Previous Next

Adventure International have been raking it in recently with some very successful releases on a number of machines. Not content with The Hulk and Spiderman, they've now released Robin of Sherwood, a text-and-graphics game based on the TV series of the same name.

The program is written by Brian Howarth, who may be familiar to more experienced adventurers as the man behind the old Digital Fantasia range (Ten Little Indians, The Wizard Akyrz, and so on). Since working for Adventure International he's produced Gremlins (and Supergran for Tynesoft), so he's a man who should be able to turn out a good game if anyone can.

Unfortunately I can't help thinking that old Brian has got a little lazy of late. Don't get me wrong. Robin is quite a good game and Mike Woodroffe's graphics are excellent, but there are definite signs of short-cuts in the programming.

The game is in split-screen format with a very attractive display for each of the 70-odd locations. Entering commands is. however, another matter altogether. First, the program doesn't tell you which words it doesn't understand, replying simply 'Huh?' or 'I don't understand.' This in itself wouldn't be so bad. but at the same time the program will also ACCEPT a whole load of words it doesn't understand, but simply take no action.

For example, at the start of the game you find yourself locked in a dungeon. Once you've escaped from there, you must race through the castle escaping the guards and make your way to Sherwood Forest and safety. At this stage (and at any other stage, come to that) you can enter such commands as 'Hide under bed' and the program will accept them quite happily. Does this mean you're hiding under the bed? No. my fellow travellers, it does not. It just means that the program is being a little lazy and not making the effort to set the record straight.

Another small criticism here - the program appears to have implemented its own key-fetch routine, and if you're a fast typist you'll find it can't keep up.

Once you've escaped from the castle, you are given the task of finding the Six Touchstones of Rhiannon, an ordeal that will involve solving a number of other puzzles (including winning an archery contest). I can't help feeling that this 'go forth and gather treasures' lark is a bit old-hat now. In fact, after wandering around Sherwood Forest and solving a few puzzles, I began to think that, despite the recent showing of the TV series, the game itself is really rather lacking in state-of-the-art programming techniques. It seems to me that Adventure International's policy is to release games that are tied to the latest in media hype but are, in fact, not much better than the games we were all playing two years ago on our Yecchtrums (if we were unfortunate enough to have one).

This is all very well, but haven't AI heard of interactive characters? And what about a bit of original script-writing? OK, so no-one's sallied off into Sherwood Forest to bag a few touchstones before, but I reckon there must be dozens of adventures with plots that are pretty near identical.

Still, there are some nice graphic touches. Animated waterfalls, close-ups of Herne the Hunter (who's he? I hear you cry - good question), and lots of forest scenery. In fact rather too much forest scenery - out of all the locations there are only about fifteen of interest - all the rest are trees and shrubbery.

This game will probably sell like hot cakes, and people will go on thinking that a game like this is a good adventure. Well, it ain't. It may look pretty, it may have glamorous graphics and pictures of movie stars on the cassette cover, but deep down inside it's just one of those old pick-up-and-examine puzzlers with a small vocabulary. And everyone will write in and tell me what a boring old twit he is and why didn't he think Robin Of Sherwood was the greatest thing since Gremlins. Perhaps it is, but I have hopes of greater things and will continue to badger software companies on your behalf to improve their product.