Wolfman

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Vocabulary 6/10

Atmosphere 9/10

Personal 8/10

Value 8/10

Keith Campbell 8/10

MACHINES: Commodore 64/Spectrum/Amstrad SUPPLIER: CRL PRICE: £9.95 There's a lot of nonsense being put around by the pundits, about CRL's line in horror adventures. It seems to be all part of a crusade against sex and violence in computer games - but the criticism tends to treat adventures in the some vein as arcade games of the KILL variety, and the ignorance of the opinion writers shows. Many classic novels contain their share of sex and violence, but it is the way in which it occurs, and how it is presented, that makes one book a classic, and the next, mere porn. Violence, horror, and sex in an adventure, must be taken within the context of the overall story, and the words in which it is presented. Yet already one national monthly has strongly urged retailers to refuse to stock CRL's latest, Wolfman - before their editorial staff has even seen the game! Wolfman is written with a great deal of sensitivity, and involves the player in solving problems with the aim of enabling the central character to overcome his uncontrollable desire to rip people apart from time to time, when he assumes the form of a wolf. To be true, there are the inevitable CRL digitised pictures, and whilst I would have preferred to see the game without these, that is not because I am shocked by them. I just don't think they add anything to the game. They tend to be rather samey - blocky little pictures forming rather splodgy dead faces with crimson mouths. The adventure, beautifully written by Rod Pike comes in three parts. Awaking, after a heavy sleep, you are perplexed when you discover your clothes are ripped and bloody, yet you cannot find any cuts on your person. Things suddenly fall into place when, through the window, you see a group of villagers around the dead body of a girl, who has had her throat ripped out. You shudder as you realise that you were responsible. You determine, once having escaped from this place (if you can) to try to find a cure for the terrible blow nature has dealt you, in making you Wolfman. Your journey takes you far away, and along the way you must find ways to resist your urge to kill - or the game ends in your own wretched death. At one stage, you play the part of a girl, Nadia, who befriends Wolfman, and before long, the pair fall in love. Once Wolfman's bestial habits have been controlled, the game can continue. Soon, however, Nadia is kidnapped, and Wolfman's task becomes twofold: to rescue the one he loves so tenderly, and to find a cure for his own condition. The game itself is certainly worth playing, and the many people who have enjoyed Rod's previous games, should not be put off for one moment by the anti-horror hysteria being worked up over this, and CRL's earlier Jack The Ripper.