1994 seems to be the year of the text adventure revival, with Topologika's offerings reviewed last issue and now this tidy little game from the Floppyshop.

At first glance, Stone Cold Sober is promising. There's a useful interface, making use of the mouse to enter the commands and objects and a tiny image describing most of the locations. The accompanying story is well written, to the point that you wish it actually had an ending... but that's up to you to provide by playing the game.

So, there you are in The Frying Fish, a real ale pub in Brentford, mingling with the clientele. Interesting locations include The Toilets - a strange square room with oddly-shaped porcelain containers screwed to the wall, containing urine-stained dog-ends; but the more astute adventurer may want to wander outside for a taste of real Brentford (no jokes about nylons please) and the shed with no floor in Tim's allotment.

All this may sound very interesting, and to be honest, while you're playing, it is. However, SCS does seem to have more than its fair share of bugs (being able to pick up things that aren't there, so your inventory is made up of a series of blank lines, for instance). Not the most ideal feature for a game, it has to be said.

Also, while the idea of a point-and-click interface is quite appealing, it does tend to be limiting in the "typing-in-a-swearword-and-getting-an-amusing-reply" stakes. Come on, in all those days of playing Scott Adams, Magnetic Scrolls and Infocom adventures, you didn't type in a teensy-weensy rude word once? (Remove that halo from your head at once!)

But, for all that, Stone Cold Sober is an interesting and almost playable game, with a story that makes you itch to know what happens. Just a little more bug-fixing please, Mr Floppyshop.

1. Well-written and amusing introduction.
2. Good point and click mouse interface.

1. Bugged to, er, the proverbial.
2. Could do with a modicum of colour.