IFReviewed by
Tom Zuchowski on 2006-05-06 01:09
MAIN PGM Version: 5
Extra Commands: READ, DRINK
Deleted Commands: none
Special Features: none
Playing Time: 1-1.5 hours
Reviewer Rating: 5.0
Difficulty: 4
Description: "A man tells you of a castle to the north of town which was abandoned by the royal government when the queen mysteriously died in her bedroom. The man gives you a map to the Castle, and quickly leaves. You study the map for a while and decide to adventure in the castle."
Comment: This was a fairly average adventure, being neither outstanding nor a stinker. It is strictly a 'kill and loot' scenario, and the only puzzles are secret passages and an unusual 'elevator' gimmick. I detected a hint of a quest for vengeance against the queen's murderer but it wasn't followed through with. It has 80 rooms and the map had lots of diversity with no problems, although there was never a real castle with such a weird layout. I found a few minor faults. The 60-odd monsters had dead body artifacts, and they all said YOU SEE THE DEAD BODY OF THE (monster). It got boring to fight and kill them with such mundane death scenes to read. Another fault is that many of the monsters are wild animals that have no business in an abandoned castle. The most notable such encounter was with an angry giraffe in an underground tunnel! Last, there were valuables laying about to be looted in dumb places; for example, a "priceless" Ming vase in a cistern room.
But it was otherwise well built and error free. Hack- &-Slashers should note that it is geared for weapons from Marcos' weapon shop and is a pushover with magic-class weapons. But with a mundane weapon in the 1D8 class, this adventure would be an interesting challenge.
Used with Matthew Clark's kind permition.
Original review available at Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website.
