~Ecstatic
2
ECST4M01.PCX
ECST4M02.PCX

ECSTASIA:  A STATE OF MIND  - CD-ROM

3-D Adventure from PSYGNOSIS

Reviewed By Lu Richardson.

Here is an unusual product - although it will inevitably remind you 
of Alone in the Dark.  It must come from the same stables!

When you come to install it, you are given three choices:  picking
any of these will see you waiting a long time for installation so
go and make yourself a cup of tea and a sandwich !!  It took over
one hour to install.

However, all is forgiven when the game starts, movie fashion, with 
the action overlayed with the credits.  The graphics and the sound 
effects are simply superb.

A lone rider arrives at a village and goes in to get some water.  
From there on, all hell breaks loose; if you've played Alone in the 
Dark, you will know what I mean.

The whole game is controlled from the keypad:  the arrows move your 
character forwards, backwards and side to side.  7 and 9 are for 
fighting, 1 and 3 for picking and dropping things up with one hand 
or the other.  5 is for dodging.  The only other keys you need to 
use are F1 for tiptoeing, F6 for walking normally, F10 for running.  
ESC gives you the opportunity to save, load or go to DOS.  Simple, 
what?

Of course, nice and tridimensional though the character is, it takes 
a while to learn to manoeuver him, both in relation to other 
characters and to the background.  I ought to mention here that all 
the characters, even the monsters, are cute; and although the 
nasties are horrendously menacing, there are times you can't help 
smiling, particularly at the things they say.  Because you ought to 
know that the voice characterization is positively brilliant.

The scenery is of the "virtual reality" type and very well done 
indeed - though, again as in Alone in the Dark, the sudden changes 
of the viewpoint when you reach an edge, tend to confuse.

So much for the mechanics.  The story develops as you play and your 
aim is to explore, to find out what is going on and then to do 
something about it.  Basically, the village is infested with 
monsters which someone let loose, and you really ought to contain 
them once more.

The unusual thing about this product is that you are guided along 
the right lines by a very simple method - take the wrong turn, and a 
monster jumps on you and totally flattens you.  The end.  This 
tends to put me off most games, but not in this case.  Your interest 
is aroused from the very start and you just cannot let it alone.  So 
you try various tacks until you succeed, and I can't tell you how 
satisfying that is.

The puzzles are varied and certainly not run-of-the mill, and their 
solving is made exciting because of the constant interference you 
get from the nasties.  You really have to sit up and think of 
devious ways to get past them and achieve your aim.

Although, as I have already mentioned, the sound effects are 
absolutely marvellous and the spoken dialogue is often very funny 
and, to my mind, enhances the game no end, one minor beef is that 
sometimes important messages are garbled.  For instance, one guy 
gives you something and tells you what it is as he dies groaning and 
gasping; another guy tells you some facts while completely drunk, so 
it is very hard to understand what he is saying.  However, it all 
adds colour, not to say difficulty, to the game.

In short, one of the very best games I have seen this year and I 
cannot see how it can fail to please even the most demanding 
player.  Don't miss it, it really is a cracker - you'll just love it.