Reviews

"La Abadia del Crimen" is a very famous game. But, It's hard to follow what's going on in the game because it's in Spanish.

Although there is an English (hacked) version lurking around, I didn't try it yet.

By the looks of it, it's a nice adventure game, with an actual, "ongoing" story, so you get instructions while playing.

And it's a shame that I'm the first to review it while there are many fans out there.

My vote is based on gfx and playability (which I found it very hard to play).

'La Abadia del Crimen' (The Abbey of Crime) takes Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose to your Spectrum.

You play the role of William of Baskerville, helped by his apprentice Adso, who must solve the mysterious deaths that are taking place in the Abbey.

However, William is a monk himself, so he has to cope with a strict routine - otherwise the Abbot shall run out of patience and expel him from the Abbey

In your 'spare time' you must find the clues and the items required to solve the crimes. But then again, if you are found were you should not be, or if you venture to wander around the Abbey at night you might be expelled inmediately.

As days go by, new murders shall take place and new characters will talk to you (even the Inquisition may show up).

From time to time, you'll watch flashbacks that show what's happening in different locations of the Abbey.

La Abadía del Crimen has very nice isometric graphics, good sound, and a deep, complex plot.

Although few people would finish it without help, it's probably the best Spanish game of the 8-bit era.

Unfortunately, it was never released outside Spain.

A very impressive game, just make sure you find the english hack ! If you arent sick and tired of isometric games then give this one a go, very impressive.

Sadly idiots ruined the voting on World of Spectrum by constantly giving the game 10/10 to get it to number 1. (And giving rival games 1/10) (Allegedly !)

An impressive game, just a fair few still haven't tried this game out and just know of it due to the voting abuse at WOS. Well worth trying out.

Isometic games were slowly disappearing in the late 80's, Knight Lore was the first, Head over Heels and Batman took the genre slightly further. La Abadia is a very good game and well worth trying.

Probably the best Spanish game ever released not only for the Spectrum but for any platform.

Based on a novel by Umberto Eco, in this isometric abbey you play the role of a medieval version of Sherlock Holmes, while trying to solve some crimes.

It is fun just to wander inside the abbey in the company of other monks or alone ... the religious/detectivesque atmosphere is superbly achieved !!!

Technically it is one of the very best games ever written for the speccy.

The game was not designed for the speccy and the graphics even though marvellous are a bit confusing, the control of the caracther is not very simple.

The plot is very difficult to find out wihout reading the book.

Only for advanced adventurers!

Despite my "buts", I have to recognize the time was advanced to its time maybe 5-10 years. This put it into my top 50 ever for the spectrum, but because it is not so additive from the very begining I do not dare to put on the top 10 even tough it is probably the best of the spectrum, technically speaking.

by Paco Menendez, Juan Delcan

This Spanish classic is one of the last interesting isometric 3d efforts, along with Where Time Stood Stills and Inside Outing. Like The Great Escape, it creates a small world that works like perfect mechanism, with its routines and its characters. It also shares with John Heap's masterpiece the thrill of forbidden explorations in the night. There are also differences: the graphics don't scroll as in the substantial implementation of the Filmation concept that is The Great Escape, but it's back to the flip screen concept - only, each time you enter a room, the perspective changes, leaving you disoriented. Also, the timeline doesn't limit itself to a daily routine, but there are various things happenings throughout your stay at the abbey, especially murders, and there are verbal communications from various dwellers of the religious building. The story, of course, follows the plot of the famous novel by Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose), which also spawned an admirable movie starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. And impressively playing the game successfully until the end takes almost the same time than watching the movie. And there are sequences that are almost a movie, where the subject of the "shot" is not your character, but somebody else busy with his own actions.
Another peculiarity is the almost constant presence of a novice at your side, following you everywhere, not only that: if you press the "z" key, you can suggest him what direction he must take, which can be very useful if you need an item you can't get near to. So, it's a very impressive and intriguing piece of software, with a story full of mistery. That said, I think there aren't many items in the game, the pace tends to be rather slow and the game is very long, too much for my taste. Even playing with a real Speccy, though, you can save your position, and take the next game from there.

4,25/5

This instead is one of the best adventures that have ever been programmed.
Nothing negative to say, just marvel yourself at a superb display of quality

1988 Opera Soft (Spain)
by Francisco Menendez Gonzalez & Juan Delcan

I would have loved this game as much as I did The Great Escape if I owned it back in the day. Playing it now doesn't make me feel so excited as I'm sure I would have felt back in 1988.

The game offers a world in which a player almost instantly gets immersed, thanks to some of the events happening throughout the whole of the game. It's very atmospheric.
It's based around the novel "Il Nome Della Rosa" by Umberto Eco later released as a movie with an English title "The Name of The Rose", featuring Sean Connery in the main role.
It's filled with delicious details, like the reunion of the members of the Abbey or the sequence played in the dark. Tasks and puzzles are all very interesting and engaging supported by a good game design and overall effects.

This is one of the best games ever written using Isometric graphics. In fact it's one of the best games ever published on a Spectrum. Period.

Since I see that the initiative to remember this duo called 'Abadia del Crimen + Sir Fred, La' has been successful, I will analyze them separately:
Abadia is absolutely true that it is one of the best software ever programmed not only for spectrum, but for any 8-bit computer.
But it is also fun because you are intrigued by the amount of detail and the depth of the environment.
Exploring it is a pleasure.

Fabulous technical, atmospheric display .... and even with very originality!.
To achieve perfection you should have some good atmospheric music in the game, something terrifying to help you immerse yourself even more. As poor Spectrum chip is so limited you can try with your own copy of a Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath album! Paco Menéndez gives his best...
may his soul rest in peace

At the moment I am not able to finish this game, but what is clear is that apart from its phenomenal multimedia section, it requires a large dose of patience and even strategy. It is not a shmup, you have to think.



Also to say that it shares with the great Great Escape some rare characteristics. These kinds of features really put these kinds of games on a higher level, like from another era and on another machine.
That is why perhaps the best of all that these wonders offer is that they push you to dream, which after all should be the great premise of the noble art of videogames.