Personal Computer Games


Devil's Causeway

Author: Robert Patrick
Publisher: Kaydee
Machine: BBC Model B

 
Published in Personal Computer Games #15

Devil's Causeway

The first and probably most important thing to say about this game is that you mustn't be deceived by the packaging and the blurb. This game isn't a conventional arcade affair; it is a light-hearted educational package aimed at kids of about 10 years old.

You are cast as a soul lost in Hell and you must move along the Devil's Causeway if you wish to escape from the clutches of Satan and go free. Along the way you will encounter some rather strange people (servants of the Devil?) and these will try to trick you. This they do by setting you a problem.

For example, Simon Summer will ask you to add up a string of numbers and type in the answer in a set time. Colin Crusher attempts to crush you with a crane and to stop him you must find a letter on the keyboard. Lenny wants to kill you outright so you need to avoid his lightening and this is more a matter of luck than judgement.

Bob has a Blob and you must shoot it in under a minute or sacrifice a life. Basil the Bomber is a raving maniac and he invites you to open one of three boxes to see if it contains a bomb. This is a matter of either pure luck or clairvoyance. There are a whole host of further freaks to be found.

As a game, Devil's Causeway isn't outstanding, in fact, if it was being sold purely on the strength of its gameplay. you could guarantee that the manufacturers would have quite a few copies left over. However, the strength of Devil's Causeway is not as a game for home use but as an educational tool in primary schools. It is a valuable program that tests memory skills, mental arithmetic and keyboard familiarity in a way which is relatively enjoyable and not intimidating or patronising.

Chris Anderson

Frankly I was appalled. A series of computer challenges of the kind programmed by kindergarten children strung together to make the most pathetic excuse for a computer game I've seen for months.

The section in which you're supposed to dodge a lightning bolt is absurd, since it's impossible to predict where it will strike. The dice game is pointless and the addition sum about as original as Pac-Man.

If Warlock say it's for kiddies, what are they doing constructing a scenario based around the Devil? This tape should be consigned to the fires of Hell forthwith.

Shingo Sugiura

Flicker, flicker, flicker, click, click, click, boring, boring, boring, would probably sum up this game nicely.

I know it's meant for the youngsters, but even so, I would have been disappointed if I'd typed this game in from a magazine, let alone paid for it!

In fact, if Warlock Software makes any money from this 'game', I must seriously consider going into the software business myself. I could become a millionaire.

Robert Patrick

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