Empire of Karn

Micro Adventurer

Barbara Conway

[ZXSR: These are reviews for the C64 version but could easily be a Spectrum version review] OUTWARD BOUND IN KARN COUNTRY Barbara Conway goes on an adventure holiday in Interceptor Micro's Heroes of Karn and Empire of Karn. Adventures: Heroes of Karn, Empire of Karn Micro: Commodore 64 Format: Cassette Price: £7.00 Supplier: Interceptor Micros, [redacted] In happier times the setting of Heroes of Karn may have been a Paradise for tourists, but it just so happens that when the game opens, being a mysterious Stranger drawn to that land is the start of rather more than a usual activity holiday., The problem is that all four of Karn's principal citizens have vanished and a Mug (er, Hero) is needed to lead the quest to restore them to their rightful places in society. Heroes is a graphic adventure, with plenty of locations all illustrated with an admirably executed once-only picture. But the puzzles are the thing and, although some of them are quite obvious (I found King Beren almost immediately by following one of the most basic fairytale tenets in the book, although the averagely macho adventurer may balk at this point) many are real brainteasers. The territory takes a lot of careful exploring and Beren will prove an invaluable companion. In fact he's remarkably obedient for a King, but perhaps that's just because he's grateful for the rescue. Together you're looking for Istar the Wise, Haldir the Elf-minstrel and the dwarf Khadim. And I soon discovered that I wasn't going to get very far without the soothsaying aid of Anton the Gypsy King. He's very near the start of the game but since he's not a philanthropist and demands that his palm be crossed (twice) with silver, it'll take a bit of time to get him what he wants and gain the much-needed advice. Most of the nasties are either supernatural or zoological (one apparent nasty turns out to be one of the objects of your quest who has been horribly transformed) and even where it's possible killing is not always the answer. With a wide variety of instruments available, each of which has a specific property, at least one savage breast can be soothed long enough to set another hero free. Just be careful with the flute! This is not, however, to suggest that Heroes is a pacifist adventure. There's plenty of opportunity for strewing the place with blood and guts and in one case I had, after learning the hard way, to ensure that a vicious enemy never had a chance to be born. Finishing the quest is an exhausting but enjoyable enterprise, with the added appeal that it is possible to accumulate large amounts of treasure which can, with the aid of a magic incantation usable in certain locations, be deposited right at the start of the map without inconvenience. In fact this transportation can come in very handy throughout the game if used properly. By the time the Top People of Karn were back where they belonged, I had accumulated a tidy fortune in valuables. As every Adventurer knows, there's rarely such a thing as a perfect world and, despite having ventured so nobly in Heroes, poor old Karn is soon in dire trouble again. For King Zheff, foul fiend that he is, is sitting in his fortress and plotting the worst and the noble emperor Callastheon needs at least one new champion to aid his faithful adherent Davin. Guess who it turns out to be? So there I was, at the start of this sequel, in the emperor's hall after having watched a sinister loading screen (I suppose that unpleasant visage must be Zheff) accompanied by some adequate music. The hall itself was nicely depicted in Hobbit-style graphics but for details I needed the text window beneath the picture. That told me that there was a sword nearby, but a "mysterious force" prevented me from taking it. Be warned, unless you prise the cassette insert out of its cover and read it with care you won't get the sword at all and, at a later stage, you need it pretty badly. Check by asking for a "list" of your possessions at the start, you may get a surprise. After solving that problem I wandered out to find some transport to the main scene of the quest, which is a pretty murderous one as such things go. The aim is, simply, to kill Zheff and all his minions and there are 64 locations, each with its own graphic screen (which helpfully displays only on your first visit to it thus saving time and irritation) and a liberal number of objects to choose from. Virtually all of them will be needed but you can only carry eight at a time, so they have to be picked up and used in the right sequence. From the starting point I boarded ,my trusty ship and, after killing myself through a piece of unheroic carelessness, tried out the "save" facility next time. This is a highly efficient function with the welcome bonus that, although the game is on cassette, it saves equally happily to