Thriller

ZX Computing

Greg Turnbull

Amazing Games 48K Spectrum Price: £5.50 Thriller is a soon to be released adventure based on a gothic horror theme, centred around a journey through a sinister funhouse. As for all Amazing Games tapes, this is a standard text-only program. However, the locations are well described and so become most interesting. Much of the vocabulary is non-standard, so a careful examination of everything is recommended. The adventure soon proves to be very difficult, with even the first puzzle causing great problems. The text says, "The Funhouse - pay to get in, pray to get out". I was praying just to get in! The manual gives little away, HELP is available but is highly cryptic as usual; you often get tired of seeing the repeated message: "I don't understand you". Unlike many adventures, almost all of the objects in the descriptions actually exist and have a purpose (i.e. are clues to help you). The number of goes is related to 'pseudo-time', so if you don't get it right fairly soon you die. Ask for a SCORE and you get: "This isn't a game mortal fool!"; what is it supposed to be then? Once you do get started, you will encounter various movie-related monsters in the course of your travel. Although I liked the idea behind this, I feel it must be said that it isn't an adventure for beginners. Experienced players will enjoy the extremely complex puzzles offered here, as a great deal of careful thought is required to get anywhere. A degree of lateral thinking (also known as having a good guess) will be most helpful too. An interesting adventure to watch out for.