The Sword of Peace

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

NOW FIND A FRIENDLY MONSTER The king of a far off country has died and as his heir you must prove your worth by going down into a maze that is crawling with monsters. Artic Computing's Sword of Peace is a classic adventure game. You must move around the maze, entering sets of move co-ordinates, to find the objects of state. These include the Orb of State, the Robes of State, and the Sceptre - and finally the Sword of Peace. The game is played on several different levels. When you find an object you are automatically transferred to the next level of the maze. The monsters are divided into two categories good and bad. You can actually have a good vampire! To begin the game you are given a series of four spells which you can use against bad monsters. Your first two encounters with good monsters are very advantageous. Firstly, you are given a direction meter. This tells you the number of moves you are away from an object. Nothing is ever that easy though. The direction meter only gives you one number to use. For a co-ordinate fix you need two, so you do not know whether you are moving in the right direction. This is remedied in your second encounter with a good monster. It will give you a direction meter which shows two numbers. This shows you the number of moves you need to make in each direction before coming across the object. Combined with the first meter it is invaluable. Good monsters can also teach you spells. They are not guaranteed to work and you can lose a lot of points during battle When you have been through all the levels of the maze, and have all the Objects of State you can exit and are proclaimed as the new king. Sword of Peace runs on the ZX81 16K, and is available from Artic Computing. The cassette costs £6.95.