Pharaoh's Tomb

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Keith Campbell

I was intrigued when I came across Pharoah's Tomb for the Electron and I loaded it on my BBC to play. But of course, it was not the Pharoah's Tomb I was expecting from Phipps Associates. This one was from A&F Software. You do have to watch what you're buying these days, don't you? The instructions told me my task was to collect 500 gold coins and the Pharoah's mask before returning, and gave me a list of single-letter commands for doing such things as using bow and arrows, going backwards, buying items etc. The player starts off in a graphically displayed entrance hall, where he may buy goods - if he has any gold. The command "F" (forward) presents him with a peculiar green-coloured graphics design, over which are scattered letters. These form an anagram, which has to be guessed and typed in before time runs out. The letters are entered on dashes displayed underneath the randomly placed letters. Some of the words are so long that there is little chance of beating the clock. On other occasions the number of letters doesn't match the number of dashes. Various other chambers, apparently randomly encountered, present the player with various monsters - spiders, skeletons, mummies etc. Asked for your instructions, you are lucky to be able to get them into the computer before the monster attacks, sometimes causing you to lose gold you don't even possess. When I suggested firing arrows, I was put into what I assumed was firing mode - but the complete lack of instructions, and of any keyboard response to my wild hammering, made this a waste of time. A couple of screens allow the player to use the cursor keys to collect gold and silver. Gold I managed, but silver seemed to have a bug, or some obscure and unmentioned command. Not an Adventure, an arcade game, or a puzzle game, but all of these rolled into one in a way that makes trying to enjoy any aspect a virtual impossibility. Pharaoh's Tomb is from A&F Software, for the Electron, BBC and Spectrum, priced at £7.90.