IFReviewed by
Tom Zuchowski on 2006-05-14 10:11
MAIN PGM Version: 6.2
Extra Commands: USE
Deleted Commands: FREE
Special Features: None
Playing Time: 1-2 hours
Reviewer Rating: 5.0
Description: "Evenhold is in great danger! Signs of impending doom are all about us. Among others, a woman reported seeing her son, who was three weeks dead, stalking the hills above the vast Arcosian Swamp.
"All of the trouble is emanating from the swamp. Therein lies a temple, an eldrich place of aeon-ridden Evil. A madman now seeks there to reopen that which should never be.
"You must proceed north into the swamp to the temple, and stop this madman. His hour of triumph is nearly come, for when the stars are right, the great Old Ones will rise again."
Comment: Pat Hurst sent this Eamon to the EAG nearly two years ago, in a severely flawed and unplayable form. It turned out that neither Mike nor Pat had an Apple II available, and that Mike had borrowed one to enter the adventure, and had never played it even once. We exchanged some correspondence, and I waited all this time for a fixed version to come in. It never did. Therefore, I took it upon myself to fix what needed fixing, and to add every unimplemented feature that I could figure out from the database. The result is likely well beneath Mike's vision, but I can only do so much without becoming a full co-author and reworking it to my own ideas and fashions.
This is a pretty fair example of a foray into Lovecraft's "Cthulhu" Mythos. It's very dark, and if you manage to call up one of the Old Ones, you will surely die. It does a good job of conveying the desired atmosphere, which is one of great unpleasantness and danger.
I had a lot of difficulty rating it, oscillating between a (4) and a (7). Some elements are masterful, while others are poorly done. I have no doubt that it would have attained a (7) if Mike had finished it.
I give it a (6) for difficulty, mainly because the legions of zombies and such soon wear down your HEAL spell. Though they are not necessary to the Quest, you may enjoy trying to decipher the incantations scattered about, and playing with them. Some of them will soon kill you in very horrible and entertaining ways. <grin>
Used with Matthew Clark's kind permition.
Original review available at Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website.