Previous Next

Admit it: how often have sequels failed to match the originals? That's right - far too many. I missed the first Druid, but this particular "Part 2" is such fun that if the prequel is better, I shall buy it yesterday. (Eh? Ed)

Enlightenment wasn't inspired by a book, a film or a 50-part Readers Digest serialisation. No, it was inspired by Gauntlet instead. Our hero is a druid. (Wot, did you gather that from the title by any chance? Well be patient, will ya?) Acamantor has returned after 103 years (so that's when Druid was released) and Hasrinaxx the Druid must seek him out once again in his tower. Dotted within the lands of Belorn are spells - 32 of the blighters - which Hasnnaxx must cast to aid his battle against the living dead and the evil elementals.

Hazza - that's to say, you - can carry only eight spells at one time so you must choose which you need wisely. If you've reached your limit, you can always come back later (assuming you survive) or forfeit one, which makes for tough decisions as they're all useful, and once gorn, they're gorn forever. But use the little grey cells - cast a Waterwall against watery adversaries and they'll love you to death for it!

Only one of the four elementals may be used as your servant at any one time - you can either boss them about with the three commands Wait, Follow or Send, or you can control them properly with the joystick (if you're willing, or course, to leave Hasrinaxx a sitting target). A useful trick if you're low on energy and with-out a banquet spell is to block yourself into a corner with your elemental (oo-er) and just wait.

Although hard to tell from the booklet, it would appear that if you cast the White Orb spell against Acamantor in the tower, you win the game. The word used is "properly" - I'll leave you to find out exactly what this means.

Colour could have been better used in the monochromatic scenes since characters often get lost in the shadows. Nevertheless, Enlightenment is a wizard wheeze (sorry) (Yes, so are we. You're fired. Ed) that should keep you going well into winter and beyond.

Truly magical Gauntlet variant, demonic in it difficulty - you'll return for another spell again and again.