Torreoscura is a Spanish graphic text adventure created by Bieno Marti and written using the Gilsoft Quill adventure system. Originally released last summer for the Commodore 64, the game has been translated into English and released for several other systems, including the Amstrad CPC, PCW, ZX Spectrum, Oric and even MS-DOS.

Bored with your mundane life, you've decided a change is needed. And, as fate would have it, you have just received a mysterious letter from your old school friend Marc, inviting you to the remote town of 'Torreoscura', a place you've never heard of before but decide would be the ideal vacation spot.

The game begins with you arriving at the town's small airport, but with your friend Marc nowhere to be found, you decide to head off into town and check into the hostel you'll be staying at, where this two-part horror style adventure begins.

The main storyline is well written, although I did have a fair idea of what was going on quickly and had worked out where the story was heading in the second part of the game.

I'll leave the story there with that in mind as I don't want to spoil anything. Playing the game, what is immediately noticeable are the excellent and well-drawn monochrome graphics that greatly complement the game's atmosphere.

Also evident is the slow and eerie in-game soundtrack that plays throughout and once again complements the game well. The two parts of the game aren't huge in terms of locations, but there's enough to make it feel a lot bigger than it is. Drawing a map isn't essential here, and you'll rarely find yourself lost, but of course, nothing wrong with doing so.

Puzzles are all fairly logical, with a few tricky ones thrown in for good measure. There's nothing I would say that's impossible, but there are 'red herrings' among the objects, and to add to this, you can only carry up to three things at a time, meaning it's good to drop an item once it has fulfilled its purpose.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed playing through Torreoscura and found it refreshing to play a graphic text adventure that wasn't too short and had some tricky puzzles to solve. Too many adventure games these days, I feel, are far too easy, but Bieno and his team, for me at least, have the balance just right.

My only minor gripe was the ending, which I feel could have had an alternative option, but other than this, I highly recommend playing this quality horror adventure.

Torreoscura is available as a free digital download and comes with an excellent and well put together PDF manual which explains the back story and how to play the game. You can also order a physical copy of the game in either cassette or cartridge format from https://amigastore.eu