IFReviewed by
Tom Zuchowski on 2006-05-06 08:13
MAIN PGM Version: 4
Extra Commands: USE, DRINK
Deleted Commands: None
Special Features: None
Playing Time: 1-2 hours
Reviewer Rating: 7.0
Average Rating: 6.5
Description: The local blacksmith has disappeared. You search his shop for clues and find an obscure reference to some gates, and a map. After following the map, you come upon a destroyed castle. Searching the ruins, you discover the blacksmith's body, and a spiral staircase that leads down into the ground.
Just then you see a fellow adventurer who you know fleeing from the ruins. He has been stripped of all his possessions, and does not stop to talk.
You descend the stair...
Comment: This is in many ways a mundane version 4 adventure. You must type the full command and the full name, and passages are not well marked at all. On the other hand, there are a lot of interesting effects and puzzles that are often pretty funny. There are two or three no-warning 'Gotcha!' death traps, so it would be a good idea for you to save the game fairly often.
The basic 'quest' of this adventure is simply to escape, as you will find yourself trapped once you enter the dungeon. The theme of the adventure is to win your way past a number of gates, each of which requires its own solution (only one gate requires a key).
This is a puzzler's adventure. While there is quite a bit of combat, the opponents aren't that tough and can be handled easily enough. I give it a difficulty rating of (6).
Used with Matthew Clark's kind permition.
Original review available at Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website.