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The
lower price is because the game has been designed to
be slightly more modest in scope than the company's
other blockbusters. Still, you can't complain -- it
has over 200 pictures on the 64 version, which sounds
to me like good value for money. It's certainly not
as tricky as, say, Snowball, but don't let that
put you off -- this game is no doddle by any means.
Emerald
Isle lies in the Bermuda Triangle, which means essentially
that it's one of those places that are difficult to
get to and impossible to leave. You start the game hanging
ignominiously from a tree top, dangling by your parachute
chords . . . and before you can say 'Knife' you've ended
up as a tasty meal for a jungle predator.
In
fact, saying 'Knife' won't do you much good because
you haven't got one, but there you go. Once you've sorted
that one out, and made it down to terra firma (which
isn't very firm at all) you've then got to find your
way out of a charming little maze of mangrove trees.
Yes, just as in Return to Eden, Level 9 are showing
sadistic tendencies by dropping you into the soup right
at the beginning of the game.
Your
objective on Emerald Island is no less than supreme
domination, since the only way you'll be able to leave
is if you become king (or queen). The reward for failure,
needless to say, is rapid decease. The program uses
split screen graphics which can be toggled on and off
using the commands 'words' and 'pictures'.
To
be honest, the White Wizard doesn't think Level 9 are
too hot on the graphics. The pictures are OK, but no
more than that. Worse, there's the famous Commodore
split-screen glitch flickering away in the centre of
the screen -- surely something that should have been
ironed out before releasing the game, but I suppose
you can't have everything.
Emerald
Isle -- good game, pity about the graphics.
And
there is a lot here, make no mistake. If you can get
over the occasional inconsistency, like entering 'Examine
wall' and being told that you can't see a leather wallet,
then you're in for a great time.
The
island may be hidden in the Bermuda Triangle, but that
doesn't stop it from having its own train network to
whisk you from location to location (on payment of the
appropriate fare). Giant spiders, preoccupied monarchs
and speeding trains are all there to greet you, and
should you have a fatal argument with anybody you are
simply resurrected elsewhere with all your possessions
intact.
Emerald
Isle is a lot less daunting than other Level 9 games
and I'm afraid that for a number of seasoned Level 9
fans the program will be something of a disappointment,
though of course one must remember it costs rather less.
The White Wizard has to admit that a couple of misprints
in the text combined with the slightly flickery display
and imprecise word checking mean that this game really
isn't up to the standards of it's predecessors.
Level
9, of course, would probably say that it isn't meant
to be up to the same standards, but I can't help thinking
that I'd rather pay a bit more for a game like Lords
of Time than a bit less for one like Emerald
Isle. Nevertheless, for more inexperienced adventurers
it may be just the ticket, and remember that a slightly
inferior game from Level 9 can still beat the pants
off most of the competition.
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