C&VG
1st October 1985
Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Duckworth
Machine: BBC Model B
Published in Computer & Video Games #48
Castle Dracula
This is a light-hearted little adventure, with simple but entertaining problems. The local town is being terrorised, you must get into the castle and finish off the bloodsucker.
The author, with questionable wisdom, has decided that only three letters of each command shall be accepted. This is fine, but it makes it hard for the player to decide whether it is possible to FEED or to FEEL!
Unfortunately there is a rather tragic error in the program. The first hint appeared when I was told: "Mistake at line 10", but when I pressed the key, the message "Ha ha, that had you worried!" was shown, and the game resumed. All very clever, until the game had been in progress for some time, when a relatively simple command LOOK produced: "Too many FORs at line nnn".
"Ho hum," I thought, and hit a key. Imagine my horror to find that this was a bona-fide, 24 carat, 100%, grade A error!
Now, being a true adventurer, I tried to cheat! The listing has been tampered with, however, to prevent more than a few consecutive lines to be viewed, and my attempts to correct the errors were fruitless. I can't really explain why the faults occur, and they are seemingly at random.
Once, after only one move, I received "Type mismatch at line nnn". After receiving such a message the only way to play on, is to reload, a tiresome task.
There are various errors which do not bring the game to a screaming halt, but are errors in the logic. For example, after entering the castle and having the portcullis slam down behind you - a la Castle Of Riddles - it is quite possible to lower a rope and climb down outside the castle, then walk back in through the closed portcullis!
These problems seem to be all the more sad when you take into account that the game itself is really rather good.
There are some truly gruesome puns, and some quite exciting moments. There are three mazes of the drop-an-item variety, and some very interesting puzzle objects. Having seen only about 75% of the locations - I spent too much time having to reload! - I can't really tell you about the ending, except to say it looks fun. Yes, I managed to cheat a little!