A very graphical adventure, in the same style of Atic Atac (in that you look down upon the action from above). You can choose your weapons, etc, by picking them up off the floor of the crypt. An extremely complex game, with graphics and text.

Peter: The graphics are used imaginatively throughout this game, and the response time isn't bad. Overall, it's a very nice graphical adventure,

Stewart: The speed of this game is adequate, given that it is essentially an adventure game. I would describe the use of colour and graphics as average. A complex adventure, but I found ways of cheating quite easily.

Stephen: You can select which level you wish to play and. at the end, the game refuses to tell you the secret of the Crypt!

Memory: 48K
Price: £4.95

Continuing its attraction for graphics adventures, Carnell Software produced The Crypt for the 48K Spectrum. The game is like The Black Crystal, although the scenario is a series of underground crypts which contain various treasures and monsters.

Unfortunately, for an animated game in which the players move around the screen, it is very slow. The slowness creates difficulty during play and after you have been through two crypts, picking up a sword or fighting a monster, you could become disenchanted with the package. Alternatively, a monster could zap you before you get anywhere and you would have to start the game again.

If the threat from the monsters is not sufficient you will also have to contend with the poison which the monsters may exude; if you are really unfortunate you will meet the dark cyclops.

The Crypt should be a fascinating and entertaining game but its slowness and the ease with which you can die detracts from its appeal.

CHALLENGE IN THE CRYPT

MICRO: Spectrum 48K
PRICE: £4.95
FORMAT: Cassette
SUPPLIER: Carnell Software, North Weylands Industrial Estate, Mosely Rd, Hersham, Surrey

Prepare yourself for the many challenges that shall confront you when you dare to enter The Crypt. You will battle with Giant Scorpions, Hell Spawn, Craners, PosNegs and if you are unlucky enough, the Dark Cyclops!

So runs the blurb on the packaging of a new program, released this very month by Carnell Software. Written by 17 year-old Stephen Renton, The Crypt is a mixture of graphics and fantasy.

Several levels of dangers make up the game, and each level contains a large number of mini-crypts for the player to explore. There is a chest in each location which may contain treasure, or, if you're unlucky, something horrible like a black mamba. There is a catch, of course - there is also a Guardian present, who doesn't take very kindly to having its personal chest examined in this way, and will come after you, intent on drinking your blood. Carnell doesn't want to lose all its customers, though (there are a lot more goodies on the way from the company), so it wants to provide a weapon for the intrepid adventurer to pick up.

The monsters aren't easy to kill, and precise positioning is called for. At screen-bottom is displayed your combat rating, along with the monster's, and these are reduced as battle progresses.

There are plenty of other hazards - watch out for the lethal lightning bolts, and the invisible walls.

Your reason for indulging in all this wandering about is not just mere monster-bashing. Your mission is to find a certain bauble and return it to the first location. Once this is accomplished, the player is given a code word which is used to advance to the next level - then the trouble starts all over!

The program is so new that I visited The Crypt a mere few hours before press time, so I haven't even rated a mention in the Fantasy HiScore Table, but I'm looking forward to finding all the secrets of this weird place.