Computer Gamer
1st March 1987The Inheritance
Originally written in France for the Amstrad, The Inheritance is subtitled "Panic In Las Vegas". Your aunt has died and you stand to inherit a fortune providing you manage to overcome one slight problem. You have to emulate a feat that your aunt achieved some thirty years ago, namely win a million dollars in a single night in Las Vegas.
Before you can start placing bets all over the place, you must first get to Las Vegas and this is no easy matter. To start with, everyone in your block of flats seems to know about your impending good fortune and is determined to claim back what you have acquired from them in the preceding months!
Should you get out of the flats, you must then successfully catch your flight, avoiding such minor hazards as the odd hijacker or two. Only then can you concentrate on building up your capital starting with only the $200 that your aunt left you. The three games to try your hand at are Jackpot, a slot machine variant, Boule, which is a form of mini-roulette and Craps, which is a dice game.
The game is controlled using the cursor-control keys - there are no redefine or joystick options. Starting off in your flat, you can carry up to eight items in your case. These can be found by opening the various drawers and cupboards. What you take is of great importance, for as soon as you step outside your door, the other occupants start to accost you, demanding that you return what is theirs.
You only have a small amount of time to open your case and give up the appropriate item; otherwise, you are sent back to your flat, the character reappears in front of you and asks you exactly the same question, wasting more of your valuable time.
The first part of the game is just a case of finding the right object for the right person. These involve certain stereotypes. For example, the black guy with the big rubbery lips has to be given the trumpet, and so on...
I can't say that Inheritance really appealed to me at all. The gameplay is frustrating and tedious and simply a matter of going through all the various alternatives. The cartoon style graphics are reasonable but the gameplay itself is woefully lacking.