Commodore Free Magazine, Issue 84 - Part 16
From
Stephen Walsh@39:901/280 to
All on Mon Dec 15 18:44:40 2014
have the game
rated this way.
The game is played from the viewpoint of the novel's heroes, Jonathan
Harker and Doctor Edward Seward, and has a number of puzzles. You enter
text via two-word noun/verb sentences. The game was written in three parts
and split over two tapes, so it was best to go with the disk version where possible.
The game is quite unfair, and in some cases totally illogical, with lengthy room descriptions that deliberately misdirect the reader, and time-based sequences where you type WAIT repeatedly to achieve crucial aims in the
game. You have no way of knowing this, and it's only now (with the aid of
the Internet) I am able to get anywhere close to finishing the game.
Let's look at the first location. Your path is blocked by a drunk
coachman, so you look in your inventory and it shows that you're carrying nothing. It took some time for me to find the solution to this problem,
and the totally illogical solution is to type "PAY COACHMAN" even though
you are not shown as carrying any money with you. You may now assume from
this that you do carry money around; this holds true for a while. However, later in the same chapter of the game your money starts off in a coat that you're not wearing, so you have to figure this out and must have taken your coat from your chair and looked at its contents first.
Often in the game the room's description doesn't seem to mention any of the exits; your only way of finding these is by trying to move in every single direction (in turn) until one works.
Game text is written in a gothic red font. The text in the game is quite absorbing to read, and can really draw you into the game; the other text in
the game is colour-coded for dialogue, etc.
SCORES
Graphics: 6.5/10
mainly for the nice stage digitized
scenes and ketchup
Sounds: 5/10
Gameplay: 6.5/10
can be frustrating, especially on
sudden death
Overall: 6.5/10
You may like to look here :
Chapter 1:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=joOJ-0e2cTA
Chapter 2:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p69q6aQq4OM
Chapter 2 part 2:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFV9JPGa79k
Chapter 3:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUCCfi_rrvY
Chapter 3 part 2:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6k1Xa6HpRo
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UNRELEASED GAMES
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www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/results/gy/0/gh/0/gc/CRL/gco/0/ga/0/gs/0/go/0/
The website Games that Weren't lists a number of CRL non-releases with exclusive comments from the staff about how complete (or otherwise) the
games were. There is a playable demo called "Unnamed CRL game" - this was found via Darren Melbourne's disks - and written by Finlay Munroe.
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