AZTECS EVERYWHERE!

"Games with a little bit more," reads the slogan above the title Aztec - Hunt for the Sun God. This is a game whose text input is by single keystroke, decoded by using a single strip overlay above the top row of keys on the Spectrum. The commands covered are TURN (left and right), MOVE (forward), BRING ALONG, LEAVE BEHIND, EAT/DRINK, etc.

Movement is on a 10 by 10 grid from which you can see a widening perspective view in a forward direction. To the right of the view is a pictorial list of objects carried, an updated compass showing north and a sun which slowly sinks, timing you out. Below is a text window which reiterates your abbreviated commands in full and gives you the relevant replies.

Your objective, as a young Aztec coppersmith, is to find the sun which hasn't risen this day over your village.

The Aztecs, since they're into sorcery, might be expected to have use of spells and indeed there are various of these at your disposal. To use them, you must refer to a special chart supplied on a poster contained in the pack.

The game is primarily intended as an introduction into adventure for children.

I found that a great deal of concentration was needed to keep track of my whereabouts on the grid. You are advised to draw out your own blank grid and plot your way around. I certainly wouldn't have managed without taking this advice, so it is, perhaps, a pity that a pad of printed grids is not supplied.

Once on the move, I found it difficult to relate the pillar which limits movement to the scenario described in the instruction booklet - it just didn't have the feel of the village and mountains described. Although the mode of movement and display of graphics is similar to that in Lords of Midnight, there is nowhere near the feeling of wide open spaces imparted by Midnight. Whereas Midnight gives the feeling of infinitely variable control, Aztec movement is in discrete "chunks." In fact, it plays more like a perspective maze Adventure, such as Asylum, but nowhere near as devious.

Nevertheless, it is a well-produced game that should give considerable enjoyment to children, for whom it is primarily intended. The aim is to teach spatial awareness and logical reasoning. I wonder if they need this educative approach? Seems to me that many kids are quite capable of finding their way around and solving the most complex Adventures without any weaning!

Aztec - Hunt for the Sun God is for the 48k Spectrum, priced £7.95 and Commodore 64 priced £9.95, from Hill MacGibbon.

CONDOR MOMENT

MAKER: Hill MacGibbon
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £7.95

Virtually identical to King Arthur's Quest in almost every respect, except, of course, for the scenario. This time you're an Aztec who finds that his fellow villagers have been hi-jacked by condors and the sun has failed to rise. Natch, it's up to you to sort all this out and again, time is against you as your strength ebbs in the cold. As with Quest, you get an overlay and very brief outline and have to work everything out for yourself.

ADVENTUROUS ARTHUR AND THE AZTECS

John Fraser reviews King Arthur's Quest and Aztec

Few adventurer's can have failed to notice the new breed of graphic adventures which has been emerging recently. Now, in the wake of such epics as Lords of Midnight, come two more games which allow the player to roam through a three dimensional world.

King Arthur's Quest and Aztec are the first adventures to be released by Hill MacGibbon, and very impressive they are too. Although their graphics are not animated, each time you move your view alters accordingly. Trees, towers, etc, become larger as you approach them. Amazingly, if you walk into something the picture sways drunkenly with such realism that at first I thought I needed to adjust my TV.

The first thing you will notice is that the screen is divided into three or four areas, depending on which game you have loaded. The rectangular window in the centre gives you your view of the land. To the right of this is a smaller one which displays the objects you have picked up. Beneath these windows is a third in which messages from the various characters appear, and these scroll independently. In King Arthur the sword Excalibur is also shown, glowing brightly at the start of the game. Then, as the game progresses, its brilliance diminishes until it has faded altogether and your time has run out.

There is also a time limit with Aztec, but in this case you see the sun (top right hand corner) sinking slowly towards an Aztec god; when he finally grasps it the game is over.

With both games you are restricted to using the top row of keys for movement, picking up and dropping objects, drinking, and using spells. Obviously with this one key system for inputting instructions it's impossible to have any sort of dialogue with the characters or to perform more than a narrow range of actions.

To some extent the 'use' key compensates for this deficiency. If you wish to, say, unlock a door, you press '7' on the keyboard followed by space until the object's name appears in the communications window. Then, when you press enter, the door will be opened. It's as simple as that.

Casting spells is just a little more difficult, as you have to decode clues which you will find on your journey. This entails consulting the 'spell breaker' on a colourful poster which is provided with the game.

One of the attractions of these games is that, unlike many adventures, your movements are not confined to a particular route. You are free to explore as much of the land as time permits, although unless you keep track of where you are you may find yourself retracing your steps frequently.

The ground over which you travel is divided into ten by ten squares; you can see this crosshatching before you as you move. Each game has eight such areas and they take a while to explore thoroughly. When you take into account the time taken to cast spells and so on, you will have to set aside several hours for play.

Although the landscape is sometimes flat and monotonous, the objects and creatures you encounter are drawn in high resolution graphics and the medieval lettering is superbly done. What defects there are seem trivial when you consider the novelty of approach.

Make sure, however, that you get a properly printed instruction booklet with the game you buy. The ones with my review copies were mixed up and I had a job sorting out which page referred to which game.

The scenarios draw on the mythology of the Aztecs and King Arthur's Camelot for inspiration. In King Arthur you assume the role of the legendary King Arthur (no not Arthur Scargill) who must rid the land of the evil witch Morgana Le Fey. In Aztec you are a young coppersmith who dreams that rainclouds will come and drown the sun. When you wake you find that the sun had failed to rise and so you set off on a quest to discover the meaning of your dream which you hope will enlighten you.

These poetic metaphors are translated into imaginatively conceived and constructed adventures which transform the traditional text and graphic adventure almost beyond recognition. The shape of things to come, perhaps?

PRICE: £7.95
GAME TYPE: Maze Adventure

There are months when mapping aversion overcomes software reviewers. Indications of this are desks covered with enormous, badly-glued-together sheets of paper, a worn 'hold' button on the keyboard, and reviewers sitting in the corner of the room, murmuring through gritted teeth, "Take the right fork at the lion's den, swallow the mouldy cheese, bounce across the lake, turn left..."

Time comes, of course, when the editor drags them screaming to their type writers. "Show you know the game", she hisses, "but don't go on about the maps". It is true, though. Buy any good game this month and you will be showing the same symptoms. They all need maps.

King Arthur's Quest and Aztec: Hunt for the Sun God are cases in point. They are both maze adventures, with excellent graphics. You move from one location to the next, able to see those locations a short way in front of you. You collect objects, and use them as you think necessary. Some will kill you, some are essential to your progress.

You can never see objects in a location, until you have been there. Each game has 800 locations, the majority of which can be visited. To avoid missing objects or walking round in circles, it is necessary to map each location. Make a mistake, and making the right decision is based largely on chance, and you will have to begin again.

The story lines are charming, the graphics effective, but the games themselves are little more than tests of your patience and mapping ability.

Produced for the 48K Spectrum by Hill Mac-Gibbon, 92 Fleet Street, London.