Starting At The Dead End

Previous Next

Let's face it, we BBC adventurers are becoming spoilt. There are so many top class games about now that a new adventure has to have quality and imagination to grab the attention.

And so, having loaded A&F's Horror Castle, and sat down in front of the TV set, I was a bit disappointed at first.

"Your objective is to release a beautiful princess ..." What, another one? These days, you can't move inside the average castle without tripping over imprisoned princesses.

There seem to be an awful lot of them about - or could it be just one terribly unlucky girl? No matter. On with the game.

My second disappointment came almost immediately. Text-only adventures are greatly enhanced by imaginative de scriptions of the locations.

The initial set-up in Horror Castle is this: "You are at a dead end". Hardly deathless prose.

By now I was expecting a pretty poor game, and was ready to reach the poison pen. But an hour later I realised I was well in to the game and enjoying it.

Although it isn't a very long game, nor a particularly difficult one, there are enough puzzles to intrigue even the most seasoned campaigner.

The HELP and EXAMINE commands are useful, and there's a nice little twist at the end, just when you think you're cantering home.

Admittedly there are a few spelling mistakes that impart a vaguely amateurish feel, but overall, it's well put together, and good fun.

Not a great game, but a good one, and ideal for the inexperienced adventurer.

James Bibby