Journey's End

Crash

Atmosphere 6/10

Vocabulary N/A

Logic 6/10

Addictive Quality 6/10

Overall 6/10

Derek Brewster 6/10

DEREK BREWSTER'S ADVENTURE TRAIL BLINKING GOOD TIME I've just finished reading the last issue of Crash and in Lloyd's FORUM is a letter suggesting some of the Crash team have been working too hard. Well in my case perhaps this is true. If you've been with this industry right from the start (and for the sake of argument we'll conveniently draw this particular line at the launch of the Spectrum on mail order only) then you will have seen some changes in software. In the early days of microcomputer software there was only one real consideration: did the new piece of software take the Spectrum a step further? This was the era of the programmer when everyone looked to the Z80 gurus to lead the loyal flock to a new glorious technological high. Often, games design was complex and intended to be so. Microcomputing was a closeted environment for those who were fed up with watching the likes of Tomorrow's World on TV telling of the future age that never seemed to appear. (Indeed the old joke - 'if it's been on Tomorrow's World you'll never see it' finally came home to roost). Anyone who really wanted a microcomputer could afford one and had already gone out and bought one. So no matter what the media tried to do or say they were powerless to stop the ground swell of enthusiasm for the new technologies. And herein lies the irony of the whole situation. It was the media which hounded and harangued the public for being so slow on taking up new technology when it was the media and the bureaucratic hierarchy itself which was dragging its feet. Now the world of microcomputing software is a little different. It is a mass market and has all the risks and responsibilities of any other mass market. A game which pushes the Spectrum to its limits is now not automatically acclaimed but is only judged upon how good a game it is; can a twelve-year-old play it without reading the instructions and if he can, will he notice gameplay slowing at any point due to moving large sprites/vast numbers of sprites etc ? Better to keep all the sprites the same size and pilfer other companies' ideas and routines. If all the cynicism which has built up in, say, TV and film marketing, now comes to software there won't be a single person over the age of twenty playing games software. And that would be a shame. Perhaps it's time to take the blinkers off. JOURNEY'S END Producer: Master Adventure Retail Price: £ Language: BASIC Author: M Prescott, C Gonsalves, T Everson Journey's End describes itself as a Sword and Sorcery adventure but is probably better described as a hotch-potch of three mini-games strung together. In Part One you move your character around a dungeon in what amounts to a poor man's version of Out of the Shadows, with your lantern lighting the way before you. I say 'poor man's' because the lighting effects are crude when compared to Shadows and the feel of the game is not as air-tight with points lost and gained willy-nilly. Part Two sees you and your party travelling up a map searching for a way across the river you meet half way up it. Part Three has you roaming the corridors and chambers of a castle. The poor quality of the first game is a shame since the trilogy as a whole has some redeeming features. The local sage Thorvald tells you of your father's quest to banish the evil curse on the emperor which keeps him bed-ridden with the hell-fever. The object of his quest was the Elixir of Hagar the Demonic, an elixir named after the scoundrel who set the curse upon the emperor. Part One sees you continue your father's quest from a dungeon on the edge of the empire. Part One is a rather poor game where the cursor keys are used to propel your little character around a dungeon lighted around you by your lamp. Presumably, as you make your way, you fix lights to the walls, as once lit any part of the dungeon you have visited remains lit. There are two parameters by which you can judge your progress. At the top of the screen you are kept informed on the tally of gold pieces you possess (found scattered around in money bags, in the form of gems, or as gold dust in bottles) while next to this is the state of your character's strength. The standard of presentation throughout these games is generally very slick but on this occasion your gold tally can cause the display to jump or even wrap around onto the next line should it grow too large. As you move about, your character is subjected to various nasties like mysterious arrows shooting from walls, low rooves banging your head or even collapsing upon you, rocks tripping you up or bottles exploding on you when what you expected was a refreshing drink. Some of these fates may not sound too horrific but when you consider that each represents a significant loss in strength points, and a score of 0 means death, then you feel each and every blow that comes your way. In addition, opening doors before you have found the key for that level's doors requires strength and so you may well consider it unwise to open any doors before finding the all-important key (this key also allows you to leave the level and teleport to another). The over-riding factor with this first part of the adventure is luck rather than skill. Where you might bang your head, or whether a bottle you open contains a healing potion or poison is totally arbitrary. Thus the game reduces to no more than keeping a cursor key depressed until progress is barred by some report or other. There is literally no skill which you can bring to bear on the game. You leave this part by way of a genie from a bottle offering freedom or by way of steps chosen randomly from a level. If, like myself, you tire quickly of this first part you'd be wise not to refuse the genie's kind offer (indeed, I can see many of you reading this review simply in order to work out just how you do escape this wretched part of the adventure). If you survive Part One which, considering the pitfalls just waiting to decimate your meagre strength points, is no easy matter, you then must advertise and then select the best mercenaries to take with you into Part Two. One diversion at this stage is the Gambling Option which allows you to gamble some of your gold coins on a curious selection of rodent race meetings with names like The Ratokill Classic or some such other humorous titles. There is more humour when changing from one part to another when Arfin Goldbeard says 'There is one thing you must do to continue your quest'. What is that?' you ask. 'Press any key and start the tape' Arnfin replies. Part Two of this game has some very noble features whereby the six characters you've chosen to accompany you on your mission search for food and attack the enemies you meet in rather impressive combat routines. Journey's End is the type of adventure where progress through the various terrains is achieved by pressing a cursor key. It consists of three parts which are linked by a transfer of gold, strength and members of your party which you select from advertising paid from the proceeds of your booty or gambling. Part One is very arbitrary with no skill involved, Part Two slightly less so as you do need to take care over your route through the landscape, whom within your party you choose to fight in the front line, and which members of your party should reap the benefits of any food found. Sleep will conserve strength but two men must guard the party. COMMENTS Difficulty: tricky in places Graphics: good in places Presentation: good (in places) Input Facility: cursor key movement and number options Response: yes