PC/CD Gamer UK 6/PCGAMER06.bin/bits/cheet/4cstatic.txt

Text File | 1995-01-06 | 4KB | 79 lines

~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.