DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING

 Several gaming companies have attempted to follow in the footsteps of Infocom
and its great text adventure products. Although I've seen a lot of non-Infocom
text adventures in my time, a good number of them just aren't very good. So when
I received DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING, I was pretty pessimistic about playing
it. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised! (This review is based on the
IBM-PC version.)

 DEMON'S TOMB, from Mastertronic, concerns the legend of Thai and Tzen, two
Egyptian high priests who were born several thousand years ago. Tzen became
tainted with the thoughts of evil by a powerful demon lurking in the void beyond
the known universe. Tzen could only summon the demon to Earth when the planets
were properly aligned. The time was right those many thousands of years ago.
Tzen failed in his task, because he was stopped by his brother Thai. They both
lived out their lives, eventually "died," and were buried in two large stone
mounds on the island of Great Britain.

 Of course, they aren't _really_ dead; they're only sleeping. Tzen is waiting
for the time when the proper planetary alignment occurs again, so the great
demon can be summoned. Thai awaits his brother's awakening and subsequent
attempts to conduct the ritual. Well, that time has come.

 During an archaeological dig in the Spring of 1990, an eerie tomb is uncovered
in a remote English forest. The archaeologist studying the tomb is doomed to
perish in a violent and horrifying manner, and his son vows to solve the mystery
of his death. An old lady and her dog are gruesomely murdered; claw marks are
discovered on their bodies....

 As I played DEMON'S TOMB, I began to appreciate many of the nifty functions
built into the program. A very handy feature is the ability to save the game in
RAM, so that you can quickly save and reload. This really makes a difference
when you're on a roll and don't want to bother writing to a disk. Also helpful
are the definable macros that let you abbreviate certain items, accomplish many
tasks all at once, and perform other functions. For example, to "wait" five
times by executing only one command, you simply input "Define wa =
wait,wait,wait,wait,wait." There are even certain locations that you can display
on a graphics screen. (You couldn't do this in an Infocom game!)

 DEMON'S TOMB is definitely a game to be reckoned with. It's very enjoyable to
play, and offers a well-constructed plot. Using menus to list available commands
makes the game easier to play, and provides a more user-friendly atmosphere
overall.

 Graphics are presented in either CGA or EGA modes, and help depict the
environment in which the game is set. Being able to see what your character
"sees" assists you in solving the game's puzzles. Even if you die or make a
fatal error, an "Undo" or "Oops" option can restore you to the point just before
you made your critical mistake.

 DEMON'S TOMB runs on IBM PC, AT, XT, PS/2, Tandy 1000, and other 100%
compatible systems. CGA, EGA, VGA, or Tandy graphics adaptors are required, and
you'll need 384K of RAM. A joystick is optional.

 The fascinating story, professional design, and innovative command structure
all combine to produce one terrific game: DEMON'S TOMB is a fantastic "text"
adventure in a neat little package.

 DEMON'S TOMB: THE AWAKENING is published and distributed by Mastertronic.

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