Computer Gamer


The Star Of The Void
By Black Knight
BBC Model B

 
Published in Computer Gamer #13

The Star Of The Void

You are seeking the Star of the Void at the request of the Seven Elders. Several warriors have gone before you and not returned. The star is protected by the Seven who, though dead for a long time, still serve even though they shun the light and hide from man and demon.

Star Of The Void is a text only adventure featuring over 130 locations. The room descriptions are reasonable although screen presentation spoils them slightly with words being split in strange places at the end of lines. There are also one or two spelling errors despite claims from the authors that the game has been "thoroughly checked".

There are some interesting and original problems to be solved, although they form a fairly disjointed collection. A knowledge of ornithology may come in useful here. There are magic words to be learned and a vicious troll to be outwitted.

The game's vocabularly is fairly limited. "Examine" is not understood, nor can you take a drop all. Do not be put off if the program says that it does not understand a certain word. It might understand it in a different location. For example, if you try to open a door when there is none present, the response is that the command is not understood. You can argue that no-one is going to try this anyway but people do lose their bearings in adventure games and it really should be error-trapped with a responsee such as "There is no door here to be opened". The instructions say that 'I' can be used as an abbreviation for Inventory but it is not so; 'inv' must be used instead.

Star Of The Void is a pleasant enough game that could have been improved considerably with a bit more care. As it stands, it feels and plays somewhat disjointedly. There are better adventures around.

Mike Roberts

Other BBC Model B Game Reviews By Mike Roberts


  • Revs Front Cover
    Revs
  • Elite Front Cover
    Elite
  • Castle Quest Front Cover
    Castle Quest