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A landmark game for the Spectrum. It claimed to be the first 'Adventure Movie' and tf it is then it paved the way for many of today's games. You play Maroc, the wizard. Actually you control the astral projection of Maroc (presumably the man himself is safely at home with his feet up). You must explore the rooms, passages and dungeons of the Avalon castle and destroy the Lord of Chaos. On your way you will learn new spells which will aid you in your quest. These spells are at the heart of the game and allow you do things like freeze time and become invisible. The graphics look a little erratic at times, but the strength of the game is in its role-playing elements and the depth of its gameplay. A great title that was followed by Dragtorc, an sequel that was even better.

Meet the guardian of chaos and levitate in 3D Avalon
ENTER the 3D movie world of Avalon. You are a wizard intent on the destruction of an evil image who inhabits an underground web of caverns inhabited by goblins, skeletons, wraiths, a guardian of chaos and seven wizards.


You move around the rooms after casting an astral projection spell which will enable you to levitate.

Pursued by the various monsters which dwell in the caves you must accumulate your power by finding spell scrolls. Those enable you to freeze your enemies and summon a servant to help you in your quest for the mage's ectoplasm.

To reach the bowels of the earth you must pass through the gate-house level and find a treasure chest in which the key to the dungeons is hidden.

As you travel through the adventure you will become wise in the ways of magic and earn gradings no doubt given by the magic circle. Those are divided into stages and ranks. A stage describes the physical location at which you have arrived in the game. Those range from Apprentice to Supreme. The ranks denote your skill as a magician, and start at Lore Seeker progressing to the august title of Lord Lord.

The magic system in particular breaks new ground. The spells you have are listed on a scrolling window, and you must use the joystick to select the appropriate spell. Even movement is conducted using a spell, so that physical and magical activities are directly interlinked.

Graphics are not so clear as in the Ultimate arcade/adventures such as Atic Atac. However, the 3D representation of each room, with doors that really open, and the attempts at animation of monsters represent a bigger challenge than those earlier games tackled.

Hewson Consultants claims the game will do for computers what the Jazz Singer did for movies. A ridiculous suggestion which should not however detract from a product that introduces a new style and sophistication in 3D graphics. If you are into arcade games then you will enjoy moving around and killing the monsters in the maze. If, on the other hand, you like adventures you will be fascinated by the puzzles.



John Gilbert


AVALON Memory: 48K Price: £7.95 Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor Gilbert Factor: 9

Producer: Hewson Consultants
Memory required: 48K
Retail price: £7.95
Language: machine code
Author: Steve Turner



‘Congratulations’, says the inlay, ‘You are now the proud owner of Avalon, the first in a new world of computer games, the Adventure Movie.’

It’s likely that in the next few months the words ADVENTURE MOVIE are going to become familiar. It hasn’t happened overnight, of course, there has been a slow progression towards the interactive adventure which uses arcade style graphics (starting perhaps with games like Atic Atac) and which progress is now accelerating. History will dictate who is first, but Hewson have certainly made a head start with Avalon.

The packaging is small video box style with a large inlay containing columns of apparently daunting text. In fact the game turns out to be one of those you can dive into immediately, but reading the instructions would serve a useful purpose as this is, primarily, an adventure and few things are instantly obvious. Also included is an explorer’s map of the Avalon complex and a protection entry code with very pale blue ink on slightly paler paper to make it hard for photocopiers. It asks you to type in three separate codes before accepting access.



Maroc pursued by goblin warriors

You play Maroc (the wizard) or rather his astral projection. There are sixteen ranks (skills) which are subdivided into eight stages, and at the start of a new game your status is the lowest, that of apprentice. Your advancement is gained by penetrating deeper into the dungeons and by collecting spells.

Maroc’s task, to put it simply, is to destroy the Lord of Chaos, who dwells in the deepest part of the dungeons protected by several types of horror. These include goblin warriors, who gang up on you and can only be avoided by running quickly through two rooms or down a tunnel; wraiths who throw fire balls at you after a while and tend to follow your progress by materialising through walls; guardians of chaos, and finally warlocks, who may be helpful and may not, depending on what you can offer them.

To help in this enormous, task there are many spells and useful objects to be found, some are collected just by walking over them, but others may need the help of a servant (one of the early spells to be found), who can do the task for you. Movement itself is a spell, since Maroc is only an astral projection, and this is given to you at the start of the game. Collected spells are listed in a continuous scroll at the base of the screen and are selected by using the up-down control and fire. Some spells can be used simultaneously such as ‘move’ and ‘unseen’. A useful one is ‘freeze’, which stops time for a few moments and can let you get away from things like the goblin warriors. Here, an arcade skill comes in — the ability to get out of the freeze spell and into ‘move’ as fast as possible!

All the rooms have some doors which may be open, closed or locked. The locked ones obviously require keys. Closed ones are operated by taking Maroc to the door at the correct height and nudging it, moving back slightly to let it open before proceeding through it. They shut just as easily.

Because of its arcade overtones Avalon is reviewed here as an arcade game rather than by Derek Brewster but no doubt Derek will also have something to say on the subject at a later date.

CRITICISM
‘This is the best thing I’ve seen in arcade/adventures with the mystic qualities of adventures and the graphics of arcade. Avalon is the best blend between the two yet. The 3D effect is excellent (though a little jerky, but who cares when it is this good)? Overall, there is a lot to do in the game which means that interest will be held. I would personally recommend that a map be drawn to aid progress as I soon became lost without one. I think Hewson have produced a likely adventure cult game.’

‘What makes Avalon a real interactive game is the fact that as you play it, you really alter the state of things with each ‘life’. The spells you managed to collect last time are still with you,