IFReviewed by
Tom Zuchowski on 2006-05-06 01:21
MAIN PGM Version: 6
Extra Commands: DISARM
Deleted Commands: None
Special Features: Time limit
Playing Time: 1-2 hours
Reviewer Rating: 6.0
Description: You have been assigned to the embassy in Moscow, officially as an Air Force attache. Actually, however, you are a highly-trained member of a covert branch of the CIA known as SOG, or Special Operations Group. SOG was famous during the Vietnam War for its covert operations behind the lines in North Vietnam, including assassinations.
One night you are called to duty by your section chief, who looks like he is about to have apoplexy. He informs you that our agents have discovered an unbelievable but terrible plot -- the Libyans have succeeded in putting an atomic bomb somewhere in the Kremlin and the thing is set to go off in a few hours! If the bomb explodes, the Soviets will think the Americans did it and launch their missiles, starting World War III!
It is your task to go into the Kremlin and find the bomb and dismantle it. Your adrenaline starts pumping! This is the one you have been waiting for -- the assignment that will let you use all your training and skill, and save the world besides!
Comment: This adventure does a nice job of conveying the tension of the situation. Every move that you make takes one minute, and the bomb goes off after two hours! Each round prints an inverse bar with the remaining minutes on it. It can really get on your nerves, which is a nice approximation of how you would feel if the situation was real.
The maps and descriptions of the Kremlin grounds give a pretty good feel for how it is laid out and what it must be like. Descriptions and room names give available exits, an very important feature in Eamons with a time limit. Good use was made of version 6 stuff, with notes, containers, and other features in ready abundance. Jim supplies you with a full arsenal of modern weapons and special equipment for the task at hand. All in all, a well-turned-out adventure.
Ok, if it's so good, how come I didn't give it a higher rating? Well, essentially you have to fight and kill everyone that you meet. While this is not unusual in Eamon adventuring, I was left wondering what the Soviets would make of a truckload of dead guards and KGB officers, bomb or no bomb. Some special programming for special monster relations would have been a huge plus in this scenario. Secondly, the time limit is too short to find the bomb unless you happen to luck into it. While I don't have a problem with a short time limit, it offends me that there is no way (that I could discover) to figure out where to look. The Kremlin is a big place! Lastly, I personally favor Sword & Sorcery stuff and don't get real excited about contemporary settings, as a rule.
Eamonauts who enjoy adventures that offer some real texture to their scenarios may favor this one. Hack&Slashers won't find much here to kill and maim. The puzzles are all within the normal bounds of what can be done with embedded artifacts. Because of the time limit, you may have to play it more than once before you finally cover all the bases and manage to find and disarm the bomb. I give it a difficulty rating of (9) because of the game's complexity in relation to the time limit.
This is a pretty unique adventure and well worth a play; there's nothing else like it in Eamon.
Used with Matthew Clark's kind permition.
Original review available at Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website.
