76 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
76 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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CITADEL
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CITADEL is a computer role-playing game with several flaws, as well as features
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that offset those flaws. You start out in a town adjacent to the Citadel, the
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dungeon of which you must explore. CITADEL is based on the time-worn concept of
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seek-and-slay-the-evil-wizard, except that in this case, you must rescue the
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Lady Synd before going wizard-bashing. (This review is based on the Macintosh
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version.)
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CITADEL is a relatively small CRPG. You are limited to a town in which access
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to shops occurs via clicking on signs, not strolling down the streets, as in THE
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BARD'S TALE. The Citadel, which is where you will spend almost all of your time,
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is a dungeon with 12 levels of large size; the levels are hard to get through,
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though.
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CITADEL uses the Mac interface very well, but a couple of actions are
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unecesssarily complicated, such as getting a certain NPC. Manipulating objects
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is accomplished by clicking and dragging, and there are keyboard shortcuts for
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almost all tasks. Copy protection is implemented through the use of a code
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wheel, required for entrance to the Citadel (but not for creating characters).
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You can make backup copies of the diskette, or install the program on your hard
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drive.
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Character creation has been improved in CITADEL. You can choose from eight
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fathers and eight mothers, and your parents will influence your money and stats.
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You may also divide your time between labor, play, study, and prayer, all of
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which affect your stats. There are the standard four types of character classes
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(fighter, mage, thief, priest), and four additional classes that are merely
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stronger versions of the others.
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The combat system will remind you of POOL OF RADIANCE. You see combat from a
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bird's-eye view (with characters appearing as icon heads) that can be modified.
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Attacking someone hand-to-hand is hard, because you have to drag the PC up to
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the monster, and wait for a black line to appear between it and you; it becomes
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hard to see a thin black line on a grey background after a while. Throwing
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objects involves _your_ dexterity, not your character's. You click on an item,
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and then a line appears that goes from place to place (faster and in a wider arc
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if the PC has low agility). You can easily end up killing a character whom you
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are trying to save. Some humor is in evidence when retreating, though: You hear
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the digitally sampled "Run Away!" from Monty Python's "Search for the Holy
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Grail" when the killer bunny is attacked.
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The magic system is slightly flawed. Mages are useless until they obtain a
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magic book, and the books are hidden deep in the Citadel. Priests cast spells by
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combining elements upon which they have meditated. The higher-level spells are
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cast by priests only after they achieve the proper combination. Only one priest
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or mage can study or meditate at a time, so it is unwise to work on spells deep
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in the Citadel.
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A couple of riddles are presented in the Citadel. The primary one is rather
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pathetic, although the answer will elude you until you step back and look at it
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as yourself, not one of your characters. (Pattern baldness is caused by
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scratching your head too much while thinking about the riddle.)
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Auto-mapping is available, but only late in the game. A map book and pen are
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hidden in the dungeon; only the possession of those two items and one NPC give
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you the ability to automap.
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CITADEL's biggest drawback is that it is riddled with bugs. The main one
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freezes your game indefinitely if you have INITs and CDEVs running, and causes
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the elevator to blink around. Another bug sometimes strands your party unless
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you know the placement of the stairs, and problems occur when using MultiFinder,
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or playing in color mode on the Mac II.
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All in all, CITADEL is a good game for experienced CRPGers. It is not
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recommended for beginners. Patience is a must to remain sane. If you are not a
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veteran CRPGer, or don't have patience, save your money.
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CITADEL: ADVENTURE OF THE CRYSTAL KEEP is published and distributed by
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Postcraft International.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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