disc. Frequent "saving" may be a worthwhile exercise since quite a few lethal traps are sprung with very little warning. Early on it becomes apparent that kindness to animals, with two exceptions, is well rewarded. Getting the cat purring takes some unorthodox action, but it's worth it. Incidentally one of the minor bugs (there are a few of them) in the program is that it doesn't warn you in advance that you'll be doing some night-sailing. Take appropriate precautions! Once on Zheff's territory I and my companions (human and otherwise) had some intricate travelling to do. One useful principle to bear in mind is that, generally speaking, if someone sounds friendly then rewarding them suitably is worthwhile. If they don't sound friendly then varying degrees of drastic remedy are called for. There's no need to get tough with the hostile widow Nahzil (I got her out of the way very effectively even so) and devious - some would even say highly unpleasant - measures can be employed against more formidable opposition. After collecting a new companion shortly after landing I found myself at the Great Gateway of the city of Ivshem, Zheff's capital. A quick recce round the bazaars showed that I was obviously going to need something in the way of money (I seemed to have carelessly started this quest without my wallet and the instruction "give American Express card to Apothecary" just goe me "sorry I don't understand" instead of "that'll do nicely") so I tried the neighbourhood of the City. I'd already been in one direction, where I got the new companion for what seemed (at the time) a remarkably reasonable price, so I tried the only other one on offer. This got me to a pyramid and a series of one-way rooms whose contents included some of the necessary valuables and one forceful reminder that an adventurer's best friend isn't necessarily his/ her mummy. Incidentally, although this is the desert, water can still be a hazard. Make sure you have something buoyant with you. Back in Ivshem the job was to accumulate all the necessary items for the sneak attack on the palace. It's important to remember that, when there's an object around and you can't get it for any reason other than that you're already carrying too much, somebody else will probably be able to get it for you. One of my companions was very good at carrying heavy or awkward objects and proved to have one other, rather less innocuous, use towards the end of the game. Having accumulated various essential articles (remember, if it's movable you'll probably need it at some point) and survived a murderous attack thanks to prior precautions, I had to get myself and my party into the palace grounds. Magical assistance was required but just getting to the necessary magician required a well-known trick on the part of one of my companions whose musical abilities seem to have been gained in India. This route is also one-way so make sure that you have all, eight of the unused items with you.before you take advantage of it. That means you'll have to have explored Ivshem thoroughly by that point. The magician helpfully gave me the means to complete the main part of my task (and for free!) and transport was then needed from the only available source to get into the palace grounds. Once there, livestock started to play an important part in the plot again and I discovered, fatally, that just as it was a mistake to try to take the wrong items with me (be careful - four of them are used more than once) it could also be a mistake to assume that just because some,- body had helped me he was my friend. And getting rid of him wasn't as decisive as it seemed. The final stage, eliminating the forces of evil, requires considerable ruthlessness. By the time I'd finished and made my getaway (remembering how you survived in the pyramid will help here) the castle looked rather like Elsinore after the end of Hamlet with everyone dead apart from what seemed to be a remarkably stupid servant in the wine-cellar. The graphics are attractive, although decoration is all they add. Instructions are generally standard verb/noun format, but can be more complex when you want to "say" something to someone or put an object somewhere specific. Things to watch out for include the fact that, when addressing or referring to another person, the program won't recognise the instruction unless you start the name with a capital letter, and the way that, when you "drop" an item, the text description does not always specify it, even though it will still be available. Empire of Karn is, like its predecessor, an eminently playable package which requires alertness and ingenuity on the part of the adventurer, although some of the tests could have been more interesting. An enjoyable quest, but I still feel a bit queasy about the solution. If this is how the goodies act, the baddies must have been quite something!

