64 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
64 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
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DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING
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Several gaming companies have attempted to follow in the footsteps of Infocom
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and its great text adventure products. Although I've seen a lot of non-Infocom
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text adventures in my time, a good number of them just aren't very good. So when
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I received DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING, I was pretty pessimistic about playing
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it. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised! (This review is based on the
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IBM-PC version.)
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DEMON'S TOMB, from Mastertronic, concerns the legend of Thai and Tzen, two
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Egyptian high priests who were born several thousand years ago. Tzen became
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tainted with the thoughts of evil by a powerful demon lurking in the void beyond
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the known universe. Tzen could only summon the demon to Earth when the planets
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were properly aligned. The time was right those many thousands of years ago.
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Tzen failed in his task, because he was stopped by his brother Thai. They both
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lived out their lives, eventually "died," and were buried in two large stone
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mounds on the island of Great Britain.
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Of course, they aren't _really_ dead; they're only sleeping. Tzen is waiting
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for the time when the proper planetary alignment occurs again, so the great
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demon can be summoned. Thai awaits his brother's awakening and subsequent
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attempts to conduct the ritual. Well, that time has come.
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During an archaeological dig in the Spring of 1990, an eerie tomb is uncovered
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in a remote English forest. The archaeologist studying the tomb is doomed to
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perish in a violent and horrifying manner, and his son vows to solve the mystery
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of his death. An old lady and her dog are gruesomely murdered; claw marks are
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discovered on their bodies....
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As I played DEMON'S TOMB, I began to appreciate many of the nifty functions
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built into the program. A very handy feature is the ability to save the game in
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RAM, so that you can quickly save and reload. This really makes a difference
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when you're on a roll and don't want to bother writing to a disk. Also helpful
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are the definable macros that let you abbreviate certain items, accomplish many
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tasks all at once, and perform other functions. For example, to "wait" five
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times by executing only one command, you simply input "Define wa =
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wait,wait,wait,wait,wait." There are even certain locations that you can display
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on a graphics screen. (You couldn't do this in an Infocom game!)
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DEMON'S TOMB is definitely a game to be reckoned with. It's very enjoyable to
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play, and offers a well-constructed plot. Using menus to list available commands
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makes the game easier to play, and provides a more user-friendly atmosphere
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overall.
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Graphics are presented in either CGA or EGA modes, and help depict the
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environment in which the game is set. Being able to see what your character
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"sees" assists you in solving the game's puzzles. Even if you die or make a
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fatal error, an "Undo" or "Oops" option can restore you to the point just before
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you made your critical mistake.
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DEMON'S TOMB runs on IBM PC, AT, XT, PS/2, Tandy 1000, and other 100%
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compatible systems. CGA, EGA, VGA, or Tandy graphics adaptors are required, and
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you'll need 384K of RAM. A joystick is optional.
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The fascinating story, professional design, and innovative command structure
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all combine to produce one terrific game: DEMON'S TOMB is a fantastic "text"
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adventure in a neat little package.
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DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING is published and distributed by Mastertronic.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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