Title: Death or Glory
From: Martin Freemantle, Dream World Adventures. See the coupon opposite for special price, address, and ordering information.
Reviewer: Tim Kemp

This game has a simple, classically styled storyline. You've got to avoid evil Goblins, right wrongs, find treasures and basically stay alive. The first thing you'll see is that it truly is a game set in the classic adventure mould - it's a fantasy romp through and through. The location descriptions are long, detailed and very evocative. They begin by being bright, sunny and hopeful, and end up dingy, dreary and. well, just downright nasty!

But what of the challenges in the game? You find that after a few minutes' play you'll have amassed an assortment of goodies that all find uses early on. You also see that your actions are punctuated at key points by super little animated displays. Okay, they are simple, but they add one heck of a lot to the game. You look forward to doing something in the hope of triggering off one of these displays. One of my favourites comes late on, when, after hiding in a log you spy though a knothole an object being hidden somewhere. Then there's the Cyclops who has to be blinded - this involves a diddy graphic flying through the air and hitting said monster squarely in the ocular region! Great stuff!

Many of your tasks are linked in one way or another, though if you find the going gets tough simply go back to places where items were 'uncovered' first time round and see if there's anything else to be found upon second investigation. There usually is!

Part Two begins in much the same fashion as Part One, except that instead of being bright and happy, everything is drab. A lot of the game is played underground where you'll really be challenged to the full by those nasty Goblins.

Death or Glory is a sequel to Dragon Slayer though you can play them independently of one another. The tidily different animation alone makes the game worth buying, but it's a cracker on the whole as well.