Personal Computer News

Bob Chappell

[ZXSR: Empire of Karn is not a review for the Spectrum version, but the C64's. Spectrum Heroes of Karn was reviewed at the same time and shares the exact same text, plus the C64 review could equally describe the Spectrum version. No scores are present for either review so would not cause score-skewing.] HEROES' REINKARNATION The hero returns in the second instalment of Interceptor's Karn series, but some of the pizzazz has gone out of the puzzles, says Bob Chappell. Fans of Heroes of Karn should be pleased to hear of its sequel, Empire of Karn, whose style stays pretty faithful to the original's. The program, from Interceptor, runs on the Commodore 64 and costs £7. Empire follows the current fashion for blending graphics and text. Each location is presented pictorially in the top half of the screen when you first arrive. Thereafter, the picture disappears but can be recalled easily. The graphics are fair, and swiftly drawn but add little to the game itself. BRIEF ENCOUNTER The text is spartan, merely a terse description (two short sentences at most) and a list of any objects. In fact, the music that flares up at the beginning and at certain points thereafter is definitely the best feature. ' What made the original Heroes of Karn so successful was the volume of puzzles to be solved. In Empire, this element is sadly lacking. In fact, I managed to score over 70 per cent quickly, and with little imaginative effort. Whether the tough stuff has been saved for last remains to be seen. SHIPPING LIST A sword was waiting right at the starting gate but a magical force prevented me from taking it. An inventory (LIST is the unconventional command used in this game) revealed that Darin, one of the heroes from the previous adventure, was with me. If I was too weedy to take the sword, Darin certainly wasn't. I grabbed myself a nearby Egan and tinderbox, and clambered aboard a conveniently moored ship. A wedged chest, powder keg, bottle of rum, date (edible) and a cat were obviously going to come in handy but where was the trusty lantern? You always find a lamp of some sort early on, so where was it? Aha! Way up in the crow's nest. Drat! It was nailed to the mast and no amount of pulling, pushing, kicking or swearing would budge it. After one or two unsuccessful launches, I piloted the ship to a sandy beach and thence to a desert. Not far away was a bazaar which housed, among its shops and stalls, a weaver, fortune teller, apothecary and belligerent widow. A nomad's tent was home for one Krizcokz the minstrel - the music in the game was supplied by Chris Cox. A trapdoor and a crack in a pyramid presented problems, as did a snake in a basket. But even without cracking those or extracting any joy from the weaver, apothecary and for, tune teller, my score indicated that I was almost three-quarters of the way through. WIPE OUT I didn't much like the Save routine either. If you opt to save a game straight to disk (which you can do only by first quitting the game), you can't name the saved file. This means that any previously saved game will automatically be overwritten. Tough luck if you've saved yourself in a room with no way out - you'll just have to start again from scratch. The only way round this is to tie up several of your disks in a, grandfather, father, son type rotation. Empire of Kara simply isn't as nourishing as its predecessor. The few exceptions to the general mundaneness of the puzzles just prove the rule. It's mostly a question of trudging around collecting bits and pieces, and no atmosphere prevails, mainly due to the impoverished text. Enjoyable enough in it's own right but I think Karn fans will be disappointed. HEROES RETURN A Spectrum version of Heroes of Karn, for £5.50, has also been released by Interceptor, with an Amstrad version imminent. The number of graphically depicted locations is restricted on the Spectrum, but those that remain are far, far superior in quality to those on the 64, thanks to the efforts of graphics designer Terry Greer. The pictures are pleasing to the eye and definitely add to the adventure. Terry Greer also did the excellent graphics for Interceptor's earlier Jewels of Babylon. The command format has been tidied up, too. Instead of LIST, good old I (for inventory) is back, and you can address Darin directly. Heroes of Kern can still be confidently recommended, with its bags of puzzles spread evenly throughout. Shame the music's gone but the improved command analyser and the superb graphics more than make up for the loss. CHEAP THRILL Just room for a brief mention of Se-kaa of Assiali, a text and graphics adventure from Mastervision. This is a two-part 48K Spectrum adventure, all on the one cassette, featuring over 170 instantly illustrated locations. Many of the graphics are similar and simple, but colourful and effective, particularly those inside the castle where flickering torches deck the walls. Your mission as Se-Kaa is twofold. You must discover the whereabouts, within the Castle of the Dead, of three great artifacts and restore them to their rightful resting places. Although the adventure breaks no new ground and is fairly straightforward, it only costs £2.99, so must be considered a bargain.