Shadowfire: reviews

It received 5/5 and an SU classic.

"A state of the art game" 96%% (CRASH #17, June 1985)

Game of the Month in Your Sinclair, and subjected to a 'Hacking
Away!' special, which included a jolly useful map.

Review of _Shadowfire_ from Sinclair user No. 39, June 1985

TEXT adventures may soon become a thing of the past if Beyond
Software has its way.  _Shadowfire_ is an icon-driven strategic
adventure - the first ever on the Spectrum - where commands are
issued through pictures and text is obsolete.  You join Enigma
- a fierce and indipendent fighting force - whose mission is to
storm the planet Zoff V and free Ambassador Kryxix. Once on Zoff
V, Enigma has to search through the maze of corridors, fighting
General Zoffs guards, locate the Ambassador and transport him to
safety.

Each member of the team is controlled individually - Zark, Syylk,
Sevrina, Torik, Maul and Manto and each has its own skills,
strenghts and weaknesses.  Those will need to be coordinated and
decisions made accordingly. Sevrina is a lock picker and her
skills will be needed on Zoff V - therefore she should be given
a toolkit from the weapons screen.  You start with a screen
depicting all six characters, each portrayed in a different
colour to help identification - although on this first screen the
graphics are so clear that each is instantly recognisable. Having
selected the character you want to move with a cursor, you then
switch to the weapons screen to equip each with some mind blowing
secret weapon.  The icons are many and varied. Each has a
separate function and is selected with a scrolling cursor. Move
the cursor to the function you want a character to perform - pick
up - then along to a laser gun; press enter and that character
will receive that weapon.

Each order is performed in a similar manner throughout the game.
Some confusion may arise as certain pictures are not clear.
However, referring to the comprehensive illustrated booklet
should solve any such problems.

The graphics deserve a mention. For the most part, they are
clearly depicted and coulourful though, unfortunately, their
small size tends to make definition hard. Each screen is divided
into a number of boxes, all containing control icons. The screen
showing Zoff V and your route to Kryxix is almost lost in the top
middle section. It is a pity that this space has been sacrificed
to give more attention to the controls.

You are given 100 minutes to complete _Shadowfire_ and a real
time clock ticks away the seconds. However it will take
considerably longer to learn the game, especially if you keep
braking out by mistake. It is very easy to exit by accident.
Accidental pressures on Enter when you go back to choose another
character will take you straight back to the menu. it always
seems to happen at some vital point of the game and is enough to
turn you to drink.

_Shadowfire_ is excellent value considering the programming
expertise which has gone into the game. If you want a quick
load-it-up andshoot-it-down then dont waste your money. However,
if you want a fast and innovative game which may well take weeks
to complete - buy it.

                                   Clare Edgeley

Publisher: Beyond
Price: 9.95
Memory: 48K
Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Protek
Rating: ***** (Sinclair User CLASSIC)