Message from Andromeda

Big K

Graphics 1/3

Playability 1/3

Addictiveness 0/3

Overall 1/3

Steve Keaton 1/3

MESSAGE PARLOUR MAKER: Interceptor Micros FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £5.50 Taciturn space walkabout for interstellar adventurers. While trolling happily through deep space, a rather obtrusive distress call crackles across the wire. As its point of origin is a passing planetoid you're naturally tempted to don your moon boots and investigate. Exactly WHAT there is to investigate, though, remains unclear. Indeed I finally pulled the plug none the wiser for my efforts. Perhaps the call originated from another disgruntled Dorkslayer trapped deep within its database? We may never know. Many of the locations are supported by instantaneous split-screen graphics, but their effect is rather diminished by the total lack of any real descriptive text. 'The control room' is typical of the type of narrative on offer. this locale is only marginally more interesting than 'The red room', or indeed 'The reception room'. the thing informs with all the verbosity of a foreign bus ticket (Infocom eat your heart out). Input is via the standard verb/noun arrangement. All very ho-hum. Those seeking an SF adventure would be better off with either Snowball (very tough) from Level 9 or McKnsie (low-key) from Software Projects. Alternatively you could write your own. Good Space romps are in rather short supply.

Crash

Difficulty 8/10

Atmosphere 5/10

Vocabulary 7/10

Logic 7/10

Debugging 10/10

Overall Value 7/10

Derek Brewster 7/10

DEREK BREWSTER'S ADVENTURE TRAIL AC/DC AND BARRY MANILOW Many adventures I received this month are similar in style and presentation to the companies' last efforts, e.g, those from Level 9 and Digital Fantasia. One might expect some advance with each new adventure, perhaps an improvement in presentation or programming. How to cram as many locations as possible into the 48K of the Spectrum, for example, while retaining some useful graphics. Since their initial releases Phipps Associates have made improvements to their games by taking the graphic routines and machine-coding them for a faster response. Some houses produce too many games churned out on a modular basis. This weakens the impact of each adventure such houses release since it is originality and uniqueness that marks the successful adventure. Quilled adventures clearly reduce the opportunities for original programming leading to flat-footed structures and storylines. For the companies themselves it may be a better marketing ploy to go for the one big, original game for it is difficult for any adventure to chart high and make an impact. Now that I've mentioned the rather prosaic world of marketing, I've always wondered why there is such a poor selection of adventures in the high street shops. To make matters worse for the consumer several of the so-called specialist computer shops, often just off the high street, don't fair much better - it's a case of The Hobbit, or an Artic adventure or leave for home empty handed. The Hobbit is a good adventure but along with the Artic games they can now be considered a little dated if for no other reason than most committed adventurers will have by now completed them. If the record buying public were confronted with the same dilemma it would be a case of choosing either AC/DC or Barry Manilow! MESSAGE FROM ANDROMEDA Producer: Interceptor Software Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.50 Author: D. M. Banner, J. Banner Interceptor Micros made their name with quality programs for the Commodore computers and this, their first effort for the Spectrum micro, is well worth exploring. You are in deep space on patrol and you become aware of a message relayed onto the computer screen. Being a brave, fearless adventurer you decide to investigate this intergalactic distress signal. Gently the Galaxy, your spacecraft, lands on an unknown planet, you cautiously open the airlock and head south. The buildings here form a square in what must be a quaint intergalactic village. First impressions of this game include irritation at the error-prone silent key entry (with no cursor on the display) but admiration for the fast all machine code response and the pretty graphics. These pictures appear very quickly because they already reside in memory and are not drawn. Perhaps this is just a little wasteful in memory but the graphics are almost instantaneous. The screen overall is set to black with generally white text but yellow on input. I'm afraid the early part of the adventure won't accommodate the faint-hearted. You can't just turn down the mission - if you do you're left nowhere until you re-read the message and there's no running back to the ship once you're out. These aren't particularly bad points, it just gives the start of the game a very predictable feel with a textbook linear development. (No, I haven't written the textbook - in any case it's best to book your spot on Russell Harty and Breakfastime and then write the book.) You'll find when you play this game that access is easy and quite safe throughout the first 23 locations, apart for the aggressive android guard in the Guard Room. This first stage completed, you reach an impasse as the problems remained difficult even after consulting the program listing. It's a shame there are no easy problems to ease you into the adventure. Without them an adventure takes on a very eerie feeling and you keep wondering what you've missed. The impasse is most evident when you chance upon a plate set in a panel. It is almost certain that you get through this way by opening the panel but getting the exact words takes a long time. In fact I had given up until I bumped into Richard Paul Jones of Interceptor at the Earls Court Computer Fair whereupon I received some timely advice. Considering I found the rest of the game relatively straight-forward, and I do like to play as much of an adventure as possible, it was fortuitous indeed to hear the solution from the horse's mouth. The vocabulary consists of mainly Verb/Noun input but in some cases longer sentences may be necessary. The language can be a little pernickety when, for example, you must 'SHOOT ALIEN SOLDIER' as simply entering 'SHOOT SOLDIER' will not do. One of the realistic things about this game is the way dead soldiers still lie where they were slain when you return to a location. Other assailants you might meet include giant slugs, a fierce scaled creature on the bridge and some impregnable ivy. Message from Andromeda has some very good graphics but there aren't that many. Strangely enough - and commendably - some of the best are towards the end for only the most dedicated of reviewers. The game is good value at £5.50.