KEEF THE THIEF

 Many "serious" CRPGs have been released over the years, but this is the first
time a parody of the genre has appeared. The parody doesn't always work, but the
game itself is a real charm to play; it's thoroughly conceived, and offers some
truly innovative aspects. (This review is based on the Amiga version; IBM-PC
version notes follow.)

 You're a young thief. Everyone in town has grown thoroughly impatient with you,
so the town council has decided to exile you (from which town is not made clear)
and send you on your quest. You have notes regarding the history of your region
(part of the game manual), and these give you some idea of what your goals and
troubles will be. You also have a map of Same Mercon (the town outside of which
you begin the game), and something called the "Tel Profi," a prophecy that
includes hints on the various regions of each game world.

 As in any CRPG, your character consists of a number of status scales and
attributes. You have status points for strength, speed, constitution, wisdom,
luck, charisma, health, hit, nutrition, sobriety, sleep, gold, magic, and
experience. Each one of these many attributes significantly affects one or more
of your abilities.

 Your abilities consist of disarming, stealing, unlocking, and picking locks;
your weapon strength, speed, and range are all calculated, as well as your armor
speed and strength. Your experience points determine which of the 25 levels
you'll play at; in turn, the level you achieve determines the maximum number
that each of your status scales can reach.

 The sheer number of status and attribute characteristics proves that the game
possesses some real depth. Although, ultimately, there aren't that many places
to go or other characters to interact with, KEEF's designers clearly traded off
quantity for quality. In some games, role-playing amounts to nothing more than
repeated instances of tactical party combat, with various combinations of armor
and weaponry. However, in KEEF, you have broader options: You may get drunk (not
a good idea), ask various non-playing characters (NPCs) about different aspects
of their lives (for clues), buy things from other characters, sell things to
them, break or pick locks, and remove traps.

 The magic system is simple to use and effective. You have to purchase the right
magic books in order to learn the basic spells; the books give hints regarding
substances to purchase at the reagents shop, and combinations of substances that
create spells (each mixed spell lasts for only one casting). As you progress in
the game and break into other areas, new opportunities for magic present
themselves. Initially, you can only manage a few spells in one "order" of magic.

 Combat is one of the real pleasures in KEEF THE THIEF. Sure, it's nice to chat
and thieve and all that, but in the end, most CRPG fans judge a game according
to the effectiveness of its combat system. This is one place where KEEF really
excels. When you first enter into a battle encounter, you might have the option
of running away, depending on your status. Barring that possibility, your main
window has become a narrow slit (you're wearing a helmet), so you have to peer
carefully to find your opponents. The view window is supplemented by both a
dynamic map (which, like radar, reveals locations of opponents and hiding
places), and a direction indicator. All three windows are nicely positioned
within the view-window area, leaving room in the text window for a list of all
the opponents you're battling. As you defeat opponents, their names are ghosted
in the text window.

 It's the "radar" and direction indicator that make combat so much fun; you can
position yourself for best attack, run and hide behind trees, anticipate
distance and direction of approach, and know when you're surrounded or cornered.
Combat thus requires both the real-time dynamics of an arcade game (the monsters
won't stop coming if you hesitate), and the ability to develop good, effective
defensive tactics (partly dependent on choice of weapons and armor). You _can_
pause for a moment during combat to use new weapons and armor, but otherwise,
you have to be on your toes to survive.

 KEEF's overall interface is simple but very manageable. All options are listed
between the text window and the main "view" window, ghosted if they're not
available in the current situation. Options can change, as well, depending on
context. For instance, when you find a map after leaving a town, the map option
appears; upon entering a town, it disappears.

 Game control is entirely mouse-driven (though alternative keyboard control is
provided), and you can either click on the main window or on the "movement
sword" to move Keef around. The game comes on two copyable disks; it runs in
512K of RAM, and includes complete instructions for installation on a hard
drive. The graphics are nicely colored and sharp, but amateurish at best (and in
a few places, entirely illegible). They're mostly cute, though, and refreshingly
unpretentious. The colors are outrageous and part of the fun (I didn't know my
Amiga could do "salmon"). You may save your position in the game, but only one
save per disk is allowed (no disk swapping is necessary on single- or
dual-floppy systems). The context-sensitive soundtrack is thoroughly enjoyable:
rollicking rock 'n' roll from beginning to end. Echoes of Beach Boys, disco,
hard rock, and heavy metal all contribute to the musical style of the tunes. It
ain't They Might Be Giants, but it's surprisingly close! There are no other
sound effects.

