Previous Next

Water is evaporating faster than it is being replenished, and the planet of Aquaria is in danger of drying out. A top priority project is underway at the Opah University in the city of Hydropolis, where, under the direction of the eminent Dr. Roach, a device is being built. The device is designed to teleport vast volumes of water to Aquarius, to reverse the flow, and thus save the Aquarians from a catastrophic drought.

Unfortunately, an interdimensional anarchist group, The Seven Deadly Fins, have other ideas. They are plotting the demise of Hydropolis, and hope to achieve this by sabotaging the project. The University authorities, convinced that the project team has been infiltrated, call upon Roach to investigate and fillet out the intruder.

And so it came about, that as I swam innocently into the plastic castle that had dropped as if from nowhere into my bowl and settled gently on the gravel at the bottom, I was mistakenly assumed to be an applicant for the job of special investigator, and transported into the body of Roach, with the task of saving Aquaria.

I found myself in Roach's luxury water-conditioned apartment, and collecting my Fishofax from the mantlepiece, I set off to nearby Paddington underground station, to keep an important appointment at Opah.

After looking around a bit, things didn't look too bright. In the project room itself, a wallplan showed that of seven components required for the Device, only one was in stock - a wallplan. The missing parts included such items as a filter, a case, and a shelf, and I soon got the idea that suitable equivalents might be found in unlikely places. I found a few, too, but actually getting hold of them, however, was not so easy!

Steve, for example, who runs a second-hand shop near Eelpout, was most insistent that the old case on display had already been sold. It was enough to make me decide to take the tube to Pickerel, and have a snifter or two in the Hook Line and Sinker. It was a terrible journey - the train was full of guppies.

Fish is the latest game from Magnetic Scrolls, and their third this year. Full of fishy puns, you may by now have gathered that you play the part of a goldfish in a watery environment. So having a drink in the local is a whole new experience, involving placing a mask over one's face to inhale the intoxicating gases.

The construction of Fish is unusual. Before getting into the main part of the game, it is necessary to complete three mini-adventures. The fish-people of Aquaria, as well as having all the usual fishy appendages, are endowed with arms and hands. As a mere goldfish, you are a plain fish, so the mini-adventures cast you in the role of a human to get you used to manipulating things when you eventually take the form of Dr. Roach. Solve all three mini-adventures, and you are judged trained and capable of tackling the job for which the fish-god Dagon mistakenly thinks you have applied.

The mini-adventures are really quite small, but nevertheless, they take a while to work through. You must retrieve a key from each scenario - a recording studio, a ruined abbey, and a forest of Kerovnian nature. These can be entered in any order, and whilst pondering on a sticky problem in one, you can pop out of it and into one of the others.

The recording studio is where you first meet up with the ubiquitous Steve, but success in getting away with a key is elusive unless you can satisfy his insatiable thirst for coffee. The forest has Pythonesque overtones. You won't find a pouch in its hollow stump - what you will find is a complete loony living inside it. Convinced he is famous for his philosophy that every man should find a bird, his own best friend is an exploding homing-pigeon with absolutely no sense of direction!

With graphics that have made Magnetic Scrolls adventures unique in their field, Fish is a completely off-beat affair. It will have you gurgling with mirth, until the air-bubbles trickle up your cheeks.