Amstrad Action


Death Pit
By Durell
Amstrad CPC464

 
Published in Amstrad Action #1

The pit in question is a maze of ladders and tunnels in which all manner of nasties lurk and from where you must rescue 20 gold bars and a gem. You are the intrepid explorer who has to bring the treasures back to his tent above ground.

You are equipped with a spade for killing monsters, oxygen for breathing when in flooded sections of cave and batteries for powering your pit lamp. The caves cover 80 screens and walking off one screen flicks you to the next (sometimes straight into the path of an enemy). The monsters come in two main types. Slime and spiders drop from patches in the ceiling and along with fire breathing dragons cannot be killed. Scorpions, spiders and bats travel along the tunnels and ladders but can be dispatched with your spade. You are most vulnerable when using ladders since you are defenceless unless you have time to stop and use your spade.

Gold and the gem can be picked up in place of spare equipment but running out of oxygen or battery power will lose you a life so spares should be kept handy. The game has a time limit and if the gem isn't recovered soon enough the game ends.

Good News

1. Large playing area. 2. Tough task calling for mapping and fast action.

Bad News

1. Incredibly frustrating deaths - the flick-screen feature makes it impossible to avoid blundering into monsters.