{fh200AA00Quickie PD Game Reviews
{fb1000000
by Mike Williams


{fb1FF5555             UMORIA

{fb10000FFArchimedes conversion by{fb1000000 Edouard Poor

{fb10000FFPlot{fb1000000 This is a conversion of a sort of adventure game. Each level of the dungeon is generated randomly each time you move to different level. Most of the rules of Dungeons and Dragons apply, and many of the monsters, weapons and spells available in Dungeons and Dragons can be found somewhere in the dungeon. The rules of D&D are followed reasonably closely.

The ultimate challenge in this game is to defeat the Balrog. This should not be attempted until you are able to brush aside ordinary dragons with almost no effort at all.

The 'Monster Memory' will remember details of monsters you have previously encoun- tered, in this life or in previous games - this means that you don't need to make notes about which monsters score most points or have special attacks, anything you've ever seen a monster do is remembered for you. E.g:-

The Violet Mold: At least 96 of these creatures have been killed by contributors to your monster memory. It is normally found at depths of 750 feet, and moves at normal speed, but does not deign to chase intruders. A kill of this creature is worth 31.25 points for a 24th level character. It is magical, casting spells which drain mana; 1 time in 9. It has an armour rating of 15 and a life rating of 17d8. It is susceptible to fire. It can hit to paralyse with damage 1d2.

{fb10000FFPlayability{fb1000000 I consider this to be the best of this kind of game currently available. Winning (defeating the Balrog) is very difficult, but it is possible for most character types. (I've managed to win as a Mage, Paladin, Rogue and Priest). The gameplay is subtly different depending on your character class, so once you've won as a Mage, try again as a Ranger. The only thing I can say against it is that there is a huge gap between 'ordinary' monsters and the three super-monsters (Ancient Multi-hued Dragon, Emperor Lich and Balrog)

{fb10000FFGraphics{fb1000000 Character based graphics but with colours indicating types of monster (e.g. a violet mold is '{fb1cc00ccm{fb1000000').

{fb10000FFFeatures{fb1000000 Multitasks. Save game. High score table. Wizard mode.

{fb10000FFTypical Duration{fb1000000 Months.

{fb1FF5555             WARFARE
{sgw1
{fb10000FFAuthor{fb1000000 Russell Mckendrick

{fb10000FFPlot{fb1000000 Flight simulator built with FST.

{fb10000FFPlayability{fb1000000 There's a lot of controls to master to become a competent flier. As with all FST simulations, the simu- lation is a bit too realistic to make a very interesting game. There's long periods of flying across blank sea, then a tiny dot that you've been chasing for ages suddenly comes into range for a few seconds of high intensity combat.

{fb10000FFGraphics{fb1000000 Excellent 3D graph- ics from FST.

{fb10000FFFeatures{fb1000000 Cheat mode (Con- trol-B)

{fb10000FFTypical Duration{fb1000000 6 minutes.

{fb1FF5555             WHIPTRIS
{sgw2
{fb10000FFAuthor{fb1000000 George Styles

{fb10000FFPlot{fb1000000 Tetris for one or two players. The two players can play completely separately, or in 'competition' mode. In competition mode, if one player completes two or more lines at once, then lines are added to the bottom of the opponents pile.

{fb10000FFPlayability{fb1000000 Nothing special happens when you start a new level, it just gets slightly faster. For the first 15 minutes its slow enough to be extr- emely easy for a reasonably competent Tetris player.

{fb10000FFGraphics{fb1000000 Quite reasonable.

{fb10000FFFeatures{fb1000000 Redefinable keys. High score table (not saved to disk)

{fb10000FFTypical Duration{fb1000000 25 minutes.


