DEATH BRINGER

 DEATH BRINGER is a fantasy role-playing adventure written by Pandora Software,
published by Spotlight Software, and distributed by Cinemaware. DB offers good
graphics and gameplay, three screens, keyboard or joystick control, save option,
and copy protection. The Commodore 64/128 version is the basis of this review.

 Fundamentally, DEATH BRINGER is an attempt to outdo DUNGEON MASTER. This is a
laudable goal (which DM's mere existence makes inevitable), and its achievement
is likely possible -- on another computer (see the Amiga screen photos on the
back of the DB package). However, matching or surpassing DM is neither likely
nor possible on a Commodore 64, for more than one reason. The plot, a
standard-issue RPG unaccountably cluttered with classical mythology and Egyptian
snake gods, would be fine if the ambitious graphics and sound generated by DM
could be suitably realized in 64K.

 The joystick and keyboard controls worked well on the action screen, but not on
the Inventory screen, which was so riddled with glitches that the game became
unplayable. Without taking anything away from Pandora (or even Digital Light &
Magic, who programmed the C64 version), DEATH BRINGER does not belong on this
machine: The game reeks of "advanced coding techniques," which always brings
death to any C64 program that's converted from another version.

 A few hundred years ago, the evil sorceror Azazael and Zator the Mighty fought
for control of the land of Mezron. The overconfident Azazael did not realize
that Zator had possession of five magic gems. Each gem alone gave its holder
great powers; the five gems together were unspeakably powerful, and Zator used
them to defeat Azazael. Mezron enjoyed long years of prosperity.

 Realizing his death was coming, Zator gave one gem to each of five warriors,
instructing them to hide the gems somewhere in Mezron; neither Zator nor the
other warriors would know the locations. One warrior, believing that at least
one gem should remain in the palace of Secnar, entered the catacombs beneath the
castle and encountered a horrible monster who subsequently took possession of
the gem.

 Now, the worst has happened: Azazae (known these days as the Death Bringer),
has been resurrected and, in search of the five gems, is terrorizing Mezron.
King Rohan offers great rewards and honor to the hero who rids Mezron of the
scourge of Azazael. En route to the palace, the hero (that's you) is waylaid by
thieves, who relieve him of his belongings: Not a good start. In the palace
court, King Rohan gives you a dagger, a lantern, a healing potion, and food, and
tells you that each gem is held by a powerful creature. This is bad, for obvious
reasons, but it's not too horrible because Azazael has no more knowledge about
the locations of the gems than you. The goal of DB is to find the five gems and
return them to King Rohan.

 The C64 graphics display is threefold: The main screen consists of a POV action
window and a command display, separated by a horizontally scrolling message
line. The secondary display is the Inventory screen, and it consists of two menu
bars, labeled "You" and "Here." Pulling down the "You" bar shows the icons that
represent the items you're carrying. Pulling down the "Here" bar shows the icons
that represent the items in the current location; it also holds the corpse of
any creature you might have killed. The Map screen is available only in the
wilderness; it depicts the local sites and buildings, and your location relative
to them.

 The command display is threefold: direction indicator and five menu icons; menu
display area; and four arrow icons for movement. Clicking on the east or west
arrow alters your point of view 90 degrees; clicking on the north or south arrow
moves you forward or backward. The command icons are Combat, Potions, Fitness,
Sub-commands, and Scrolls; clicking on any of them brings appropriate
information to the command menu area. The most useful icon is Fitness: Health,
Stamina, and Strength bars, along with character and object indicators (which
let you know what's in the immediate area). Sub-commands include Talk, Open,
Unlock, and Run, as well as Save and Load.

 DB can be controlled from either a joystick or the keyboard. The joystick is
the C64 substitute for a mouse, so it moves an arrow around the screen; all menu
icons, movement arrows, and sub-command selections are invoked by way of point
and click. The "S," "X," ">," and "<" keys can be used for movement, as can the
cursor keys; the "A" key can be used to click; number keys 1-5 select the menu
icons.

 The Spacebar accesses the Inventory and Map screens. Items can be shuttled
between windows by grabbing and moving them. Click on an item and you'll see its
name appear at the bottom of the screen. Double-clicks open containers, such as
chests and bags, and reveal the items carried by a dead monster. If you happen
to be in the Wilderness when you access the Inventory screen, another Spacebar
press will display the Map screen.

 The DEATH BRINGER package comes with one double-sided, copy-protected disk, an
ST/Amiga instruction manual, and a C64 reference card, which does not explain
how to reach the Inventory and Map screens. Before booting, you should format a
disk, which can then be used to save or reload eight game positions. The
occasional disk access is tolerable because DB uses its own fastload system.

 DB looks okay, but you're likely to be disappointed (to put it mildly) by the
great disparity between the package claims and the C64 screen display,
especially if you've seen either DB or DUNGEON MASTER on an Amiga or an ST. The
graphics -- at least those that are indoors -- are more or less recognizable,
but they're washed out and lacking in detail. Sounds are okay, too, although
they're sparse and don't have the clarity of digitized audio. The joystick
worked well as a replacement for the mouse.

 The Inventory screen is one gigantic glitch -- so consistent a glitch that it
seems to have been deliberately designed: All object icons in either window are
drawn and erased over and over until the windows are closed; objects appear
outside the windows, sometimes for good reason, sometimes for no discernible
reason; objects are hidden beneath other objects, a situation made worse by the
constant redraws; objects and the pointer sometimes duplicate themselves on
other parts of the screen; and the only time an object is reasonably stable
enough to be viewed is after it has been grabbed.

 Although the Inventory screen is also a pause, consuming food consumes time:
You must open both windows, move the food from the "You" window to the "Here"
window, close the "You" window, then move the food from the "Here" window to the
warrior's mouth. As an alternative, you can just open the "Here" window and eat
the food immediately, but this might not be advisable.

 The Run command lets you bail out of a losing battle by running pell-mell
through many screens. Unfortunately, all this activity rapidly depletes Stamina
which -- rather than Health -- governs the difference between life and death.
More often than not, your warrior will run himself into the grave, which means
you might as well stay and deal with whatever you're running from. Clicking on
the Run command a second time should stop the run, but it usually doesn't; the
Grim Reaper does. Food is scarce, and none of the characters I encountered had
anything of importance to say. Leaving the castle and returning later caused the
screen to freeze and the game to crash.

 If we overlook the fact that the graphics, sound, and interface were intially
designed for a different machine, then the C64 version might be worthwhile.
Cramming large graphics and sound information into the machine, however, created
far too many glitches and a poor overall quality. DEATH BRINGER does not belong
on a Commodore unless it's an Amiga. One of these days, developers and marketing
managers will realize there's a difference between the two machines and decide,
for the benefit of all, to design games appropriate to each.

 DEATH BRINGER is published by Spotlight Software and distributed by Cinemaware.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253