 I will take a moment here to complain briefly about the copy-protection scheme:
Yup, it's another one of those newspapery, brownish-purple documents
again...except this time, not only do you have to squint to the point of a
migraine to find the proper information, you have to do so twice! At least this
is required only at the start of the game. I'm _almost_ ready to give in and
accept on-disk copy-protection. There has to be a better way, folks!

 Some players might consider the dungeons a negative aspect of the game. Yes,
there are at least four multi-level dungeons (that I could find), and they all
require mapping. They also require careful exploration for crucial items, which
makes them essential to the success of your quest. Although you can enter the
dungeons at any time, I recommend waiting until you've developed your character
quite a bit; the inhabitants are incredibly cruel and powerful.

 Another thing that sometimes raised my hackles was the strong random factor
when disarming booby traps. Often, I had to go back and forth between my saved
game and the current situation until I finally succeeded.

 But these are relatively minor quibbles. KEEF THE THIEF is an excellent,
completely enjoyable addition to the CRPG genre. Although smaller than most of
the classic ULTIMA series or the newer SSI AD&D games, it nevertheless offers
plenty of gameplay. KEEF is like no CRPG I've ever seen, yet it's easy to
understand, and quick to get into.

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 The IBM version of KEEF THE THIEF has some notable differences from the Amiga
version, but they hardly detract from the game. They're mostly cosmetic in
nature, and they don't truly affect gameplay. However, they will temporarily
throw IBMers for a loop as they try to figure out why the game they're playing
doesn't correspond very well to the manual's description.

 KEEF THE THIEF is available in both 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" disk formats, but you
must look for the package label that lists your drive size on the spine of the
box. Both sets aren't included in the package, but you can mail in the
accompanying coupon (along with $7.50) to receive a second set of game disks in
whichever format you request.

 That won't be necessary, though, if you have access to a machine that uses both
drive sizes: The master disks are totally unprotected. There is off-disk copy
protection, similar to the Amiga version's, but you need to find (count 'em)
_three_ items from the black-on-burgundy code sheets bound into the manual.
They're printed in long lists of small letters, so one trip to the copy
protection is guaranteed to give you a lasting headache. An interesting note:
Tandy users face an additional CP check toward the end of the game that requires
them to insert _master_ disk #1.

 You'll also want to play from two drives or a hard disk, though a single floppy
will do -- with a good bit of disk-flipping (unless it's high-density). The
installation routine supports hard drives, 360K floppies, 720K minidisks, 1.2M
HD floppies, and a single 1.4M HD minidisk.

 Make no mistake; installation takes a while...perhaps a long while. On a 25mhz
386, KEEF THE THIEF required over 20 minutes to install itself on my hard drive.
I hate to imagine how long you'd wait for an 8Mhz system to install the program
onto floppies! No game has taken quite this long since SSI's POOL OF RADIANCE.
What seems peculiar is that the game needs less than 1.4 megabytes of storage;
since you're installing from three 360K disks, it's not as if the files have to
be expanded enormously.

 There are five graphics modes supported: CGA (4-color), Tandy 16-color, EGA
(16-color), MCGA, and VGA (which runs in the MCGA mode). The MCGA/VGA graphics
are highly recommended, sporting roughly 32 colors (possibly a few more) in
320x200 mode. The characters and drawings display the same "rough" appearance
that's described in the Amiga review above.

 IBM KEEF also supports a variety of sound boards: the Ad-Lib Synthesizer, the
Creative Music System (CMS), and the Roland MT-32. The Roland is the optimal
choice, but any of these will add greatly to the game. The built-in IBM speaker
is also supported, but the sound won't be particularly enjoyable. Rock
soundtracks have never translated well to a single line of beeps and blips.

 One difference in play is the way the status indicators reflect your levels of
gold, sleep, food, and health: Make sure to read about this on the reference
card. Additionally, in the Amiga version (and the manual), the border
surrounding the game flashes or turns color, depending on your condition or
environment. In the IBM version, the border does the same thing...but the colors
mean entirely different things than what the book describes. The IBM reference
card doesn't explain these variations, so you'll have to figure out for yourself
which colors mean what.

 The joystick is not supported as an input device, but the mouse may be used in
lieu of the keyboard for nearly every command. I found the interface smooth and
trouble-free. Most screen loads were handled quickly enough, even at lower CPU
speeds.

 KEEF THE THIEF has the honor of being the first MS-DOS CRPG to support
additional sound cards; it's also the first IBM CRPG to support MCGA/VGA modes
for extra color. Since the game is jaunty, sophomoric, and breezy, the extra
sound and graphic details inject even more personality than most. IBM users will
probably be quite pleased with the game's performance.

 KEEF THE THIEF is published and distributed by Electronic Arts.

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