Shipwreck

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Vocabulary (Shipwreck) 8/10

Atmosphere (Shipwreck) 10/10

Personal (Shipwreck) 10/10

Value (Shipwreck) 10/10

SUPPLIER: Tartan Software PRICE: £2.95 MACHINE: Spectrum 48K As the title implies, with this cassette for the Spectrum. you receive two adventures instead of one. Both games have graphics for the majority of locations along with the usual game save and restore features. As the name suggests, Castle Eerie is set inside a seemingly deserted run down castle, which is apparently haunted and creating quite a scare among the local inhabitants. As special agent Charlie Jones, (from the loading instructions you appear to he a right charlie as well!) you are assigned to find out what is happening inside the castle. Being a right charlie means you turn up in the castle grounds with a gun containing only one bullet. One bullet means only one chance, so you must make the most of your single opportunity. After figuring out a way into the castle, the fun really begins. It doesn't take long to realize that a gang of criminals are using the castle for their purposes, but exactly what for is not yet apparent. Between dodging the forever present guards, you must get around the castle, making use of some of the objects to help you cross between rooms which are inaccessible due to decay after years of neglect. Every nook and cranny must be explored and searched and because the castle is so large that's an awful lot of places. A well constructed map will help a lot at this stage. Not only that, but as you move towards the centre of the criminal operations, you must contend with electronic surveillance devices designed to trap intruders like yourself. Once you have figured out what is going on in this very unusual castle, it's time to make your findings known and contact the outside world. From now on, it's a race against time as the villains try to dispose of you at the final hurdle. Shipwreck follows a nautical theme in which you must first plan your own survival by making it safely from a passenger cruiser which is about to sink, to a desert island. Once there (providing you make it that far) you must find the items necessary to bring about your rescue. The story unfolds on board ship where an announcement is made that there is a small fire in the engine room, although at this stage there is no cause for concern. Being a rather shrewd person, you realize that all may not be well, so you plan your safe escape from the liner. I soon found that once more it pays to be friendly, and tipping a bartender pays its own rewards. The purchase of a map of the surrounding ocean helps a lot, so does finding the ship's current position at sea. Once free of the ship, and with the aid of a little navigation, you find yourself washed up on the sandy beach of a nearby island. That's where the fun really begins. Finding your way around the ship was had enough, but on the island... well there's lots of places where trouble abounds for the novice castaway.