Amiga Power


Quest Of Agravain

Author: Matthew Squires
Publisher: Codemasters
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in Amiga Power #16

Quest Of Agravain

Looking for that extra-special Codies game is rather like looking for the free gift in a cereal packet. You come across plenty of sweet, crispy little appetisers, occasionally the odd bad one and once the rest of the contents are on the table, the gem you're looking for.

Sadly, Quest Of Agravain is no gem. It's a climbing platform game in which you control a knight called Agravain. It would seem that knights suffer from rapid ageing and, with all the Grecian 2000 finished, Agravain has been sent on a quest to find the Elixir of Youth. Find this potent substance and all your pals back at the round table will be spritely again. Fail and it's crinkly wrinkly time and off to the retirement home.

Your quest with Agravain comes complete with three lives (looks like Agravain's found some elixir of his own already). Secret rooms must be found, and locked doors opened (guess what fiendist trickery you need to employ to achieve this feat - yep, keys). The evil standing in your way varies from nasty warlocks to giant spiders. A sword is your only weapon, but you get a coat of armour to protect you from wicked spells and other treachery (read: little blobby animal sprites). Oh well, that's alright then.

Climb the platforms, collect food, grab power-ups - it's all very unoriginal stuff (in fact, it's all very Rainbow Islands, but with bits and pieces of just about every other platformer we've seen to date). Nothing wrong with that per se, but with the lacklustre playability it all becomes very frustrating and boring, and nothing in the game really grabs you by the lapels and says 'Look at me, I'm interesting!'. You won't find the extra effects and special features of platforms like Rainbow Islands and New Zealand Story, and you won't find any of their fun either.

The Bottom Line

There's nothing terribly wrong with Agravain. It's just dull - the burnt cornflake of a packet of cereal if you like. It's the Joe Soap of platformers.

Matthew Squires

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