Romik has been taking a greater interest in adventures lately, and this is a good example of their range of games.

First the bad news. If you're a member of the movement in favour of graphical adventures rather than text, this game is not for you.

Personally, I think that a well-written textual game which creates a good atmosphere is superior to graphics. (Graphics tend to be RAM hungry.)

Enough rumination, on with the game. Sword Of Hrakel is of the classical mode with a standard verb/noun interpreter (since it will fit into a Vic plus 3K what more can you expect?)

The plot is simple: find the sword and save the world.

In order to do it you must explore the scenario, solve a few problems and use a lot of lateral thought. There is enough mental aggravation to give you many hours of teeth-grinding, cursing and general despair.

The usual SAVE and LOAD features for keeping a record of your progress are available and the game has a nice feel about it.

The text formatting is fair and there are no obvious bugs.

A.W.