Galilee

Personal Computer News

Overall 8/10

Mike Gerrard 8/10

PRICE: £5.95 PUBLISHER: Shards Software [redacted] I loaded up Galilee with great interest, having very much enjoyed Peter Goodlad's previous adventure Jericho Road. The good news is that the Rev Goodlad has raided the Bible again, and come up with another good adventure. The Minister has a bit of the devil in him and you don't even know what your mission is. What you do know is that this is the 15th year of the Emperor Tiberius and you wake up in a graveyard where a maniac keeps popping up to hit your poor aching head. A quick poke in the 'I' (for invenotory) reveals that you have 20 denarii and a letter, but nothing to get back at the manic who cries 'I'll kill you again!' Again? This maniac is mad. Let's read the letter, which tells Zebedee and sons to give employment to the bearer, signed Abrahams, Fish Gate. Fishy business. Well, provided you examine everything. EXAMINE MAP draws a map of the Sea of Galilee and surrounding area, with a flashing cursor indicating where you are. Once you have the map of the Sea of Galilee you can check it any time you like, whether on the sea or ashore, and the cursor tells you where you are. This is useful, especially when you're crossing the Sea, but less than useful is the bug in the program which causes it to crash at one point with an out of screen report, when you venture south of Tiberius and then cross a bridge. Pray and Help can be used, to take you to those Biblical references (cribs?), while Score gives you a percentage to indicate how you're doing. If you die you can start the game over again, and although you go back to the beginning you can input your final score so that the game itself will be in the state it was when you left, it. To understand that, you need to know that the game doesn't provide a long series of obstacles, but instead is more a gathering of information and clues, and meetings with various people. You need a generous supply of papyrus - at the moment I've got four different maps going for the four towns I've visited, with another to come when this Michael can row his boat ashore to Capernaum. Some of the maps should eventually connect together, I imagine. I've found the right person to take the letter to, but haven't yet been very successful with the fishing net, and at one point I seemed to be on the verge of walking in on the Sermon on the Mount. Apart from the map there are plenty more graphics screens, including views of the towns as you approach them from the water and the insides of several buildings, from inns to synagogues. The screen is nicely laid out, with the location description and obvious directions at the top (don't forget to try the other directions, too, but don't ask me to raise you from the dead every time), and your commands and the responses underneath. Unfortunately, the commands disappear when the response comes up, and that response disappears when you enter your next command. An intriguing adventure, original in many ways, and despite a few problems it should appeal to most adventurers.