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Review
by
Steve Cooke
(The White Wizard)
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Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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The
Causes of Chaos
1985 CRL
By
Mike Taylor
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Most
text of the present article comes from the review published
in the tenth issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(street date: January 9th, 1986) and the preview published
in the ninth issue (street date: December 12th, 1985). |
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THE
CAUSES OF CHAOS
A
Preview of the next release from CRL |
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he White Wizard would have liked to have brought
you a full review of this interesting new release
from CRL, but the fact that it isn't due for launch
until just after you read this -- sometime in
January to be precise, and the absence of proper
documentation means that I can only give it the
preview treatment at this stage.
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It
warrants a preview, however, because it does look quite
interesting. First, it's a multiplayer game that can
accommodate up to six players, though you may want to
play it on your own if you wish. Second, there are some
unusual features to the program that deserve to be mentioned
-- even I wasn't able to explore its glories to the
full.
The
multiplayer option is extremely well implemented. You
choose not only the number of players, but also the
number of turns each player will be allowed while they're
at the keyboard. Each player enters a name and from
then on, as you wander around the different locations,
you'll come across your colleagues in the game. So if
you're playing with James, John and the White Wizard,
you may come across a location and be told that the
White Wizard and James are also here . . . -- John,
of course, is somewhere else.
To
make things pretty interesting, the player(s) are dumped
in different locations at the start of the game, and
this is varied at random each time you play. There also
appeared to be slight changes in the locations themselves,
but unfortunately the man at CRL with all the answers
was away when I called.
The
plot concerns the King of Ix, whose crown jewels (upon
which his power depends) have been stolen. As a result,
the land has been afflicted by a dreadful plague and
you must sally forth and retrieve the treasures. If
you're playing the one-player game, then you must simply
get on with it (and that doesn't seem all that easy),
but if you've got playmates then you're in for a rough
ride. Although you can of course decide to form alliances,
discuss strategies etc, the basic format of the program
puts you in conflict with each other. If you fall foul
of another player, it's a fight to the death and the
loser leaves the game.
The
combat routines between players depend on the two assailants
facing each other across the keyboard and hitting keys
as fast as they can. First to the key is first to strike,
and the blows fall thick and fast! I only hope your
64 keyboard is up to it.
Causes
of Chaos looks a promising investment for the New
Year. I'll bring you more details next month, together
with proper ratings.
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CAUSES
OF CHAOS
CRL,
£8.95 cass |
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he White Wizard took a quick look at this game
last month, and I've now had time to play it rather
more thoroughly. The news, I'm afraid, is not
all that good.
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The
trouble with multi-player games is that a lot of effort
tends to be put into the mechanics of role-sharing and
not enough into the actual game itself. Causes of
Chaos suffers particularly in this way -- you can
have up to six players, but the game is hardly enough
to sustain the attention of one person, let alone all
six.
Readers
who caught last month's column will know that the aim
of the game is to recover six treasures from the evil
Count Vladimir and restore them to their rightful owner,
King Arnid, whose power depends on them. Unfortunately,
the scope of the game is somewhat limited because of
the inadequate parser. Typical responses are 'You can't
see it from here,' which occurs frequently and quite
independently of the location descriptions. This means
that if you're told you're standing by a cliff, entering
'Examine cliff' will, likely as not, result in your
being told you can't see it.
Other
oddities include getting the response 'You can't while
you're carrying it' following the input 'Break lock'
while trying to open a door, and the ridiculous episode
where, to look inside a 'small, empty case', you must
enter it! The White Wizard is of average height and
does not think he should be allowed to enter a small
case without casting some very tricky spells.
If
you ran cope with the parser and can find some other
companions who ore equally prepared to make allowances,
then you might have a few hours of fun with Causes
of Chaos. The combat routines are pretty basic,
and probably not too healthy for your keyboard since
they involve hitting a key before your opponent, but
they do add some action which is all too often missing
from adventure games. If you got this one for Christmas
then don't complain, but I think you should think twice
before spending hard-earned cash on it.
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Atmosphere |
55% |
Interaction |
50% |
Lasting
Interest |
57% |
Value
for Money
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50% |
Overall
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53% |
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If you want a walkthrough, visit
Jacob Gunness' Classic
Adventures Solution Archive or
Martin Brunner's
C64 Adventure Game Solutions Site
Can
anybody rip the SID tune out of this one?
Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (21 Dec 2003)
There were no screenshots in the original review or
preview.
SID added 27/2/2004. Ripped by Adam Lorentzon!
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"Games of the Week!"
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