


Coma
By Kalisti Enterprises
Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #54

Coma

Had I been an up-and-coming brain surgeon, then my personal rating for Coma might well have been nine or ten. However, I am not, and so I did not find anything remotely exciting, interesting, or even humorous about this adventure set inside the brain of the player.

The preamble goes something like this: While taking a quick walk down the street on a simple quest to buy some cigarettes, you cross the road rather carelessly, and get hit by a passing car.

"Your task is to travel through the dark maze of Hindbrain, the bizarre logic of Midbrain, the banality of Forebrain, and the antiseptic splendour of the Frontal Lobes, to finally re-awaken and continue your quest," says the blurb that accompanies the cassette.

You start off to find yourself floating in dark ocean of cranial fluid, unable to see anything. You find yourself carrying a hungry synapse, and a grain of salt.

As most adventurers will immediately realise, a synapse is an interlacing of one nerve cell with another, and so what more obvious, seeing as it is hungry, but to feel it with the salt?

That got me five points, and the synapse sparkled, allowing me to see - until the salt ran out.

I didn't particularly like what I saw, being a bit on the squeamish side.

Although, if you have a somewhat gory side to your personality, you may well enjoy the plot. I didn't.

I wish Kalisti luck - it is nice to see new adventure specialists appearing - but I fear they will have to take a hard look at their scenarios if they are to make a success of the venture.