IFReviewed by
Pat Hurst on 2006-05-13 09:05
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
Difficulty Rating: 7
Extra Commands: MAIN, WEAR, REMOVE, BUY, SELL, SAIL
Deleted Commands: BLAST, POWER, SPEED, LIGHT, PUT, FREE
Special Features: a special naval pgm; requires an extra blank disk
Playing Time: 3-6 hours
Description: The land of Gondor is menaced by its traditional enemies who are massing forces to attack and destroy it. Corsairs from Umbar and Black Numenoreans have assembled a large fleet to assault Gondor by sea. The Haradrim, the warlike people of the southern desert waste of Harad, has assembled an army to assault Gondor by land. If either attack surprises Gondor, it will surely fall to its archenemies. Advance knowledge of the attacks is paramount to the defense of Gondor. If a spy could penetrate the southern waste, Haradwaith, and steal the battle plans, then perhaps Gondor could be saved. Anyone who undertook this mission would be confronted by the arduous task of crossing Haradwaith, locating the plans in the midst of the enemy, and escaping with the plans back to Gondor. And there is little chance of finding any help in the land of the enemy, although the tree foes don’t always get along well with each other. It’s a solo job for an experienced adventurer with courage, strength, and battle skill – namely you!
Comments: This is a relatively straight-forward adventure with plenty of combat. There is one problem in that two sets of plans must be obtained which is not clear from the adventurer’s introduction. The author makes this clear in his MIDDLE EARTH ADVENTURES program (See Review of #129 ‘Return to Moria’). This problem is compounded in that if the navel plans are obtained first, the program terminates without giving the player a chance to obtain the second set. The combat involves a lot of monsters, many of which are quite tough. The adventurer needs a strong weapon to have any hope of defeating these monsters. Unfortunately, since there is so much combat, it’s likely that the adventurer’s weapons will be fumbled, break, and severely injure or kill the adventurer. If you like to slug it out, this is a good choice for your Eamon library.
The naval program is an interesting change from the normal Eamon format and is well done. It requires some disk swapping, but directions are clear and easily followed. The command format may seem strange at first, but it isn’t really difficult. Remember, play this part of the adventure last.
There is also an interesting subplot which requires a good deal of attention to details. All that can be said is that the reward is commensurate to the effort.
