Personal Computer News


The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain

Author: Mike Gerrard
Publisher: Puffin
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Personal Computer News #067

Beat The Warlock

Beat The Warlock

At first glance this appeared to be Halls of the Things - without the things. This version of the Crystal game is tied in with a paperback for the new Puffin Personal Computer Collection.

Objectives

Your purpose in both book and game is to get through the maze hiding the Warlock's fabulous treasure, while battling off Orcs, Spiders, Slime Moulds and other creatures. You must also collect 15 keys randomly hidden about the enormous maze, then escape again with the treasure chest they unlock.

In Play

The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain

You won't be surprised to learn that you need 19 fingers to cope with the controls. A joystick option would have been very welcome, but the keyboard must cope with facing or moving in four directions, drawing or sheathing your sword, firing your bow, opening and closing doors, pausing the game, turning music on and off, and plenty more.

Lots of work to do, but you can't get back to the instructions for reminders once you've started playing, so perhaps they should have been printed out on the cover.

The vast maze offers simple graphics for corridors and large chambers while well-designed creatures wander around the place at random. As soon as they get a glimpse of you, they come after you.

The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain

The best defence is often to run like mad before the spiders, as getting in the right position to fire an arrow or hack with your sword can be tricky.

The base of the screen displays the extent of your wounds, and obviously you can only suffer so much before ascending (or not) to that Great Hall of Fame in the Sky.

You score 100 points for each key you collect, and different points for any monsters you kill. Or at least I've been given 100 points for each of the paltry few keys I've managed to collect so far.

Even although there's only the one fast-moving skill level, it will take a very good player to collect all the keys, the chest, and escape again.

Verdict

If you've already got Halls of the Things then you won't be interested in this, and although it's rather a contrived way of linking a book with a computer game at least they've both already proven their quality.

Mike Gerrard

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