Previous Next

Yet another superb adventure from Epic. This time you aspire to join King Arthur's round table at Camelot. Unfortunately, it is not quite as simple to join as you thought. In fact Arthur decides that you will have to perform an deed of valour to prove your worthiness. After much deliberation he decides that the task you will have to perform is to find and return the Holy Grail.

To this there are gasps of amazement from the assembled knights and one even shouts "Impossible!" How right he is! I've been trying for the last two weeks so I should know!

You start your quest on a hilltop outside Camelot. Your first task is to explore the surrounding forest. You will find various objects scattered around here and two very annoying knights who won't actually attack you but do insist on refusing to let you pass.

You eventually come to a large tree. You can climb it with a ladder and a plank (hint!) and even fall partway down through the branches before climbing down to the ground. But unless I'm missing something, you can't then climb back up it!

Your next task is to find your way through the swamp. Here the save game facility is a life-saver, literally! Once through the swamp you have another one of those knights to thwart. But providing you have successfully investigated the surrounding countryside you shouldn't have any real problem here.

Once the knight is vanquished you have a magnificent castle to explore, complete with dungeons, secret passageways leading to mysterious and distant locations and doors that refuse to open. I shan't tell you any more about the adventure - I couldn't if I wanted to. This is where I got stuck!

Suffice it to say that there are about 230 locations, of which I visited about 100, a maximum possible score of 8,000 (I got 2,000) and about 140 words recognised by the program. The puzzles are superb and I think praise is due to the program's writer.

As is usual with Epic, a small cassette insert gives general instructions and a synopsis of all their other adventures. The game loads in three parts. The first program displays the Epic logo and produces a merry little tune. The second gives background information on the scenario, with some simple commands to get you started and then loads the main program.

Overall, while I wouldn't recommend it to an absolute beginner, it is a superb adventure and excellent value for money. Compulsive! I think having now tried all three of the Epic adventures, that they must be the yardstick by which all future adventures for the Electron should be judged.

P.S. If anyone gets those doors open, please let me know how you did it!

Merlin